Windsor

Yesterday I presented the talk on Henry John Hatch to the Windsor and District U3A. It was a last minute booking, filling in for a speaker who had had to cancel because of a medical emergency.

I was disappointed to learn that the occupant of the very large building I saw coming into the town was not a member of the U3A. But I was reminded by observing (and listening to) the large jet airliners coming in low over Windsor every 75 seconds on their way to Heathrow, that even the head of state is not immune to the noise and disruption associated with air travel. It must play hell with cocktails on the terrace before dinner…

They were a nice U3A group, laughing in all the right places and complimentary of the talk afterwards with some thoughtful questions. Several people asked me later whether ‘Hatch Lane’ in Windsor was related to the Hatch family. Since Henry’s great-grandfather was twice mayor of Windsor in the eighteenth century, it is quite likely that the lane was named after him.

There was a bonus. Windsor has two railway stations served by different main lines, one via Paddington, the other from Waterloo, both charmingly quaint. I elected to come via Paddington, and had the benefit of travelling along a short length of Brunel’s wonderful straight and level Great Western Railway. What I didn’t know, was that the short branch line that goes from Slough to Windsor is carried by that engineer's beautiful wrought iron truss girder bridge over the river Thames. A real treat.