Windsor, Autumn 2001

Windsor Castle from the Thames

Jenny and I "did" Windsor on Saturday while Bob and two of his cousin's husbands went to the local pup to watch football and drink beer. This was not my first trip to Windsor. The first time I visited her was in 1979 when the girls were quite young. My best memory of the castle on that trip was while on the guided tour Joanne, who was about eight at the time, took one of the tour guides to task over the state of one of the rooms we were passing through. No matter what they had on offer today, I doubted if it could top that experience and besides the cost has gone up to eleven pounds. (!) After a brief planning session in car park, Jenny and I decided we would take the 2 hour boat tour down the Thames.

Eaton College from tour bus

We had three hours to wait so we hopped on the green and tan tour bus. The tour operater on the bus was excellent and I think I learned more about Windsor this time that I ever have before. The bus took us across the river to Eaton college which appears to be a small community rather than what I would normally consider a "school" It was founded by Henry VI in 1440 and is probably the most famous school in the world. While we were riding past the playing fields I remembered that I had read somewhere that "The victory at Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eaton." I don't remember who said it, or where I read it but it came bubbling up from some dark and murky corner of my mind.
The bus came back across the bridge heading towards Windsor proper. We passed along the edge of Windsor's great park which is just below the castle. It was established as a park in 1360 as a hunting forest.

Henry VIII Gate

The oldest part of the town is located immediately opposite Henry VIII Gate and there are several cobbled streets here, dating from the 17th century. The Old King's Head in Church Street has a plaque recording the execution warrant for Charles I in 1648. The building is said (by some) to be the place where Shakespeare wrote "The Merry Wives of Windsor". We passed the house of Nell Gwynne, favourite mistress of Charles II. Next to the Crooked House Tea Rooms you will find Queen Charlotte Street, the shortest street in Britain ande Guildhall, built by Sir Christopher Wren (architect of St Paul's Cathedral in London) in 1690. The story of the Guildhall is that the councillors did not believe that Wren's design could stay up, and insisted that the central columns be added in the interests of safety - Wren built the columns, but made them an inch short of the ceiling!

Entrance to Royal Train Station

After a very pleasant and informative ride around the town we got off on the High Street just behind the castle and wandered towards the Royal Train Station. While it still has one track and functions, sort or, it's mostly been converted into a very upmarket shopping complex. Very posh!! The entrance to it makes you feel like you are entering Diagon Alley. I must have been in dire need of food and about to collapse because the picture that I took of the entrance is a little off kilter. We had a delicious lunch in one of the resturants and then wandered around just enjoying the sights until time for our boat trip.

Sculling on the Thames at Windsor

The boat trip down the Thames was lovely but brisk, and I took about 30 pictures. This journey passes through Boveney Lock, Sutherland Grange, Willows, Oakley Court, Bray Film Studios, Queens Eyot and Monkey Island, Eton College, the Mill House, Windsor Racecourse and the Brocas Meadows. I found all those names in the brochure because I guarantee you I would have never remembered them. It was a lovely day and lots of people were either out on the river in various craft, or were lounging around on the river banks. Everyone waved at everybody else. This is such a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours but there was so much to see that it was impossible for my mind to retain more than just sketches.

Don't let their looks fool you
these birds can be very aggressive.

There are many lovely homes along the Thames and you can just imagine what one of those little gems would cost. A while back I read a book called To Say Nothing of The Dog." by Connie Willis in which the main characters take a boat trip down the Thames. I had this trip in mind the entire time I was reading it. We passed another tour boat that had obviously been chartered for a wedding reception. That was a very convivial bunch of folks. I hope that no one fell overboard. I am putting a picture of the swans on this page because I they made such a lasting impression on me. Not on this trip, but back on the 1979 trip Joanne and I were sitting on a bench eating our packed lunch at this very spot when one then hopped out of the river, marched over to us and demanded our sandwiches. Believe me these birds that look so lovely and peaceful in the water are in fact very large, vicious criminals. Naturally we gave up our lunch. We had no other choice. I didn't grudge the swan the sandwich, but I did resent the terroristic threatening part and I have never been able to gaze fondly on swans since.

Window Shopping

We did a little window shopping down the main shopping street and then got back to Paula's house about 7:30, just about the same time Bob and Steve came weaving in from the Pub. They had a wonderful time it seems drinking beer and eating curry and the team they had been rooting for won so they were a couple of happy, tipsy people.

On Sunday Paula fixed a sumptuous breakfast for everyone. She and Steve are the couple who got married on my last trip over in the church I was so impressed with. I wrote about it in my 1999 Windsor journal. I didn't get a chance to really know them at the wedding as everything was so confused, but this time we had a chance to sit down and get acquainted. They are such nice people. At noon we all left to go downtown Windsor to the Harte and Garter where we met up with other members of Bob's family for a Sunday "Carvery" which is what they call a buffet dinner that includes Roast Beef, Yorkshire Pudding, Ham and Turkey. The Harte and Garter is one of those old, old restaurants and very nice. You have to book a table at least a week in advance for the Sunday Carvery.

After lunch we all took a stroll heading down hill towards a Pub along the river that had outdoor seating. There were 11 of us and the route took us through the shopping district so it took quite a while for everyone to show up. But it was a lovely afternoon. The ladies all drank tea (just like in the novels) and the guys nursed pints and everyone just visited. Later on it got chilly and everyone moved inside until the end of yet another football (soccer) game.

While we were there a couple came in with a little boy about four years old. The dad was watching the game and the woman was chatting with the lady behind the bar and to keep the kid amused she gave him several 2 p coins and the kid entertained himself by pulling a chair up in front of the slot machine and putting the coins in the slot, and of course the machine wouldn't take them so it would dump them back out in the tray and the kid was pretending like he had won. The machine in the meantime was flashing lights and making noises and the kid was pushing buttons and I'll tell you, I have seen lots of adults playing the slots in Las Vegas who weren't having nearly as much fun as that kid was.

Link to Windsor photo's