A Surprise Birthday Party!

Sunday 26th May, 2013 at Crick (and Goring-on-Thames).
An early start. We had been invited by Abbie to a surprise 60th birthday party for her husband Dave and, although the party was in Goring-on-Thames, we were determined to go. We took a taxi to Long Buckby railway station, driven by a very cultured Indian gentleman whose English was impeccable, in fact far better than many native English folk!  M said that it was a very strange feeling to be back at Long Buckby Station, which used to be her local station when she lived in Daventry.

Two changes of train (at Coventry and Oxford) and two and a half hours later, we arrived in Goring. The trains were on time and the sun shone - bliss!
As the trains from Long Buckby are quite infrequent, and we were under strict instructions to arrive by 1:45pm, we ended up arriving very early. We took a brief walk along the Thames, where we saw the Dutch Barge Ansuka II that had featured in a recent Canal Boat magazine article.

The party was held at Pierreponts Café and we were welcomed by the owners, Caroline and Stuart, who were setting up for the party. R knows them well as he has breakfast there each month before going in to the Capture offices nearby.   He enjoyed one of their legendary excellent capuccinos and was a very happy man!
People gradually started to arrive for the party and just after two o'clock there were about 35 cheering and clapping people singing "Happy Birthday to You" when Abbie led Dave through the door. His face was a picture - it was a perfect surprise!

A wonderful afternoon ensued, great company and superb food. We were even able to sit outside on the forecourt in the sunshine.

We left to catch the six o'clock train home and arrived at Long Buckby to find our friendly taxi driver waiting for us. We got back to MM by 8:30 - a super day.
Today: Lots of miles by train but none on MM!