1678 Travelling with purpose

I am home after a six day, five night continuing celebration of being seventy and torn between the task of unpacking and catching up on writing about the experience. Because of the travelling, the good food, the talk and other activities I became sleepy tired between 9.30 and 11pm and went to bed and sleep instantly, and although I continued to wake and needed to rise during the night several times, with one exception, it was well after dawn before rising for the day. I intended to write this in segments, unpacking in between, after opening the post, powering up the desk top, checking e mails and watering the outdoor plants. I then reversed the decision because of hunger and unloaded the car in one go, and eating a small carton of shell prawns and a soup with a brown finger roll.

Descriptions of meals which one did not partake is nearly as bad as having to hear about accounts of journey’s without incident, but I am going to commit both. The second most enjoyable aspect of what is now my third birthday year trip was the food. On Friday I enjoyed a plate of roast gammon and turkey with a giant Yorkshire pudding, roast parsnips, some broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and roast potatoes. I had not intended to have a pudding but could not resist the temptation to share a large dish of apple crumble with unlimited custard. Accompanying the meal was a J20 Apple and Mango followed by coffee.

This was but a taster for the main event, Sunday lunch at the Old Tollgate, Steyning a Best Western Enterprise. For starters I selected two large pieces of smoked salmon, two chunks of salmon, two medium pieces of smoked mackerel and a pile of prawns. For the main course there was a similar selection of meats and vegetables although French beans replaced the cauliflower and the vegetables were placed on the plate according to instructions which was then brought to the table, customer by customer. The sweet selection was too rich with a crème caramel, a slice of creamy mouse and two dollops of vanilla ice cream and two small brownies. There was also a J20 Apple and Mango and strong deep black coffee, drunk with brown sugar lumps. As mentioned after my first visits there is a choice of about twenty starters and a dozen puddings. I did not feel the need to eat again until the following lunchtime.

This was a meal at the Black Swan Monxton in Hampshire where the starter was a pate with toast and salad, the main course scampi with chips and pudding lemon cheese cake, ice cream and cream. And yet another apple and mango J20 and coffee.

This all contrasted with today which commenced with croissant and coffee and lunch comprising three brown bread finger rolls with salami, after several small flask cupfuls of a soup and then later back home more soup and the prawns a mentioned and a small dish of tine chicken breast pieces, mushrooms and rice followed by a flaky pastry and coffee after the washing up for the trip. Some of unpacking is still to do.

On Sunday I used the opportunity of my visit to the South coast to decide whether to bring the car or not for my trip in May to watch Durham play Sussex at Hove in the English County Championship. The Hove ground is small and charming but somehow still manages to host major events such as playing the Australian touring team this year, a reward no doubt of the recent success of becoming county champions for the first time in its history.

I did not expect to find car parking at the ground but I was shocked to find nowhere within walking distance could you park for more than four hours and then return within an hour. I have immediately written to the club enquiring the position. I have since looked on the web site after sending an email to the club and found that there is a tiny amount on site parking for Members at £6 a day but also some at £2 for teen hours closer to Hove station. It is obviously a secret as to where so that only the regulars know and get there early enough, so I shall have to get up early on the first morning as will be too tired on arrival unless I decide on a stop over the day before the planned travel day. The major change already decided is top say on for the Durham day and night fifty over match, booking one night at Whyteleafe for the after match night before the journey homeward.

There are dual carriageway roads and then the M23, and then further dual carriage way road almost into the centre of Brighton from the Travel Lodge, some forty five miles and an hour’s driving. I had forgotten how close the coast is and that there used to be nose to tail traffic all the way from London on a warm hot sunny day even when I was a young man and car ownership had become widespread in the fifties and sixties. I stopped for an early morning cup of coffee at a service area, using a comfortable armchair. I failed to find the Travel Lodge at my first attempt but did so before returning home. It is next to the Brighton centre and therefore within yards of the sea front with a car park a few minutes away but with a charge of £15 for over 4 hours to 24 and even then four hours costs £12.80 and one hour £3.40. This means car parking will cost me more than cost of the night’s stay, nearly twice as much! This becomes even more expensive if I then take the car to and from the ground. I can understand the pricing system because the town become enveloped with visitors at some times and there was a tendency to sleep in the car overnight rather than take up accommodation as well as ensuring the local residents do not find they have no where that relatives or other visitor’s to their homes can park.

An added problem, as well as an opportunity to make the visit even more interesting, is that throughout May the Brighton festival is taking place. There are 100 main events over the three weeks There are 500 other ‘fringe’ activities from individual performers to theatre groups and bands, dance, comedy, visual art and late night cabaret involved in some 2000 and more performances so I will have no problem finding something to do if the weather is poor.

I am staying two of the seven nights at Worthing and the traffic control parking there is more complex. There is a one way system which makes it difficult to get to the seafront from the inland route because the area behind the sea front comprises narrow roads and pedestrian developed areas of town centre. The Travel Lodge here is directly on the sea front but I was advised and found a small parking area behind where half a dozen visitor vehicles can be parked or luggage unloaded. There is however free overnight parking after six and throughout Sundays so there should be no problem from the evening. In trying to sort out what I will do in more detail I have discovered that this season the county matches will last only three days which means that I will have the Saturday and Sunday free. Durham are also playing the day nighter on the Monday hence the decision to book a night back at Whyteleafe before the return home.

This Monday my day trip took me along the M25 to the M3 and I hit congestion for ten miles before the junction to the south west. The first part of the M3 has attractive banks of yellow gorse with wooded backcloths but the traffic is fast on a two lane highway where sixty miles per hour is a more appropriate average speed for the twists, rises and falls. Even the subsequent road, also dual, to my destination for the day, was fast and furious, and it was only when I turned off from this that I entered a wonderful different world of Thatched housing, lazy rivers and ponds, village halls and village churches, hawks, goats and even deer. If one lived in one of the villages and worked locally one would have a very different perspective of life. However there is a major army base nearby and the lifestyle of many is such that commuting to London for an occupation is a part of life, thus destroying the illusion of whole life rural splendour. Another reality is a subsequent news report that in a different area of the county fire from one thatched cottage spread to two others with ten appliances being called. I wonder what he insurance was as re thatching can cost tens of thousands of pounds.

Later there was a tea time visit to Winchester in time for evening song at the Cathedral, with beforehand a look at the exterior of the Great Hall which is the only surviving part of the former Castle. The visit was also a Taster and I must return. There was a sleep over of young people in a main street a short distance away from the Cathedral. There was no indication what the sleep over was for and a local news search has so far failed to reveal the information. The Cathedral news mentioned there was such an event in close in April so this may have been the March event, but with what purpose.

After my recent experience reaching a Travel Lodge late at night motoring in complete darkness along country lanes I decided to return before darkness and was able to reach the M25 in some light.

This morning I was ready to return home at 9am but encountered a congestion slow almost immediately on the M25. This was because there was a nasty multi vehicle accident going in the opposite direction with traffic at a standstill for mile upon mile upon mile and mile and mile and mile and mile and mile, and mile, all of nine miles in total. I stopped for some soup and a flaky twist around 10.30 at the first motorway service stop. I also bought a packet of soft brown finger rolls to make salami rolls for lunch which I eat later at Nottingham, where I also checked e mails using my spectrum internet outside the Travel Lodge. I also wanted to find out where was junction 33 as there were warning signs of an accident. It was possible to take the M18 before this and exit to the A1M. Fortunately the road was clear by the time the junction was reached so a detour was not necessary. However just before Sunderland the traffic came to a halt and continued slow until I reached the central turn off and the Durham Sunderland roundabout. I wanted to refill petrol, get fresh milk, some fruit and anything else taking my fancy at Morrison’s. I had driven for just under 1000 miles over the six days involving three refills of petrol. I felt like forty again rather than seventy and I stayed up to watch re runs of the latest 24 and Lost. Back to reality tomorrow, perhaps not.