The Eton Rifles (and Windsor)

Sup up your beer and collect your fags,

There's a row going on down near Slough.

Get out your mat and pray to the west,

I'll get out mine and pray for myself.

Thought you were smart when you took them on

But you didn't take a peep in their artillery room;

All that rugby puts hairs on your chest -

What chance have you got against a tie and a crest?

Hello-hurrah, what a nice day, for the Eton rifles

Hello-hurrah, I hope rain stops play, with the Eton rifles

     - from 'The Eton Rifles' by The Jam, 1979 (music & lyrics - Paul Weller)

One of the gates allowing entry to Eton College

Those of you d'un certain âge will likely now have a familiar, pumping baseline and thrashing guitars swirling around in your head, as you remember with fondness the song quoted above. If the lyrics are not familiar to you, do take a listen and enjoy the raw energy of this highly influential band that would cease to exist just three years after The Eton Rifles was released.

This will be a fairly short post, because I'm determined to get this published before the world sinks any lower into royal wedding hysteria.

Eton High Street - cafés, tailors and men's grooming services in abundance

Ballards - this Grade II listed cottage sits next-door to one of the Eton College residential buildings

The impressive front entrance to Ballards

The reason for this little meander down memory lane to the heady days of late-punk-mod-revivalism, is that we took a drive to Eton and Windsor last weekend. God forbid my readers should even entertain the notion that my interest stemmed from the impending nuptials of a certain chap who's sixth in line to the throne. To us, this royal wedding is a shameful waste of public funds, and I've made my feelings clear about the monarchy in previous posts, of course.

No, I've been meaning to take a poke around this area for some time. It is indeed lovely.

Some of the many buildings associated with Eton College

The Christopher Hotel

Gorgeous art nouveau tiling on The Christopher Hotel's exterior

Gilbey's restaurant - this place looked lovely

The town of Eton, just across the river from Windsor Castle, actually has a village-y feel to it until you get close to the college itself, and the only thing to detract from this is the ceaseless flow of privileged youths in their expensive uniforms and sporting kit, all sounding like they just emerged from some 1960s class war film. Haw haw haw. 

Do they have any inkling of the immense imbalance between them and the rest of the population, I wonder? Probably not.

The Windsor Bridge, with Windsor Castle towering in the background

Windsor was frenetically gearing up for this weekend's big event, of course - and I confess to enjoying the sight of streets festooned with bunting, bringing an air of post-war nostalgia. 

Part of the castle - it is immense, in fact the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world

I swooned over Windsor's antique stores and gracious hotels. There's a general air of elegance without the over-the-top intimidation of, say, Bond Street.

Promenade along the Thames

After trudging around for a good couple of hours, we enjoyed a late and leisurely lunch at Carluccio's. 

Since moving away from Epsom we no longer have one close by, so we took advantage of the Windsor restaurant - and for the first time EVER, I did not order the Penne Giardiniera! I'm talking at least 25 visits over a ten-year period, and until now I have always ordered the same main course. This is not really representative of my usual dining habits - I like to order different things when I return to a venue. However Carluccio's Penne Giardiniera is one of my all-time favourite dishes and I just could never resist. 

The reason for this bold departure? New vegan options, which Kevin and I both very much enjoyed (we chose different dishes). 

Seriously good double espresso at Carluccio's

Despite constant rain (which of course I never mind - except for the slight inconvenience factor when gadding about the streets), it was nice little day out and we plan to return later in the year to explore the castle itself - apparently you do need the whole day.

Until next time,
- Maree  xo