Fleet, where the Queen goes for a skate

I ventured over to a town called Fleet today. Many people had said what a nice place it is, so I came with fairly high expectations.

According to a local sign, in the 12th and 13th centuries, monks created and maintained two ponds to help feed people. In the mid 1800s, Queen Victoria found Fleet Pond and was known to do her ice skating there. She felt it took too long to get to Fleet from London, so they build a train stop right next to the pond. The town has grown from there.

A friend at work had drawn a local map for me. She explained the "blue triangle" to me. There are 3 main roads that create a nice clean triangle. One of the roads is Fleet Rd, which is their high street, which means it's full of restaurants and shops. The other 2 roads are basically just for driving. Inside the triangle and slightly to the east/right and left is Fleet. South of the triangle is an area called Church Crookham, known to be very nice as well. Above/north of the triangle is an area called Elvetham Heath, full of nice houses and schools. Ancells Farm is on the northeast point of the triangle, also with nice houses.

I parked and started at the bottom left corner of the triangle and Fleet Rd. Right away I could see how nice the people were, there was a market right there and one family even asked me for directions.

There are many "copses" around Fleet. A copse, pronounced kawps, is a small group of trees. Fleet Rd isn't cobblestone but it's a nice street lined with shops. A place called Harlington is right there as well, which is like a dance studio meets library meets civic center meets performance center. Lots of kids activities there. 

At the end of Fleet Rd is Fleet Pond. I was expecting a fairly standard pond, but oh no, this is like instantly being whisked over to Florida. There were herons and swans everywhere, plus some beautiful birds I didn't even recognise. The water is edged by cat tails and the middle of the pond has beautiful little areas of trees. There are well marked paths around the pond, I chose the red and blue paths, which stays close to the water. It took about an hour or so to walk all the way around.

There are several stopping points for sitting or photography or fishing. At one point I came up to a sandy bay, so I stopped to take a photo. I had not seen another person in about 30 minutes so I was very surprised to turn around and see a fairly large animal running at me full speed. It took a second for me to realise it was a dog, and one of my favourite breeds of dog, a boxer. The owner was a bit behind but caught up quickly. I could start breathing regularly again.

I had some nice fish and chips at a pub, then caught up with my buddy for a few minutes. Then I rushed home to watch Hokie football. Go Hokies!