How fortunate we have been with the
weather since we came down to the southern counties of England; we did wake to
misty murk but it soon cleared to expose the sun. We attended to practical
matters; sorting and packing for me, and repairing and sorting and cleaning by
The Chauffeur. He is also mentally preparing himself for an early return to New
Zealand, but there are projects that have to be dealt with before he can do so.
Mid-morning we walked the one and a
quarter miles down into Denham, popping into the hardware shop where we were
served by an Indian chap who kept shouting to a fellow Indian in the back room
and another on the telephone, squeezing us into his attention. We could have
been anywhere but Outer London. There are a couple of little supermarkets in
the village and we picked up a newspaper at the Co-op, served by yet another
young Indian woman. While wandering about the shops we checked out the ethnic
restaurants on offer having decided to eat out at least once before we undergo geographical
separation.
After returning to camp and lunching
at “home”, a rare activity these many months, we headed out in the car on a
recci trip to Heathrow, anxious that we had a good handle on the route although
the traffic conditions late tomorrow afternoon will be worse than they were
today. We do know of at least one other person who likes to do a dummy run
before a trip that requires a more precise schedule, and I suspect there are
millions more.
Back nearer Denham, we found our way
to the Denham Country Park to explore the waterways I had spotted on the map.
This is part of the Colne Valley Regional Park, so named for the River Colne that
runs through the middle of it all. Through this also runs the Grand Union
canal, the River Misbourne, Frays River and a series of lakes once gravel
quarries. Stocker’s Lake was a gravel pit in the 1920s which subsequently
filled naturally with water creating a refuge for wildlife. Further quarrying
from the 1930s into the 1980s created a chain of lakes right on through the
park. And the Grand Union Canal which has featured in earlier postings as we
have encountered it elsewhere on our travels; it once provided a transport
route for coal, paper and other products between Birmingham and London after
being formed in 1929, although these days it appears to be more a hangout for
junk ridden barges and narrow boats, or at least in one stretch we walked
alongside.
Apart from the quarrying heritage, the
Park has been used for farming and agriculture, mills and brickmaking. In the
1800s, watercress farms were common, using water from the chalk streams such as
the River Colne and Misbourne to grow this nutritious crop. Even today the
cress was evident in patches of the river although now seems to be more a pest
than an asset; we found great piles of decaying vegetation which had been
pulled out of the canal and river, which incidentally passes beneath the canal.
We wandered along the pathway through
the woods and along the riverside and canal, enjoying the birdlife, in the
woods and the waterways, delighting in the occasion squirrel scampering across
in front of us and best of all, the snake that squirmed speedily across in
front of us, one I might have even stood on had Chris not grabbed my arm and
held me back.
Britain does have snakes however there
aren’t too many Brits who have ever seen one. We have since identified it with
the help of Mr Google; it was a grass snake, which is fairly harmless to
humans. It is venomous but without fangs, and the mild venom is restricted to
the amphibious creatures it prefers to dine on. They can grow to 1.5 metres but
the one we saw would have been less than a metre and was very slim, with a star
on its head. We were terribly excited to have seen this, especially so at the
end of our exploration of Britain; another wild one to notch up in our records.
On our return to camp we discovered the
absolutely charming old part of Denham village, some distance from the
commercial centre we had explored earlier in the day and sporting three pubs
which looked most promising for our farewell lunch tomorrow. So after our
splash out tomorrow, The Chauffeur will deliver me to the airport and make his
way on without his co-driver and navigator; how will he manage!
From hereon in, it will be a case of
watch this space although I will continue to update my New Zealand blog from
time to time when I have something to say that relates to travel of the lovely
land of my birth. In the meantime, stay well, reader, and make your own travel
stories.
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