Tuesday 18 October: THE CHEQUERS, BRAGBURY END (Elvis Pile, Andrew Swift, and a Ferrari)
COMMENT: The usual suspects were in the USA, Crete, Cyprus, etc, etc, and this meeting was the smallest yet- in fact it couldn't have been any smaller and still been a meeting. However, it was in a way a historic occasion because Andrew gave Elvis a lift there in his Ferrari, more than 25 years after Elvis won the right to a lift at a function at Tewin Cowper School. Does it seem in character for Andrew to forget and Elvis to remember over a quarter of a century?
Elvis said the ride was quite an experience and I know what he means, many years ago I had a ride in the Ferrari myself. I happen at the moment to be reading "Alice in Wonderland" and it struck me that reading the book was a bit like a ride in the Ferrari, an experience combining in about equal quantities surreal humour, wonder and terror. The original working title for "Alice in Wonderland" was "Alice's Adventures Underground" and you felt that the Ferrari, seeming one inch above the ground, and miles below the hedgerows, might have been an ideal travel vehicle for Alice. The only travel experience in Tewin that compares with Andrew's Ferrari is Rupert's balloon where instead of being propelled semi-underground at terrific speeds you are launched into the atmosphere in a luncheon basket. You never thought living in commuterland could be so stimulating
The Chequers at Bragbury End dates back to 1774 when it was a farmhouse on a 40 acre farm which included a slaughterhouse. The farm was taken over by a St Albans brewer in 1820 but the Chequers was only granted a full licence in 1919. It's another grade II listed building.
No comments:
Post a Comment