Diamond Jubilee Weekend Celebrations

Posted: Fri 1 June 2012 at 10:27

So much going on in Windsor this weekend… How are YOU celebrating?

Sat 2 June 2012
A 21-gun salute takes place on the Long Walk to mark the start of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend  at 12 noon
 
Sat 2 June 2012
Diamond Jubilee Windsor Farmers’ Market and St Leonards Road Street Party, 10am to 2pm.  Street stalls, children’s competition, special shopping discounts and much more.
 
Sat 2 to Tues 5 June 2012
Diamond Jubilee carpet planting in The Queen Elizabeth Temperate House in The Savill Garden at Windsor Great Park.
 
Sun 3 June 2012
Big Picnic takes place in Alexandra Gardens from midday with a 1950s theme.
 
Sun 3 June 2012
Eton Street Party (TICKETS SOLD OUT)
 
Sun 3 June 2012
Windsor Emporium Arts and Craft Fair at Windsor Guildhall – 10am-4pm free entry.  Around 30 local craftsmen present their hand-produced work.
 
Sun 3 and Mon 4 June 2012
Windsor Vintage Market at the Windsor Royal Shopping http://lipstickandgearstick.com/article/windsor-royal-jubilee-vintage-market
 
Mon 4 June 2012
Ox Roast takes place in Bachelors Acre from midday until 6pm.  The Ox Roast is a traditional Jubilee celebration.
 
Tues 5 June 2012
FREE Hog Roast and paella tasters in Windsor Royal Shopping including 50s theme village market, vintage cars and live entertainment from lunchtime.

Royal Windsor Horse Show

Posted: Fri 25 May 2012 at 08:00

The family were thrilled at AWL’s invitation to the Windsor Horse Show.  Wellies on, tickets in hand, we walked along the river towards Home Park, soaking up the horsey atmosphere.  The ponies and tack were looking extra shiny in honour of the Queen’s Jubilee.  With jumps, dressage and carriage racing, our two year old daughter was in raptures.  The Berkshire Food Festival offered plenty of delicious pit stops and we ended the day watching the Italian Cavalry charging through the main arena to some fantastic live scoring- a great start to the weekend.  Thank you AWL for a great family outing, it was a nice reminder that Windsor does pageantry better than anyone!

We will be back next year.  Joe, Jen and Poppy x

Red Arrows, Diamond Jubilee

Posted: Tue 22 May 2012 at 10:57

What a fabulous couple of weekends Windsor has had with the Windsor Horse Show and the Queens Diamond Jubilee.

Love is in the Air

Posted: Thu 23 February 2012 at 15:22

Windsor WheelFollowing hot on the heels of Valentines Day, this year February 29th offers girls the advantage of being a Leap Year.  Traditionally on this day usual laws were suspended including the rule that only men were allowed to propose.  This meant that just once every four years women got the chance to pop the question.  Custom also dictated that if he turned you down he had to buy you an expensive gift – it’s a win-win situation!  If you’re thinking of taking the plunge this Leap Year here’s our guide to Windsor’s most romantic locations.

    • Snow Hill in front of the Copper Horse – Take a stroll down the Long Walk heading up to the Copper Horse, with breath-taking views across Windsor and the distant Castle.
    • River Boat Cruise – Suggest a delightful trip along the River Thames and soak up the stunning backdrops of Windsor Castle and Eton College.
    •  VIP Champagne Ride on the Royal Windsor Wheel – Enjoy the panoramic views from Alexander Gardens across Berkshire and all the way to London as you get down on one knee.
    • Horse-drawn Carriage in Windsor Great Park – Surprise your loved one with a horse drawn carriage through the park, champagne and roses optional.
    • The Pink Bench at Ascot Racecourse – The tradition of proposing on the Pink Bench dates back to the Regency period and has the added advantage of great odds for an acceptance.

Continuing the wedding theme, this coming Sunday 26th February Windsor is playing host to its first ever Windsor Wedding Fayre.  The event will be jointly hosted by The Macdonald Windsor, Harte and Garter and Mercure Castle Hotels and promises to offer a fabulous showcase of banqueting suites and bridal packages.  There will also be tours of the famous Windsor Guildhall –  wedding venue to Royalty and Celebs including Prince Charles & Camilla and Sir Elton John & David Furnish.  To register your interest or book an exclusive viewing email windsorweddingfayre@macdonald-hotels.co.uk

part of Windsor Castle

 

If you would like to visit Windsor whether to make a proposal or to make wedding plans you can book a stay with Accommodation Windsor Limited for short stay apartments in Windsor and Eton.  Likewise, Alma House  Bed and Breakfast has a special offer during February and March if you book 2 nights together over the weekend your stay will be reduced and includes a free bottle of wine and box of chocolates to get you off to the perfect start.

Many thanks to superb Wedding Photographers Plenty to Declare for sharing their lovely photos with us.

A Recipe for Perfect Pancakes

Posted: Mon 20 February 2012 at 18:25

http://www.flickr.com/photos/erincooks/

Pancake Day, otherwise known as Shrove Tuesday, falls on Tuesday 21st February this year.  On this day pancakes are traditionally eaten as it is the day before the start of Lent when people used to fast for 40 days.  The reason people ate pancakes specifically is because they are made of eggs, sugar and milk which were not eaten during the period of Lent.  Nowadays we  eat them just because they taste so good!!  In order to help you celebrate Pancake Day here’s our recipe for the perfect pancakes:

Ingredients:

140g plain flour

200ml whole milk

2 eggs

25g unsalted butter, melted

Method:

  1. Sift the flour with a pinch of salt into a bowl and make a well in the middle.  Mix the milk and 100ml of water together.  Break the eggs into the well and start whisking slowly.  Carefully add the milk and water, whisking constantly and gradually mixing the flour in as you do so.
  2. Whisk until the batter is smooth.  Let the batter sit for 30 minutes, and then whisk the melted butter into the batter.
  3. Heat the pan over a medium heat.  Very lightly grease the pan with melted butter.  Pour roughly 2 tbsp of batter into the pan.  Use just enough batter to make a delicate, lacy pancake.  Cook the pancake for about 45 seconds on one side until golden and then flip the pancake over and cook the other side for about 30 seconds.
  4. Slide the pancake out of the pan and either serve immediately or stack on a plate with baking parchment in between.  Continue until all the batter is used up.

For toppings you can try the traditional lemon and sugar or golden syrup.  Or you could go for melted chocolate and strawberries!

The Windsor and Eton Flippin’ Pancake Challenge 2012 is set to be bigger and better than ever this year with all teams encouraged to don the traditional pancake racing costume of the 15th century housewife.  That means skirt, apron, headscarf and frying pan!  The competition takes place tomorrow along the Royal Windsor Shopping area between 10.00-11.30am.  A blog by Rosie.

Meet the Team Video

Posted: Wed 15 February 2012 at 15:59

Recently the team at Accommodation Windsor enjoyed a taste of Hollywood during the making of our first ever “Meet the Team” video filmed and edited by Sam Taylor, the winner of our recent video competition “Destination Windsor”.  We started with an initial brain-storming session, which got us all buzzing with ideas.  After this, we decided to introduce each member of staff by giving a small glimpse of what they do each day, for me this meant a lot of answering the phone, greeting people at the door, doing check-ins and check-outs and taking payments.  It was tiring work but also a lot of fun which reflects exactly what a normal day at Accommodation Windsor Limited is really like.

It was tricky to get all our ideas into such a short, two and a half minute video. We wanted to show all aspects of what we do at work including taking bookings, checking in guests, fighting our way through a mountain of paper work, meeting landlords and purchasing fabulous home furnishings.  Luckily a number of our landlords are also close friends so were happy to help to get stuck in with the filming.

The completed video will be shown to the world via our website and various social media sites.  It was therefore not surprising then that we all came to work on the first day of filming looking our absolute best! The team at Accommodation Windsor Limited have never looked so glamorous.  The filming itself lasted just a few days and was a lot of fun and turned into a great team-building exercise.  The Meet the Team video is a great way to show potential  clients, Landlords and guests how we work together and what kind of a company we are.  We recently used the video to advertise a job vacancy and had such a positive response from candidates who all felt we would be a great company to work for!

Working with Sam on this video has been a pleasure for all of us, he has a very professional and creative attitude which filled us all with energy and enthusiasm. We can’t wait to see the rest of the videos he will be creating for us in the future which will feature a number of our apartments as well as videos on where to eat, drink and shop in Windsor.

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

Posted: Wed 8 February 2012 at 13:11

 
Queen Elizabeth was born on 21st April 1926 in Mayfair, London and at the time third in line to the British throne after Edward, Prince of Wales and her father, The Duke of York.  She spent her earliest years at Whitelodge in Richmond Park before moving with her family to the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park at the age of 6.  Here Princess Elizabeth was presented with her own house called The Little Cottage which was given to her by the People of Wales.
 
When her grandfather, King George V died in 1936 her Uncle took the throne of England as King Edward VIII but within a year, and amidst much scandal he abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson who was a divorcee.  At this point Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, was crowned and Princess Elizabeth became next in line to the British throne.  Throughout her childhood years Princess Elizabeth was home schooled by her father on topics such as Politics and History to prepare her for the life she had ahead.  She was also educated on religion by The Arch Bishop of Canterbury.

During the Blitz Elizabeth and her family sought safety and refuge at Windsor Castle where they spent most of the War years.  Whilst the country was still recovering from the devastation caused by WWII Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey on 20 November 1947. Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip have now been married over 64 years and they have four children, eight grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

In the 1950s her father’s health began slowly deteriorating until his death on Wednesday, 6 February 1952. Elizabeth was in Kenya on a royal visit when she received the news and immediately flew back to England as the new Queen.  Her Coronation took place in Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953.  The procession was viewed by crowds of people and the ceremony was broadcast over the radio across the world.

During her reign Queen Elizabeth II has seen many changes in the world including the first man on the Moon, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the invention of modern television, mobile phones and internet.  She is an avid animal lover who has taken a keen interest in the breeding of both dogs and horses.  It is also less known that she has an interest in Scottish country dancing and performs each year at Balmoral Castle to neighbours, staff members and the local community.

The Queen celebrated her Golden Jubilee, a milestone to mark the 50th year of her reign in 2002, and a large number of people threw street parties, garden parties and many other events to celebrate with her.   Now the country is looking forward to celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this summer to commemorate 60 years since her Coronation. The only other Monarch in British history to have celebrated their Diamond Jubilee is Queen Victoria who at the moment holds the title of longest ruling Monarch after her reign of 63 years.

The Diamond Jubilee Central Weekend takes place over four days in June 2012, celebrating 60 years of The Queen’s reign, see the diary of events below.

Saturday 2 June

The Epsom Derby

Sunday 3 June

The Big Jubilee Lunch

The Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant

Monday 4 June

The Diamond Jubilee Concert

The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Beacons

Tuesday 5 June

Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral

See link for further information on events taking place during the Diamond Jubilee weekend http://www.bbc.co.uk/diamondjubilee/index.shtml

 

Swans

Posted: Sat 31 December 2011 at 10:52

Swans by johnbailey1
Swans, a photo by johnbailey1 on Flickr.

Lovely shot from River Thames of the swans.

The Making of a Christmas Card

Posted: Wed 14 December 2011 at 16:40

The idea began in 2009, with an eye on world events and a dread of signing hundreds of Christmas cards, we decided to donate our budget for printing corporate cards to charity and send out an E-card instead.  Together with the girls in the office, we donned our sparkliest outfits and popped open some bubbly.  Charles Nicholls – friend, Landlord and keen photographer volunteered to come and take the pics for us. 

The following year we asked the Housekeeping Team to join in with the photo, even dressing up Ruby with a big red ribbon.  This year, the team has grown again and some of our Landlords managed to gatecrash the photoshoot too.  We decided to host at our home as a way of saying Thank You to the Team for all their hard efforts throughout the year.

Add in some nibbles and fizzy stuff and the evening took on quite a lively flavour.

As is becoming the trend when we all get together, the Team are keen to share their unique party tricks with their colleagues.  Who knew Rosie (an ex-gymnast and trampolinist) could pick up a Champagne cork from the floor using only her mouth?  Or that several of her colleagues would then be inspired to see if they could too… Or that together, with Nigel leading on the drums, we would so enjoy “performing” (and I use this term loosely) Stevie Wonder tracks in Nigel’s new music studio, despite none of us being able to sing or play any instruments.  (Video footage of this event is currently on lockdown!!)

So the donation we are making this year is to El Rohi Community School in Uganda (the school name comes from the Hebrew for Good Shepherd).  We hope that our small contribution will make a difference to the lives of children much less fortunate than our own.  A friend at our daughter’s school is an airline pilot and she has become involved with the school over in Kampala, dropping off spare clothing and stationery each time she visits.  Food is exhorbitantly expensive in Uganda and  it is a constant dilemma for the Headmistress there to juggle the finances and provide a nutritious meal for the pupils – often the only meal that they will have each day.  We would like to support the school on an ongoing basis so more info to follow in the New Year.

We hope you enjoy our Christmas e-card  and approve of our nominated charity.  We’ve had a lot of fun putting it together and feel proud to have contributed in some small way to help others.

We would like to wish all our Friends, Customers, Landlords and Suppliers the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years!  Visit our Facebook page to see more pics of our photoshoot.