We left at just after nine on Friday and travelled through
several deluges of water. Our first stop was Toddington services for morning
coffee and we were blown away by the greatly inflated cost, which now far
exceeds the price of the same product in NZ. However, we bit the bullet or
rather the doughnut which was accompanied by a vanilla latte.
The M25 lived up or is it down to its usual expectations. It
is possible that we did not actually stop, but a 40 mph limit bought us down to
first gear. Eventually we reached Pease Pottage at the end of the M23. As we
approached we noticed the clouds which opened up as we arrived and closed as we
returned to the car.
Fifteen miles later we drove into the car park of the
Preston Park Hotel and found that although we were 2 hours early our room was
ready.
Since then ... I was going to say that there had been no
rain. Google said, “No rain.” The BBC said, “No rain.” Outside it was raining.
It did not rain for the rest of Friday and so we went for a walk in Preston
Park. The wind was bitterly cold, but the rose garden was colourful. Looking
back over the photos that I had taken the tattiness which is currently our
country was evident. The borders were overgrown with weeds. This might to some
extent reflect the record breaking wet weather of the last month, but it
probably is a consequence of government cuts. Across the road from this once
immaculate park is a block of derelict flats, boarded up and covered with
graffiti. They were in the same state the last time we visited.
Joe rang while we were in the park and eventually we
arranged to meet at their flat at 5:30. This gave us a short time to walk in
the rock garden extension of the park. It is a lovely feature and must have
taken some effort to build. From here we made meandering walk through the main
park to their flat on the top edge of the park.
Joe and Julia live in the attic flat of a house near to the
end of the road. Their accommodation is very cosy and we were able to sit at
large table to eat a delicious meal cooked by Joe. After this we sat to play a
card game called Struggle for Catan. It looked complicated at the start, but
once into it the game played well. We chose to play this game because we were
told that it was a quick one. However, the four player game went on longer than
expected and it was quite late by the time we left to walk down to our hotel.
Despite the fact that the hotel is by the main road and has
a bar below we were relatively undisturbed except for a noisy dustbin lorry at
4:50. I am quite sure that they do it on purpose. This was followed by a drunk
arriving back singing about a lovely morning.
Saturday 30th June
Breakfast was the full one and taken in a pleasant dining
room with gentle guitar music playing. We then sat by the window to await the
ten o’clock arrival of Joe and Julia. I phoned to see where they were. This was
followed by a phone call asking if we would pick them up.
We arrived at the ‘Bluebell Railway’ http://www.bluebell-railway.com/ a
few minutes before the departure of the 11:00 am train from Sheffield Park Station
to Kingscote. Complete with tickets we boarded the carriage and settled in for
the short, return journey. There was brief stop over at Kinscote and re-board
for the return trip. Naturally, we had a delay at Horsted Keynes (Pronounced Kaynes).
Actually, we were not sure if the station announcer was an ex-BR mumbler. I
decided to use the ten minutes to get off and take a few photos. After a good
chat with Essex man, tourer of old railway lines, the plan suddenly changed. The rest of my party
got off having been told that the train would be a further 20 minutes late. It
made sense to sit in the sunshine and enjoy our packed lunch. After one bite
there was a dash back to the carriage. The delay was not going to happen and little
time was given before the train pulled away. I am convinced that British Rail
must have retaken ‘control’ of the line and introduced the inevitable delays
and chaos. Back at Sheffield Park we explored the shop, the museum and the
engine shed before leaving. I have say that the Blue Bell line is one of the
best that I have seen. There is a large collection of steam engines, the
carriages are well kept and the whole area is tidy.
From there we drove a short way to Ashdown Forest Discovery
centre http://www.ashdownforest.org/discover/centre.php.
The discovery centre had an interesting way of doing tree identification. A
group of the common trees in the area had been planted and a clear label
attached to each one. None us felt like a long walk so we just strolled along
the path to admire the view and return to the car to drive back to our hotel.
We spent a few minutes enjoying refreshments in the bar of
the hotel before catching a bus into the city. A brief walk passed the Brighton
Pavilion took us to a Thai restaurant to have a delicious meal. An attempt was
then made to walk to the sea, but the wind was against us and it was bitterly
cold. We saw the sea, turned back and caught the bus back to our beds.
Sunday 1st July
The plans for the day changed. We had our breakfast watching
the rain sheeting down and afterwards sat in our room watching as the sun made
its appearance. Joe rang and we drove over to them. They had decided that they
would like to remain local.
Having parked the car and delivered some of Joe’s stuff to him we
walked into the park. The first sight to meet us was a colourful boarder of
wildflowers grown from seed. Then we headed in to a historic church called St Peter's and was declared redundant in
1990, and it is now owned by the Churches Conservation Trust.
It has Grade II*
listed status, reflecting its architectural and
historical importance. The wall paintings were fascinating. One showed a
scene of the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. These scenes have been painted in
numerous churches.
From the church we made our way to
the walled garden, stopping briefly for Joe to climb a tree. It is a very
colourful area, but along a shaded wall was a sad cemetery of the remains of
pets. One inscription was particularly noteworthy.
We found that we were gradually
heading nearer to the city.
The idea was lunch in the Cowley Club. http://cowleyclub.org.uk/. However, they
were not serving lunch and so we pressed to a pub where we had previously
eaten, where Joe could get a vegan meal.
Again the biting cold wind made going to the beach a least
favoured option and we bussed back to Joe and Julia’s for coffee and cake and a
board game called ‘Small World’ before taking our leave and going back for a
last night in the hotel.
Monday 2nd July
After breakfast we left for home. We opted for a detour to
Virginia Water for coffee and cake. The weather was good until Luton when the
heaven opened for the rest of the drive home. There was a last stop at
Leicester Forest and by 2:15 we were home.
