A Rural Ride
Another Rural Ride, in William Cobbett’s footsteps took place on Sunday, 10 July 2011.
“I noticed in my first Rural Ride, this beautiful valley, its hangars, its meadows, its hop-
The Holmesdale valley, which “begins at Reigate and terminates at Shalford Common”, was the focus of our Rural Ride. This is close to home both for William Cobbett and for us, but reveals some unexpected personalities as well as several hidden gems of historical and Cobbettian interest. Thomas Malthus, John Evelyn, and the banker Henry Drummond, all lived at one time in this fertile Surrey valley, and Cobbett has something to say about all of them.
We headed straight for Reigate, where we will took in “one of the finest views in the whole world”, followed by morning coffee. After that, a brief visit to the house of Cobbett’s great friend, Francis Maseres, open to the public as a retail outlet, but retaining many original features. We then headed off for lunch at Denbies Vineyard near Dorking. As always, we had a selection of readings from Cobbett en route.
The first part of the afternoon was spent at Albury Park garden, designed by John Evelyn in the 17th Century and described in admiring detail by Cobbett on his visit there in 1822. Surprisingly little has changed. We were kindly allowed admittance to the gardens which were still in the private hands of the Duke of Northumberland. The Saxon village Church just beside the gardens was also well worth a visit, with a mortuary chapel designed by Pugin, amongst other interesting features. We took afternoon tea at Wotton House, John Evelyn’s ancestral home, not far from Albury, which has its own fascinating gardens.
The cost for the day was £28.00 per person. This year we managed to include lunch as well as morning and afternoon coffee/tea, thanks to the capable organisers: Katherine Stearn and John Manning.