Thursday 24th July, 2025
After waking up with an extra body in our bed (Lightening), we all went to the “Super Sausage” for breakfast. It’s like a diner, you walk in, order your food, then sit down. Reminded me of a Seinfeld episode, the Soup Nazi. Super Sausage Cafe – It’s all about the Sausage. The Tea is strong, the meals are huge, and the food and service is awesome! So good in fact, Jay bought a T-Shirt!
From there Jay and I took off in our car and made our way to Woodstock, home of Blenheim Palace, where Winston Churchill was born. We had a wander around Woodstock, another beautiful Village, bigger and busier than Cosgrove, but still held character and charm despite its more modern shops. There was a Funeral on whilst we were there and seemed to be a camera crew hovering, which intrigued me, I thought the deceased must have been someone famous, but Chat GPT says there wasn’t anything he could find.
Update, I’ve since found out that the funeral was for a gentleman named John Burdon. He was 95 and had been struck by a blue Jaguar whilst crossing Oxford Street in Woodstock on 30th June 2025. He was loved and respected by the community. May he rest in peace, bless him.
We did drive into the grand gates of Blenheim Palace, to be met with hundreds and hundreds of cars and both Jay and I decided we will drive through to the Exit. It’s a shame, it would have been amazing to see but we will just have to come back another time.
From Woodstock we drove on to Enstone. I have fond memories of Enstone, where my Nanny & Grampy Wakefield lived. I remember picking Peas and digging up potatoes and walking through the hen house collecting eggs with Grampy and watching Nanny cook in the kitchen and do her laundry in the big boiler thingy in the back room. We drove passed their house; it looked a little different to what I remember but it also made a few memories spill down my cheek. Jay told me to go knock on the door and talk to the people that lived there now, but I couldn’t do that. It was bad enough we stopped the car outside while I stared through the car window trying to see in. There was someone at the sink in the kitchen, thankfully it faced the backyard, and they didn’t see this stalker.
From there we were heading to Heythrop, passing “The Harrow Inn” where my Dad met my Mum. It looks a bit like I remember, but I was only a toddler when we used to go there.
To get to Heythrop was on a single-track road and my fingernails are still stuck in the arm of the car door. My first memories of being a baby or toddler, were when we lived in a cabin like cottage on a property. I remember when Dad would sit me on his lap when we got through the gate, and I thought I was driving the car. I remember this big tree as we drove in, and I’m pretty certain the tree I saw today, was the same tree. It gave me goosebumps and brought back other memories, not all good but that’s ok. The place where I lived is now called Park Farm Stables Livery yard.
We had to go back the way we drove in, so my butt cheeks were clenched together, and I probably closed my eyes a few times that’s ok though because I wasn’t driving! Jay did a great job.
Onwards to Chipping Norton where I was born! We drove to where the hospital I was born in, was, it’s no longer a hospital as such. Then quickly drove through and made our way out to Diddly Squat Farm as we’re fans of Jeremy Clarkson’s show, “Clarkson’s Farm”. Well, that was interesting. It was so busy there were people lined up probably waiting for an hour plus to get into the shop. Jay and I were not keen to do that, so we had a wander around, took a few photos and made our way back to the car which was parked up the road in another parking area due to all the people.
We made our way to Chadlington then, which is another village that Mum, Dad, Mickie, Chez and I lived in, before moving to Australia. We lived in a Farmhouse which was directly across the road from a church and graveyard. My bedroom I shared with Mickie, overlooked that graveyard.
The house is still there, not looking much different but the farm area next to it is now cottages. We drove past my old school which was one building split in half with juniors in one side and seniors in the other. I think my teacher was Mr. Morris.
From Chadlington, we went back to Chippy and got out for a quick wander around. We were getting a bit tired, think the jet lag might be catching up. When I was here 30 years ago, I remember Ronnie Barker, from the two Ronnies, had an antique shop in Chipping Norton and I went in there and bought his book which was signed. A bit of useless trivia for some.
We weren’t hungry but both had a craving for some hot chips and vinegar. I googled and found a place in Bicester which we were going to go through on our way back to Cosgrove. However, on our way, Jay pulled into Aynho Wharf which was up along a canal. We stopped and had a cuppa tea and a snack. It was a nice little spot.
https://www.komoot.com/highlight/374683
From there we kept on towards Bicester, we got a bit lost and ended up at the village instead of town centre, the village is humungous and an outlet place – Jay wants to go and check that out before we head back to Oz so it looks like there will be an extra suitcase. We got to the town centre and Jay had hit a wall and to be fair I was tired too. So we didnt get out of the car, we made our way back towards Cosgrove only calling into Buckingham for a loo & Jays smoke break. He went and sat in the car while I went down to the little stream and saw some duckies. It had just started sprinkling with rain and that was enough for me too.
We made our way home to Jeannies and spent the afternoon chatting and watching a bit of tv. Jeannie made a lovely dinner and afterwards we relaxed some more. Jay wasn’t feeling too good, so he retired early, but had a rough night.
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