Ashtead

Round the M25 (always a delight!) lies the town of Ashtead, where longtime friends Ann and John live. Ann was in a choral concert on Saturday night, that we attended in their local church.

Sunday we visited the service at another local church, over 900 years old and exquisitely preserved,

where John lead the service in his new role as curate (after a long career as an architect responsible for all the British embassies world-wide).

There was a truly ancient yew tree in the grounds

and several strange 'brick tunnel' tombstones. I wondered if they dated from the plague years, when they were trying to reduce contact with the outside world?

Back in Prestwood o Sunday, Jacqui and Tom had invited two of Tom's cousins  -Kieran and Martha and their partners Rachel and Nick, for lunch. Nick  found a second nest with young fledglings in the garden. The first nest we had found was a dove nest in a copper beech tree,

Finally-- a scene from a local wood, taken this evening.