2013-06-03 First Day in England

June 3, 2013

The flight was pretty uneventful - minor turbulence; lots of choices of movies, TV shows and other genres of digital entertainment.  Air Transat's Option Plus is a pretty good choice if you are going to be paying for your seat selection anyway.  It gives you priority boarding, luggage handling, and meal selection, sparkling wine and a snack, a comfort kit with a blanket, earphones and eye mask and 10 extra kg of luggage allowance.

We landed in Gatwick more or less on time at about 8:00 am.  The sisters had to join the much longer non-EU line to clear immigration while Petros, with his Greek passport, could go through the shorter EU passport holders’ line.  We were still waiting in our line when we saw Petros take a seat in a small enclosed area not far from our queue.  We thought he had cleared Border Control faster than us and that was a comfortable place in which to wait for us.  But it turned out that the border guard wanted his supervisor to verify Petros’ identity as he was unable to match the bearded man in front of him with the beardless one in the EU passport photo.  That was a waste of time.  

After we all got through Border Control, we collected our luggage and left via the “nothing to declare” lane.  We found our way to the National/Europa car rental place which was located outside between the North & South Terminals.  Petros and I went into the car rental office to do the paperwork for the car.  I told them the insurance rate was not correct on the amended form - all I had done was change the time of the pickup and drop off and there was no reason for the daily rate for it to change from GPB 13.13 to GPB 15.  The lady at the counter took copies of my confirmation emails and told me that it would be fixed by the time I drop off the car.  I had booked an automatic 5-door Vauxhall (or equivalent) and we were assigned a Mercedes Benz C180.  I was not sure we would be able to fit our luggage in it, but the rental agent thought it would be fine.  Petros' delight with getting a Benz convinced me that we could make it work.  At least they did get the automatic part right.  I cannot imagine trying to change gears and drive on the wrong side of the road all at the same time.

We went outside to the designated space to find our car for the next 3 week but it was not there.  We looked around and found one, but were not sure it was the right one so we went back in to ask at the counter.  She told us to speak to the lady in the kiosk outside.  We went back out, looked around the area by the kiosk and found a car with a plate that matched the number that was on the key tag that we had so we figured it was the right car.  Petros had the lady at the kiosk look at the tires after we loaded the car as they looked low but she said it was fine and that everything had been checked before we got the car. And yes, we were able to get all our luggage into the car with a couple of pieces going on the back seat between Irene and me. This is what we got:

So we got in the car, plugged in the GPS and it did not work.  That was not good.  I had purchased European maps online and spent hours downloading and updating the unit before we left, and here we were, reduced to following paper maps (thank goodness we had them!) to find our way to West Byfleet, to meet our cousin, Fui Ling, and to drop off our excess luggage. We took a wrong turn on some road off the highway and had it took us a while to realize that we were going the wrong way and to turn around.  Eventually, we ended up on Old Woking Rd and the maps we did not have local streets so I called Fui Ling, for directions to her house.  It turned out that we were not far and to make things even easier for us, she waited for us outside her gate.  What a sweetheart. 

I thought our first meeting with Fui Ling after more than forty years was very positive.  She showed us to the rooms we were to have and where we were to leave our luggage.  She had cooked lunch for us - sausages, scrambled eggs with salmon, beans and toast.  We had lunch and caught up on family related news and it was really nice.  After lunch, Fui Ling gave us directions to Tesco and the nearby PC shop so we could replace our GPS and get a SIM card for my unlocked phone.  She also lent us 2 map books.  We also confirmed our intention to come back and stay with her on June 21^st, for 3 nights before we left for Paris.  That would give us more opportunities to catch up on family history.

Once we were back in the car, someone suggested that I leave the GPS behind as it was not working anyway.  I got out of the car and gave it to Fui Ling, but she thought I should keep it with us just in case we had a use for it.  So I took it back into the car and on the way over to the store, I decided to see if I could reboot it or something.  I could not find a reboot button or I had to go into the menu screens.  As I was scrolling through the various items, I came across one that said there were no maps loaded, which was kind of strange as I know I had loaded the maps.  So I took a look at the card slot and finally noticed that the SD card had popped out.  Once I popped it back it, it worked fine.  So, we ended up only buying a SIM card for the phone and some lemons and water at Tesco, and saved ourselves a bunch of money. We did get a pay as you go SIM card for 15GBP with a triple bonus so we now have a SIM card worth 45GBP for the month of June.  I could text Fui Ling here, but not anyone in Canada.  Oh well.  We are going to call home later and see if that part works.

Driving on the other side of the road 

You are never too far from McDonald's

With a now functional GPS, the drive to Burycroft Farm was accomplished without much difficulty.  Petros did a great job of driving on the other side of the road, with reminders from Florine to stay on the appropriate side of the road when turning.  No one was at Burycroft Farm or The Old Stables to check us in.  Kirsten Powell, our landlady, had emailed the code for the lock box and a phone number for the caretaker, Mandy, in case of any problems.  We were able to retrieve the key to The Old Stables and let ourselves into the building without any problems.  There was a box of freshly baked fairy cakes on the table, bottled water and milk in the fridge.  We went up to the bedrooms (where we had to mind our heads with the slanted ceilings) with our suitcases, freshened up a bit and then looked around our accommodations and the surrounding grounds. 

Irene and Florine in the living room of the Old Stables, planning our trip into Witney

The Old Stables is a nicely renovated building in a nice and quiet location. Everything we needed was available and it was very neat and clean inside.  We were quite happy with our accommodations for the next couple of days.

The Old Stables-patio side

Burycroft Farm House, beside the Old Stables

The Old Stables, with Burycroft Farm house behind it

The enclosed patio of the Old Stables

Irene at the gate from the road to the Old Stables

Irene beside our ride

Horse in pasture

The real stables

As we were pretty tired from the flight and lack of sleep, which was not really conducive to driving on the 'wrong' side of the road, we decided to keep things simple and go into Witney, which is only a short distance from the Old Stable, to pick up some supplies and to walk around.  The original plan had called for a foray into Oxford.

Witney is a market town famous for manufacturing blankets, gloves and other woolen goods.  It is the largest town in the Cotswolds and still holds twice weekly markets.  Witney was first recorded in AD 969 though there is evidence of both Iron Age and Roman settlements in the area.

We found a Waitrose Supermarket not far from the parking at the Woolgate shopping centre.  

Parking lot at the Woolgate shopping centre

Tourist map of Witney

Nicely camouflaged toilets at the parking lot

We walked around the shops town for a while before heading into the town. 

Florine at the butcher shop.  You can just about see the butcher standing behind the glass door.

Passage way, with sharp glass embedded in the cross bars to stop birds from roosting and pooping....

but not from nesting!

Cool icon - probably a reflection of Witney's past as a wool town

Passage way - if you look closely, you can see the icon up on the wall

The simplified replica of the Buttercross at Woolgate

The Buttercross in Witney dates from medieval times and was used by local farmers' wives to sell locally produced butter, milk and eggs.  The clock was added in 1683.

We then went back to the supermarket and bought sparkling water and fruit in case it was closed by the time we got back to the car after dinner.  We went back to exploring the town and found The Fleece, a nice pub by the Church Green, to have a drink in.  We had our first English ales while Florine had a gin and tonic.  

Monument near Church Green

St. Mary the Virgin Church and Church Green

The Fleece

Buildings beside the Fleece

Outside the Fleece; it was a nice, warm afternoon

Irene and Petros at the bar in the Fleece

Gin and tonic with a splash of orange juice and a local ale

Florine outside the Fleece

After our relaxing sojourn at the Fleece, it was time for a little exercise. We walked over to the River Windrush and followed the path in the park and admired birds, plants and a couple of historical buildings. 

Florine and Petros by the River Windrush

 Common Moorhen, Common Waterhen or Marsh Hen

A magpie resting on fallen branch in the River Windrush

Ducks by the River Windrush

Ducks in the water

Buttercups

St. Mary's Priory

Cogges Church Centre

Clematis

Laburnum

Having worked up a good appetite from the walk and the fresh air, we decided to have dinner at the Blue Boar.  The Scotch egg was particularly good - looked like it was made fresh as the egg yolk was still soft.  The beef ribs marinated in cola was okay for me but not so good for Irene.  Petros had a burger.  Florine had a beef pie and overall, the meal was enjoyable.

Irene outside the Blue Boar on our earlier walk through the town

Irene at the Blue Boar

Florine at the Blue Boar

Petros at the Blue Boar

The very yummy (and maybe the best!!) Scotch egg that we've ever had

Kat at the Blue Boar (before the Scotch egg)

Menu

We ate in the outside patio of the Blue Boar, which gave us a chance to enjoy the beautiful evening and to watch people and a troop of little Boy Scouts as they passed by the side of the patio.

The Buttercross

Another view of the Buttercross

Then it was time for us to head back to The Old Stables.  It has been a long day for us and it was good to be heading "home".

View of the fields from the Old Stables

Where we stayed:  The Old Stables, Burycroft Farm, Crawley Road, Witney, OX29 9TG, 44 07791 241905;  Kirsten Powell
Our car rental company:  National Car Rental, London Gatwick Airport