At long last the Great Park is open to everyone again. There have been no more outbreaks of foot and mouth an everything is back to normal. It was a real shame as it did stop several big events from being held in the park, like the Windsor half marathon and the Legoland 10K run.
We also lost bookings because of this as I”m sure other places did. So it did have an effect on Windsor although not a major one.
Well as summer draws to a close, it is already starting to feel like autumn and its not even the end of August yet. After last years drought this year was so wet it has almost seemed as if we have had no summer at all. I guess in Windsor we are lucky that there is plenty to do whatever the weather. It was obviously harder for the Legoland visitors - if they picked a particularly wet day it must have been awful, there can be nothing worse than upset wet kids!
But still Langton House had a very busy summer. We have been full most of the time and have really enjoyed meeting all our guests. As usual it was great to see some of the more familiar faces who have been before, but equally good to meet new people.
At last after many years living in Windsor I have at last made it to the Windsor Horse Show. The show has been described by the Queen herself as, “my Horse Show”, and with her attendance every year, it really is her event.
As I went into the show my first thought was how big it was. I never really expected it to be quite as large, covering more ground than I was able to walk in the time I had.
The main arena is the obvious focus point for the show. There were many events going on it seemed all day long. I was just in time to see the world famous White Helmets motorcycle display team from the Royal Signal Corps. For a totally none horse event there was a packed crowd watching a stunning display that I remember last seeing when I was a very young boy walking around the Aldershot Army Show.
Next up was the Shetland Pony Grand National. A fantastic fun event, where the children racing these beautiful little animals really took it seriously. No quarter asked or given!
There was a lot to see outside the main arena with a couple of other show areas. I saw the carriage driving event, which is mainly out in the park but comes into the event area for a tight and twisty obstacle course that was truly amazing to watch these horse drawn carriages zooming about in such a small area. Excellent and captivating to watch. Prince Philip has long been an avid carriage driver and has participated in this event for many years, and yet again he was in this years event, although I did not personally see him this time, I have actually seen him training out in the Great Park on many occasions.
A tented shopping area with more things for you and your horse than I even knew existed. The colourful pink flowery horse coat took my eye, but for all the wrong reasons. I only hope the horse that goes into that has no issues with his/her sexuality!
There were jewellery stands, coats stands, photo stands and a food court.
Loads of food stands were all around the show, so no excuse for getting hungry. The only problem was finding somewhere to sit and eat.
Many years ago the show was held in the public area of the Home Park. But after a particularly rainy show the ground was so chewed up by horses and vehicles the council had to spend thousands of pounds and no end of time to return it to the use of the rugby pitches.
Would I go again? Definitely YES. But next time I will make sure I have more time there and the sun must be shining to get the most out of it.
Its heading into spring and we are now already pretty much full. Legoland has opened and that always brings the families into Windsor. A few things have happened over the last few months that will bring a small change to our business. The other 4 Star/Diamond B&B in the centre of Windsor closed (The Dorset) although another small one room B&B opened in this grade, but Langton House is now the only town centre B&B at this grade. A shame to say goodbye to the Dorset as the lovely lady who ran it was such a character and I shall miss her.
So onward towards summer and some good hot weather!
With Christmas over and New Year fast approaching it looks like this very busy year is fast coming to a close. January is usually our quiet time of year, which is really good as it gives me time to fix a few things around the place and have a bit of a rest.
Getting myself all prepared for my charity run on the 31st of December, roped in a friend to give me a bit of support and just hoping its not raining too much on the day. I can’t believe the weather is so rubbish right now, not our usual freezing situation and by far too much rain! I don’t mind the cold or the wet, but the two together is just no fun!
Its just early January now, the run is over and I raised over £400 for charity. It was a really tough race and I was so glad to get it over with, far too slippy for a fast time and it was a bit like running in sand!
The B&B is a little quiet now which is quite nice as it gives us a break and a chance to do some of the decorating around the place
Well after years of being without any colours, Sonja and I went mad and added a bit of colour to the site. If you have any comments I would love to hear from you.
The event is almost upon us and yet again the worlds media will be looking at Windsor and more exactly Dorney for this major event. We have been booked up for months and continue to get a high number of calls for accommodation over these dates.
There is a lot to look forward to, especially the opening event, which is free and open to everyone. I shall be dragging the kids off to see what it is all about…. I sure they will forgive me eventually!
The Rowing lake is a superb facility and was part of the package that won the 2012 Olympics for London. It is used for numerous events throughout the year, from Triathlons, running races, weddings, corporate meals and even the odd bit of rowing!
I shall attempt to get to a rowing race and write up a little on my experiences.
So this is nothing about Langton House, but a lot to do with me! I”ve just come to terms with the awful result, but as anyone who saw the game will realise, after Rooney got sent off we had our backs against the wall and even if we progressed it was unlikely to be easy in the next round without Rooney, Owen, Terry and maybe Beckham. So the loss was not too unexpected in the end. Hopefully Rooney will become a better person after he has recovered from “letting his country down”, very much as Beckham had to recover after his sending off all those years ago. I suppose young men with so much passion have the inbuilt danger to lose their temper.
I guess I should thank our current guests for all those kind words after the game. The flowers from the Magnusson’’s was such a kind gesture and somewhat unexpected! But it made me laugh and took the edge off my feelings.
So 2006 is not to be England’s year. I saw the French play Brazil and they really deserved to win, so at least someone is playing good football. Playing that well they will easily beat Portugal in the next round and then…..who knows! Come on Les Bleu!
Well this year saw me more active in the royal watching than ever before. Firstly I got myself a few tickets to the Garter day on the Monday and invited a couple of friends to go and see the Queen and the rest of the Knights. The weather was perfect, not too much sun but still dry and warm. We got some great pictures and had an interesting time talking to people and seeing the amazing pageantry.
A couple of days later one of our regular guest from Holland, Jan, gave us a spare ticket to go out into the park and watch the royal party change from their cars into the open carriages that then take them on to the Ascot race course. This is an even intimate affair where its possible to get so close to the royal family its almost unbelievable in this day and age. It’s such a shame we didn’t have any film in the camera!
We had a very brief but interesting visit from John & Judy Mears on 16 June. They left us some samples of the wine they produce out in the Hunter Valley NSW Australia.
Sonja and I can definately recommend their wine, the only problem we have is how do we get any more!