Wimbledon

On Saturday we went Womble hunting on Wimbledon Common.  Harry dropped some litter in the hope of a little Womble not being able to resist temptation but by now they are used to those old tricks and Harry had to go back and pick up the tissue after we hid behind a bush for some 15 minutes waiting and hoping...even the thought of seeing Caramello in the grass didn't tempt them (or did it?). It seems the only way to see one is to go to the Glastonbury Music Festival where the Wombles are playing but unfortunately we missed the opportunity to buy a ticket. 


Underground, overground, wombling free 
The Wombles of Wimbledon Common are we 
Making good use of the things that we find 
Things that the everyday folks leave behind..

Instead we wandered down some paths lined with trees and high stinging nettle and found a lake, windmill museum and a traditional fair ground (with all the kiddies rides).   We met Rebecca and Nylan on the way to the tennis stadium - closed but with an air of excitement as plans are well afoot for the start of Wimbledon.  Walking around we saw lots of big houses, no cars parked on the streets (who would park their Audi, Merc, Rolls on the street when they can be displayed behind tall metal gates), and a gorse hedge (yes in Wimbledon!!).  Sunday, turned from cold to colder and wet to wetter and so we drove to Pangbourne where our planned walk along the Thames turned into a mediocre lunch in a pub and a drive back to Bristol via a rainforest park which didn't have much in it except an agouti and some toucans.  The pub was old and has some history...like it sat on the boundary between Berkshire and Oxfordshire and as each shire had different licencing laws the patrons and proprietor moved from one end of the pub to the other to extend their drinking time. Jerome K Jerome also finished his journey in three men in a boat at the pub on the river Thames. This sounds like my type of story, written in 1889 it is all about a travelling holiday of three friends on the Thames between Kingston and Oxford.  It was a serious travel guide (well meant to be), but apparently with the anecdotes along the route is well known for its humour and sentimental stories - will look in some second hand book shops for it...