Hughenden Park memories. (From Bucks Free Press)

Hughenden Park memories.

7:36pm Saturday 27th June 2009

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The other day, making the most of my last (hopefully!) days of unemployment, Mother Eris and I went to Hughenden Park, ostensibly for afternoon tea. I am a great fan of afternoon tea, and dainty cucumber sandwiches with the crusts cut off. Part of me thinks I would have been far better off being born 100 years before I was. I am going to have afternoon tea at La Richoux at some point, and hopefully it will be utterly splendid. I will let you know.

Anyhoo, there we were at Hughenden Park. The weather was too hot for tea, however, so instead I had a sandwich and a bottle of cloudy lemonade. Which, clearly, is better than clear lemonade. The restaurant was packed, the sun was shining, and I started thinking. What would be fantastic, is if I could tell you that I started reminiscing about Hughenden Park, and all the wonderful times I had there. However, I was really thinking ‘I wonder if they still sell the Her Ladyship mugs? They were awesome’. I have a ‘Her Ladyship’ mug. The National Trust manufacture them, along with ‘His Lordship’, and various others along those lines. The reminiscing idea is more interesting though, so I shall focus on that, and let’s all pretend that’s what I was thinking of.

Hughenden Park has huge sentimental meaning to me. As a child, my parents and grandparents used to take me to the playpark there, where my little sister and I would spend as much time as possible just pretending to do the ‘assault course’ (I could never manage the monkey bars, so used to just walk along underneath them. Cheating or accepting weakness? You decide).

Once we were played out, we used to wander up to the river and play Poohsticks. I can’t describe how overjoyed I am that the river is back now. The years it was dried up were horrible; the park was never quite the same. Although I do have a much loved picture of Mother Eris, Sister Eris and I sitting on a rock in what was once the river. For those of you who aren’t aware, Poohsticks is a game Winnie the Pooh and friends used to play. You stand one side of a bridge with a friend (or sibling), both drop a stick in, then leg it over to the other side of the bridge. Whoever’s stick emerges from under the bridge first wins. Clearly, make sure you drop the stick the right side of the bridge. If you drop it the side where the current is flowing away from the bridge, that is the worst game of Poohsticks ever, and you not only lose the game, but fail at life.

The last time I played Poohsticks was last year. I went to Hughenden Park with some friends. We took a picnic, a pack of cards, and some towels. We paddled, we ate, and we played Three Blind Mice. It was sunny, it was relaxing, and it was wonderful.

I can remember going to Hughenden Park for my Uncle’s 50th birthday, 10 years ago. We all had a huge picnic, played cricket and rounders, and generally had a fantastic time. Because the park is so huge, our rowdiness didn’t disturb anybody else. And no one else got in our way.

You can go for a walk through the woods, with or without dogs. If you are hot afterwards, you can paddle in the river. I have been to Hughenden Park with so many different people. With family, with friends, and on a date. We took a picnic, we found a secluded place under a tree, and we had a fantastic afternoon. The relationship didn’t last, but my adoration for the Park has not, in the last five years, waned in the slightest. In fact, my affection for Hughenden Park, like many residents of Wycombe, is lifelong. I have so many memories tied up with it, my family has had so many events there, and my friends and I have spent many happy days there. Hughenden Park is so big, and so leafy, and, in my opinion, is as close to heaven on earth as we can get.