Muddyboots

Follow the fortunes of Muddyboots & Family on their East Yorkshire farm which has changed from dairy farm to luxury ice cream manufacture

Monday 1 October 2007

apples and birthday parties

Time is a passing, me thinks, the friends that l have kept in regular contact with since leaving school are, well getting to the 1/2 way stage in life... well how else can l put it without being lynched on my next visit to Cheltenham? The only plus point is that l am not there yet!

So this friday, after a very quick sort out, we hit the wonderful UK motorway systems and headed south. M62, M18, M1, M42, M5. Bingo, 31/2 hours later, with no significant slows or stops we hit Gloucestershire. My god, were there some horrendous tail backs on the M1 on friday afternoon, north bound from Sheffield right down to east midlands. l think l can safely say that we were heading in the right direction for once! The 'old banger', which is hubby's pride & joy, positively purred down the motorway!

The weekend, spent in a small hamlet just to the north of Bishops Cleeve was a real hoot. saturday morning helping the 'birthday girl' with the preparations for the evening's party, then as the sun emerged for what might possiblely have been only the second time in September, headed via my old stomping ground, up to Much Marcle in order to stock up on perry, from Westons cider mill. We did, l must confess do a wee bit of sampling, which included a rather girlee mix of cider & raspberry!

One of the things that really hits you is how the area has changed. In and around Cheltenham, so much building, identikit housing estates, grid lock, traffic - traffic - traffic. However, once you clear the river Severn at Haw Bridge the pace of life seems to draw breath, the road becomes notably quieter, fields emerge with livestock & grassland as opposed to the good old pony paddock. Really, l could see little change over the years. The house with the crenelated wall just before the t junction to Corse was still there. That was meant to have been removed due to contravening the planning regs over 30 years ago!

The return drive back through the rolling green countryside dotted with the odd cultivated field exposing the red soils, took us to Castle Fruit Farm where we stocked up on apples, pears & freshly pressed juice. Mmm yummy.

So how did that party go? Well, the wind dropped & the temperature rose. The guests arrived, as did the hog roast, and we all had fun!! Wine, real ale, food added to which was an hilarious song charting my friend's life to date to the tune of 'wild rover'. Next morning? Owwwuurrgggh!! Where was the paracetamol.

For classic car fans, the motor is..... a jag XJS 4lt 1994.

19 comments:

Elizabethd said...

That sounds lovely!

Milla said...

Hey! I live a mile and a half north of Bishops Cleeve!!

toady said...

Just been doing a catch up. Your weekend sounds fun. There are still a few die hard cider drinkers in these parts. When we first moved to Torrington 37 years ago you could still take a jug over to the pub and get it filled with 'Scratch Harry' home brewed cider, lethal stuff!

Westerwitch/Headmistress said...

Cider and raspeberry . . .!!!! Although I drin Guiness and blackcurrant.

Sounds like you all had a great time . . . ouch to the heachache - take the paracetemol before you go to bed - that can quite often stop the headache before it even starts . . .

Anonymous said...

I'll show the farmer that Jag, he's cars mad - in fact if it's got a machine or engine, he's like a kid in a sweetshop.

You're making me really thirsty here! I love cider but it gives me the most horrendous heads. Lovely blog.

Crystal xx

Suffolkmum said...

I haven't had cider for years. Sounds like a fun weekend. I don't really know that part of the world, but a close friend of mine is from Cheltenham. I started going to visit her family there about 20 years ago, on the rare occasions I go now, it has changed a lot, like everywhere in southern England I guess.

Un Peu Loufoque said...

Ah we live in cidre country only wish I could drink it!! Wot fun le weekend sounds!!

laurie said...

apple cider, pork, a chilly drive through the country...it's autumn!

Milkmaid said...

What a lovely time you had in Glaarstershire, I haven't been back there for ages, mind you i don't have the same capacity for drink as I did then

Sally Townsend said...

Bet it looked lovely there at this time of year, been a while since I've partied up there, be indiscreet to say who with wouldn't it ? Sounds like you were on your best behaviour though !!

Casdok said...

Sounds like fun!

Posie said...

How fantastic to cruise down the motorway in such a classic car, to what sounds like a fab party....hope the head has cleared now.

Milla said...

That's about a mile away - we're sandwiched in between. Extraordinary!

muddyboots said...

milla - small world indeed!

Chris Stovell said...

Hmn, always struck by how busy the south east is when we head back now. Much prefer the return journey with the roads opening up... although it does mean leaving old friends and family behind.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

You know it is strange how our lives collide. My brother in France spent around ten years in Bishops Cleeve and I know that area quite well. Sounds like it was a super party and worth the drive down even though it took you between 31 and 32 hours! I thought old Jags were fast!

muddyboots said...

oh YP you are funny!! l have noticed that the Northern humour is very different to that found down south!!

Bluestocking Mum said...

Just been catching up and left comments on last couple of blogs.

Sounds like a great weekend. I adore Cider! Of course Nan was from Somerset so a glass of scrumpy has been part of my life for many a year!

Just smiling at your comment to YP re Northern humour! So true.

Take care
warm wishes
x

@themill said...

The Farmer remembers his days at Cirencester through a haze of cider induced hang overs.

Related Posts with Thumbnails