Agatha Christie and Bomber Harris

 A match made in heaven I hear you say! This was a very pleasant weekend away for us and took in both these luminaries graves.

We didn't stay quite where I'd anticipated.....I was looking for somewhere in Wallingford in Oxfordshire. I vaguely know  the town, its on the Thames and has lots of history, ideal for us! Tara sorted out a couple of nice walks and we were off. Agatha Christie lived in Wallingford for forty years and worshipped at a little church in the nearby village of Chosley. So being so near we went to pay a visit. The church was locked due to recent breaks ins unfortunately so  we wandered round the graveyard. Wow it was hot, and found her grave. Couldn't really have missed it as it was huge! There were  afew offerings left. Couple of her works in Chinese for instance, don't really know why but there you are. I've never read any of her books, though T has. Enjoyed some of the film adaptions. Tara's thoughts are that her writing is very much of its era. We sat on a nearby shady bench and had lunch. Very pleasant.  

Then we decided to go to our overnight stay. I was surprised when the satnav said it was a twenty minute drive as we were only a couple of miles outside Wallingford but off we went.......to Watlington! I'd cocked it up I'm afraid! Got my Wallingfords and Watlingtons muddled! However Watlington is a nice little village so all was not lost. To be honest it was so hot that we probably wouldn't have walked around much anyway! So we retired to the bar of the Fat Fox....in Watlington!

Brakspears  beers on offer, its a local beer as it only comes from Henley, namely Gravity and  Oxford Gold. Both very palatable. Gravity was the  slightly weaker of the two but I thought it was the nicer of them.  Tara had either  just coke or shandy made with Oxford Gold.

In the Fat Fox bar enjoying a beer.

My dinner. Steak & ale pie, always a winner!

Tara's dinner Cod Loin, delicious!

Grave of Bomber Harris

Grave of Agatha Christie
 
Our accommodation was in a converted barn, not a huge room but big enough with a barn door we could open to let in some much needed cool air. There was a small over grown area which the dogs could run about in, though Ernie disappeared through a fence only to re appear very quickly with a new tennis ball! So every time we let them off the lead he went through the fence and came back with more new tennis balls! On peering through I could see a tennis court a few metres from the fence, obviously the players weren't retrieving their balls so Ern did!

To dinner then, T had a very nice Cod Loin with all the trimmings & I had steak & ale pie with mash & veg. All  was delicious! The chef came out to make sure everything was OK as well.  Chocolate tart and Lemon cheesecake. A really really good meal.    

Brekky next morning  was a fine affair. No choice  which could have been a problem however they knew T was gluten intolerant and veggie so her brekky was eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes  and an avocado.   Mine being the traditional Full English. 

Replete we set off to Goring on Thames to find Bomber Harris or Marshal of the Royal Air Force Sir Arthur Harris to give you his full name. 'Bomber' was dreamed up by the press which he put up with. Behind his back he was known in RAF circles as 'Butch' which he didn't like! Much castigated for his area bombing of Germany he was infact carrying out a policy that was put in place just before he was given command of Bomber Command in 1942. Bombing will always be controversial. Part of a speech he  made was that Germany has 'Sown the wind and will reap the whirlwind.'  Who are we to judge? We weren't there and not involved in this total war. Veterans both military and civil I have spoken to said the Germans deserved it. They had started it. Like I say, what right have we to even offer an opinion?...but bare in mind we aren't talking German!   

At Bomber Harris's funeral in 1984 there was a fly past but the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight Lancaster  bomber. Anything I've read about this say the flypast was incredibly low! A final salute to the old chief!

Well that was our weekend, we had a lovely time, the company being the best bit of it. Without that it would have been pointless. Looking forward to the next one!