Watford, Hemel Hempstead, London, Surrey:

The Finale

We are on the downward spiral of the holidays; 6 days left for the South of England split between Surrey (Cobham), Watford, Hemel Hempstead & London.
We took a leisurely drive from Bridlington, through Hull, over the Humber Bridge to Lincoln. Stopped at the Lincoln Castle, absorbed some history lit a candle in the Lincoln Cathedral and had a late lunch at the local pub. Then it was on the road again heading for Luton - we were going to call in on a friend Laura and her family. Laura and I did our midwifery together, at Hertfordshire. Laura works as an independent Midwife and is also a supervisor of midwifery. It was great to see her again; it was like old times except now she has three lovely boys instead of just one. We had a great afternoon tea now it was time to brave the traffic on the A1 to Surrey.

How could I forget the traffic on the M25, nothing much changes, congestion galore, needless to say took us several hours to get to Cobham.

It was like going home, visiting Watford & Hemel Hempstead. After all I had spent 6 years working and living there. I visited my old hospital Watford General, nothing seemed to changed, it just looked busier.



Helena - Community & Homebirth mentor, Mary - Labour & Birth suite mentor: both tremendous midwives, thank you.

We had a great evening in Hemel Hempstead with my old crew from Watford, the mad midwives. It was a tremendous evening catching up with friends who were also mentors, supervisors, peers and respected colleagues. It is interesting when you get a group of midwives together how difficult it is not to talk shop, the other interesting point is no matter where in the world you work we all face the same issues, staff shortages, medicalisation of childbirth, poor case management, empowering women, negligence, bullying and over work. This could serve as a reminder that the grass is not always greener on the other side. Happy midwifery, keep on being passionate.


London is just fantastic, I love the hustle and bustle and miss going to Leicester Square & Covent Garden for shows & meals. I enjoyed the 2 days in London immensely.

We went to see The Lion King, it was just brilliant. I would of like to see several more shows however time did not allow this.

The weather was not too kind to us, it was raining, windy and cold on and off for the 2 days we spent in London. I guess that is a reminder of how unpredictable the English summer is. Oh I almost forgot how if feels to be a sardine when travelling on the tube how could you forget.
The shopping is just out of this world you are spoiled for choice – there is a down side to all this, it is so expensive and crowed you have to queue for everything. The atmosphere in the city was buzzing. Harrods is arguably the most exclusive retail store, five floors of just exquisite shopping – I was tempted with a pair of Gucci shoes on sale at £185.00 however I had already purchased a few pairs elsewhere and had to think about luggage. There was also a Christian Dior handbag @ £7,500.00 - I could not justify this to myself or my husband so alas did not buy it. We did buy all the grandchildren and I Harrods Bears, and Ian got some golf balls and a hand towel. We bought our lunch from the Harrods deli section and had it in Hyde Park.

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Whilst we have been travelling we have used the city tours the - double Decker buses, they are well worth it as you get to see everything and you are able to jump on and off at any point, its not a bad way to see the city and it is valid for 24hrs.
Its time to go home the holiday is coming to a close; we have had a fantastic time its now time to squash all the shopping into our suitcases and make the long journey home. A flight I am not looking forward to. Ciao till next time.