Horny

My Uncle Heinz wished to visit a proper 'pub' while he was in the UK, so I took him to Abbots Bromley for a bit of historic culture, as well as a drink.

Trying to explain the intricacies of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance to an English person is hard enough, but trying to explain it in a foreign language, to a foreigner is almost impossible. We parked in the village, and walked to the church, where the horns are on constant display. By a stroke of luck, one of the church wardens came in as were were there, and found a leaflet about the church, written in German. As we stood in front of the horns, I managed to translate the history of the Horn Dance, explaining something about their age, and the family connections over the years.

Thankfully, many countries have their own quirky passtimes and they understood the concept, likening it to their 'schutzenfest' celebrations.

We then called in the famous Goats Head (Dick Turpin was 'ere) [www.thegoatshead.co.uk] but our timing was terrible. A huge group of walkers arrived just before us. The bar was packed, but we managed to find a table for a drink. The funniest part, was that the walkers had the decency to take off their dirty boots before going into the bar. My aunty and uncle had never seen anybody do that before and were most impressed.

It was rather noisy, and the menu a bit ott, so we had just one drink, before moving on to a (short) guided tour of Uttoxeter.