April 2026 - Trip to England

Hi,

At Christmas 2025 it was not possible for us to get over to the UK. All the more important to get over for Easter and the birthday and Annieversary season. The timing coincided with the focus of my project shifting into highly detailed work for the team with less for me to do, and adding days off around Easter is always easier to plan.

Spending time in Ledbury with Dad and Annie

When in England, talk about the weather. We watched the forecast for Ledbury and it was fairly bleak with rain, wind and cold temps. But already by day two the outlook had completely changed. April, eh? No need for raincoats. It was still a little windy but the sun kept coming out. It was lovely. Alexander Golf Resort was full of golfers. We had a lovely time a Progress Close, all our spirits lifting at once.

We decided to visit the Nest, a first time for Denise and myself and the first time for Dad since his stroke. My car nav does not automatically seek out garden centres, for some reason it prefers pubs. But this is an oversight. You can have both! The first thing you see as you walk in is what we used to call an off-licence.

The Nest was heating up with an influx of fairweather gardeners jostling for position around the best tables, the excitement tangible as it became clear, he who orders food first, wins. Fortunately for us there is a sanctuary of peace and quiet upstairs and we discovered the perfect table by a window.

Great menu with something for everyone; huge coffees, pots of tea, matcha drinks, booze. This agricultural hedonism almost makes you want to take up gardening. After the sumptuous hot meals and generous salads the pleasure is extended into a wide variety of luxury cakes and tarts. Mouthwatering. Naturally we took our time. Much later out in the garden area as we admired the myriad varieties of apple trees for sale - it is Herefordshire after all - the wind strengthened and started knocking them over. We grabbed some necessary additions in the sheltered area and headed for the cars, but not before Denise captured this memento of our visit.

Lovely days between the Golf Resort and Progress Close. Always so much to talk about, the days race by. Dad took us on his rolator walk towards town with its maze of different paths and inclines and at this time of year an abundance of greenery and blooms. The bright orange ones kept cropping up and made a stunning contribution to the springtime spectacle. Along the way, nice chatty neighbours and friendly felines, the walks form a quiet haven away from the traffic. Spring flowers in England are usually two to three weeks ahead of ours.

The Old Town of Ledbury

The famous old buildings are well-documented and framed in museums but still hold a fascination worthy of the occasional tourist snap. The small alleys and footpaths of the old town reveal some secrets not apparent from distance. From miles around the church spire can be seen from the south over west to the north. In the east are the Malverns providing their rolling backdrop to Ledbury. And it looks like all the hundreds of other church spires of similar shape. Up close, it has a secret. As we walked around the church and through the gardens the odd architecture suddenly revealed itself. The spire is a separate building from the church. My only experience of such a construction. I was inside the spire at ground level reading about the restoration project when the keeper arrived to lock up.

We like The Seven Stars. There's a really nice bar inviting you to quaff beer which I have still not managed to do. Round the back there's a proper restaurant with good seating and service and a menu choice that suits us well. The wine list is perfectly adequate. Their concept must work, they are taking over other restaurants in the region.

The Day in Hereford

Dad & Annie had stuff to do in Hereford and we always like it there. Quality cotton garments from M&S are admired by many in Switzerland and we have kids here running around in their children's quality cotton clothes. A decent pair of summer shorts for me to wear at home cost £20. And outside if you're lucky a talented busker may be trying their luck. This was such a day. The closest to the style of Mark Knopfler I've ever heard on the street. I'll save his story for another time.

We arranged to meet at the Cathedral Cafe which is not obviously apparent, hidden round the back, and opens up to a museum, kiosk and then the cafe courtyard, inviting in the spring sunshine. Very decent nosh. Each time I enter one of these buildings I'm always struck by the same thing. Someone, perhaps a small group, designed this building. They imagined the materials most of which had to be excavated and formed. They predicted the acoustics. No computer, no phone. Someone approved it, paid for it. Someone had to supervise the construction over many years and pass the knowledge on to others. Many died in the process.

The next part of the plan was to head down to the river, which was much easier for us through the afternoon traffic and roadworks and unfortunately much harder for Dad and Annie and they had to give up and go home. We always go to the river when we are here. Near the school area we found a rare parking space close the park entrance and the river and we headed out across the small footbridge. The weather was really perfect with very little wind allowing that stretch of river to reflect that famous old tranquility and steadfastness these English towns and cities are so famous for. Like looking back through history and wondering, how much has really changed? It's an interesting exercise to discern the very old from the parts which have changed constantly with new ownership.

The vast space of the adjacent fields soften the sounds of schools, playgrounds and distant traffic. So peaceful and yet so close to the city centre. This time we decided to leave out the cafe area which we've enjoyed in all weathers over the years. The new cafe / restaurant in the second photo is at one end of a park and I explored it quickly. The roof terrace is clearly a place to be for drinks and atmosphere and the restaurant must be busy with such a good location. These parks everywhere are delightful and many have some form of memorial to one of the wars and Hereford's story.

Norma's birthday

This was such a wonderful family get-together at Howard and Norma's house and we were so immersed in it that I didn't take any photos. The food was amazing as always. Both front and back gardens look incredible, the love and workmanship invested in them apparent even to a non-gardener. To think how that steep slope was looking when they moved into the house, the transformation is astounding.

We loved seeing everyone again and thoroughly enjoyed the chance to catch up. Katie was on fine form and I learned another huge chunk about F1 and the rewards for long and loyal service she has coming up. That's a lot of years. A constant theme on these trips home. Where does the time go? Perhaps more so on this trip than before. Approaching retirement poses many questions, one of which is our dedication to our work and all the time and energy we gave in return for cash to finance our lives.

Blin's garden

On the day of the lunch at the Feathers, which was Annie's birthday, the event was turned into a convivial family lunch. We drove to Hereford to pick up Blin and had the opportunity in the spectacular weather to have a tour of the garden.

Lunch at the Feathers

And then we drove to Ledbury for the big event, an extraordinary get-together, a wonderfully long, winding lunch with overlapping conversations and some very good food. This place offers quieter areas which we need and a variety of rooms and spaces for teas and coffees. At the back of the main restaurant is a wide spacious table for larger gatherings, which provided us with just the right privacy.

Thinking back to the family gatherings we've had over the years, there was a time when we used to almost take them for granted. And then you look through the photo albums and realise that they did not happen all the time. Each event is a snapshot and worth saving and savouring.

The Alexander Golf Hotel

The hotel is lovely in the springtime. Lots of daytime golfers. The big change is the new spa and fitness extension. The room we occupied for the 2019 family reunion is now a huge fitness room full of equipment. Mainly Technogym. I connected my phone to the racing bike trainer but the integration is clunky. With a bit of work you can get some statistics out of it. The best feature was the lack of people. Each time I went there it was more or less empty. Just use whatever you need. Perfect.

The spa has been extended with various saunas and other facilities, the highlight is an infinity pool with currents to swim against. I didn't try it. The existing pool now has a mix of saline water and some chlorine. So much less chlorine, which is welcome. Despite the membership being full with a long waiting list, as residents no-one was every in our way. I'm not pitching the hotel but I see it as a good solution when staying in the area. Friendly staff, mega included and inclusive breakfast menu, not either/or it's as-well-as.

Leaving Ledbury

The days were busy and we managed to spend a lot of time together, which was the whole point. These are the truly valuable days, the days we don't normally have. Finally we had to leave and we managed to grab a couple of selfies as we were leaving.

Farnham

Guitar Village

We are in Farnham primarily to see Sean, Naomi and Esme. Ahead of that there is a window of opportunity to visit the 'Diagon Alley' of Farnham which is Guitar Village. For many guitarists these kinds of shops are rare now as everything is online, so this is a real treat. The place is crammed full of guitars. There are parents with children just starting out on their journey, overwhelmed with the instruments available and how they are going to tackle them. And there are the old fogies who could quite happily take a dozen or so home to play with, in a crazy futuristic world of over-abundance and limitless opportunity. Even if you can bring yourself to focus on just one, the self-inquisition starts. There's a beautiful PRS, a custom variation with humbucker splitting. Black gold or similar, arched top, fine maple figuring, the classic soap-bar pickup holders, the bird inlays... the feature list goes on and on. They offer me a discount. Not so easy to shift these things, obviously. It would replace my Blade, my main instrument since 1992. Should I? Yes, I should, but I don't. Not the right time.

The Castle

We ate at the Castle for the first time. Very good food, great service. These menus always fascinate me. The presentation of food in the two countries is so different. Most Swiss people, at least till the advent of social media, had never seen toffee or fudge, for example. But everyone knows what a brownie is.

Esme's birthday presents

We took Esme shopping for her birthday. She knew exactly the kind of shops she wanted to visit and we found lots of interesting things. Later on we all had a smoothie and a bite to eat in a nice cafe run by teenagers, or so it seemed to me. Lots of fun, she is just so nice to be with and reminds you of how priorities are when you are eight years old. How much can you really love a pencil case? Answer, when it's a cat, then a lot. Lots of very important characters from shows we had never heard of.

The Third Monkey

This was a tip from Sean. They have a Michelin star chef and he felt we ought to try it. We booked for an early sitting and we among the first people there and were taken under the wing of the chef de service (or equivalent) who used to live in CH, and we were provided with excellent service all evening. Many restaurants were serving the delicate green asparagus. Back home it's the season of the huge German white asparagus with entire menus dedicated to all sorts of variations.

The pros and cons of the Bush Hotel

The breakfast is expansive. Compared to a meal any other time of day it's actually very good value for money, if you are very hungry. The upstairs rooms are fairly spacy but there's no lift. The garden door rooms are smaller but great when you can sit outside. On the patio I'm always reminded of Steve and I have some photos of him from around Sean's wedding. The bar is small, cozy and well-equipped. It works better when you can sit outside.

In the breakfast room there are usually some groups of cabin crews, underlining the usefulness for LHR and LGW. The big advantage for us is the hotel location and access to the town by foot. We can get everything done here without the need for last minute shopping at the airport. I feel they would benefit from a spa or as it's known elsewhere, a wellness area, and perhaps a snooker room.

Goodbye

And then it was time to say goodbye, which always comes round so fast. Esme was on really fine form. It's so important for us to capture these moments as the years just simply race by. They seem to be speeding up.

Hopefully this newsletter captured a few memories. You can read it on the website any time you like so you don't need to save it anywhere. Only invited family members have access. If you google it you should not find it. Please let me know if you do! Love - Iain x