Easter 2014 at Hadleigh Farm

It was a beautiful Saturday with blue skies and sunshine, although a little windy which made it a little cooler. Nevertheless we were enjoying ourselves spending quality time with our little ones in lovely surroundings.

As my Mother-in-law, Vi, lives at Seaview Terrace and has done for over 50 years and my Grandparents Mr and Mrs Albert Guy lived in No 9 Seaview Terrace we have strong connections and many happy memories from our time there. My Granddad Albert Guy was a Head Dairyman on the farm and my father Dennis and his brother David were born in No. 9. I have heard many stories from my Granddad, my dad and his brother about their time spent there.

Obviously we visit Vi often although we ourselves now live in North Weald near Epping and both work in Epping.

On Easter Saturday we decided to meet up at Hadleigh Farm tea rooms before visiting Mum, Nan and Great Nan Vi. She was due to go into hospital the following week for an operation, so we thought as we all lived a distance away we would make a day of it and visit the rare breeds centre and Hadleigh Castle and see Vi at the same time. Our son Daniel and his three children live in North of Essex.

We had a lovely lunch in a really friendly atmosphere enjoyed by us all before going to see Mum who hadn’t been too well. My husband Keith and I then took the two boys for a trip to see the animals and for a run around at the Castle. They both enjoyed the experience very much and are still speaking about it.  I took loads of photos of them enjoying themselves with us, and seeing the lovely animals, whilst their Mum, Dad and sister spent time with Nan, which was lovely too.

I remember when our own two boys, Daniel and Dean, were young; visiting Nan Vi and Granddad John at Seaview Terrace. (John has since died unfortunately) they used to love going down the farm with their Granddad and having a look at the tractors he used to drive and then he would take them to the Castle. I wanted my Grandchildren to experience the same things.

In this day and age with all this technology, the natural world can easily get forgotten. It was wonderful for Keith and myself to spend quality time with our Grandsons, watching them with the animals, chasing each other and Granddad Keith in the maze, and running up and down the slopes at the Castle. We were also telling them stories from our times spent there when we were young, and also for us re-living the times we spent with our two boys there. A good day had by all!!