We were bowling down the motorway.
On our journey to Folkestone....a journey which started at 7.50 on Bridge Street in Accrington.
We boarded one of those luxury coaches......the ones with extra legroom, comfortable seats and a little table, from which to eat your pre-packed butties.
I said to Ma
'wouldn't it be lovely if this was the coach we were going down to Folkestone on?'
She agreed that it would be very nice.
We did the usual tour of the north west.......Blackburn, Darwen, Bolton, Leigh, Atherton, Warrington....and all points in between, before we reached the interchange at Burtonwood.
Alas the lixury coach was not going any further....and we decamped to join our coach for the rest of the journey(well, after a 'tinkle visit', that is).
Our driver was Roy....and he was having a stand up row with one of the dispatchers who tell the guys which coach the luggage goes on......then he introduced himself to us all and someone made a smart remark and he let rip.......it looked like it was going to be a bit fraught.........after all we were travelling with ALFA....the company who we had trouble with earlier in the year.
Despite my vow not to travel with them again, Ma had been desperate to get away somewhere, and they seemed to be the only company who had spaces on their trips.
When Ma said she had booked with ALFA, I got in touch with their customer services manager to check if the driver we had trouble with last time, would be doing the feeder....or worse still, the whole trip.
I was very relieved to hear that he was not likely to be around, as he would already be in a resort somewhere on the South Coast of England.
I think if she had told me that he was doing the feeder we would have made our own way to Burtonwood......and if he had been our driver for the week I would have cancelled or asked for a different trip.
As we went down the motorway, Roy explained the reason for his bad mood......A) it was Monday.......B) he had been up at 4.45....and C) his favourite coach...the one he considered 'his' had been given to another driver to take to Scotland.....so he had not had a very good start.
He mellowed as we progressed, he kept us informed of what the plans were......toll road to avoid the jams, not to stop at Norton Canes for lunch....but to choose another service place that was less hectic ......this met with everyones approval.......I hate Norton Canes Services, the staff there are abysmal........and then he put some 'middle of the road' music on(no pun intended).
The journey down to Folkestone is long and tiring.......I did try to get Ma to choose something that was a bit nearer, but she tells me that they were all booked up....so here we were in line for a square bum each.
You know when you are on a car journey with children....? you hear them say every few miles 'are we there yet?'....and it gets a bit trying.......well, Ma didn't exactly use that phrase, but she kept on saying 'Isn't it a long way?'.....and 'I thought we would be further on than this'.....which I guess might be the pensioner equivalent of 'are we there yet?'
Fortunately, I have the ability to turn off to what might be considered irritating.
I had packed us some Raost beef butties, some cherry tomatoes, crisps and soft drinks....oh yes and some chunks of melon for ma to munch on.......so it was just a case of buying a hot drink when we stopped.
The day was grim and grey with drzzly rain........until we got just past Birmingham......then the clouds sort of melted away and there were clear blue skies and warm sunshine........it was lovely.
On the following day we were going to be spending the whole day at Leeds Castle.
I asked the cosmos for a dry day......with perhaps a blue sky and just a smidgen of sunshine.
I told Ma that Castles were not really my thing.........and that they were more for boys.......but I had looked up the Castle on the internet and it was supposed to be the most beautiful castle in England....well, we would see!
We still had to reach our destination.....via the M20 and the M25.......during our drive down there the hotel called ahead to find out what we would like for our Evening meal......this delighted Ma. at least she knew she was going to be fed....and she knew what she was going to have.
We have visited this Hotel before......it is totally unpretentious. It serves up the kind of grub you would cook at home....so for that evening meal it was a choice of Vegetable Risotto, Chicken Supreme, or Pork Casserole.....there were salads as well, but both Ma and I chose the Pork Casserole.
Soon enough we were seeing the signs for Folkestone.......and it was 6pm as we drove up The Leas....the hotel is at the end of the Leas.
By the time we had all got off the coach it was about 6.10......dinner was to be at 6.30 so there was going to be no time to get changed.....just time to have a lick and a promise.
I went to reception and picked up our key.....room 100, the girl was just about to tell us where it was when I stopped her and said 'We have had this room before, so I know where it is'.
We got into the room and dumped our hand bags.......I hung up our coats while Ma went and watered the Armitage.....I phoned home to let himself know that we had arrived and were just about to go down to dinner.
So that was what we were doing this time last week.
1) The Beach at Folkestone.
2) Our Hotel.
3) Our light and airy Room.
On our journey to Folkestone....a journey which started at 7.50 on Bridge Street in Accrington.
We boarded one of those luxury coaches......the ones with extra legroom, comfortable seats and a little table, from which to eat your pre-packed butties.
I said to Ma
'wouldn't it be lovely if this was the coach we were going down to Folkestone on?'
She agreed that it would be very nice.
We did the usual tour of the north west.......Blackburn, Darwen, Bolton, Leigh, Atherton, Warrington....and all points in between, before we reached the interchange at Burtonwood.
Alas the lixury coach was not going any further....and we decamped to join our coach for the rest of the journey(well, after a 'tinkle visit', that is).
Our driver was Roy....and he was having a stand up row with one of the dispatchers who tell the guys which coach the luggage goes on......then he introduced himself to us all and someone made a smart remark and he let rip.......it looked like it was going to be a bit fraught.........after all we were travelling with ALFA....the company who we had trouble with earlier in the year.
Despite my vow not to travel with them again, Ma had been desperate to get away somewhere, and they seemed to be the only company who had spaces on their trips.
When Ma said she had booked with ALFA, I got in touch with their customer services manager to check if the driver we had trouble with last time, would be doing the feeder....or worse still, the whole trip.
I was very relieved to hear that he was not likely to be around, as he would already be in a resort somewhere on the South Coast of England.
I think if she had told me that he was doing the feeder we would have made our own way to Burtonwood......and if he had been our driver for the week I would have cancelled or asked for a different trip.
As we went down the motorway, Roy explained the reason for his bad mood......A) it was Monday.......B) he had been up at 4.45....and C) his favourite coach...the one he considered 'his' had been given to another driver to take to Scotland.....so he had not had a very good start.
He mellowed as we progressed, he kept us informed of what the plans were......toll road to avoid the jams, not to stop at Norton Canes for lunch....but to choose another service place that was less hectic ......this met with everyones approval.......I hate Norton Canes Services, the staff there are abysmal........and then he put some 'middle of the road' music on(no pun intended).
The journey down to Folkestone is long and tiring.......I did try to get Ma to choose something that was a bit nearer, but she tells me that they were all booked up....so here we were in line for a square bum each.
You know when you are on a car journey with children....? you hear them say every few miles 'are we there yet?'....and it gets a bit trying.......well, Ma didn't exactly use that phrase, but she kept on saying 'Isn't it a long way?'.....and 'I thought we would be further on than this'.....which I guess might be the pensioner equivalent of 'are we there yet?'
Fortunately, I have the ability to turn off to what might be considered irritating.
I had packed us some Raost beef butties, some cherry tomatoes, crisps and soft drinks....oh yes and some chunks of melon for ma to munch on.......so it was just a case of buying a hot drink when we stopped.
The day was grim and grey with drzzly rain........until we got just past Birmingham......then the clouds sort of melted away and there were clear blue skies and warm sunshine........it was lovely.
On the following day we were going to be spending the whole day at Leeds Castle.
I asked the cosmos for a dry day......with perhaps a blue sky and just a smidgen of sunshine.
I told Ma that Castles were not really my thing.........and that they were more for boys.......but I had looked up the Castle on the internet and it was supposed to be the most beautiful castle in England....well, we would see!
We still had to reach our destination.....via the M20 and the M25.......during our drive down there the hotel called ahead to find out what we would like for our Evening meal......this delighted Ma. at least she knew she was going to be fed....and she knew what she was going to have.
We have visited this Hotel before......it is totally unpretentious. It serves up the kind of grub you would cook at home....so for that evening meal it was a choice of Vegetable Risotto, Chicken Supreme, or Pork Casserole.....there were salads as well, but both Ma and I chose the Pork Casserole.
Soon enough we were seeing the signs for Folkestone.......and it was 6pm as we drove up The Leas....the hotel is at the end of the Leas.
By the time we had all got off the coach it was about 6.10......dinner was to be at 6.30 so there was going to be no time to get changed.....just time to have a lick and a promise.
I went to reception and picked up our key.....room 100, the girl was just about to tell us where it was when I stopped her and said 'We have had this room before, so I know where it is'.
We got into the room and dumped our hand bags.......I hung up our coats while Ma went and watered the Armitage.....I phoned home to let himself know that we had arrived and were just about to go down to dinner.
So that was what we were doing this time last week.
1) The Beach at Folkestone.
2) Our Hotel.
3) Our light and airy Room.
