Holi-day on a Holy Day

 'Long may the Spring quietly as a sleeping infant's breath send up cold water to the traveller with soft and even pulse'.

S T Coleridge

As we sat in the garden of the Duke of Cumberland Arms [known locally as the Duke] in the small Sussex hamlet of Henley enjoying a swift half I commented to Mr GBT that I was at my happiest. This is an old inn which still has gas lighting and has not been gentrified. It's not a spit and sawdust pub, but it hasn't been turned into one of those very expensive gastro pubs which are really restaurants by any other name. The customer behind me in the queue was reliving the drinks of his youth and was ordering a Black Velvet or poor man's Guinness as the barman joked. Yesterday he laughed as he revealed that he'd had his first Snake Bite in years. This place is built into the side of the Downs and has a series of pools dotted around the garden which are fed all year round by a natural spring which never dries up. Whilst we supped the chef appeared and threw bread into the ponds for all the koi carp in them. Being nosy I asked how he'd come about having so many and he told me that people keep giving them to him as they get too big for their ponds. He's got his very own orphanage now. Noticing that there was no netting I was curious about whether the heron took them. They are too heavy apparently, but he received loads of goldfish recently which are no longer there...the heron tucked in merrily treated the fish supply as his own personal sushi bar. I guess we all have to eat something! It's fascinating some of the unexpected tales people tell you when you have time to stop and chat awhile.

We were enjoying a fancy free walk from Easebourne to make the most of the good weather on Sunday and this was our midway break. You'll see below that we saw some sights on the way round and got some great views. Everything's greening up wonderfully. The artwork is by a chainsaw artist called Nathan Blatherwick and there were several examples of his work in the park. We got there just before a couple of sets of parents released their very excited small children on an Easter egg hunt. The vehicle has to be the coolest ever horse box I've seen. It was a lovely six mile waddle and good to escape GBT for a change of scene.

Arilx