For the first time this year, the sun shone on one of the Thames Valley Morgan Centres’ Sunday walks when drivers, passengers, and dogs, in six Morgans and one Land Rover met up at Runnymede in Surrey. On our two hour walk we visited the river meadows, the Magna Carta monument, and memorials to John F. Kennedy and the Allied Air Forces of the WW2. The latter commemorates the men and women of the Commonwealth Air Forces killed in World War II, who have no known grave.
I expect most of you know of the significance of Runnymede and the sealing of the Magna Carta, but were you aware that the name Runnymede may have been derived from the Anglo-Saxon words 'runieg' - meaning regular meeting, and ‘mede’ - meaning mead or meadow? The Witan, the 7th to 11th century Council of the Anglo-Saxon Kings, was regularly held at Runnymede. The Ankerwycke Yew which is situated on the north bank of the Thames is at least 1,400 years old, and is listed by the Woodland Trust as one of the top 10 trees in England. It is thought to have been the location of the Witan council, and may well have been the preferred neutral meeting place of King John and the barons. Henry VIII is said to have met Anne Boleyn under the tree in the 1530s.
Now that spring is in the air, don’t be afraid of getting out and about in your Morgan.
