Day Eight - And So The Fond Farewell

It seems a lot longer than a week since I set off from Olney and the banks of the Great Ouse.  The past seven fine days full of novelty and a certain amount of physical challenges had been blessed with dry weather.  Today, the rain came down and the feather in my hat has become a bedraggled affair – more reminiscent of a fish bone than a curling plume!  However, if rain had to be experienced, with a fairly short ride in prospect, this was the day to have it.

My fifth horse for the week was Dennis, the only one I had not previously ridden.  He was a class act and he came with outriders!  The Sheriff’s Posse, six riders strong, set off in strengthening rain to St Katharine’s , Parmoor – a house with a long history.  St Katharine’s was bought by Sue Ryder after the war and now offers a wonderfully peaceful location for a ‘Retreat’, as well as a base for local gatherings and functions.   Today, it was not the house so much as the Victorian walled garden which I wanted to see.  It is being lovingly restored with volunteer help from High Wycombe’s YMCA and The Old Tea Warehouse.  The addition of a greenhouse earlier in the year gives the young volunteers a chance to gain an accredited horticultural qualification from Aylesbury College.  If the magnificent vegetables, both indoors and outdoors, were anything to go by, their knowledge is paying dividends.  Work proceeds on uncovering and restoring more of the original greenhouses.

This was to be my final stop of the week.  It was rather fitting, therefore, that I was presented with a fragrant bouquet of flowers by young William before riding away on our very last ride to Turville Court.  Despite the lowering clouds which obscured the view down this beautiful valley, the route took us down a steeply wooded slope with enchanting glimpses of the picturesque villages nestling in the enveloping curves of the Chiltern Hills.   I was very glad to have the company of our youngest member, Bobby Howard-Jones who, with all the agility of a 10 year old,  sprang off his 22 year old pony to open and close all the bridleway gates!

Turville Court is but half a mile (1 Km.) from Oxfordshire and it is here that with a final flourish the High Sheriff and her Posse completed this mini tour of Buckinghamshire.  Beaconsfield’s Town Crier, Dick Smith, announced our arrival, welcome cheers rang out and a very wet High sheriff handed the reins back to Dennis’ owner, Polly Portwin.  A symbolic moment – in times past, the High Sheriff might have handed the responsibility of escorting the Judges through their county to the neighbouring county’s High Sheriff.  My responsibility was rather less onerous.  No outlaws had sought to impede my progress.  Indeed, quite the opposite.  The warmth of our welcome wherever I went exceeded expectations.  None more so than the amazing reception Mike and Carol Clare had prepared for invited guests at Turville Court.

A delicious hog roast with all the trimmings had been cooking since 6.00 a.m. and guests were able to enjoy it all under cover listening to the ‘Giacomo Trio’.  A terrific finale to an astonishing week.  THANK YOU TO MIKE AND CAROL.  The generosity of your hospitality summed up the week perfectly.  Listening to the rain beating down on our windows tonight, I am in awe of the generosity shown to me even by the weather but words cannot fully express the general sense of gratitude and humbleness I feel at the true generosity shown to me by everyone I have met.

I hope the splendid photographs taken all week by Marion Mason tell you something of this joyous journey and the poem written for me by Mark Niel encapsulates what it was about. 

THANK YOU EVERYONE

Carolyn