Birthday day is always special. It’s the reason we built this holiday this way round, so one of the middle days was spent at Hambleton. My birthday last year was also here, it’s a good place to celebrate. After breakfast we change into shorts and boots in preparation for our day’s adventure, picking up our picnic as we leave we head off the peninsula back to the main road.
Of course circumnavigations can go either way and still have a satisfactory outcome, but we decide to stick to tradition and turn left just before the main road towards Egleton. The walk seems to take ages before one can see water, yet irs tantalisingly close most of the time, indeed sometimes just 20 yards away but the borders are marshy and not even consistent so the path is cautious. It’s over five miles before we’re walking alongside Rutland Water which then continues around for a good many miles until ultimately meeting the peninsula road once again for our return, but that’s a few hours hence yet.
The walk mostly follows the water’s edge, as we pass a nature reserve, marina, water-sports centre and picnic grounds. Just after half-way we come to Normamton Church, floating in the reservoir. Although unmistakably a church, in fact it was deconsecrated before the flooding, and by public subscription was saved from demolition, the lower half filled with rubble and then a concrete footing, and finally.a causeway built to it. One can only hire it for civil ceremonies now.
Soon after we’re walking along the dam wall, then into Sykes park where we find a spot to take lunch. Our packed lunch is extensive and we enjoy our Chardonnay with BLT and roast chicken sandwiches, mountains of berries & other fruits and some yummy shortbread and chocolate chip biscuits.
As we’ve already covered two thirds of the route the return journey any take a couple of hours and soon we’re back on the terrace with the paper and a bottle of champagne to continue the birthday celebrations.
Dinner is already looking impressive but we sneak in a fish course just because we can, and enjoy an excellent evening sat in the bay window of the dining room, the best table in the house for birthday-boy!
From the top, after the amuse, it’s a melon pre-starter with cantaloupe foam, honeydew liquor and watermelon jelly. Then starters are Terrine of tomato & basil, mozzarella & basil ice cream, tomato water; chicken liver & foie gras parfait, green tomato chutney.
Fish is John Dory with shellfish linguini, sea lettuce stuffed with lobster, tomatoes and sorrel veluté.
Mains are roast Iberico pork with apple and fennel sauce; fillet beef, Jacob’s ladder, shiitake ketchup, red wine sauce.
Desserts are passion fruit soufflé with banana and passion fruit sorbet; deconstructed tiramisu.
It’s really hard to keep trowing superlatives around that are meaningful. Suffice to say it was all just perfect!
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