My English Farm House B & B
My journey back to my roots.
I was born in Luton, Bedfordshire England and grew up here until I was age twenty-two. It was then that I met the man that would carry me away to lands far and wide. He would give me the gift living a life that was filled with wonder and surprise. He opened my mind to a world that had many religions and customs. I took it all in and it fed the artist in me. Now I am here in England once again, on a quest to visit my sister Norma after she had her own health issues this year. It was time for me to reconnect with her and while here I wanted to add something of interest to my millinery followers. My history and the history of Luton are all about the Hat Industry. This is a series of blogs about my journey.
I arrived here at my temporary place of residence Oct 4th around four in the afternoon, courtesy of a car ride by my sister Norma and her husband Bryn. After arriving in England early in the morning, I had taken a coach from Heathrow Airport to Luton Airport which is a stone’s throw taxi ride to Norma and Bryn’s bungalow in Stopsley, a suburb of Luton. Their warm greeting and a nice cup of tea and a chat, revived me temporarily from a bad case of jet lag, and after I settled on their couch for awhile my eyes began to close but sleep evaded me. Later Norma fixed us lovely salad sandwiches of lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber slices washed down with more hot tea and a desert of a chocolate roll cake. Yum, Yum! Yes, I was home!
This is the Farmhouse known as Putteridge Bury Bed & Breakfast. I took this photo the morning soon after I got up. The house was quiet and no one was around, so I wandered around outside looking over the property. There is a great deal of history to the place which I found most interesting after talking to my host Allison, later on that day and I will write it here in case you are interested.
The time at present is 5.20 am and I have been up since 3 am. Three in the morning is actually good because I slept quite a few hours on and off, after missing a night’s sleep during the time change between here and Houston Texas which the latter is six hours behind in time. At three in the morning I had put on the kettle and shared a very early breakfast with Mr. McVities and Mrs. Ovaltine. There is nothing like digestive biscuits with a hot drink to make me feel quite at home in England. It gave me that warm fuzzy feeling.
Norma had provided me with a stack of Women’s Weekly magazines to read during the time I spend here, so I settled back in bed to read awhile, hoping I would soon fall asleep. No such luck. Then rather than wander around a large old farmhouse in the middle of the night, I pulled out my various electronic gadgets that would allow me to write. Out came my new multi plug-in device that covers six continents, to plug my computer up and the varying cords to operate said computer and camera. I couldn’t help but smile because it was only fourteen years ago that my daughter Kim set up a computer and told me it was time I learned how to write in the modern world instead of scribbling on various scraps of paper. It was of course really because she was tired of taking my paper scrap ramblings and typing them up for me.
These are the photos I took after wandering around the B & B residence at seven in the morning. Although these horse stables are no longer in use at present, they may be used in winter because Allison has horses in a field in front of the house. I took this photo because they are perfect examples of historic stable buildings.
I was quite amazed at the size of the room my host put me in but she said it was the only room available for a few days. If needed I may change to another room. This room is huge and has three twin beds along one wall.
And this is the full size (double) bed on the opposite wall that I am sleeping in which is quite comfortable with lots of fluffy covers.
Although the B & B is only a stone’s throw from Luton and Luton Airport, it has a wonderful country feel to it with farms and fields of horses and crops.
Another view of horse paddocks with more barns in the fields across from the house.
Allison my host said that this house was built in sections over three centuries, 16th through 19th centuries. This very short door is to the left of the main door and I have no doubt this was the original Hunt Masters cottage. It would have been one room up and one down in those days. The doors were much shorter back then due to the fact that people were so much shorter than they are now.
Allison told me that she leases the property from the crown. I asked what that meant and she explained that much of the land and the property around the area belong to the queen. This house had been rented to a couple for many years and they had died quite a few years ago and the place was boarded up for a long time. She said ten years ago she was visiting a friend in the area because she kept her horses there and she saw workmen on the property which had been boarded up for quite some time, so she said and I quote “I rushed up there as quick as a ferret up your pants to talk to the men to find out if it was for lease”. It was going to be and they were refurbishing the entire place. She told them not to speak to anyone else because she wanted it. She knew that she was going to start a B & B there and wanted to make sure that no one else was able to get it before her. A year later and she was in and that was ten years ago.
To the right of the main entrance, is this short garden gate entrance. If you walk down a steep slope through the gate, you will find yourself in the back garden. This very short entrance in the wall reminded me of an entrance to the secret garden.
If you want luxury five star living this place is not for you. It is however a warm country farm house with a host who loves wants she does and a good English breakfast to start your day.
I hope you have enjoyed the tour of the B & B and if you wish to stay here you can contact Allison through her site.
Tel: 01462 888 Mob. 07778-517486. 07778-517486
