Wednesday 4 May

An early start today as Ray had to be at the station for the 7:20 to London for his one day a month job. About which, incidentally, one of his sons remarked..."are you sure you can stand the pace dad?" Well, so far he can and safely tucked up with laptop, Kindle, phone and headphones the journey and subsequent work were a pleasant diversion from the endless leisure. 

Meanwhile Alison made her way into Woodstock for some pottering about and necessary if unexciting tasks and thus the day passed for us without incident. She did manage to book our next two stops so we have those to look forward to. 

After meeting at the station we wandered into Bladon in the evening, swapping stories of our day until we got to the church where Churchill is buried. We chanced upon a group of splendidly attired Royal British Legion gentlemen milling around the churchyard. Alison being, well, Alison she was soon in animated conversation with a heavily be-medalled cove and thus discovered that May 4 marked the anniversary of the liberation of the Netherlands in 1944 and they meet to place a wreath on Churchill's grave at 8pm on this day every year. 

After a quick peak at his grave and the well tended Churchill family plot we left them to mark the occasion in private and walked back to Mavis in a reflective mood as the sun set over the tranquil streets of Bladon and back to the site where we watched the lambs frolic in the adjoining field.