The scene is so quintessentially English that you half expect to find Constable rattling off a canvas, but the sign by the gate serves as an announcement that all is not quite as it seems. 'Welcome to Woollam', it says, 'home of Old Albanians'.
After that, it is almost disappointing to find that the accent in the clubhouse is more of a Durban drawl than a Tirana twang. For the Old Albanians in question are actually the alumni of nearby St Albans School, not ageing associates of Enver Hoxha, and Woollam also happens to serve as the training base of Saracens, a side that has taken on a distinctly South African look over the past couple of seasons.
Yet even with displaced Springboks of the calibre of Schalk Brits and John Smit in their side, there are many Saracens fans who would nominate Kelly Brown as the club's standout player over the past couple of seasons.
Ox strong and fearless, Brown has carried on where he left off when he took his leave of Glasgow a couple of seasons ago, a bastion of uncomplaining excellence in a blindside berth where you thrive by coupling an appetite for hard work with an indifference to creating a glamorous profile for yourself.
It helps if you have an immunity to pain as well, but Brown might hesitate to put that claim on his cv after his blue-tinged cry of agony was caught by television microphones in a Heineken Cup match between Saracens and Treviso in Italy, last season. Falling heavily, he had just dislocated his fibula, but the scream of pain was laced with the anguish of knowing, even then, that he would play no part in the Six Nations championship that was about to begin.
Brown was about to be named captain of Scotland: the fulfilment of a dream that first took shape in the Melrose mini section and was nurtured as he moved onwards and upwards through the senior side at the Greenyards, the Border Reivers and Glasgow. Against that backdrop, the timing of the injury was almost sadistically cruel, but Brown did not become the player he is by wallowing in self-pity, and nor is he inclined to try it now.
"Until that happened I had been incredibly fortunate in my career," he explains. "Last season was my eighth as a professional, but that was my first major injury. I've had a few little head knocks and things down the years, but overall I've been incredibly lucky.
"I think it's much better to look at it that way, rather than dwell on the bad luck. It is very rare to go as long as I have, and especially in my position as a flanker, without picking up a serious injury, so really I've got no reason to complain.
"There were a couple of operations as I had to have some screws inserted after they came out then there was a lot of rehab, a lot of strengthening work and my leg is as strong as it has ever been now. While all this was going on I was also doing a lot of upper-body work. In a funny way, it was a good chance to rest up from playing and work as hard as I could in the gym."
Initially, he had thoughts of getting fit in time for Scotland's summer tour to Australia and the South Pacific, but it quickly became clear that he would not be ready in time. Yet he did manage to fulfil another ambition in that period, managing the Saracens side that lifted the Melrose Sevens title that had always eluded him as a player. With his playing roots in the little Borders town, it was an emotional afternoon for Brown, although it would be more emotional still if he can't lay his hands on the famous trophy when it is time to send it back.
"I'm pretty sure it's in the coaches' room here," he says, in a voice that suggests he isn't all that sure at all. "I certainly hope it's there. I'm in a lot of trouble if it's not."
On Saturday, however, the ties that bind Brown to his home country will be temporarily severed when, for the first time since he moved to Saracens, he will face up to Scottish opponents as his club take on Edinburgh in their Heineken Cup match at Murrayfield. The stadium is almost a second home to Brown, and he admits he is bracing himself for thinking of the place as foreign territory.
Brown says: "This will be a first. It will be interesting, but I'm really looking forward to it. Obviously, it will feel a bit strange to play against so many of my mates, but I am now an exile so I'm going up there with the enemy, so to speak.
"Obviously, I've played there many times with Scotland, but quite a few times with Glasgow as well. So I know what it's like to play against Edinburgh up there. I've been talking a lot about Edinburgh with the guys down here, so they know what to expect up there."
And so they should. As the Saracens players tuck into lunch upstairs in the Woollam clubhouse, television screens around the room are showing a loop of excerpts from recent Edinburgh games. The video analysts have superimposed statistics, restart percentages and suchlike, on the pictures. If Saracens suffer a setback on Saturday then it won't be because they have taken their opponents lightly.
And, as Brown stresses, the emphasis is on effort. "I enjoy the culture of the club," he explains. "The ethos here is that we, the club, will treat you, the players, unbelievably well, and all you have do is work unbelievably hard. They look after us as best they can. In return, we work as hard as we can, and play as hard as we can."
Have his own playful moments extended to a spot of text messaging with friends in the Edinburgh camp ahead of Saturday's game? Have there been any taunts on Twitter and Facebook? Maybe even a Kevin Pietersen moment?
"No, none of that," he smiles. "I'm not really one for that sort of stuff. I just like to go out and play and then have the chat afterwards. I'm not the sort of guy who would send a wind-up to anyone, and I'm not getting those texts either. But it will be good to catch up after the game."
Time will be limited, as Saracens and Brown will be flying back south early on Saturday evening. "I would have loved to stay up there," he says. "But, hopefully, I'll be spending a bit of time up there over the course of the next month." His reference, of course, is to the autumn international programme, his chance to get over the disappointment of the Six Nations.
He says: "Everything feels fine now. My leg is absolutely fantastic and I feel that I'm getting sharper and sharper with each match. I'm absolutely desperate to get myself back into the Scotland side. I've spoken to Andy [Robinson] a few times so he knows I'm going well. I just need to keep on doing what I'm dong and, hopefully, everything will take care of itself."
Contextual targeting label:
