Yesterday the four of us decided to walk to our newly discovered local pub and have lunch. On the estate where we live we have always bemoaned the fact that there was not a “nice” pub within walking distance – there was not even a slightly dubious pub. A few months ago a friend of mine who lives a few streets away, told me how she and her family used to walk to this really nice pub. When she told me what the pub was called, I was somewhat doubtful, as I had been there previously, and it was a car journey away. It is the Land’s End pub, and looking at it on a map, it is a fair distance away. In fact the AA route planner lists it as 2.2 miles, and an 11 minute drive. Not so bad you might think, but with two small children, that is a bit of a distance.
So the other afternoon, Ben and I followed the rough directions given, and set off through the woods across the road. After being soaked in a summery shower, and more by luck than judgment, we found the pub, about 25 minutes walk from the house.
So this Bank Holiday Monday the four of us set off, and after slightly longer than 25 minutes – we had to stop to look at blackberries, pop the “granny-pop-out-of-beds” (bindweed to most people), sit on the picnic chairs, quack at the ducks, and admire the fallen trees pointed out by Ben. When we got there the pub wasn’t quite open so we wandered down to the ford and watched cars drive through it.
Lunch was lovely, it was just warm enough to sit outside, the food was good, the children pretty well behaved. After lunch we went back down to the ford where both children and I paddled in bare feet – Andrew sensibly declined. On the way back home we all picked wild blackberries, I had brought some bags along in readiness.
There was quite a bit of competition between the children to see who could get the most/biggest berries. Andrew was good at reaching the high berries, I managed to get stung by stingy nettles, and scratched by the brambles. Jessica ate a fair amount of berries, Ben decided they were yucky. But we still managed to pick over a pound (half a kilo) of fruit. And that leads nicely onto my next post.