Our Trip to Ross-on-Wye
Wow! Who could have guessed how lucky we would be?
The sun shone for us the whole week we were there.
Yes folks! We were off to Ross-on-Wye to spend a jolly
week together. We had a comfortable coach
and were so lucky in The Merton House Hotel. We were given lovely tasty
meals. We had plenty of space, a lounge
with lots of comfortable chairs, two
T.V. rooms and kindly, caring staff. They would even seek us out in the garden
to bring us a cup of tea.
And what a garden it
was! I thought I had gone to Heaven! We
had green lawns, gently sloping down, edged with all kinds of spring flowers,
tulips, daffodils, etc. And just by the bird table was the deep purple of lilac
and bright yellow laburnum. Three ducks were asleep on the grass and there was
a little secret path where a stone angel lay sleeping. At the end of the garden was a steep drop
and, in the valley below, the River Wye curved graciously out of sight under a
bridge. The panoramic views of fields,
trees, scattered farms with cows grazing by the river were a constant
delight. All around in the trees we
could hear blackbirds, sparrows, robins, pigeons, tits of all kinds, a thrush
maybe, all singing and
tweeting in a
glorious chorus of joy for the Spring.
Our group proved to
be a great mixture of friendly folk. As the week went by, this was marked by a
thousand kindly acts and many cheery words and smiles. We were also fortunate
with our minibus driver who couldn’t do enough for us, helping us in and out,
up and down, strapping in the zimmer frames and securing the wheelchairs. His name was Colin and he always went that
extra mile to be of service. He took us around The Forest of Dean where endless
carpets of bluebells were just coming out He took us to Hereford and Pershore
but my favourite trip was to Tintern Abbey, somewhere up river. I remember from school Wordsworth’s lines
written a few miles above Tintern Abbey and always wanted to see it. It had
smooth lawns between the ruined walls and the whole atmosphere was one of peace
and calm.
Some of our number
went on an enjoyable boat trip up the river and, from what I gathered, they
were treated to a riveting commentary about how many hundreds of salmon the
captain of the boat had managed to catch over the years. David would be able to
tell you more about it.
In the evening, if
we didn’t have musical entertainment, Mike would produce a quiz. Good old Mike for arranging the trip and
making sure we had a special carer with us to help in so many ways. This was Babs who helped my husband, Joe,
when he was in pain and assisted all those who needed a helping hand. I for one
was jolly thankful for her reassuring presence.
So, three cheers for Mike who set all this in motion. Hip, hip hooray!
Barbara Higgins
