20 March 2020
Day 5 of The Isolation, and I finally get to leave the Cambridgeshire Fens. Whoopee.
Only just into Hertfordshire, as the Old North Road drifts past Royston .
I’m looking for places I’ve never been to before, preferably with hills or entertaining street art or abandoned but unopened barrels of Bass.
Let’s try Reed, shall we ?
The Herts/Essex borders has provided a rich seam of Guide pubs over the decades; loads of Phils and Petes tipping up to sink the Stella, as well as gentlefolk with the cash for weekday lunches.
But, as Charlene sang, I’ve never been to Reed, home of the famous Cabinet.
The OS extract promises Periwinkle Hill, and numerous woods, and moats and pits.
Mostly I see fields. Wiki says I pass through the Prime Meridian, but I can’t say i noticed that. What colour is it ?
and flowers.
I did fit in a 90 minute walk out to the solar farm, before the still muddy tracks defeated me and my overworked boots.
Can’t we get people back to work drying out the public footpaths in posh areas ?
90 minutes is enough to view every single building in a village of 310, most of whom were presumably queuing for loo rolls in Waitrose when I visited.
A primary school, but no shop, so the centrepiece of Reed is a cricket ground which will be hosting all the 100 ball matches this summer.
Which brings us to the Cabinet, subject of a determined effort by villagers to stop it being turned into a private house.
The campaign plays heavily on its name and history, rather than the number of pints pulled when it closed in 2011, and I did wonder if the village would be satisfied if it ended up with a smaller pub or occasional pop-ups in the Village Hall.
I guess they’ll have time over the next few months to put their collective heads together to save the Cabinet, anyway. Best of luck.
retiredmartin 
I don’t understand cricket but 888 runs required and 88 overs does seem rather a lot.
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It used to be a lot, Paul, but keep wickets in hand, use the reverse ramp, and 10 an over is very doable if you’re playing Baldock under-12s.
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Oh that Cabinet, yes worth saving. Don’t think I was ever in it without checking. Looks like a left hander to me. Possibly Gower. When you start identifying more difficult flowers I will know your Dad will be impressed.
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Surely switch hitting in the 100.
Losing the longform of cricket as bad as losing the pubs in some ways.
Are the roses the ones that cost a fiver each on Feb 13th?
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Switch hitting- you are ahead of your time (as is the weather vane). If there’s any cricket at all this summer they will prioritise short form and ditch county championship. Sad times.
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Boooooo
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Tavare? Looks more like Alvin Stardust.
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Separated at birth.
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Tavare hardly ever lifted his bat that high. Forward defensive generally.
Reed CC in recent years usually win the national Sunday Village Cricket Competition. Final at Lords.
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Yes, I knew of Reed’s formidable reputation ! Electronic scoreboard and all.
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“hardly ever lifted his bat that high” – at first glance I thought it was a man with a ponytail and distorted knees wielding a large hatchet, and then I saw the cricket stumps. .
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Another Staffordshire Legend was the great David Steele. Would have been apt for him to still be playing for Northants, now known as the Steelers
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I’ve never heard of David Steele with an ‘e’, only the one now suspended from the Liberal Democrats.
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Don’t know if I can add links. please see this https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/33343793
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Anon,
Thanks.
Maybe him being a Stokie is why I’d never heard of him.
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Well done.
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