Greys Court
Monday 8th May,2006.
This morning our rental car was swapped out. Would you believe that in place of the Ford Fiesta we received a brand new Volvo V70. Very nice! Its an estate wagon with sunroof, power seats, and - to Merrilyn delight - heated seats. Its a diesel but to my suprise it is extremely refined with plenty of power. Should be good for some touring. We'll have this car until my new company car arrives.
We've all been itching to get out of Windsor so this morning we decided to check out some high-end prospective areas. We get the sense that we probably can't afford these areas but want to see what some of these towns along the Thames are all about.
So we started off at Datchet. Just out of Windsor. Its only small and doesn't have much in the way of local convenience stores such as grocers or milk bars. So we ruled it out straight away.
Next stop was Maidenhead. Whilst on the Thames we felt it had a little more of an industrial feel. We walked through some estates and back streets to get a sense of the types of properties that are on offer. At this time we're thinking about an apartment that has access to communal gardens and perhaps with local parks close by.
Leaving Maidenhead we drove north along the A404 to Marlow. As soon as you enter this town you get a sense it's affluent. As we approached the river we saw Bentleys, Mercs, BMW, etc. Pretty much a prestige car show. We parked on High Street (I'm finding most towns have a street with this name) and walked to get a sense of the shops. There is a small local Waitrose and M&S although these are more convenience stores with prices to match. You'd have to do your shop out of town. I dropped by a few Real Estate agents and my thoughts were confirmed. There's not too much on offer and what is, is priced circa 2500BGP per month. Ouch!
We grabbed some sandwiches and ate lunch by the Thames. The geese were obviously well catered for and were very bold approaching us. Merrilyn and I alternated defence.
From Marlow we drove west to Henley-On-Thames. I'd been there on a previous business trip. Although I had initially ruled out Henley because its difficult to get to Bracknell by train, Merrilyn and I have been considering that its likely that I'll either be driving to work or driving to a train station. Its just too restrictive to think you can only live within a 10min walk of a station.
As we drove we passed through a spectacular series of woods. One even had blue bells blanketed thick at the base of the birch trees. I think we're lucky to be here at this time. All the leaves are new, the apple blossom is either in full bloom or starting to fall, and the tulips and annuals are at their best. Its a very pretty sight. I've snapped lots of photos so check out our album to see them.
We parked by the Thames and went on foot through the main streets of Hart St, Duke St, and Market St. There's lots on offer here in terms of restaurants, shopping (there's a large Waitrose), and pubs. The reggata must be close as we saw a large row of marquees set up as rowing sheds. Hope we get a chance to come and see the race.
After scouting a while we stopped for a coffe. I got a call from one of my colleagues back in Melbourne. He sounded exhausted. He and his family will be flying tomorrow to the UK. We know exactly what he's going through. It was 12am in Melbourne and sounded like there were still more things to do. We're glad that is all past us!
On the way back to the car we decided to make a visit to Greys Court. Its a castle that I think harks back to the 13 century. Will need to do some reading on this. In any case, I had been there before and knew Merrilyn would be interested. Its a little difficult to find and we did get lost. It doesn't help when there are no street names on your map. But I can say we were glad to find it. A stand-out feature of this castle are the gardens. And of course, now is the time to view them. There were blossom and annuals in full glory, together with well maintined hedge rows, and climbing wisteria.
I showed the family a contemplation path. Its basically a brick path than meanders about a central sun dial with inscriptions on each of its four side. Following the path you will encounter each inscription in turn. James decided he was going to be a train an took off following the bricks making chugging sounds. How cute!
The castle is located in a lovely dale with fields all about. On the way back to the car we had to say hello to the highland sheep repleat with spring lambs in tow.
At about 5pm we decided to make a bee-line back to Windsor. The trip home took us through Wargrave and Twyford before we picked up the M4 to Windsor.
We had dinner at a local restaurant and then ventured to Waitrose for our first real shop. It was a bit of an eye opener. Not so much for the price (we had done some good research before we left Oz and the prices were expected) but rather the range. Waitrose seem to have a lot of self-branded products and we felt then range wasn't as goo as Melbourne. Anyway, with that chore behind us, we feel one step closer being settled.
This morning our rental car was swapped out. Would you believe that in place of the Ford Fiesta we received a brand new Volvo V70. Very nice! Its an estate wagon with sunroof, power seats, and - to Merrilyn delight - heated seats. Its a diesel but to my suprise it is extremely refined with plenty of power. Should be good for some touring. We'll have this car until my new company car arrives.
We've all been itching to get out of Windsor so this morning we decided to check out some high-end prospective areas. We get the sense that we probably can't afford these areas but want to see what some of these towns along the Thames are all about.
So we started off at Datchet. Just out of Windsor. Its only small and doesn't have much in the way of local convenience stores such as grocers or milk bars. So we ruled it out straight away.
Next stop was Maidenhead. Whilst on the Thames we felt it had a little more of an industrial feel. We walked through some estates and back streets to get a sense of the types of properties that are on offer. At this time we're thinking about an apartment that has access to communal gardens and perhaps with local parks close by.
Leaving Maidenhead we drove north along the A404 to Marlow. As soon as you enter this town you get a sense it's affluent. As we approached the river we saw Bentleys, Mercs, BMW, etc. Pretty much a prestige car show. We parked on High Street (I'm finding most towns have a street with this name) and walked to get a sense of the shops. There is a small local Waitrose and M&S although these are more convenience stores with prices to match. You'd have to do your shop out of town. I dropped by a few Real Estate agents and my thoughts were confirmed. There's not too much on offer and what is, is priced circa 2500BGP per month. Ouch!
We grabbed some sandwiches and ate lunch by the Thames. The geese were obviously well catered for and were very bold approaching us. Merrilyn and I alternated defence.
From Marlow we drove west to Henley-On-Thames. I'd been there on a previous business trip. Although I had initially ruled out Henley because its difficult to get to Bracknell by train, Merrilyn and I have been considering that its likely that I'll either be driving to work or driving to a train station. Its just too restrictive to think you can only live within a 10min walk of a station.
As we drove we passed through a spectacular series of woods. One even had blue bells blanketed thick at the base of the birch trees. I think we're lucky to be here at this time. All the leaves are new, the apple blossom is either in full bloom or starting to fall, and the tulips and annuals are at their best. Its a very pretty sight. I've snapped lots of photos so check out our album to see them.
We parked by the Thames and went on foot through the main streets of Hart St, Duke St, and Market St. There's lots on offer here in terms of restaurants, shopping (there's a large Waitrose), and pubs. The reggata must be close as we saw a large row of marquees set up as rowing sheds. Hope we get a chance to come and see the race.
After scouting a while we stopped for a coffe. I got a call from one of my colleagues back in Melbourne. He sounded exhausted. He and his family will be flying tomorrow to the UK. We know exactly what he's going through. It was 12am in Melbourne and sounded like there were still more things to do. We're glad that is all past us!
On the way back to the car we decided to make a visit to Greys Court. Its a castle that I think harks back to the 13 century. Will need to do some reading on this. In any case, I had been there before and knew Merrilyn would be interested. Its a little difficult to find and we did get lost. It doesn't help when there are no street names on your map. But I can say we were glad to find it. A stand-out feature of this castle are the gardens. And of course, now is the time to view them. There were blossom and annuals in full glory, together with well maintined hedge rows, and climbing wisteria.
I showed the family a contemplation path. Its basically a brick path than meanders about a central sun dial with inscriptions on each of its four side. Following the path you will encounter each inscription in turn. James decided he was going to be a train an took off following the bricks making chugging sounds. How cute!
The castle is located in a lovely dale with fields all about. On the way back to the car we had to say hello to the highland sheep repleat with spring lambs in tow.
At about 5pm we decided to make a bee-line back to Windsor. The trip home took us through Wargrave and Twyford before we picked up the M4 to Windsor.
We had dinner at a local restaurant and then ventured to Waitrose for our first real shop. It was a bit of an eye opener. Not so much for the price (we had done some good research before we left Oz and the prices were expected) but rather the range. Waitrose seem to have a lot of self-branded products and we felt then range wasn't as goo as Melbourne. Anyway, with that chore behind us, we feel one step closer being settled.
posted by Marty at
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
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