Rutland Revisit

The Rutland Birdfair is over for another year. It was as good as ever, better even than last year. Unlike the journey from Sussex to Uppingham. There is no other choice than to follow the route M23 on to M25. There are then choices: M40, M1 or A1M. But the M25 is a nightmare. Slow moving or stationary four lanes of traffic. In places overhead gantry signs instruct to use the hard-shoulder as well, increasing the queue to five lanes...

The journey of little more than 150 miles took five hours. Google's estimation was 2 hours 45 minutes! It was a joy to leave the motorway system and drive country roads through Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and finally Rutland. On arriving at The Crown Inn we dumped our luggage and patronised the bar, consuming pints of Everard's award winning Tiger ale. 

The evening was pleasantly mild so we wandered off to the market square and managed to get a table at the brasserie Don Paddy's where the ale was good and the food was excellent. The cask marque awarded Timothy Taylor's Landlord ale is a terrific pint. A great atmosphere here with friendly staff serving really excellent food.

Wandering around the Birdfair is always enjoyable, often bumping into old friends and wildlife celebrities like Simon King, who had his own marquee:

Essential visits included the optics marquee, the art marquee, the clothing stands of Rohan and Country Innovation and the Shetland stand where I bagged a load of information on these sceptred isles, which I plan to visit before I conk out.

It was another enjoyable weekend and I hope to visit next year again for my 5th visit. Will definitely go by train though as we faced the same horrendous traffic on our return journey...