A quick (1 hour) drive to Crediton yesterday where we met up with Richard’s friends Robin and Jean Langhorne. They are a wonderful older British couple. Jean looks a bit like the queen. Robin was a history teacher at the local school – “Queen Elizabeth School” – where Richard worked with him for a semester in 1980.
Robin took David and Richard on a tour of the old church in Crediton. The church dates back to 1100. They had a sword from 1640 that David was allowed to test out. Robin is a wealth of information on English history and tells it with a wonderful flair and his deep English accents makes it even more special. David was enthralled.
Alex – not quite the history buff – was content to play at the local playground and met some British playmates.
We went back to the Langhorne’s home and Jean had tea waiting. A delicious affair that included lemon cake, chocolate biscuits, shortbread, bread butter and jam, fruitcake and of course plenty of tea. It was a hot afternoon and I wasn’t interested in hot tea – a cold drink sounded better to me. She thought that very odd. “No tea?? She looked at me as if I was off a little.
After our vist with Langhornes we checked into a wonderful B&B on a working farm – 90 cows – and you can tell by the smell! It is a big farm house with a fabulous view of the green valley. The boys loved wandering around looking at the barn, the cows and the big tractors.
Alex was in heaven when he met up with the farm dog – “Rosie”. Alex and Rosie played together for several hours. Rosie was exhausted – but Alex – who never seems to run out of energy was still raring to go.
In the morning the owner served cereal and fresh fruit and juice. Then she offered: eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, broiled tomatoes, hash browns, beans, and toast. She said “Just tell me what you don’t want.” Richard said – “I’ll take it all – except the beans!” He is really enjoying the big breakfasts!
The boys and I had a nice walk down the country lane to a river – where they soon stripped to underpants and went for a quick swim. Great spot.
Back in town we took the Langhornes to lunch at “The New Inn” – odd name for the Inn built in the 1200s. We had roast beef and yorkshire pudding and for “pudding” or “puds” as they call it on the children’s menu, we had a choice of chocolate mouse, lemon ice cream or hazelnut merinque among other things.
Afterwards more play time at the park where David made a friend named Jack. We had plans to meet up with the Langhornes later to feed the ducks at a pond. David invited Jack along. Jack said he’d ask his grandfather to take him and hoped to meet us there. We didn’t expect him to actually show up – but once we got to the pond there was Jack with his grandfather who, it turned out, was a good friend of Robin. The three boys had a fun feeding the ducks. We also got to watch a cricket match for awhile. I’m still not quite clear on the rules – but it was so perfectly British to watch the teams all in crisp white outfits playing cricket out in this beautiful green area.
Well – tonight is our last night here in Crediton. We hope to be back again someday. David and Jack have exchanged emails and plan to correspond.
Tomorrow – we are off to Eastbourne. It will be a 4 hour drive. Our number 1 priority is to find a laudromat! Oh the joy of packing light!
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The Langhornes
David trying on helmet during the tour of the church – founded in 1100!
Sword!
View fom the B&B
Alex and Rosie the farm dog.
Walk down the lane
Pants off – time to swim!
