1900 part three La Boheme at Convent Garden and Metropolitan Opera Houses

The day had commenced in sunshine but was cold and wet when left the cinema about 17.30 and I made the instant decision to see if there was a train to Wimbledon from the nearby station. A sign said platform 3 Wimbledon and Waterloo so I went to the ticket office where two assistants were explaining routes to someone before me. When I heard an announcement that a train was on its way I explained my interest and another window was opened, the ticket issued and the train reached the platform the same time as me, I have no sense of directions at times and was surprised when the train went to Norbiton and back to New Malden before reaching Wimbledon railway station which is close to the separate Underground station.

I have been to the Odeon Cinema before, by car, but I had no recollection of where the cinema is located in terms of the two stations and in fact I went in the opposite direction, After asking directions I passed a fast food restaurant and considered having some food there but thought it was better to reach the cinema first. I went into the small foyer entrance, inserted the credit card and obtained the ticket and then went to the Coal Grill next door and was allocated a seat opposite Morrison’s supermarket above which was the David LLoyd Gym which could be reached from the upper floor of cinema with customers working hard overlooking the small street market and me. I enjoyed a Whitebait starter followed by a quarter of a small chicken, some coleslaw and chips for £7.50 plus a very expensive diet coke.

I arrived in the theatre for the opera with less than 15 minutes to spare and at first it looked as if the audience would be sparse and in fact by the time performance got underway everyone was crowded into the area allocated as premium seats, which was larger than that at the Odeon’s attended in London, Mansfield and Kingston this year. I spent the first half uncomfortable sandwiched between a Canadian who knew of the Met Relay and who had been to the Royal Opera House when it was possible to pay only a few pounds to sit high up in the side seats. During the 20 minute interval I had a walkabout and then sat in a less expensive aisle seat towards the front and had an improved quality of experience. Hopefully there will be not such a crowd for the Met Hamlet relay on Saturday in Newcastle. The cinema also appears not to have adjusted to the opportunity to sell wine, chocolates crisps and nuts and one had to leave the main area of auditorium to go into the entrance concourse for ice creams and the usual cinema fare.

The main disappointment was that it was not a live relay but a film with interval. There was also a delayed start and one person was heard to complain during the interval that she had been told the start was delayed until 7.45 and had missed the greater part of the first act and which includes the well known Your tiny hand is frozen.

The opera is one of the most performed of all but overall is more lighted hearted with comic moments than Puccini’s other great work Madam Butterfly and the other grand works in general. It is the story of a group of four bohemians in Paris in 1870’s- a poet, a painter, a musician and a philosopher. It was the first live relay from the Met in 1977 with Luciano Pavarotti as Rodolfo the poet. In the Covent Garden production the part was played by Teodor Ilincai who just before Christmas 2009 was called upon to take over from the performing tenor at the interval who was overcome with a cold. The Romanian Tenor has a soft and gentle voice, appropriate for a starving poet in a cold Parisian Garrett whereas Pavarotti brings the tingles to the spine but is always the master performer and never a struggling bohemian. There is a similar contrast between the performances of Hibla Gerzmava at the Royal Opera House in 2010 and the already aging Renata Scotto in 1977. Hibla is Russian and her voice has been described as clear and focussed with power and she made an important contribution the production without dominating it so that the lasting impressions were made by Musetta (Inna Dukach) and Gabriele Viviani as Marcello the Painter.

By the time of the 1977 performance the Italian Renata was in her prime and she went on to Direct a number of operas including the Met which had become her established Opera House when she married and settled in the area with her family. She once had the experience of performing with Maria Callas in the audience and a few in the audience calling for Calls while Renata was singing. Intolerable behaviour even for the emotional and expressive Italians. This is difficult to understand for she had one on the finest of voices and was a good match for Pavarotti.

The plot is well known. Two of the bohemians debate whether to burn the current painting or writing for warmth. Their friends arrive celebrating that Schaunard, the musician, has earned money playing for an eccentric Englishman’s dying parrot. After he had played for three days he poisoned the parrot and celebrated with the purchase of fuel, food, wine and cigars.

The owner of the property calls for the rent and tricks him into going away without any money after they feign being shocked by his boasted exploits with a woman. They decide to go out and celebrate the good fortune at restaurant because it is Christmas Eve. Rodolfo stays behind to finish his writing but there is a knock at the door and it is Mimi whose candle has gone out and who has lost the key to her room. They immediately fall in love and both have great solos which at Convent garden attracted some applause but where Pavarotti and Scotto received justified prolonged cheering and applause ovations.

I turn away from writing to watch and listen to Pavarotti noting he difference in that at Wimbledon I did not give myself wholeheartedly to the performance which lacked any moment of being special or unique whereas with Pavarotti and indeed all the other members of the cast I am constantly stopping reading and writing because of the sounds even without watching or paying attention to the subtitles. The singing tells you all.

Later in the afternoon I watched a second Met relay production five years later in which Scotto plays the role Musetta and Rodolfo is played by Joseph Carreras and Mimi by Teresa Stratas who was a co winner of the Met’s auditions programme back in 1959 at the age of 21. Retiring in 1998 after a 36 year career based at the Met she appeared in 385 productions and 41 different roles. The two looked more like young lovers in 1982 and although Canadian born Teresa was 43 but retained slim features and a youthful figure. After retirement she has made only one public appearance, has undertaken voluntary work in Calcutta meeting Mother Teresa and to Rumania to work in an orphanage

The second act takes place within the cafe and features a large street scene with children, soldiers and lots of people thronging about and being entertained by Perpignol, a toy seller. Rodolfo introduces Mimi to his friends who include Colline, the philosopher but the main event is the arrival of
Musetta, presently the mistress of a wealthy but old man. She is the one time lover of Marcello who she does her best to attract his intention but he ignores her. Eventually she sends off the old man on a fool’s errand and decides to go off with Marcello and friends, leaving the old man to pay for both bills. The main interval is usually taken at this point.

It is after the interval that the Puccini’s story takes a twist. The location is outside as an Inn where Marcello is working on a commission accompanied by Musetta. They are happy in their own way but already Musetta is regretting the loss of freedom and hankers for the attentions of new men. To add perspective to the opera, it is dawn with the arrival of street sellers of milk and eggs, street sweepers and others into the town guarded by gate keepers and customs men. It is in the depth of Winter and continues to snow hard. Mimi arrives calling for Marcello as she and Rodolfo have quarrelled and she suspects he has gone to Marcello which is correct, She explains that Rodolfo has become very jealous and saying he wants to end their relationship. Mimi hides rather than leaves when Rodolfo comes out to join Marcello and hears him explain that he is still very much in love with her, but he is aware she is ill and he is so poor he cannot fund the doctors and medicine she requires. Mimi and Rodolfo are reunited and agree to stay together until the Spring which is the other way round from what would have been best for her. Musetta comes out and Marcello quarrels over her flirting behaviour.

There is a substantial jump in time to the fourth act where the bohemians are back together but Rodolfo and Marcello are finding it difficult to work having both parted from their true loves. The two others arrive share a little food but the meal is interrupted by the arrival of Musetta who has found Mimi in the street ill. She has been living with someone able to provide for her but her health has been damaged beyond medical help. She knows she is dying and wants to see Rodolfo before her end, he is delighted to see her as is Marcello, to see Musetta, but no one realises just how ill she is until she dies. There is some fine singing before Rodolfo learns she is dead and has not just fallen asleep. He calls out Mimi as the curtain falls.

I had an excellent and memorable day but the highlights were my visit to my former home in Erdington, to the atrium at the Bentalls’ shopping centre Kingston and the Film Shutter Island. The opera was something of a disappointment reinforced by then hearing the performances of Pavarotti and Scotto, of Stratas and Carreras

It was comparative early after the show but although it was not raining the atmosphere was wet on ground as I made the short way across the main road passed a still open supermarket until 11pm and into the railway station for Tram purchasing the require £2 ticket. I have used this Tram once before after attending a day at Wimbledon Tennis Courts and finding that there was a problem with the train to Sutton. I had then taken the tram to Beddington Lane for the train to Sutton and from there to Wallington. I had not paid attention to the route which continues to Croydon and New Addington. The route is an interesting one in that there are 15 stops, with between one and two minutes in between making the whole journey just over half an hour. The tram passes through Merton to Mitcham Junction and stops at the far end of the Purley Way Shopping centre close to the Ikea Store. There are several stops in Croydon with Reeves Corner where we would get off the 654 trolley bus as a family when I was a child and walk up Church Street, to the Market at Surrey Street and the wonderful Kennard’s departmental store. Reeves remains as a furniture store although the number of buildings has reduced. The tram then goes around the outskirts of the Centrale shopping complex where there is a stop before one by West Croydon Train station close to the bus station and then stops a few yards from the Travel Lodge before turning into George Street and the Tram Interchange outside of East Croydon Station, I was tempted to go over to the new Sainsbury’s Local which stays open until 11pm seven night a week and where the prices are even higher than the Waitrose. I made do with what I had in the room but which I cannot now remember.

On the Tuesday it was family visiting day and an enjoyable Roast beef lunch at £5.20 where it is possible load the plate with as much vegetables as you like. There is also a new development of unlimited diet, ordinary or max Pepsi or lemonade with ice for £2.05. I had three refills and did not need a coffee.

Having had such an excellent day on the Monday I did not anticipate Wednesday would prove an even better one. The original plan had been to visit central London for the Victoria and Albert Museum to view the new permanent exhibition of work from the Renaissance and or the Henry Moore retrospective at the Tate but the idea had developed that if the weather was good to take the bus back to Kingston and from there continue along the other side of the river to Ham, Petersham and Richmond one of the most beautiful areas of London and in the whole of the UK in terms of fine Houses, Greens, parkland and the river Thames.

I also decided to get an Oyster Card. This is the prepayment or pay as you go travel card or pass which covers all forms transport in greater London with extensions to other stations with barrier pass in and out systems. There are some financial advantages using the card against the usual cash price with the minimum single fare on the underground halves from £4 to £2, that on the Tram which can cover the journey from end to end reduced from £2 to £1.20 and with a reduction of about 10% on above ground Train Travel within. The cards can also be used as one day, week, monthly or quarterly Travel cards although there are no discounts a special card is required for the longer travel pass which has to be registered whereas the ordinary Oyster does not have to be registered and therefore can be used by more than one adult. There are 3200 special or other outlets where Oyster cards can be purchased or stopped up and there five special shops throughout central Croydon. It is possible to also purchase or add to registered cards online. Apart from the financial advantages there is the convenience of being able to travel without need to buy individual tickets or day passes. However there are potential problems as I was soon to find if one does not correctly log the pass at the correct in and out facilities at each travel outlet. That was for the day to come.

1900 part two Shutter Island

Over the three full days of my visit to Croydon, the Gods, yours, mine, and everyone else’s, smiled down exceptionally kindly. I also made several good choices and the mistakes were limited. In the first the part of this series nine hundredth piece of writing I reported the decision to go by bus to Teddington, having discovered that the one planned to Sutton continued to Kingston and over the Thames Bridge to Teddington, where I lived for over two years from 1967. After a quick lunch at Tesco’s and a good walkabout along the High Street to towards Teddington Lock and then southwards, I had visited the outside of house, and armed with the information gained from local estate agents calculated that it was worth in the order of £650000 to £750000, given the difference between its neighbours in terms of the additional floor space added to them over the years, the market price of the property next door five years ago and that of other properties in road and immediate area.

I had then taken the bus to Kingston, passing Hampton Wick Station, onto the road leading to Hampton Court and into Kingston to explore the development of the Bentalls’ shopping centre and only then decided to find the nearest cinema and find out if there was a film which I wanted to see at a time which enabled me to get to Wimbledon in time for a hot meal and a relayed performance of La Boheme from Covent Garden. I mention Hampton Wick station and Hampton Court, the place and the Palace because two days later I was to take a bus which passed through Ham, the village with its common, on the way to Petersham and Richmond, also on the Thames, and its Green, Theatre and enormous Parkland.

On the Monday I had then discovered that two or three years ago a new Odeon Multiplex, a Bowling alley and restaurants had been built close to the station and across from the Bentalls’ store and centre. There was a showing of Shutter Island, commencing within three minutes, sufficient time to buy a ticket, tell two assistants of the adventure I was having and once inside the area of theatres take the escalator up instead of down, found myself back to one of the assistants again, had a laugh at myself, took the escalator down and found myself a good seat in the allocated row just as the advertising changed to the trailers of forthcoming films.

It has been my practice to give a detailed account of films as well as my reactions and judgements but for the first time in memory I propose not to reveal ending of this film, only to say at the outset that film concerns illusion, hallucination, belief and reality and could be said to be based on those lines of T S Elliot, I think from one of his plays, possibly the Cocktail Party in which a psychiatrist type figure explains that human beings cannot cope with too much reality.

I am of the opinion that this film is one of the cleverest and technically accurate films about the roles of patient’s and doctors in an asylum for the criminally insane, the USA equivalent of Broadmoor. I will provide clues which are numbered to the outcome of this film.

The Martin Scorsese directed film has some violence and vivid gore and overall is not for the feint hearted or those concerned about their mental health. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as US Marshall Edward (Teddy) Daniel, sent to the institution, which had requested external help following the disappearance of a prisoner Rachel Solando(1) from her locked room in the female section and is not to be found within the prison run facility where the warden and his armed men are responsible for security within and outside the prison which includes a forbidden castle like inner prison for the most violent and disturbed category of insane offenders. We meet Teddy on the ferry boat on his way to the Island located in Boston harbour, and it is only on the ferry that he meets his partner for the investigation, US Marshall Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffulo)(2). Teddy is feeling unwell from the crossing(3). The island is uninhabited apart from the prison complex with an electrified perimeter wall, and inner wall with two sets of prison gates with armed warders before reaching the internal grounds where is located the two contemporary for the period, late 1950’s early 1960’s accommodation/treatment blocks, one for men and one for women, the palatial accommodation for the senior Prison Psychiatrists and other accommodations, and the separate gothic and forbidding fort like structure. They pass a gothic like cemetery on the way from the landing stage and during the whole film which lasts 138 minutes there is no reference to the wardens, medical and nursing staff having families or homes on the island.

The film was shot in a number of locations including Peddock’s island, a recreational facility in Boston Harbour and which does contain a former military Fort with many internal buildings all now in ruins and closed to the public for safety reasons. The Lighthouse which has great significance is in a different location as are the internal facilities and grounds of the institution where existing medical facilities for prisoners held by the state in Federal facilities.

The two Marshals meet hostility and suspicion from the moment of their arrival and are required to hand over their weapons(4) which they point out is contrary to their statutory position, but a condition of their access into the prison complex, and Teddy is refused access to all the personnel files(5) which as a consequence leads him to call off the investigation at an early stage. The medical director, played by the always outstanding Ben Kingsly appears reluctant to discuss the situation with him until they meet for cigars and drinks after dinner and where the Marshals encounter Max Von Sydow, a German Psychiatrist who advises the Medical Director on behalf of the governing Board.

There are several developments before and at the meeting which governs understanding of what happens in the rest of the film. It appears impossible for the missing prisoner to have escaped although one nurse admits he had a toilet break without being replaced(6). This does not explain how the prisoner appears to have managed to have then got through the two gates managed by armed warders at all times. The woman is said to have killed her three children but does not believe she has done this or that she is in prison and still acts and talks as if she is continuing to live in her former community(7).

Teddy is haunted by one memory and on hallucination. The hallucination is the presence of his former wife who we learn was killed in a fire at their home caused by the janitor, called Andrew Laeddis(8) who escaped normal prison because of insanity and who Teddy believes was admitted to the institution but which he could not find any record prior to the visit. This leads his new partner and audience to have the suspicion he has come to seek revenge. However he is also haunted by visual memories of liberating Dachau concentration camp and a child about seven to nine years who he found frozen clutching her mother among the piles of bodies and who now asks why he arrived too late to save her(9). Teddy explains that he and the other soldiers went berserk at one point and lined up the guards before shooting them. He tells his partner he has enough of killing and intends no physical harm to the janitor.

He explains that the reason for seeking the assignment is different, He had encountered a former inmate of the prison medical centre who has escaped but come to attention of the police authorities. He claimed the establishment was using mind changing drugs on behalf of the government to make them into secret assassins, something which incensed Teddy because of his knowledge of what the Nazi’s had been experimenting and then Russians and Koreans(10). The medical director has explained that he is opposed to the traditional way of quietening violent people. Lobotomy surgery which involves cutting into the brain memory, eliminating memories and making the individual docile and zombie like. The other method is to use medication which relies on constant dosages and which has addictive consequences.

I have previously written of my knowledge of psychotropic drug use in the 1960’s as a means of regression therapy by the county psychiatrist for Staffordshire. I cannot remember at what point in the film the use of such drugs is mentioned but the medical director has explained that his approach is to use psychotherapy, role play and presumably regression therapy as an alternative to the lobotomy(11).

Teddy’s plans for abandoning the visit and report the medical director for his non cooperation are thwarted when a storm arrives of hurricane proportions. During the storm there is a loss of power with the consequence that some of the highest category of prisoners escape from the fort during which time the two marshals have changed into nurse uniforms because their suits became wet when they went on an outside investigation taking refuge in a building in the cemetery. They go on an explore of the Fort where Teddy become separated from his new partner and is attacked by an inmate on the loose who he half kills in retaliation (12). He then discovers the man who he claims had revealed to him the ongoing activities at hospital, George Noyce is back in the fort, badly beaten and blaming Teddy for his predicament(13) claiming he will never get out again.

There is the growing feeling created that Teddy is the victim of a plot to silence him from discovering and revealing what is going on at the centre. This is reinforced when first the missing prisoner is said to have been found outside the prison and returned to her cell unable to explain what happened to her. His partner then disappears and when later he encounters the medical staff they challenge that he was ever with a partner(14). Before this he investigates a cave in which he finds someone who says she is the real Rachel Solando, a former Psychiatrist at the establishment who has been committed because she would not go along with mind changing experiments.(15) She warns that they are out to get him.

It is at this point Teddy in effect becomes a fugitive on the island and blows up the car of the Medical Director(16) as a hallucination of his wife urges him to leave the island and not go and investigate the Lighthouse where it is believed dark things are taking place. The concentration camp girl also reappears at this time.(17) He makes his way to the Lighthouse where he disabled a guard and makes his way to the top where he find an office with the Medical Director expecting his arrival. For what happens next and why the film has to be experienced firsthand

1900 part one Teddington and Kingston on Thames

Yesterday was an amazing, and at times, exciting day, although it was the kind of pleasure which is only of interest because of my past times, and which anyone else is unlikely to understand, or appreciate. It provided another opportunity to experience the changing nature of greater London as an international city, to visit the outside of the first house bought for £5000 in 1967 as well as visiting its neighbourhood, and to visit Kingston on Thames once more as well as seeing the film Shutter Island and a filmed performance of La Boheme. The ingredients could not have better chosen to mark the nine hundredth piece of writing in this series.
The day had been planned differently with a leisurely morning, writing and relaxing before a walking explore of Wimbledon, the home of the British lawn tennis Association and Wimbledon, the annual international championships where Britain has not one the men’s single since the 1930’s with Fred Perry. I debated visiting the Museum at the stadium and taking the 90 minute tour, as have not visited the centre since the retractable roof has been fitted to the centre court and the new second major court created. There was a spell when I did remember to apply for tickets in the autumn and then arranged to stay with my birth and care mothers for the allocated day, once getting to a final of youth competition and semi final of doubles on the number one court on the finals Saturday, and another occasion successfully queuing from 6 am and gaining a centre court ticket for a Tim Henman Quarter final encounter which he won in style, sitting a few rows from a side front which had its advantages and drawbacks.
I have also visited Wimbledon in the past for football at Plough Lane, a homely club where tickets were taken out of the safe while you sat down in the office for one to be allocated and you were then invited into the main stand club before and after match for refreshments and to watch the match over on TV screens, even in the days when the club reached the dizzy heights of the old first division and commanded the support of three or four thousand, mainly standing enthusiasts. Because of my occasional visits I had successfully gained a ticket for the Cup Final in which Wimbledon beat Liverpool, almost of the same order of shock result as when Sunderland beat Leeds in 1973. I also visited the town in the past for a show at the Wimbledon Theatre and about three or four years ago for visit to Odeon Cinema. However it is one of those places where I no sense of its geography within the greater London area or have had a good walk about the town centre.
On Sunday night I had gone out after the meal in to check out the stop for the Tram and the ticket. According to the online information the national concessionary bus pass is not valid but a one day bus and travel card is available for £3.90 compared to £2 for a single journey although the cost can be halved with the London Oyster card. On Monday morning as the weather was set fare I decided to travel without my shoulder bag and to make the outward journey to Wimbledon by bus and therefore checked the route and times online, finding that an X 26 bus from East Croydon went to Sutton every half hour where another bus would take me to Wimbledon, a total journey time of about an hour. At East Croydon station I then discovered that the X26 went on to Kingston and Teddington where I had lived for over two years from 1967, buying the first house for £5000, and that the bus then went on to London airport, useful information for the future. The next bus was shown at 11.54 some 20 minutes away but it was only about 5 mins before the bus was due that I noticed the stop sign in addition to showing X26 said it was for West Croydon only and I re checked the three bays going in the opposite direct before I was directed to a stop on the other side of the road close to the remaining theatre. Here there was a good size queue with most having suitcases and travelling bags suggesting they were on their way to the airport. The bus immediately arrived and I waited till everyone else was onboard before fining myself a seat near the front. The route was fast and interesting stopping at Waddon and then going past Beddington Park before stopping at the green at the bottom of Wallington before Carshalton High Street and Sutton Post office, the original destination and where my both and care mothers would then take the bust to Kingston for a look at the shops and a fish and chip lunch, and forty five years ago would take another bus to visit my home at Teddington.
From Sutton the route was different turning eastward at Cheam Village going past what had been an Italian restaurant and was now Thai, visited with members of the Drug Advisory Service team in the mid 1980’s and then continuing to Worcester Park and New Malden and where before reaching Kingston there appeared to have developed an oriental community given the number of Oriental shops in a small high street. The other major development was an area of local authority looking flats to west of Kingston although the development looked well established. There were two stops at Kingston, by the station and then outside of Bentalls just before the Thames Bridge going to Kew Gardens in one direction and then to Teddington, Twickenham and Richmond in the other.
However the bus did not go in the direction of Twickenham which would have taken me past the road where I lived and instead went a few yards towards Kew before taking the road which runs the length of Bushey Park, one of the biggest parklands in London similar to that at Richmond. It reached the Teddington stop at the further end of the High Street, the other side of the railway station. This provided the opportunity to walk the whole length of the High Street to Teddington Lock and The Television studios, looking into the estate agents’ windows at the house prices and noting the number of international restaurants and other eating places that have opened up over the years since my departure.
These are listed in terms of type of food and catering rather than in their street order Chinese- Fresh Fare which offered Fish and Chip takeaway, the China Express and China Garden (3) ; Indian- the Indian Tandori, Bombay Spice, The Bilas Tandori, Teddington Tandori, Indian Takeaway(5): French- Brasserie Garard, Auberge, Le Bon?, Teddington Arms Bistro(4): Italian- Sharbls?, Scarpetta, Girasone, Pizza Express(4); Spanish- Bar Estito(1); Mexican- Mimmo(1); Pub restaurants- The Hogarth, The Coach House? (2)Fast Food- Wimpey (1): Coffee house-Nero, Costa, Mocca cafe, The Coffee Mill, Starbucks (5) Others Sammy’s Bar Restaurant Comedy Club and Blues Band, Vinery posh and expensive, Cafe Red Peppers, Cafe Cafe, M and S cafe 2 others (9) In addition close to Munster Road there is an Indian restaurant bring your own wine, A Thai, a Fish Bar and Le Amardine( French with Patisserie)
I have visited the outside the house in Munster Road, Teddington twice since selling the property two years after purchase for £7500, a financial gain of 50%. The occasion in more recent times was about five years ago, the precise date is available, when the property next door was on sale for £640000 just under 50% of the value of the superior property sold in the Northeast. This reflected the differential between properties in good areas of greater London and Midlands and North although it had been greater, about three times during the 1970’s when my first inquiry was made. The problem five years ago is that the property for sale had created an additional floor in the roof but from the front outside it was not evident if any improvement had been to lower level.
There were about twenty semi detached properties on one side of the road with a sunken garden and each property having three to four bedrooms on the first floor and two large living rooms plus a kitchen breakfast room on the ground floor with doors, including French windows opening out to a wooden veranda which led down to an exceptionally long garden, and which I had divided by vertical trestles into areas for growing vegetables, for shrubs and flowers, and for a grassed safe run around. At the rear ground level there was entry into a large garden room some 400 square feet or more, the whole width of the property which was in need of some substantial improvement and behind this there was another large area used for coal storage with a large entrance coal shoot in the front garden. On my visit five years ago the coal shoot metal cover had been replaced by an enlarged skylight indicating that considerable work had been undertaken to the lower level, perhaps to create a utility room, enlarged lounge, games rooms room and presumably an internal staircase.
The rear room above was used as a lounge with a tiled floor which had the effect of being sprung like a dance floor as was found when a party was held to mark settling into the home. I digress. The possibility is that some of the properties had been developed to create four floors, the garden basement level, the front ground level, the first floor and the roof level.
There was a similar row of houses with long gardens backing onto the properties and during my stay there all the properties were circulated by a property development company enquiring if there was interest in selling part of the gardens, if approval could be given to demolish two or more of the properties to create a ramped new road into the back an create a square of new properties. Clearly there was sufficient resistance or the absence of planning approval as such a development had not taken place. Towards the end of the road nearest the river Thames there had been a development of a terrace of new properties built to four floors about four years ago according to the advertisement and where one on the marked for just under £1.2 million. Properties in the neighbourhood of the parkland were available in the region of eight hundred thousand to a million pounds sterling so with my salary as a senior child care officer and then area children’s officer had been stretched to meet the mortgage payments on the £5000 which the property cost in 1967, there is no way I could have afforded to buy the property today even if the current market valuation was closer to £700000 than a million.
My walking had tired me and I decided on the bus into Kingston from a stop a few yards from the end of the road. The journey is a short one passing the Hampton Wick station which is closer to the Munster Road than Teddington. In Kingston I alighted outside of Bentalls and went in to explore their shopping centre. This large established department store and selling top branded had such an enlightened management and local authority planning permission support that to one side they had demolished the four floor rear of the building and a couple of streets of two storey shops to create one of the most attractive, if not the most attractive shopping centre in the UK. There are approximately 50 stores on either side of the wide central area above which is a vaulted glass roof of immense proportions and beauty with the sides of the vault roof a story in height so the atmosphere in the central area in one of daylight rather than artificial. Within this main course there are two sets of escalators and two lifts in addition to the lifts and stairs within the main store
The main store has also cashed in on the development of eating out with large food court type of eating area with some of the seating overlooking the central courtyard walkways. The choice is Japanese Sushi, American Frankie and Bennie, English Roasts and Fish and Chips, Coffee sandwiches and cakes and a delicatessen type of salad and vegetarian. Elsewhere in the store there is an Italian restaurant and coffee shops. On the top floor on my way to gentleman’s cloak room there is a major area of children’s toys including a large area for Hornby Trains, for Leo, Scaletrix and such like and what horrified me were the prices although delighted at the available choice. A second feature of the development is a third floor covered walkway across the exceptionally busy one way road system to a large four story car park bringing access to the shopping centre.
Even though I had enjoyed my lunch of sandwiches and crisps I was in need of a coffee but also was tempted by more food, but looking at my phone clock I realised that I might be in time for the afternoon performance of one of the films I wished to see if I could remember where the town centre cinema was located. I followed my hunch about the its location and although I was wrong, I discovered the new Odeon multiplex, bowling and restaurant centre built on four levels close to the railway station across from main one way road system. Moreover I was within minutes of the start of the programme for the film Shutter Island. I was able to take a seat as the preliminary advertising commenced. Thus the first part of a memorable day was over. The films proved excellent and important. I was able to travel by train to Wimbledon to collect my ticket for the opera La Boheme in time for a good meal at a grill restaurant next to the cinema. I then returned to Croydon on the tram. This will be part of my next writing 900 part 2.

1899 Neretva and a journey

If there is time for me in the future I will devote a writing to Marshal Tito and the development of Yugoslavia, the former single nation which straddled the Adriatic and where brave adventurers travelled through by train on their way to Greece in the 1950’s and 1960’s before era of cheap air flights and the country itself became a holiday destination in its own right.

For now I want to concentrate on Joseph Tito the guerrilla freedom fighter who during World War 1 had become the youngest Sergeant Major, wounded and decorated and as the head of the communist party led behind the scenes opposition to the Germans, Italians and Hungarians who then invaded in his country in 1939. Part of his role, supported by the British in particular, is covered in the three hour film, The Battle of Neretva made with state sponsorship in the late 1960’s in Serbo-Croatian and English and distributed by American International Pictures. The film was as expensive to make as the Hollywood epic, with a cast of thousands, including 10000 members of the People’s army, and four villages and a fortress constructed and destroyed with hundreds of old soviet tanks made to look like the German Tiger Tanks and also destroyed. It was necessary to destroy the actual bridge over the river which was in fact blown up twice and then repaired but because of the smoke they eventually used a studio created model for the film footage. Imported actors included Yul Brynner, Orson Wells, Carl Jurgans and Anthony Dawson.

It is my understanding that the film accurately describes one of the definitive and course changing events of World War II at a huge cost in life and human suffering. In 1943 the Hitler led Axis set in motion an offensive to destroy Tito because of his support among the people. The plan was to encircle the Partisans with their backs to the River Neretva in Bosnia-Herzegovina having destroyed the bridge to prevent a crossing. The Axis organised six German, three Italian, two Croation and a number of Chetnik and Usasha formations against the partisans in January 1943.

In order to escape the strong armoured and professional German army, Tito needed to cross the river where he knew he could beat the Chetnik forces and escape. To achieve this objective he prepared a major deception first appearing to destroy the bridge suggesting he intended to follow the river northward so the German command hastily reorganised it forces to meet them. Part of his force did go northward to evacuate a hospital which had come under attack, but while this was happening his engineers created a low level crossing from the lowered remains of the bridge sufficient for people on foot to cross but not the artillery. His armed forces then crossed over and defeated the Chetniks and followed by the rest, including the evacuated injured, destroying the crossing before they left.

In 1943 Tito became the effective political as well as military head of the Yugoslav people which continued for some four decades and he was the only European Communist leader to break with Stalin and successfully declare independence and development relations with the rest of Europe, the USA and world in general. The Partisans paid a heavy price at Neretva with eight thousand killed and two thousand captured but the foundation of Tito’s power and influence among the people was laid in their sacrifice, something which the film portrays, emphasising the part which women played in the fighting, and using music and voice to great effect. The heroics were real and of lasting impact until after his death.

Although I knew I had an early start on Sunday in order to make use of the cheapest train ticket of the day, it was 1.30 to 2 am before I retired to bed and sleep having tested and set the alarm for 7am and got as much ready as I could leaving only the packing of clothes and food preparation for the morning. As is usually my experience I awoke within minutes of the alarm going off and had completed by getting up when it did. I was therefore able to check that I had not won any prizes on the two Euro tickets purchased the previous evening and played a level of Luxor Mahjong.

It was when making up my rolls that the first mishap occurred as the previously used small freezer bags had torn and a roll filled with coleslaw and salami fell to the floor, opening up but the coleslaw filled side end the right side up. I put in the case a small container of grapes and another of the chocolates and some crackers. The four rolls, more grapes and two pecan swirls went into the shoulder bag along with notes and papers, the laptop mains lead, headphones, mouse and radio link, and the data transfer memory stick. I hoped to be able to use the lap top on the journey. The only other temporary glitch was that I locked the interconnecting door in the home with the case on the other side.

I was ready to leave just after 8am as planned. I only met one other human, out walking a dog during the downhill walk to the Metro station. The majority of curtains were drawn so I walked slowly not to make too much noise with the wheeling case and taking the back route through lanes and open spaces. There was no train on the platform but as I walked onto the far end of the former railway station, a train came from a siding and as two as myself and another waiting passenger entered it set off. I was lucky but this meant arriving at Newcastle station in with half an hour before the departure. There was time for a bacon roll, hash browns and coffee at the Burger King, when a woman who had bought the Sunday Times discarded the sports section for me to read. I then bought a London Time Out. This is usually a waste of money, because I enjoy reading about the plays and musical and free events but rarely go to any. I then started to cross over the bridge to where the London train usually departs, looked across and realised that it was at the arrival platform and available for boarding and had been there as I went in for my breakfast. I

I ticked myself off for not checking this before anticipating I had missed the opportunity to get a window seat at a table. Fortunately the disabled seat at the end of the appointed carriage was available. This is not ideal as one has to sit at the end and lean forward to make use of the table, but although the train became full as the journey progressed I had both seats to myself throughout. I was a little anxious about taking the seat as the train announcer made it clear, three times before we set off that only those holding correct tickets for the particular train were allowed and anyone else would be required to pay the full fare. He also asked that people took their allocated seats as the train was expected to fill, and should not remove any seat allocation ticket if they were not taken up. Shortly after setting off an attractive and young female attendant went through the compartment with the food and drink trolley. I paid her little attention at the time. I cannot remember how long afterwards I looked up from organising the lap top and going online, disappointed to find that I could not listen to live commentary from the Test match in Bangladesh because it would restrict the bandwidth available for other uses and hand to rely on the changing scorecard with written notes.

I noticed that on the floor between the two compartments was a packet of sandwiches and a chocolate muffin and my first reaction was that someone had dropped them but no one appeared ahead in either direction. A woman across the aisle correctly suggested they had fallen off the trolley. I mentioned this to the ticket checker who tried to take them with him until I suggested I would keep them until the trolley returned. It was only sometime latter that I appreciate that the trolley attendant was very attractive and young and was so impressed with my honesty that she gave me a free cup of coffee and the muffin, over £2 in value. She also gave me a great smile and asked how I was on her further two visits as did the ticket collector.

Having checked that the cross river train was in operation I was concerned that there was no train listed on the notice board for Brighton, and then kicked myself when the assistant drew attention to the one listed for Three Bridges. I had to wait 20 minutes but this meant that I arrived at the Travel Lodge only 15 mins before the earliest check in time and was let into a room, which was the same room occupied less than a month ago. Although I went out to buy in food and then for a post meal walk I decided to relax rather than do something, enjoying the Antiques Road Show and Lark’s Rise to Candleford where Laura was confronted by her first and present loves.

I was tempted by the bottles of wine and other goodies but settled for a prawn salad and water for the meal with croissants for the morning.

The commentaries on the Test Match have been of secondary interest because the announcement from the Test and County Board that they plan to change the format of the county championship. The truth is the championship game could not survive with the revenue from the Test Matches, 20 20 and one day format game finals. However for those of my generation the four day county championship game is the basis of my cricket watching. It is my understanding that the problem is a revolt of some players and counties who find themselves in the second division and unable to compete for the £1 million county prize introduced last year and perhaps resenting that new team Durham and to less extent Sussex have dominated the championship over the past decade and which Durham looking as if they could do so over the next year or so. I have had difficult in finding a written report of the proposed changes but I believe the intention is to create three groups with Durham in the northern one which would continue to involve games with Yorkshire, Lancashire and Nottinghamshire as now, but mean no four day visits to Lords or the Oval which is something I have looked forward to over the years. In the Test Match Bangladesh decided to bat after winning the toss and managed a credible first innings total of 419. England did well taking it slow in the heat and looked this morning as if they could make a total of 500 or so giving potential match winning lead although a draw looked the most the likely outcome. When a tired Bell made his first mistake late in the day and was out for a magnificent 138 it still looked as if Bresnan, not out 74 at the close, and with Swann and Broad to come they could still reach the desired target. However Swann was the victim of a freak run out and Broad was out of salts, the team as 440, for 8 at the close and lead of 50 looked the likely possibility.

1892

One of the most memorable aspects of my visit to the Midlands has been food.

Early on in my journey I made a good discovery of a new coffee and toast, and English breakfast stop. I was in need of the toilet and a cup of coffee a stopped at the last service area on the A19 before it joins in the A1 A1M towards Leeds and Doncaster. My intention to was visit the service garage and make use of their facilities and well as enjoy a cup of coffee at the ubiquitous Coffee Nation machine which no longer provides a cheap hot brew. Alas the toilets were closed and the assistant suggested I went over to the Diner 168 for the coffee and use therefore of their toilets. This proved to be a bonus decision for I enjoyed the coffee pot which provided two medium size cups and two large slices of toast for £2.67.

Later I enjoyed my first of two meals at the same roadside restaurant, one the day of arrival and departure which offered two course meals for £8 and in both instances I settled for a piece of gammon with egg and an apple crumble with custard, followed by coffee with an apple and Mango J 20 to begin on one day and diet Pepsi or Cola on the other. This is exceptional value for well cooked basic food.

The surprise of the visit and which I will identify is the Pizza Hut near in the Leisure Park south of Mansfield. There is a giant multi screen cinema here, as well as Bingo Hall together with a supermarket and the usual range of out of town stores, but the on site provision for a meal is poor with the Pizza Hut a little distance away across the exceptionally busy A60 route into the town centre and only a KFC and a Mc D within the park and where the football stadium is also close by. Mansfield recently lost its League status and is now in the Conference fighting for a playoff place along with York, Oxford and Wimbledon all clubs especially the latter two which I wish better fortune.

The food is ubiquitous and I enjoyed some chicken wings covered with a spicy sauce followed by a small pepperoni pizza accompanied by a diet coke and an Americano with a side of milk. However what impressed me was the service on a full house evening with customers queuing beyond the door. There was an immediate welcome and taking of names to ensure an orderly flow with staff doing an amazing job serving and clearing tables but no one was rushed and I do not recall a situation where under such pressure the staff were so comfortable and attentive, and genuine. There were two birthday celebrations during the meal when the lights were lowered and everyone was encouraged to join in the singing of happy birthday. There was also a two for one meal voucher at the end of meal which others were already benefiting, purchasing larger than appetites could cope sized pizzas which were then boxed to take home for another day. The staff were also young and evidently working as a team which added to getting my vote for the customer service experience oft he year, in fact of many a year.

In terms of good food prepared from the best of local ingredients and served with style I returned to a village based restaurant in a former public house whose identity and location remains secret as it is always fully booked sp I do not want to add to the task of gaining a table by widening its popularity. I enjoyed a succulent prawn cocktail, a chicken breast and stuffing with roast potatoes and other vegetables, and a home made bread and butter pudding, with Merlot and Americano.

For my birthday I over indulged with a day over eating and drinking including two bacon rolls for breakfast although on other days I enjoyed almond croissants and Danish pastries. There was a crunchy salad with mixed vegetables and coleslaw, olives, lettuce, cucumber and peppered mackerel, with separate side dishes of prawns in shell and a soft peppered cheese on crackers. The main course was a large port chop with carrots and corn of the cob, all washed down with a whole bottle of Asti and lots of coffee and tea earlier in the day. I also have good memories of open roles with slices of ham, coleslaw and touches of other salads and of chocolate cake and Cheesecake, scones with cream.

I also cannot end this chronicling without mentioning the Tesco supermarket south of Mansfield which is the largest I have encountered anywhere in my travels. I ahd ventured in for a note book and a coffee but became so interested in what was on offer including men’s suits for as little as £25. Yes I will repeat that a suit for £25. I was also successful in getting some blue lever arch files although oft he plastic variety but they will serve my immediate purpose. The extend of the choice in foods was matched by the areas on books, periodicals, stationery, lap tops where the screens and keyboards are getting bigger and bigger, televisions, phones and electrical goods, as well as clothing and household goods. I became so engaged that I lost the sense of time and had to curtail my eventual shop without the coffee. I did remember the notebook but there was no time to make the notes.

Since the return I am constantly hungry which I means I will have to lose even more shortly if I am to achieve the target for the year.

1891 Clumber Park

On Sunday March 7th 2010 I made my first visit to Clumber Park, the former estate of the Dukes of Newcastle Under Lyne. I have driven past the two gates, set back some distance from the A 614 Nottingham Road a mile down from the A1 interchange, but failed to find out about the estate and the lost treasure of one the great houses of England, demolished in 1938 after being allowed to become derelict.

The A1 interchange has a traumatic memory for me because in the days before the building of the underpass, this was a major roundabout with roads to Nottingham and Sheffield and it was here one Sunday afternoon that my car broke down about half way to my destination, the family flat in Wallington where I was to stay overnight before journeying to a country house, Bletchley Park the former Wartime Intelligence centre, or somewhere similar for an induction week arranged by the Government for persons appointed as Directors of Social Services for the first time, and where I found myself among some very experienced chief officers, former Children’s and Chief Welfare Officers in the main.

I had used the new AA relay service only to find that when I was collected on one transporter vehicle I was taken to a staging area to another collection which then left me at a roundabout in thick fog just outside of London for several hours between 8pm and midnight to 1 am without food or drink, access to a toilet or a telephone. Worse was to follow because instead of the vehicle taking across London home I was taken to the Depot in North East London about as far from my destination within London as I could make it. It was six am before I was then driven to a garage in Wallington before being dropped off at the flat of my birth and care mothers. I arranged for the vehicle to be repaired when the garage opened, had a brief sleep before hiring a car to drive to the venue where I arrived in time for the introductions and evening meal followed by opening session. I wrote long angry letters to the A A and my Member of Parliament about what would have been the position if I had been with children or elderly relatives. The A A were rightly apologetic and promised to review the new system and in fairness I have nothing but an efficient and thoughtful service since, including the provision of a hire vehicle for three days

Clumber Park was originally monastic property as were vast tracks of England until it was acquired, one way or another, by the Monarchy and its nobles, in this instance as a hunting estate by John Holles the 4th Earl of Clare, the 3rd Duke of Newcastle upon Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle Under Lyne. Despite its size, some 3800 acres, just under six square miles, in the Northern part of Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, south of Worksop.

Sherwood Forest was never one vast Forest, but a series of woodlands with villages, farming and open land, and which even today occupies an area of 423 kilometres some 165 square miles and was in the Middle Ages the favoured hunting grounds for the monarchs of England. The first duke to acquire the property only built a hunting lodge, and it was his son, the Lord Lincoln, who decided to build one of his principal mansions. Later Dukes created the magnificent serpentine lake which covers 87 acres, just over a third of a square kilometre and with a walk around of some 4 miles just under six and half kilometres. The estate features a double line of lime trees some three miles in length, the longest such avenue in Europe.

I arrived at the National Trust Property just before the gates to the enclosed riverside pleasure park gardens were opened and already the car parks around the estate were beginning to fill up on what was proving a week of sunlit albeit cold days which appear to have now ended on arriving home. By the time I had undertaken a short walk along the lakeside, enjoyed a cup of coffee in the large restaurant area and visited the two small exhibitions, one on the history of the estate and the other on how the estate was used during World War II, vehicles were streaming in and fighting for a place in the central car park near the former location of the mansion.

Entrance is free to National Trust members but it costs £5 for one car load to make a single visit so for those with easy access membership of the Trust is an economic venture, especially as there is a programme of events throughout the year, including popular music concerts and theatrical productions, organised walks ranging from £4 to £10 for a family and a free once a week activity from Fungi spotting to growing sweet peas and broad beans or a perfect pumpkin. Although the Park is official closed on Christmas Day, a service with carols will be held this year at 10a, in the Gothic Chapel.

From the National Trust site it is possible to down load a map and details of a 1.5 mile walk which goes Lake side through the designed pleasure gardens with many flowering shrubs and yet to appear spring bulbs and which continues to Ash Tree Hill Wood and then back to the Walled Kitchen garden, Conservation area, Chapel, entrance facilities and main car park. For those able to undertaken longer trek or hire a cycle, there is a five mile route around the lake which includes Hardwicke Village within the estate.

I looked up a site offering residential, agricultural and Forest land in Nottinghamshire. A woodland of some 17.5 acres is presently available for £130000 which would make the land of the estate presently worth around £30million. In its heyday more 100 people were employed on the estate and even to day I would not be surprised if there are a score employed for the Park, on the gate, in the restaurant, shop and exhibition as well as in the maintenance of the estate in addition to those employed at the regional office of the Trust which is also based in the available buildings.

The first Duke to acquire the property was in fact the nephew of the Duke of Newcastle and a man of property in his own right with land in Middlesex and Lincolnshire as well as Nottingham. When his father died, the Baron Pelham, he inherited more land so that by the time he acquired Clumber and built the hunting lodge he had property in 11 counties and controlled a number of Parliamentary constituencies. It was through his political support for the Whig party that be became Earl of Clare and then took over as Duke of Northumberland for the Tyne in addition to being the first of Lyne through his political manipulations. He then held office effectively running the country with his brother in the Commons as the first Lord of the Treasury and he as Foreign Minister and Chamberlain of the Royal Household.

It was then second son of Earl Lincoln brother to the Duke who inherited the title and the estate following the death of his father and elder brother. He was instrumental in establishing the park as more than a hunting ground. He became estranged from his third son who inherited the title although the wealth of his father had been significantly passed to his eldest grand son. Thomas was only the Duke for a year but he had married with four children his eldest son came to the title and estate, The 4th Duke who came to the title when he was only 10 and at Eton became a staunch conservative, opposed to Catholic emancipation and electoral reform. He did not have a happy life estranged from his mother and children, his wife dying from childbirth after their 11th child.

The 5th Duke 1811-1864 was a contemporary of Gladstone at Oxford and persuaded his father to allocate the Parliamentary seat of Newark to his friend. And he also had a friendship with Sir William Peel. As appears to have become a historical problem, eh had a strained relationship with his father and his marriage ended in divorce. His wife had a child by Sir Horace Walpole before marrying someone from Brussels.

The sixth Duke briefly was the Member of Parliament for Newark but otherwise his interest was in Freemasonry where he held the office of Grand Master of Nottinghamshire for twelve years.

He was a great gambler losing a fortune and for a time was forced to leave the country in disgrace because he failed to pay his gambling debts. His solution was to marry money and his father in law settled the debts and provide an annual income of several million pounds in today’s values. Although his father in law left a fortune in estates to his son in law he ensured that the man could not control their management or dispose them.

This meant that that the 7th Duke 1864 1928 who came to the title when he was 15 and at Eton was able to devote himself to rebuilding the house after it was destroyed by fire, to the building of the Church of St Mary the Virgin and the creation of the Clumber Choir School, despite suffering lifelong ill health from a fall in childhood. He was also a major figure in the Anglo Catholic Church of his day and this subject is said to be the only cause for him to attend the House of Lords and make a speech.

The 8th Duke 1866-1941 followed in his grandfather’s footsteps, incurring vast debts which led to the selling of the internationally known family heirloom, the Hope Diamond which now is held by the Smithsonian Institute and said to be worth £175 million. The infamous squandering of the Duke led to the selling off great parts of the family estate, including the contents of Clumber House which was left into disrepair. His first wife was a singer and a dancer and they divorced after 8 years with no children. He had three children by his second wife who died shortly after the birth of her third child.

The 9th Duke appears to have been a man of a different calibre who fought in second World War, becoming a Squadron Leader and retiring subsequently as a Wing Commander. During his war service Clumber Park became one of the biggest ammunition dumps in the UK with the estate filled with small storage constructions set apart from each other among the trees. The estate was also used for the building and testing of a monster trench digger intended to forge a path behind enemy lines, However Churchill who supported the project and saw the testing of the completed vehicle never put the machine into production because the nature of war had quickly changed from that of the first. The Duke was married three times, with two daughters by his second wife. The title therefore went to another relative. A cousin who also served with distinction in the second world war as a Captain in Royal Artillery. He remained unmarried and therefore the title became extinct.

The family which had originally held the title of Earl of Lincoln is represented among the British Aristocracy to this day by the 19th Earl, who is the grandson of an Australian manual worker after he had retired.

On one hand I regret the destruction of the great house and the selling of its many treasures which included a dining table capable of accommodating 150 seated guests filling the rooms and others with the work of Rubens, Gainsborough, Hogarth, Reynolds, Van Dyke, Poussin, Rembrandt, Titian, Brueghel and Holbein. Among the rare books was first folio of William Shakespeare, three Caxton Bibles and a Book of Hours together with a large collection of statues, busts and china. On the other hand the family had guarded their estate from public interest. However the contents appears to have fallen into private collections and they no longer have become objects to be look at, touched, read and enjoyed but locked in vaults to appear on balance sheets and insurance records. At least the ground remain with the nation be enjoyed for a modest individual contribution. I hope to return and so some good walking.

1887 A pub for Sunday lunch and football before homeward bound

My original plan for Saturday was followed only until depositing the case at the left luggage at the front of Kings Cross Station. This time I bought only one train ticket having previously duplicated the purchase which meant having to queue at the ticket counter and seek reimbursement which was agreed without any fuss which pleased me considerably. Well done Croydon ticket office. As yesterday there was a train arriving at the platform as I descended the long walk way which led to having to run for it. The train would only make the non stop journey to London Bridge. Someone provided a copy of the daily Mirror and later there was a copy of The Times.

At London Bridge I could not find a lift so had to negotiate stairways for the Northern line journey to Kings Cross. Getting out of Kings Cross using lifts was also a problem and involved three. First I had to go to the Pentonville Road end of the station where the lift went down to a different platform level or up to another level from which there was a walk to the lift leading to the concourse level l which brought one in to the main walkway links between Kings Cross and St Pancras, and then a third lift brought to the side of the station and a walk alongside the platform and across to the front. On all this section of the journey I was accompanied by a young woman I would guess in her twenties who had been on a trip using the £18 return ticket like me from Newcastle. However she was not due to return home until Wednesday cutting short the trip by several days and would need buy a new and expensive single ticket for the premature return. I resisted the temptation to ask why although I had a feeling she wanted to share the reason with someone.

The cost for one piece of stored luggage has increased from £7 to £8 for the day. It is necessary to answer a series of questions accepting responsibility for what is inside the case and then I had to show the computer. It was all reassuring and I did not begrudge the cost. I had planned to take the underground to Green Park and from there to Swiss Cottage to see the film An Education, but asked myself if I was in the mood for the film or preferred to watch Manchester City at Chelsea which was being screened in sports pubs at lunch time. I would visit O’Neill’s at Victoria station and have a plate of sausages and mash with a pint. I decided to take the bus which was a waste of having paid the extra £3 for an all day travel card. I had taken a look at the hordes trying to get to the Northern line and decided the bus was a better option. The double size 73 bendy bus was the last to arrive by which time there was a good queue waiting for the already full bus, I managed to get a seat next to man as large as myself. I wanted to read the copy of the Times I had found on the way to the stop but he wished to pass the time of day which was only a problem as I found it difficult to decipher what he was saying. He left in Oxford Street which was already showing signs of the Saturday crush.

At Victoria station I had a shock, O’Neill’s had disappeared with no indication that any establishment had been there. I was peckish and took a look at Wetherspoon’s in the central concourse but where almost all the 50 more tables were occupied, some having a Saturday morning drink but the majority taking the opportunity of breakfast being available until noon. It wa snot what I wanted

The problem was that I had some knowledge of the pubs and restaurants in the area from a recent walkabout to look at the new development across the way and as expected there was no showing of the game nearby so I went on an explore of the roads around Victoria Street leading to Westminster Abbey and Parliament Square. I was not optimistic but then I had forgotten about Strutton Street, where on weekdays there is a street market and local shops as well as two pubs. The Old Monk Exchange comprises a small doorway with stairs going down to basement level. This offers cask ale, two main meals for £10 and the football match followed by the Rugby International. Usually I do not enter somewhere without being able to see inside, and judge the atmosphere and type of clientele so I was pleased that my endeavour was rewarded by a splendid establishment with lots of wood and brick and although by mid afternoon it had filled up the atmosphere was a good one with local people, only some had come to watch the sport, some for the reasonable fare and real ale, and some for each other‘s company. The match was brilliant from my viewpoint as Man City thumped Chelsea 4.2. I had my sausages at nearly double the cost of the four at Wetherspoons. After the meal and drink I settled nearer the screen became tired and went off to sleep with mine host sent to check that I was Okay. A good cup of coffee enabled the rest of the game to be enjoyed. It would have been a good way to have passed away although a long way from home and family.

There had been a grey sky and a little drizzle of rain throughout the morning but now ascending up to the mid afternoon there was bright sunshine. I walked back slowly to Victoria bus station going for a little explore of where I sometimes walked during lunchtimes during my two years working at Middlesex House in the Vauxhall bridge Road. I enjoyed the bus ride back to St Pancras noting that Oxford Street was crowded with shoppers. At the Circus the detour took us past the Langham hotel. At St Pancras I bought a sandwich deal from Boots which I enjoyed before going to collect the luggage and then waiting with it in temporary lounge until approaching twenty to six when I went for the platform notices which are not put up until 15mins before departure.

I thought I was going to be lucky and have a table for four to myself again, but at the last moment a mother with six year old daughter and grand mother or mother in law arrived having been to matinee from Peterborough. The little girl was attention seeking and kept kicking accidentally intended I think. The mother wanted to talk to her relation rather than attend to child and at their station did not check that she had left the belt for her coat behind and which I only spotted later. Fortunately they left at the first stop. However I then found that the power was not on the compartment on either side. The train left at six and arrived at nine and on the Metro there were several groups of young people young people getting on and off for late evening activities at Gateshead, Hebburn and South Shields. There were spits of rain during the journey but I was able to complete the walk home without getting wet.

Given my uncertainty about going on the trip because of the weather it had worked out well and I was pleased I had made the effort.. In addition to £18 train fare I had bought two Travel Cards, total £15 and two single journey tickets of £3.40 and £3.10 making a total travel expenditure of £39.50. Accommodation for 3 nights was £57 and entertainment of three cinema tickets £11 (two with Cineworld Vouchers) and the Music Exhibition fee.

Food and drink expenditure was Pumpkin Cafe, a coffee at £1.79 before journey and Waitrose first evening Pains au Chocolates 1.49 and two egg custards .69 total 2.18, £3.97 for day.

Second day cold coke 60p on way to cinema and a Cheese burger and Coffee £2.67 during the Interval from McD followed by Marks and Spencer’s Clapham Chicken wings 2.49, Feta cheese and olives 2.69. Two 500 cartons of Grapes £3 and sandwich pack.49 a total of £10.67 £12.94 total.

Coffee at Dome £1.90. The Moon under Water Leicester Square sausage, beans and chips with half of fosters £5.57 Waitrose on return Pains au chocolate 1.49, grapes 2 x 2.49 with discount £3, Prawn Pasta Salad 2.39 and Coca Cola .49 a total of £7.37 with for the day £ 14 .84.

Final day lunch sausage and mash and a pint off Carlsberg £10.18 Boots sandwich deal with crisps and water £3.49 making a day total of £13. 67 and a food total £45.42 and a trip total of £152.92 well within my short trip budget of £250 and less than £40 a day all in. There iless than week before my next trip to the midlands.