Back Home Again

My hotel room was the one with the large open window, to the right.

We all set off, with only a couple of latecomers, and arrived safely. As we drove North, snow was lying in the fields, which looked quite magical. The hotel rooms were said to be very good indeed, and certainly mine was excellent. We were given our own dining area in a private space. The food was very good, unfortunately, but I did show some restraint, unusual for me: even more so because the puddings were absolutely terrific and there was an enormous choice, dammit.

Various activities took place during the day. The highlight of our stay was a fantastic choir singing in the great hall. Romy and I managed to find fireside seats here frequently. The library was huge and imposing, and as well as thousands of books, board games were provided, though there was a separate room for chess and another for snooker and table tennis.

We took a trip to Nottingham, and nearly came back minus two, who had disappeared. Romy and the coach driver were so much kinder than me, and the coachie called in at the bus station and alerted police, and the two were found safe and restored to us. Seems they had thought we were meeting somewhere other than where we had dropped them off.

Apart from a man who was made ill from eating one of those awful reheated sausage rolls, all was well for the rest of the stay. However, on the way back we stopped for a comfort break, and one woman managed to slip on the ice and fall, and injured her wrist. She cabbed it to A & E on our arrival since she was keen to get home and Romy arranged for friends to go in the cab with her and deliver her cases. We got back in time for me to unpack and dash off to the SE1 dinner.