I'm on our mobile phone
to Mick. "Wait for us in the pub. There'll be a brass band reception
outside for you!" Mick, Claire and Ellen are on the way back from a day
out to Harry Potter Land with Jess and Jack and they won't be in Baddesley Ensor for another hour or so. There is no brass band. It's pissing down. We've just cycled up a hill steep enough to make an angel swear and she's still cussing behind me. There's nowhere to put the bikes except up against the picnic tables outside the pub. We're tired and wet. On the way here we took a wrong turn out of a village and then climbed a very long hill to a miserable place called Dordon. As the spanish saying goes 'all dogs look black in the night' but the rain definitely wasn't helping Dordon. Everyone looked a bit ..... deficient. I suspect Baddesley Ensor might be like this.
I can't open the door to the pub. "Try pushing the door" Gayle suggests. I see the word 'push' emblazoned on the door below the handle. She's a bright one is Gayle, while clearly I should be living in Dordon. When we walk in a hush descends over the pub and everyone stops to stare at us. No, not at all. Everyone carries on chatting. The place is busy and warm, judging by the way my glasses steam up and our cheeks start glowing. Ellen has told us there'll be drinks waiting for us and Dave the landlord invites us to take a seat and get comfy before ordering. It's a nice boozer - no telly, no music, no food. Just people sat or stood in clusters having a drink and talking away. Ellen's Dave soon joins us and regales us with stories and snippets of local gossip like a man possessed, and occasionally looks over both shoulders before saying more. He clearly likes to talk, and sometimes is very funny. We mention Dordon. "Dordogne?" he sniffs.
Soon after we are gathered all together. I used to share a flat with Claire years ago. She would sometimes mention her home village Baddesley Ensor and my friend Isa would call it Beelzebub. It would always remain a mysterious and far off place to us. And now here we are. Ellen and Claire are old friends from primary school. The school has gone and so has the coal mine around which most of the village grew. Now it's a carpark for Landrover and Jaguar. Over the hill is the Manor House -occupied by David Cameron's cousin, Lord Dugdale.
We have a really relaxing couple of nights here with a sunny day in between. Ellen is a really laid-back host and we have a walk around the countryside with Claire and Mick and their kids. We feel a little bit weird being back indoors after spending three days virtually always outside - only going in to shops for food. Indoors has a different feeling.
It's all over pretty quickly though and we are waved off by Ellen on a sunny Easter Day with tips about the route southwards through Warwickshire and church bells ringing across the village. 'They're ringing just for you!' she shouts after us.
I can't open the door to the pub. "Try pushing the door" Gayle suggests. I see the word 'push' emblazoned on the door below the handle. She's a bright one is Gayle, while clearly I should be living in Dordon. When we walk in a hush descends over the pub and everyone stops to stare at us. No, not at all. Everyone carries on chatting. The place is busy and warm, judging by the way my glasses steam up and our cheeks start glowing. Ellen has told us there'll be drinks waiting for us and Dave the landlord invites us to take a seat and get comfy before ordering. It's a nice boozer - no telly, no music, no food. Just people sat or stood in clusters having a drink and talking away. Ellen's Dave soon joins us and regales us with stories and snippets of local gossip like a man possessed, and occasionally looks over both shoulders before saying more. He clearly likes to talk, and sometimes is very funny. We mention Dordon. "Dordogne?" he sniffs.
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| Baddesley Ensor |
We have a really relaxing couple of nights here with a sunny day in between. Ellen is a really laid-back host and we have a walk around the countryside with Claire and Mick and their kids. We feel a little bit weird being back indoors after spending three days virtually always outside - only going in to shops for food. Indoors has a different feeling.
It's all over pretty quickly though and we are waved off by Ellen on a sunny Easter Day with tips about the route southwards through Warwickshire and church bells ringing across the village. 'They're ringing just for you!' she shouts after us.
