Blat by Royal Appointment......Not !
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| Destination Bucklebury |
Decided the car needed a blast so rolled her out of the garage., and, after pouring myself into the cockpit, punched 'Bucklebury' into the SatNav. After this weekend , I thought it had to be a 'Royal' destination, so Kate Middleton's hometown , being only 20 miles away (ideal blatting distance) seemed a the logical choice. This sleepy little village is also home to Chris Tarrant and John Madejski amongst others.
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| Bucklebury Church |
Setting the TomTom to 'no motorways' ensured a Seven-friendly B-road route, which initially and unfortunately took me through the centre of Reading (a lovely town !). Once clear of the 'smog' (and shouting pedestrians - thank goodness for earplugs!) , some hedgerowed roads ,so narrow you winced as you rounded each bend, expecting a large white van barrelling in the opposite direction, ensued. Luckily the 7's slim fuselage slides fairly easily past these 'denizens of the road'.
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| 'Stately Piles' |
Anyway, back to the story, the SatNav now read 2 miles to target, but no signs for Bucklebury ! Suddenly a clump of extremely large 'stately piles' came into view, and with houses this big, some with their own flags flying, I thought this must be it. As with all 'chocolate box' english villages , there is a 300+ year old church , but strangely no pub (Kates favourite pub , the Boot, is in nearby Stanford Dingley, and the bladebone, another royal haunt is just outside the village) . One would have thought they'd have 'The Crown' or 'Prince of Wales' nearby !!!.
Interestingly, there was no sign of the momentous Royal Wedding two days earlier...no bunting... just a sleepy, oak-beamed village.....How very British !
Kate, obviously was not in residence, so no time for tea, I turned and headed back through possibly the best roads I've found in recent times - another visit here soon !
The only thing I regret not doing over the weekend was heading up to London blasting up the Mall the night before the wedding
- now THAT would have been fun !
