Nooks and Corners of Old England

Queen Eleanor's Cross at Geddington
AUTHOR OF
SECRET CHAMBERS AND HIDING PLACES PICTURESQUE OLD HOUSES
FLIGHT OF THE KING ETC.
A recent glance over some old Ordnance Maps, the companions of many a ramble in the corners of Old England, has suggested the idea of jotting down a few fragmentary notes, which we trust may be of interest.
Upon a former occasion we wandered with pencil and camera haphazard off the beaten track mainly in the counties surrounding the great Metropolis; and though there are several tempting Nooks still near at hand, we have now extended our range of exploration.
We only trust the reader will derive a little of the pleasure we have found in compiling this little volume.
A. F.

At Huntingdon we are on familiar ground with Samuel Pepys. When he journeyed northwards to visit his parental house or to pay his respects to Lord Sandwich's family at Hinchinbrooke, he usually found suitable accommodation at Goody Gorums and Mother somebody else who lived over against the Crown. Neither the famous posting-house the George nor the Falcon are mentioned in the Diary , but he speaks of the Chequers ; however, the change of names of ancient hostelries is common, so in picturing the susceptible Clerk of the Admiralty chucking a pretty chambermaid under the chin in the old galleried yard of the George, we may not be far out of our reckoning.
But altogether the old George Inn is somewhat disappointing. Its balustraded galleries are there sure enough, with t he queer old staircase leading up to them in one of the corners; but it has the same burnished-up appearance of the courtyard of the Leicester Hospital at Warwick. How much more pleasing both would strike the eye were there less paint and varnish. The Inn has been refronted, and from the street has quite a modern appearance.