Pangbourne Disappointment

Today, Tuesday, April 15, we drove to Pangbourne. Pangbourne is a small town on the Thames just outside Reading about one half-hour from our house. But there is no direct route, so this would be our first cross-country adventure. Last night, I got directions from Google Maps and then plotted it on our map. I've been using the Ordinance Survey map for our local travel and hiking. These maps are great; the detail is remarkable and they are printed at a very large scale. Then, to make sure we didn't get lost and to double check Google, I plugged it into the GPS unit I brought with me.

Traveling by car in the UK has challenges beyond driving on the left. Most of the main roads are well marked with directional signs. But the route numbers are only posted at major and intermediate intersections. And there are no road signs with the road names. Thus, it's very easy to get lost. When Google says "turn right on Uxbridge Road", you have to figure out where that road is; it will not be marked with a sign. That's where the GPS comes in handy. Also, everything is close by; nothing is very far away. Geography here is on a small scale. So if you get onto the wrong road, just keep driving. You'll soon see a sign pointing toward a town, eventually to a town you've heard of. Probably within five miles. But you do need a navigator. When I'm driving fifty miles an hour on a narrow road, on the left, shifting with my left hand, I need help.

We got to Pangbourne within the half-hour allotted with no problems and in spite of the many turns on back roads and lanes. In Pangbourne, we tried to follow the signs to public parking areas. But the signs never said exactly where these areas were hidden so after driving through this small town several times and not finding any place to park, we decided to move on to some attractions outside town.

Last night, we researched the area and found three attractions that looked interesting. Beale Park wild animal refuge and Basildon Park (an impressive old manor house used for filming Pride and Prejudice) were nearby and a National Rainforest Park (rain forest in England?) was a bit further away. So we drove to Lower Basildon to see the old manor house. Closed on Tuesday. On to Beale Park. It was mobbed with mothers and teachers with small children; it seems it was a children's park and petting zoo; for seven pounds apiece we weren't up for that.

So we drove back to Pangbourne and, after some more driving around, we found the parking lot. We walked around town for about half an hour and discovered there's not much there. We then decided to drive to Wallingford and have lunch plus do a little grocery shopping. Of course, this half hour drive took a lot longer because we got lost multiple times, but we found our way there eventually.

Pangbourne itself was disappointing, but we will probably return to the area to see Basildon park.

Today was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. A few more days of this and England will be green.