Today, we had visions of that fateful evening, back in 2001, when we were locked in Guildford Castle grounds. Of course, the time of year was very different so it was light but, even so, it makes you wary. You never know when some officious person might go beyond his remit and take his miserable life out on you.
Yesterday we decided a bus trip to Guildford was a good idea so, this morning, having taken the girls for a ramble through the woods, we were standing at the bus stop opposite the territorials, waiting for the number 65. We were not the only ones there. Two couples also waited. Oddly, both couples caught the same bus back to Farnham as us. It caused some conversation about being followed.
It was a perfect day for going into Guildford. The sky was perfectly blue, highlighting the castle and the wonderful high street; making everything look perfectly beautiful.
Unfortunately, the castle keep was closed. There were no signs indicating when it would be open. A group of women were perched on the steps leading up to the entrance looking disappointed. It suggested it would be a good time for the invaders to turn up given the castle was closed.
It felt like a bit of a waste having expended so much energy dragging ourselves up the steep path. I explained to Denise how we dragged mum up there to see the end of Alice in 2015. Actually, I took Denise via the route that the play took, explaining what happened where. We also managed to see the Alice statue in the park which is always a challenge to find.
Not that we minded wandering around. The beds were all blooming nicely, promising great displays as the summer goes along. Lots of people were enjoying the gardens taking lunch or just wandering around.
Of course, all of this wandering around created a yawning need for ham and tomato sandwiches which were gratefully consumed at the wonderful Three Pigeons, along with a much needed pint of Neck Oil.
I think the levels of hunger were exacerbated because of the long-winded wander earlier in the day. I thought Denise (and the girls) would like a walk through the woods, so we headed into the deep undergrowth up the hill. Then there came a fork in the road.
Two paths, one left, one right. It’s been quite a while since I last trod these paths. I chose left. As I told Denise later, anytime I am called on to navigate and confidently announce “We go left“, we should actually go right.
I knew I’d gone the wrong way quite early on but figured, all paths lead somewhere and just kept walking. Eventually I spotted a clearing up ahead and figured I’d be able to work out where we were.
We reached a fence and nothing looked familiar. It was all quite odd. I decided to go through the gate and, suddenly, there were cows. We were on the Queen’s Bottom. As Mirinda said “How could you not recognise that field immediately???!!!“
I admit it was a bit odd but, in my feeble defence, I was coming at it from a weird angle. And, of course, my navigation is shit.
