Ahhh Olney, the sweetest market town you’ll ever see…home to pancake races and the beautiful hymn, Amazing Grace. Living basically in the middle of England means I have a lot of cute spots I can visit so when I needed to escape the house, I met up with G for morning tea and had a little wander around Olney while recovering from my operation.
^^Apparently Olney is the Best Kept Town In Buckinghamshire…anybody wish to disagree? Look at the ladies on the sign running with their pancakes…how bloody adorable!
As soon as you get close to Olney, your view is dominated by a large church…
…the church is the finishing line to the famous pancake race on Shrove Tuesday…I happened to visit two days later…doh!
Unfortunately I couldn’t pop inside the church as they were preparing for a funeral and I didn’t want to intrude.
I had a wonderful chat with a little old man in the churchyard in regards to world events…after our chat, we admired the snowdrops together…it was a perfect reminder to always smile and be open for a chat…anytime and anywhere.
So that is the finish line…I’m guessing you want to know where the start line is for the pancake race…here you go…
…while they don’t know where the original start line was, this is the one they use now…we will forgive the residents of Olney as the race started way back in 1445…many many many moons ago.
A little history on the pancake race – there are a couple of stories surrounding the pancake race and the favourite one is that a frazzled resident of Olney (she was probably scrolling through some old form of social media!) was running late to the church service on Shrove Tuesday so she ran from her house to the church while still holding her frying pan containing a pancake. The pancake race is only open to the women of Olney (you need to be a resident for 6 months prior to the race…I like this rule a lot as it keeps the community spirit alive which I think is important!)...plus they have a race for the school kids of the town as well.
Now why a pancake…various stories again and who knows what is true and correct…it’s like a bad case of Chinese whispers…however a common theory is and the one I was told while in Olney is that you need to get rid of your old flour before Shrove Tuesday and pancakes were a very simple way of doing this without using many ingredients in the old days…as I said, who knows if this is correct and true but I do love a good ol’ tale or two!
Heading back in the town square…I found a lovely little teashop called Teapots which I’ve visited in the past for afternoon tea…
…if you love vintage tea rooms then you need to add this spot to your bucket list as it’s delightful and they do a rather lovely gluten free afternoon, sarnies…
…and even gluten free pancakes which are pretty darn tasty…but my favourites are from Rachel’s Pancake House which is now moving to Sydney!
^^It was a clean eating kind of day…jokes!
After refuelling and having a chuckle with the folks at Teapots, I decided to visit the Cowper & Newton Museum right on the market square…
…it had me at spring flowers…
…the house dates back to the Georgian times…
…with various displays including a fabulous one on the slave trade as Cowper and Newton were both involved in the abolition of the slave trade movement in Britain…
…it’s heart breaking to read about this time in history and all we can do is remember our past and learn from these mistakes.
There is another interesting display about the Lace Industry in Olney, Bedford and Northampton – I was totally unaware of the Bedford Lace industry and I live in the town! I do wonder how many folks of Bedford can trace their ancestors to these Lace workers who came over from France…genealogy fascinates me!
Now the house also has a link to the Austen family which you can read about here.
The museum is great for dressing up as well (the sign made me giggle!)…
…you can’t go wrong with a wig or two!
Popping down to the gardens at the back of the museum which were bathing in the March sunshine, it was so lovely to see the crocus and snowdrops finally popping up…
…how sweet is this inscription…
…it was time for a spring shoefie obviously!
After my visit to the Museum, I wandered around the market town which is super pretty…
…and Olney has a Joules where I may have bought another Breton Top <insert eye roll!>.
G tells me that I always get into trouble as I talk to random folks all the time (hence why I ended up with a proper stalker on my London commute a few years ago…when G suggested that I changed my train and carriage to confuse said stalker, I told him no and that the stalker could change his train carriage instead…I have OCD and no stalker was going to change my train carriage…G puts up with a lot of nonsense!)…anyway, I’ve totally digressed haven’t I….oops! So I was photographing a rather pretty thatched house and a nice man behind me said, “where do you want me”….I told him I wanted him draped over his 4×4…I don’t think he was expecting that response but he gave me a big smile anyway and had a chuckle…
…and so I continued to photographed the crap out of the pretty house! I am definitely my mothers daughter!
The doors of Olney were dressed up to the nines for my visit…well possibly due to the pancake race and not me…I do want to think that the doors were expecting me…
…and they looked ravishing…
…I went home and googled tulip door wreaths (I found somewhere in the UK that sells blooming lovely wreaths…go take a look!)…
…a bit of unicorn love over a mint door…
…now you have to ask that awkward question…is the postman tall or the door tiny?!?!…
…these hanging baskets remind me of Madonna’s pointy bra…is it wrong that I am tempted to buy two now?!?…
Travel Tips for Olney, Buckinghamshire
- Parking can be a nightmare especially on market day so follow the signs and park in one of the large carparks on the edge of town and walk in.
- Take a comfortable shoes to walk around the town
- Teapots in Olney offer great gluten free food options plus they’re super friendly so I can’t recommend the vintage tea rooms enough – you can read my gluten free afternoon tea review here.
- The church is short walk from the town centre; as with any church please be mindful of services being held within the church.
- The Pancake Race is held on Shrove Tuesday however to participate you need to be a resident of Olney – you can read more about the event on the official website and the history of the race.
- The Cowper & Newton Museum is a wonderful space full of history over the writers of the beautiful hymn, Amazing Grace plus there are displays about the slave trade and the lace makers of Olney – it offers a really interesting insight onto life in the area. Your ticket (£6 per adult) offers you unlimited access for a year and during the summer months they offer tea and cake in the gardens on a Thursday…I will be back for that!
Have you visited Olney before – did you love the little market town? Where is your favourite spot in Buckinghamshire?
xx
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