WWII aircraft at RAF Halton's Charity Flying Weekend

The Queen’s official birthday is celebrated by trooping the colour and a flypast by the RAF in central London. If the idea of the tourists crowds don’t appeal, it’s happily possible to watch the flypast from the comfort and attractive surrounds of Buckinghamshire.

RAF Halton holds a Charity Flying Weekend each year to coincide with the trooping the colour flypast, and welcomes visitors to what is normally a military aerodrome.

The 2011 event was held in conjunction with the Chilterns MS Centre, who held their Summer Fete, and the Berkhamsted-based De Havilland Moth Club, who had arranged various flying displays.

We arrived shortly after midday, so in good time for the flypast at around 1pm. We were struck by just how popular it was, given that we’d only heard about it through having come across photos of the previous year’s events and looked up the 2011 dates. The parking area was filling up quickly with hundreds of cars, although still had room enough for us.

Spectactors at RAF Halton watch Battle of Britain Memorial Flight approach

We had no idea what to expect, however there was a good selection of stalls – many in military green tents that were rather in keeping with the event. Arts and crafts, traditional fete games (Tara won a coconut from the coconut shy), and the usual food and drink were all there, so everything you’d need. Many visitors had also come well prepared though with some impressive picnics, table and chairs in evidence. Well prepared to enjoy the day.

Turning towards the aircraft, the inter-war De Havilland Moths were much in evidence, with much to-ing and fro-ing. A nice selection of WWII aircraft were also on the ground. The main event was the flypast – which included most but not all of the formations seen flying down the Mall a few minutes earlier. While the Red Arrows went elsewhere, we saw the fast jets, transporters, hawker jets and the always superb Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, which gave us three fabulous passes.

We headed off shortly after the flypast, just as Captain Neville’s Flying Circus was getting underway – clearly there was much going on to provide entertainment for the whole day. Next year we may well bring a picnic and make a full day of it.

Overall it’s a great local event that piggy-backs on a national spectacle. It’s free to get in, raises money for a local charity and provides a good day’s entertainment for anyone who likes to watch magnificent men in their flying machines in action.

View more photos from the RAF Halton Charity Flying Weekend on the Mule’s Flickr channel.

Part of the Queen's Birthday flypast over RAF Halton

The Swan in Amersham

We’ve tried a few of the dining options in Old Amersham over the past year or two. We were bowled over by the standard of cuisine in the Artichoke restaurant and have some good experiences in some of the pubs and the deli. This was the turn of another pub, the Swan, located further away from most of the shops and eateries, down the western end of the high street.

Our visit was at a quiet time before dinner got underway, however the outside area was proving popular with afternoon drinkers. We settled in to a table by the window to overlook the high street, accompanied by a pint of Rebellion from the Marlow Brewery and Aspall Suffolk Cyder. There was a really nice selection on the menu, which would cater for most tastes. The food was good, although not quite perfect, as while my lamb was deliciously succulent and tender, Tara’s duck was overcooked. Nevertheless, with friendly service, pleasant atmosphere and good food and drink overall, we’d recommend giving it a try.

• The Swan in Amersham

Turville

The village of Turville is widely known as a picturesque jewel in the Chilterns, but the fact it was also the outdoor filming location for the Vicar of Dibley made it an easy choice for us, as Tara’s quite the Dibley fan.

There’s little in the village itself, but for us it was an absolute pleasure to wander the small streets around some of the prettiest historic buildings and Chilterns countryside you could ask for. For those looking to spend a while longer to absorb the atmosphere, there is a village pub and a walk up the hill to the windmill.

• Turville church history
• Turville pub – The Bull & Butcher

Fingest

We decided to follow recommendations and travel the short distance up the road to the next village of Fingest. We pulled into the Chequers pub, which has a good write up in the Good Pub Guide. The menu was a little more limited than we’d expected, being largely meaty pub classics. I opted for sausage and mash, clearly comprising nicely sourced produce. We’re rather unsure about the future of the Chequers, however, as the current landlord was leaving the following week for a pub in Medmenhem, near Henley. Hopefully there’ll be a new landlord to carry this pleasant pub into the future.

The village of Fingest lacks the jaw-dropping looks of Turville, but it has a fine Norman church and is worth a brief stroll.

View our set of photos from Turville and Fingest on Flickr.

• Fingest church history

Food and drink festival

Looking for local events over Easter weekend, we came across the Chilterns Easter Festival of Food and Drink in Great Missenden, which it happily transpired was being run by the family of one of our favourite local tweeters.

Such festivals can sometimes be rather hit or miss, but this one was certainly on the money for us, offering a wide range of produce and goods, including many that are locally grown and crafted. There was a nice amount going on: demonstrations to drop into, a food tent for lunch, outdoors for relaxing and of course dozens of stalls.

View our set of photos from the food and drink festival.

• Chilterns Easter Festival of food and drink

Coleshill and the Harte and Magpies

Wrapping up the Easter holidays we looked for a local day trip, and opted to try the Harte and Magpies pub in Coleshill, near Amersham. This is the sister pub of the Royal Standard of England at Forty Green, near Beaconsfield. We suspect the Harte and Magpies doesn’t have the wow factor of its sister, but it offered a good menu with some nice specials, and many were enjoying the outdoor seating. The village of Coleshill is very pleasant to have a potter around, although rather too far from the pub. The village common was a remarkable combination of quintessential green which turns into a splendid woodland walk. Very nice indeed, and look out for the windmill.

• Coleshill village website
• The Harte and Magies pub

We arrived in Wallingford late in the day, too late to visit sights such as the castle gardens that close at 3pm, although we glimpsed some of the castle ruins from the Thames path. The riverside area is quiet and largely undeveloped, unlike in larger towns, and following the path takes you quickly into countryside. The Thames Path also offers fine views of the Wallingford’s bridge. A stroll over the bridge itself gives some idea of the size of the Thames at this point, which while much narrower than in London, remains impressive.

Wallingford's bridge over the Thames

The shopping and entertainment in the town seems reasonably good for a town of Wallingford’s size and includes theatre and cinema in the Old Corn Exchange, some good looking hostelries including the swanky Old Post Office, and a selection of both high street and more boutique shops with a speciality in antiques shops.

There doesn’t seem to be a particularly quick way of reaching Wallingford from the M40, as both routes, one a B road and the other optimistically graded an A road, take around 20 minutes. From the east it’s necessary to cross the Thames, which is possible at Wallingford Bridge. Roadworks hampered our leaving the town by this route, however alternative bridges are available a few miles to the north or south of the town.

All in all Wallingford makes for a good fair weather day-trip destination and several hours can be happily spent pottering around its historic sights, attractive streets and interesting shops, with plenty of option on hand for refreshment.

Wallingford Market Square

Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire were the destinations of a series of day-trips during half-term.

Pitstone, Ivinghoe and Tring

Back in February we visited the pleasant town of Berkhamsted. On Bank Holiday morning we pushed a little further north to the area around Tring, as two museums were open. The Pitstone Farm Museum (situated in the village of the same name) and the Ford End Watermill in Ivinghoe are unusual in only being open on a handful of days a year. The reason being is that both are volunteer-run and require a good number of volunteers in place to operate.

Tractor rides at Pitstone Farm Museum

The Pitstone Farm Museum is a real medley of attractions. At its heart is a preserved farm, however farm buildings have been turned into historic shops including a fascinating Smithy. There are also tractor rides, preserved vehicles, model railway and canal, crafts and stalls, and a brilliantly reconstruction of a Lancaster Bomber cockpit, to name but a few. There’s also a pleasant cafe selling home-made food at down to Earth prices.

Neighbouring Pistone is the attractive village of Ivinghoe, probably best known for the nearby Ivinghoe Beacon, one of the highest points in the Chiltern Hills. Also open for the Bank Holiday was the Water End Mill. This watermill is hundreds of years old and sells itself as being one of the only functioning watermills still to use its original machinery. There are friendly volunteers on hand to answer questions and activities for children to play with. The highlight undoubtedly was seeing the mill in full action, rattling away and actually grinding to make flour, which is for sale.

Miller collecting flour as it's made at Ford End Watermill

Back towards Pitstone we stopped for the short walk to Pitstone Windmill. Unusually this wasn’t open on the Bank Holiday, however there are fine views to be had from the windmill. In the past there used to be a cement works nearby, however today the scene has returned to its rural origins.

Pitstone Windmill

We wrapped the day by hopping over the border from Buckinghamshire back into Hertfordshire, with a stop in Tring itself. The town has a modest, pleasant high street, although as with many of the towns in the area there’s not much open on a Bank Holiday. There is branch of Costa on hand, however.

Tring high street

To view our photos from this trip, visit our Flickr channel.

Whipsnade Zoo

Just over the border into Bedfordshire and not many miles from our last day trip is Whipsnade Zoo. One of better known attractions of the area, Whipsnade is now run by ZSL that also operates London Zoo. It’s not cheap day out, costing £19.50 for adults, plus £4 for parking. This is however a family ticket for those with children. Whipsnade should be around a half-hour drive from Ricky, although as we found this is subject to the whims of the M1.

Whipsnade steam train passes camels, deer and yak

Covering a large site, there’s plenty to take up a day. We spent 5 hours at Whipsnade and still didn’t see it all. This, in some part, was due to the sign-posting, which we felt to be lacking and unclear at times. It was good to see animals with a good amount of space to roam on the whole. Some animals, such as wallabies and the odd “it’s not a rabbit, it’s not a deer, what is it?” mara and are allowed to wander around the site. Anyone disappointed at finding no elephants at London Zoo can now see them at the roomier Whipsnade, where the smaller elephant seemed to be content squirting water around. Other highlights included the rhinos, meerkats (which we dutifully compared), camels, giraffes and cheetahs. For children especially there’s a petting zoo and a steam train ride.

See a selection of the animals we saw at Whipsnade on our Flickr channel.

Thame

Having browsed a number of local towns on Flickr we decided we liked the look of Thame, situated in nearest Oxfordshire, just over the border from Buckinghamshire. Thame is a market town with a splendid historic centre and a good clutch of both independent and chain high street shops. A branch of Costa has opened in recent weeks, which is generally a sign of good times for a town, while we’re big fans of the brilliant independent book shop ‘The Book House’ and the extensive family butchers opposite. There’s also a branch of the glorious Steamer Trading Cook Shop, however after the huge spending spree this resulted in on visiting the Marlow branch, we sensibly gave it a wide berth on this occasion.

Thame town hall and high street

We picked up a number of local walk leaflets from the town hall to ensure we saw the best of what Thame has to offer. This included a nature reserve a few minutes walk from the town centre and to the north of the town the River Thame which eventually runs into the similarly named River Thames. There’s also a fabulously traditional looking cricket ground where spectators seem to gather to picnic around the boundary.

Thame is a 40 minute drive from Rickmansworth along the M40. See more images of our Thame visit on our Flickr channel.

In comparison to towns I’m familiar with, Berkhamsted reminded me a good deal of Kendal, from my own neck of the woods in South Lakeland. Both are historic market towns, abuzz on market day and full of family owned and boutique shops, with a ruined castle on the outskirts. It’s seems relatively uncommon to find a town these days that doesn’t have an homogenous high street of the same chain shops. Smaller towns can escape this curse. Rickmansworth does to a good extent and although only marginally larger in size, Berkhamsted has a far larger high street but retains a commendable proportion of independent shops.

A particular highlight for me was Berkhamsted’s art deco cinema, the Rex. The exterior is rather low-key; the majority of it advertising the Gatsby restaurant. The side of the building provides a discrete entrance to the cinema, and inside a stylish bar and box office awaits. Interestingly, the evening showings at the cinema appeared to largely booked up for some weeks in advance; a good sign of local support of their local independent cinema.

There was much we didn’t cover on our few hours in Berkhamsted. We didn’t reach the castle and if the websites about the town are anything to go by there’s plenty more points of interest. Here are some websites that cover what’s worth including in a visit:

• Berkhamsted Official Guide
• Berkhamsted Heritage Walk

This is also the 100th post to the mule. Thanks to all of you who have been visiting and commenting the site over the past 15 months.

Inside the Eden Shopping Centre, High Wycombe

This weekend’s foray into the surrounding area was to High Wycombe, which along with Watford are the largest towns hereabouts. As with Watford our motivation for visiting High Wycombe was the shopping.

Getting to High Wycombe from Rickmansworth is straight-forward by a number of routes. We opted for what Google Maps promised was the fastest – if not the shortest – route, via Uxbridge Road, the M25 and the M40; an estimated 30 min journey. Alternatively, going via the A404 is around 5 miles shorter, if estimated to take a few minutes longer. However given the current 50 mph restriction on much of the M25 south of Ricky I suspect it’d be a much finer run thing.

The M40 is a none-too-busy and partially 4-lane affair with no complications. The only areas of trouble were the huge and complex roundabout from junction 4 of the M40 heading into Wycombe and the usual navigation around the town. It seems to be that towns of the size of Watford and Wycombe demand complicated and ill-sign-posted routes. Nevertheless the sat-nav saw us alright. Junction 4 could also be avoided by heading East out of Wycombe to junction 3.

Wycombe’s answer to the Harlequin is Eden, and it’s not a bad shopping centre. It’s not as enclosed as the Harlequin – much of it is under cover but still outside, meaning at this time of year you can stay dry but cold. It has large House of Fraser and M&S Stores, although I’m told the fine – and from this winter now famous John Lewis store – is location in an out-of-town location, to the West of the centre. Eden did provide all the shops we’d hoped for, though, and we returned home absolutely laden down with shopping – all of it clothing.

We’d heard that the traffic can be bad so we arrived early, at 10:15. It was only in the afternoon when Eden became overrun with the local teenage population amongst others, by which time we were happily just about finished. A later start might make for busy shops and potentially trickier parking.

Overall, although we didn’t actually venture outside the Eden Centre, we found it covered our shopping and coffee break requirements. However compared to Watford, which it only half the journey time away, there’s not really enough to tempt us to make the longer trip. Still, there’s nothing wrong with a bit of variety now and then.