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January in Windsor Town
On 2nd January, the u3a Amblers group enjoyed their first amble of 2025, around the streets of Windsor town and taking in over one third of the Long Walk.
We had a glorious, if chilly morning, enjoying the sun reflecting off the Jacobean style brickwork of Queen’s Terrace, dating from 1849.
We were surprised to see a few Daffodils in bloom on the roundabout so early in the year. These just in front of Robert Rattray’s statues of Windsor Greys Daniel and Storm. These horses served HM the Queen pulling her ceremonial carriages for many years, they were so popular with her that this artwork was commissioned in 2013 and unveiled for her Diamond Jubilee.
The final image in the small gallery above ends with the group about to ascend to the castle and round off the morning with a coffee at the Cinnamon Cafe in the central station concourse.
January bonus amble with the NT group at Cliveden
On the 17th January, several of our members joined with a few of the National Trust Outings group to take the air starting from the Woodland car park of the Cliveden Estate.
The advantage of an amble here in January is the ability to see the views across the Thames without the hinderance of deciduous tree foliage. The weather wasn’t quite as bright as we’d have liked, but we stayed dry.
After the 4.3 km amble, we drove to The Pineapple pub (Dorney) for some warming refreshments.
February took us around Sunningdale Park
I am grateful to new group member Jane for suggesting this location, which offered mostly mud-free paths around the estate on the 6th February.
As you can see, we were fortunate to have a brilliant sunny morning.
During the amble, we visited Northcote House for refreshments, where, despite our coinciding with their weekly resident’s coffee morning, the staff accomodated us in a grand room.
Magna Carta in March
On the 6th March, we took an amble around the various memorials and artworks at NT Runnymede.
We started from the NT car park heading to Mark Wallinger’s ‘Writ in Water‘, a new experience for a couple of members.
The ‘water feature’ is cleverly designed as it looks like the water should escape through the gaps in the text panels. Add the gentle noise of the water and some may overlook the simplicity of the concrete construction of the whole structure, especially the seating ring.
Retracing our steps, we next took in the American Bar Association’s memorial to the Magna Carta Trust’s inauguration in 1956.
Next stop was the JFK memorial, accessed through a beautiful carved wooden gate and up some cobbled steps.
As you can see above, there are some views from a path adjacent to the memorial, overlooking the tea rooms and, in the far distance, one of the Heathrow airport terminals.
Returning to the tea rooms via “The Jurors“, the 12 bronze chairs in a field (no photos this time), we stopped off to inspect the recently refurbished “Hay Sculptured village“.
With light winds and the gorgeous sunshine, we enjoyed our refreshments outside after the 3km amble.
Dave Humphries
Photos provided by Dave Humphries.
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