Monks Kirby and Coombe Country Park

I went for a trip with the Centre for Applied Linguistics to Monks Kirby and Coombe Country Park today with Hazel, Diego and Tala. There was a Midsummer Fair being held in Monks Kirby and they had lots of different food, and activities for children and adults alike.

I was so ecstatic to finally see Alpacas for the first time in my life. I have only seen it in a BBC documentary. There were two alpacas and although they were already shorn, their fleece were still soft to touch. It can be likened to touching a very expensive soft pillow.

There was also a hounds parade where hound handlers dressed like equestrians where trying to round up the very jumpy hounds. The handlers have this whip that they wave around but they don't use it to hit the hounds. It is also interesting that they position themselves around the hounds while they "paraded" around an enclosed field.

The chicken race was also fun. The chickens were pretty much oblivious of what was happening. They dont seem to know what to do when the door to their enclosure is opened. Instead of running straight ahead, they walk in all directions.

It was also the first time that i was able to see Morris dancers. They were composed of elderly men with bells wrapped around their ankles. They wave around pieces of clothes in the size of a hankerchief. At one point, instead of the cloth, they used a thick stick which they hit with the other dancers' sticks while dancing.

We headed to Coombe Country Park after about 3 hrs of staying in the fair. The park had this very beautiful lake that seems to go a long stretch. We weren' able to walk to the other end of the lake (where herons were supposed to be seen) since we run out of time. There was also a beautiful 12th century hotel called Coombe Abbey Hotel at one end of the lake. The park has wide picnic areas and the Brits and all other nationalities alike were making the most out of the manicured grasses and the sun!

And the photo here is me in a vintage car (obviously!). This car is still functional! I had to ask the owner if i can come up and sit in the car. It is a very precious piece of machinery and i didn't want to upset the owner by assuming that it is ok to just jump in the car anytime i want. Good thing the owner allowed me, and he specifically said "Just one :)" Photo shot by : Hazel