Mothering Sunday

Sunday, March 30, 2025

It’s Mothering Sunday today, the UK’s version of Mother’s Day. While for us it falls on the second Sunday in May, here it’s linked to the lunar cycle and the sixteenth-century custom of Mothering Sunday, which fell on the fourth Sunday of Lent, so three Sundays before Easter. Back in the day, it was a day when children (mainly daughters) who had gone to work as domestic servants were given the day off to visit their mothers. There you go.

I slept badly last night. As beautiful as this place is, there are no windows in our bedroom, just a set of French doors that open out into the front of the property. While I don’t mind having them open during the day while we’re there (and awake), I wouldn’t sleep easily knowing anyone could step inside. As a result, there’s no fresh air. We do as we usually do and turn off all the heating, but still it’s quite warm. Plus, the ensuite fan keeps going off randomly until Grant turned it off at the override switch (which was too high for me to reach). Grant (half) jokes that I could hear a frog farting in a car on the Bruce Highway five miles away and it would keep me awake. He’s not far off the mark. #princessandthepea

We see more hares standing up in the fields as we head out this morning to Nottingham to catch up with Grant’s cousin Ray. He and I became friends after he reached out to me on Ancestry. We’re picking him up at the station and will go for lunch.

The country is flatter here, the fields are larger than they are up north, and it seems like there are more crops than animals. Fewer stone walls and hedgerows, too. The rape seed is further along in its growing cycle than it was in Yorkshire, and in another few weeks, these fields will be a sea of yellow.

Lunch is at Langar at the Unicorns Head, a Grade 2 listed building dating back to 1717. Originally named The Feathers, it had its own brewhouse, but was later renamed The Unicorn’s Head when it was bought in 1799 by John Wright, a Nottingham banker who had a unicorn’s head as his family crest.

Anyways, now it’s a pub that does great food. Today’s roast pork was the best pork and crackling we’ve had so far this trip, but it was let down by the veggies. Maybe we’re becoming too hard to please?

After lunch we drove back to Nottingham and Ray took us on a bit of a walking tour through the city. The “Ey Up” market was on in the square and people were everywhere.

It’s a really vibrant city, but I expected it to be grungier than it is. Ray said he comes over here quite regularly for the second-hand shops and guitar stores. I can see why he likes it so much.

After a final beer, we drop Ray at the bus station and head back, stopping in briefly at Melton Mowbray M&S to pick up some soup for dinner.

Back at the cottage, the gardens have closed for the day, but I take advantage of the extra sunshine (the clocks went forward for daylight saving last night) and take a walk through the gardens when no one else is about. Bliss.

The stats…

Temperature: 6-14,

Miles travelled: 90

*Even though we work in kms in Australia, all signage in the UK is in miles, so that’s what I’m going with.

These posts are taken directly from my travel journal … you can find the series here.