English Curse

My last full day down South, and it's time to head into the nebulous depths of the New Forest. The weather has well and truly turned on us, with yesterday's sunshine giving way to cold winds and teeming rain; I suggest fortifying ourselves against the elements with a hearty breakfast of sausage smoothies, but the others seem oddly unconvinced by the idea of grinding a variety of unidentifiable meats into one tasty nutritious drink. I shelve the idea for future use, and we head out into the storm.

On crossing the Hampshire border and into the New Forest, we're greeted by the sight of a bedraggled longhorn cow wandering down the side of the road. It's just the first in a series of wildlife encounters on the drive; the horse in the picture above seems particularly unmoved by our desire to get past it, and takes its time before wandering off elsewhere. We visit the spot where William Rufus was reputed to have been murdered (though historians dispute the actual location), and after deciding we've been rained on enough for one day, we head to Fritham and the excellent Royal Oak pub.

The evening brings us a great pub meal - sadly sausage-free - in the Parish Lantern, where we entertain ourselves by flicking through Whiteparish's church newsletter, filled with exciting tales of tombolas and guest talks on the history of cheese. Then back to HQ for a final evening of beer and music to bring a great weekend to a close.

(For anyone interested, the title of today's blip comes from Frank Turner's take on the murder of William Rufus, which you can listen to here).