Coombe Abbey: 2 June 2007

I guess my statement and estimation was right after all when I said, I will write about our picnic at Coombe Abbey in a month's time! I first heard about Coombe Abbey from a friend during Princess's birthday party. She said Malaysian in Coventry used to do lots of barbecue there.

On 2 June 2007, the weather looked quite promising with plenty of sunshine. So we invited very close friends for a picnic at the place. Babah actually insisted a barbecue, but there was very little time to buy then marinate the meat. Therefore, a simple picnic was good enough.

Our friend D and her family led us to Coombe Abbey. There was proper signs along the way, so it was quite easy for us. We were so excited and happy when we reached the place. Again, Coventry has surprised us with its hidden beauty.

It was the first time for all of us (our family, D's family and Dina), but we immediately envisioned more picnics in the future. Originally a monastery, now a four star hotel covers a huge piece of ground. There is also a man-made canal and moat which was built in 1861. Full history here.

We had to pay a minimal parking fee and carried our stuff to the picnic spot. We purposely chose an area facing the back of the hotel and the moat.


There was plenty of space for the children to explore. The children saw rabbits and squirrels capering in the area too.


We had nasi lemak, karipap and some fizzy drinks. Babah bought some ice-creams at one of the kiosks there.


The children enjoyed themselves around the moat after their light lunch.


They also enjoyed themselves feeding the ducks, geese and swans. [Above photo shows twin D distributing the seeds equally in different bags]

Not long after that, Amar fell asleep while the rest of the children played at the children's playground situated at the front/beginning of the park.

Just before we left, we did our (borrowing Babah's words) obligatory jumping pose.

I know I misjudged [ie failed to snap] their jumping, but I love to see the way they rolled on the ground after their excellent synchronised jumping in the air.

Sarah watched from the side. She refused to join because she was unhappy about not getting something she wanted. [notice the similarity of her pose with the blurry statue in the background?]

A few people tried to make her smile again. But she just decided to be difficult. She even pushed Babah away.

Oh well, we still like Coombe Abbey nevertheless. We couldn't wait to go back to explore the rest of the place. Unfortunately, the weather has really been pretty gloomy for the last few weeks. Plus the whole family had chickenpox. We just can't wait for a cheerful weekend for another round of picnic. We might not be able to do our barbecue though, I've just read a notice put up by the Council that they have banned barbecue at all of their parks!!! [I don't mind nasi lemak again]