I had made contact with Richard Fenner, who had lived in my home and rented the front bedroom 20 years ago! He met Mark, his eventual partner from Melbourne, a lawyer. Quite soon Mark accepted a job in London, so they migrated and have lived as landed gentry for 20 years with several vintage ( or classic) cars and a VERY large Belgian Sheepdog. The sort that is as huge as a horse, with a bass baritone bark and an endearing tendency to place its salivating mouth, circumferentially around one’s forearm. 

Richard graciously invited me to spend a few days with them and so I accepted the offer as it was in the general direction of London, my final destination before heading home to Adelaide.

I flew with EasyJet from Edinburgh to Stanstedt Airport, near Cambridge and also part of the several airports that serve Greater London. It is about 35 or 40 km from London and is the base for the “cheap” airlines such as EasyJet and Ryan Air. It was much cheaper to fly than take the train!  The Thomas Cook agent who made the booking earnestly recommended that I be at Edinburgh Airport 2 hours before the flight! I expressed my disbelieve as a seasoned traveller. So I was awake and on the first tram to the airport from Edinburgh to the Airport leaving the city at 5:35 am.     The airport was a seething mass! Checking in was a breeze and as efficient and as quick as in Australia with the self service options and I printed out a luggage ticket, having paid and extra 12 pounds …. But what did appear to be a potential hiccup and slow the process down, was “security clearance”. The queue stretched for miles, however we moved rather rapidly! The gate closed 30 minutes before the flight and this is not negotiable. Indeed despite the pandemonium, we departed 10 minutes ahead of schedule! Unheard of in Australia. The flight was FULL as well. The Scottish lass turned to her laddie on the stairs ( no flight bridge) and commented on how mild the weather was! I attempted to turn around and make a sarcastic comment but the saliva had frozen my lips together.

Richard collected me from the airport around 9am the we drove to their delightful country home outside the village of Withersfield. Mark had gone for a cycle ride, he is a keen triathlon competitor. After lunch, Richard drove me at breakneck speed in a beautiful BENTLEY all leather and walnut veener around several historial villages in the region, including the spectacular historial town of Lavenham.

On Monday 2 couples joined them for lunch, Easter Monday. They are all members of the Vintage Car Club and we gathered aound the Phantom Rolls Royce. Richard created the archetypal  British “Sunday Roast”  with Yorkshire Pudding and the a very rich Bread and Butter Pudding for dessert.

Pictures of the various villages that we visited are below.