The Bourne Identity

I've been driving between Malvern and Salisbury a few times recently - a 100 mile journey. I've noticed a series of sets of small villages on the way:

• Duntisbourne Abbots, Duntisbourne Leer, and Duntisbourne Rouse
  
• Ogbourne St Andrew, Ogbourne St George, and Ogbourne Maizey
• Collingbourne Kingston and Collingbourne Ducis
• Winterbourne Dauntsey, Winterbourne Gunner, and Winterbourne Earls

I think it's interesting that such a high proportion of villages along my route have this pattern in their name. My highly authoritative wikipedia research reveals that the suffix "-bourne" typically indicates a stream. So the Ogbournes are on the River Og, and a Winterbourne is a river that dries up in the summer. Apparently a Mr Dunt had a stream, and Cola's people (?) had a stream too. The tautologous River Bourne flows through the Collingbournes and Winterbournes.

I suppose that these are a variation of the famous "Stratford upon Avon" and "Upton upon Severn" style (although perhaps "Upton under Severn" is more frequently appropriate). That reminds me of a masters thesis I saw when browsing for a few minutes in the Birmingham University Computer Science Department library: a survey of English towns whose names end in -ford. I think it may have been mis-filed.

Other interesting place name points:

• The Defence research organisation near Salisbury is accessed via Winterslow Road. This statement is true whether you are referring to Salisbury, Wiltshire UK, or Salisbury, South Australia.
• I also drive past Newton Tony and Stratford Tony. I can't offer any insight into these names at the moment.
• Some of the place names are quite evocative: Shady Bower, Old Malthouse Lane.
  

Thai Sarocha - Salisbury UK

I'm doing some stints in Salisbury for the next little while. Reminds me of my time in Adelaide...

But the thing I wanted to write about tonight was the food. I went to a satisfactory Thai restaurant last night, and decided that there were others that I should also try. My technique involves looking at a Google Map one night, and then seeing if I can get to the place the following evening after work. Now I actually spotted the Rai d'Or this morning - I took a slightly suboptimal route from the Cathedral to the bus stop. But while heading for it in the dark this evening, I took another suboptimal route, and came across the Thai Sarocha first.

What a lucky find. I don't think I've had better Thai food since I've been in the UK. I started with the Pad See Iew, special fried flat noodles with pork and mixed vegetables in a sweet dark soy sauce. One of the best parts was the basil. Last night's basil tasted stale and sour. Tonight's was just how I like it - certainly not overpowering, but a bit more than "subtle". I was really happy to find a place that served coconut rice - I have no idea how authentic it is, but I haven't seen it since we left Australia. I get it every time from our local, there. The menu did call it "Thai fried rice with coconut cream", but I think it was steamed. My red curry beef was classified "hot" in the menu, but was ideally mild/medium on my scale. Again, the basil was a highlight. I suppose I could mention that the beef didn't have much flavour of its own, but that's not what you buy a curry for, is it? While on a roll, and having been highly disciplined at lunchtime, I felt I had to try a dessert. It was a steamed banana in coconut milk topped with sesame seeds, with vanilla ice cream. In case you weren't aware, I like coconut even more than basil! I could complain about the undissolved sugar at the bottom of the bowl, and perhaps a lack of sesame, but the whole dish was delicious, and I soaked up every bit. The banana and coconut complemented each other very well, and the vanilla bean flavour in the ice cream was strong enough to match. There were about 10 whites and 10 reds on the wine list, with a couple of each available by the (small or large) glass. Main courses seemed to be mainly around the £7.50 mark, with seafood, specials and steaks higher - up to a max of £14.00. My noodles, curry, rice, and dessert came to £21. I'll be back!

69-71 New Street, Salisbury SP1 2PH.
01722 415 115