1411 Beverley East Yorks

On Friday 20th June I made an important visit to Beverley in East Yorkshire a town which I only came to know in the 1990's and which I had been planning to photograph for sometime. My visit commenced with the Minster which is a magnificent building inside and where the views from all directions are stunning.

I had stayed overnight at the Travel Lodge at South Cave on the extension of the M6 into Hull a few miles before the Humber Bridge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times although never so cheaply. The usual price for a night's stay is £51 whereas I paid £9, having booked some six ago, I had fancied a fish and chip supper and knew from a previous visit that there was a Chinese restaurant Takeaway in the Village that served the meal and at the excellent price of £3.40, about £1 less than in South Shields. It is a very attractive village with a few stores at the centre and a couple of Inns. I enjoyed the meal in the car on a pleasant evening and then remembered that in order to get back I had to continue the journey to North Cave passing two modern adjacent prisons in the middle of nowhere and then rejoin the motorway back to Motel. I could have had fish and chips as a sit down meal in the Little Chef adjacent to the Travel Lodge for over double the price paid (I also used a couple of pounds of petrol, if not more to be added), but the pleasure the meal was not about comparative costs but eating using my hands in the car looking on over the village.

I went to sleep earlier than usual and woke around six using the extra hours to write of my day before setting off after one cup of coffee around 9am. I headed towards Hull and the Humber Bridge but instead of immediately taking the Beverley turn I went round the junction to the Home Farm Premier Lodge. I have stayed here at least twice before, possibly three times and where from the grounds and the gardens it is possible to have a close up view of the start of Humber Bridge.

Only then I took the road to Beverley stopping about a third of the way to photograph a third establishment where I had previously stayed in the past, the Innkeepers Lodge with a Toby Carvery on site or across the way Brewers Fayre Inn with an attractive water wheel feature and a variety of levels and nooks and crannies to host a dinner party. On the returned journey I also called in at the Morrison's Supermarket for a light evening meal of a chicken and bacon sandwich with a few pieces of salad and a few crisps, a small Danish pastry and a pot of tea. This cost slightly more than the fish and chips of the previous evening but was appropriate given that I had a hot meal at midday. The opportunity was taken to buy some olive oil which I needed and some Morrison's decaffeinated ground coffee, as well as some bananas and a pack of three Eccles Cakes which would serve as a late evening snack with a drink and three packs of dried figs which I had been recently unable to buy at home.

It was at the next roundabout that I had my first view of the Beverley Minster in the distance and held my breath at such a wondrous sight wishing there was immediate opportunity to stop and photograph. After parking the car, I made my way immediately to the Minster a building which I had visited to attend services, visited as a tourist and visited to sit and reflect. I have a professionally made video of the inside of the church but not having learnt to transfer to DVD and then to capture individual frames I purchased the two pound permit number 747 to take photographs for private use and mentioning that I previously visited several years before I was told that a new stained glass window and a new artwork added in 2004 to mark the pilgrimage we all make in life.

Although the Minster has such an imposing structure upon the landscape and the length of the church is proportionate to its height there is also a more intimate and personal feel than experienced in such buildings in general, During the visit I overhead one small party being told that Henry VIII had sold the church off for scrap to the local authorities who had then decided to maintain the building as it then was. The present Gothic Style building, the fourth known to have existed on the site was commenced in 1220 to 1260 as its first phase as early English Gothic, then as Decorated Gothic 1308 -1349 and then the final phase 1380-1420 as Perpendicular. There are treasures dating back to the 14th century including the canopy understood to have been created for the memory of a Lady Percy, then the most powerful family in the North of England. There are also important carvings in the North Aisle which provide much of our knowledge of the musical instruments from the 14th century. A former Bishop of York, John , who founded a monastery on the site, was buried in the church 721 AD. I have included a selection of photos of views of the church at a distance and internally Beverley 101 and which I hope will communicates something of the power and spiritual presence of the Minster on the Town. If you are a Catholic and Protestant, or of other faiths which are not against the creation of such architectural monuments to faith and spirituality, and even if you have no belief in a supreme creative being, I challenge you to visit Beverly, find somewhere to stop and view the Minster at a distance and then visit inside and just sit an reflect on your life and the world and not be moved.

As with most towns there are several features which give the place its unique identity. It has a long shopping roadway, part pedestrianised which commences at the Wednesday Market which is being developed with attractive lightly coloured single bricks to extend the outdoor seating area for the Inns and bars and restaurants around the area and where previously one could park a few cars, especially convenient for the takeaway which was used on more than one occasion, There are also several tea rooms and coffee houses and here in a side lane close to the Marks and Spencer's' Simply Food store, I enjoyed a lunch of a chicken breast, with freshly bought and cooked vegetables, followed by a cup of coffee. The pedestrian road here has names such as Butcher's Row and Toll Garvel

To one side of the main pedestrianised street are the offices of the East Riding County Council, I first got to know of this area from the novel of Winifred Holtby, East Riding, and this was the first occasion that I went to look at the range of buildings which form the civil centre and where one man has mounted a campaign about what happened to his children when the Council's Social Service Department intervened. He has an assembly of placards telling his story and is supported by voluntary helpers and sympathetic interest groups. As he does not obstruct the pavement in this quite part of town it appears that the authorities allow him to vent his anger at what happened in this way.

The main shopping area then widens into a very pleasant oblong area used for car parking except for Saturday when it is filled a wide range of stalls, hence its name, the Saturday Market. On every side there are pleasant designed ye olde English buildings, some are Inns developed into small Hotels. There are some modern courtyards for shops, offices and eating places on the right hand side of this area off side street but have so carefully been designed that the old and new merge with much harmony. The one exception is the building known as the Treasure house which has been added to the Victorian Library as is an interesting but odd concoction with a Tower from where there is a great view to the Minister and the Town which I did not realise until too late I could have climbed and photographed the view. Another Day, another Time, hopefully.

At one side of the Market there is a building which used to house a small theatre where I saw Curtis Stigers perform one evening. This was the former Corn exchange, next to which there was an antiques show room which I have also visited. The buildings have been gutted leaving the façade and is up for sale. Across from the former Corn Exchange is the Dog and Duck former Coaching Inn with a small unit of double bedrooms with ensuite facilities on two floors in the former coaching yard. I stayed here once over Christmas and recently found the receipt when creating space in a filing cabinet to assemble all the papers related to my birth and care mothers.

A little way to one side of this area as there is now a road which heads towards what is a gateway called a Bar marking the end of the mainstreet there is located the most prestigious Hotel in the town the Beverley Arms. According to John Midddleton in his story of Hotel there was a previous building, the Blue Bell but in 1794 it was rebuilt as the Beverley Arms in 1794. The Hotel has been traditionally been at the centre of County Life when visiting the town and the place where successful Parliamentary candidates would address the population on election nights. Randolph Churchill stayed while on service locally during World War II and is known to have been joined by his wife, the celebrated Pamela Harriman, make of a President and subsequent U S Ambassador to France. I have had short stays here on deals which included he evening meal. I have the receipt for my stay somewhere but it was significantly more than the 42.5 for a single room in 1941, or 50p in 1946. Lunch would have been 15p afternoon tea 5p and the evening dinner 20-25p However the hotel receptionist was paid £1.87 for a long week from 7am till 2pm and 6 pm until 1 am. Even in 1962 when I was surviving a local authority further education grant a fillet steak garni could be enjoyed for 72.5p Beverley before the reformation was one of the largest towns in England and one of richest. The subsequent martyr John Fisher came from Beverley, his name given to the Independent Catholic School at Purley I attended between 1952 and 1955. Religion and racing are the main attractions of this English Town.

On one occasion when staying at the hotel my room overlooked the church of St Mary's created 13th to 15th and regarded as one the great Parish church in the UK. It is often confused for the Minster, or regarded as a mini Minster, and there is another very imposing old church in another part of the town St Nicholas, next to which is the impressive World War Memorial, set in an attractive garden. The nearby ice cream parlour and tea room in North Bar Within has closed after its owner died. There various Inns and restaurants in the area I tried to remember those where I have eaten meals. There are Eastern and Mediterranean eating places but this is a quintessential English community town with antique stores and art shops, and several book shops including one which appeared cavernous books everywhere from floor to ceiling, as well as major contemporary book seller and the ubiquitous W H Smiths. The buildings are a mixture of Georgian and Victorian and there are single parking bays on both sides of the road way and also some benches where I rested for a while after going through the gate house and crossing the busy roadway to North Bar Without where there are further old fine Town Houses, a few converted into business use and one old Inn. There is also the Rose and Crown on the corner where I have a meal and some quirky buildings around the Bar itself. Nearby there is the modern modest Conservative club building across the road from a modern restaurant serving food from India where two for the price of one can eat a five course banquet for £9.95, but this may be for certain times and days of the week

However it is when you turn West at the Bar that you come to the other unique feature of Beverley after travelling past an attractive residential area set back from a small area of common land on either side where there is no place to stop and which then widens into what is the ancient Westwood open pastures, 500 acres of gentle hilly grasslands. The Westwood itself is to the left surround this edge of town with some walkways along which people come to walk and exercise their dogs. There is more open ground to the other side stretching back some distance and there is a fork in the road. Continue ahead and eventually you will come to Beverley Race Course and one of the main roads leading to York. I took the a sharp left fork to first park my car where for the length of long roadway you can drive your car onto the verges as this is free land given to the Townspeople in the 14th century. Mind you it is not misnamed pastures for herds of cattle graze freely here crossing the road ways so there are driving speed restriction and animals do cross and will come to view cars and their passengers. Amazingly to both sides there is the Town's golf course with green and fairways created within the area of pasture, so look out for golf balls as well as animals.

If you continue on this road, as I did, you engage in an attractive 10 miles or more drive before being able to double back into Beverley on the other side of the Pastures and it is from here that you can stop on reaching housing and take photographs of one end of the Minster. Continuing on this road you reach the junction with the road to the Humber Bridge but in this instance I continued and just at the Minster turned sharp right by a small area of Minster open land which was one a larger space but where some very attractive private housing has been created over recent decades. The winding road continues for over mile through attractive countryside, a riding stable and some residential properties. At the end of this journey you join a road from Beverley to Hull which I was to travel the next day by the 264 bus. I took the road back to Beverley passed on the right hand side a thatched Inn famed for 2 for 1 meals where a plate of three chops and array of finely cooked vegetables will work out at under £5 as long as there are two of you. There are also chef specials each day on a blackboard and although some distance from town it is very popular. There are similar establishments in countryside close to Beverley some with attractive views others with facilities for young children and some where you should take a gold bar or two to pay for exceptionally prepared and served food. However the casual or brief stay visitor will have no need for such excursions as there are some 40 Inns, most if not all serving food, especially during the day, although it is wise to arrive early especially on Market days when the 30000 local population is swelled by visitors from the surrounding countryside, and from Hull.

I turned back into town stopping at the Beck a human created waterway where barges once brought supplies from the river Hull which in turn reaches the great Humber a river which opens to a great width, significantly great than the Mersey and making the Tyne appear no more than a stream! There are some old Inns with watery connections in the area of the Beck as well as a mixture of Housing.

A feature of the town is its traditional small railway station, with signal box by the road crossing and where train pass at regular intervals into Hull or up the coast to the seaside towns of Bridlington and Scarborough. It was finding somewhere to park so I could use station facilities and photo the closure of the crossing that I discovered a glorious view of the Minster. You can take a train from here to Hull or Bridlington or Scarborough, or these days if you have the all England pass you can take the bus from the small station at one side of the town centre.

Finding my way back to the Travel Lodge was a problem because having decided to Morrison's' for the evening meal and supplies I missed the main road from the town to South and North Cave but was able to take a secondary road through some delightful countryside more by luck than design. Back at my accommodation I had to wait a couple of hours to learn what had happened as Durham were playing again in the 20 20 cup, the weakest team in the Northern sector of the competition. We won it was an important win because Nottingham have become the other front runners with Lancashire falling away and Yorkshire winning after its loss of opening games. This now makes Sundays game at the Yorkshire ground of pivotal importance as only two of the six teams are certain to qualify and the battle is between Durham and York who are to play each other twice and then the final home game with Lancashire. Before then it was back to Beverley on Saturday to catch the bus to Hull, although as I later learnt there is also an hourly bus from the villages where I could have left my car. The weather forecast was not a good one

1847 An horrendous short journey and a great day in London

It is a week since writing, due to activity and the weather forcing a reorganisation of plans. A week tomorrow I did sit at a restaurant making notes about what happened to create the worst driving experience of my life as it took over four hours to drive from the home of a relative to where I was staying for two nights, a distance of under ten miles by the most direct route. A series of mistakes resulted in being caught up in a greater London gridlock, a snowmare. I have decide only to read those notes after I have completed the first draft.

The writing begins with leaving the Morden Travel Lodge on Monday morning 21st December 2009. I was visiting relatives to go out for lunch and decided to find the nearest Halford’s to ask if there was anyone available who could check my car radio as I had failed to locate the position of the fuse box which the manual stated should be found under the dashboard inside the car.

I had passed the Halford’s the previous evening without realising I had done so more intent to getting to the Travel Lodge. It is located at one end of the one way system, St Nicholas Way, going north towards London on the left hand side of Sutton High Street, but realised this after reloading the Halford’s site on the laptop and obtaining a map and then the route to the store having inserted the post code of the Travel Lodge. My first instinct had been to retrace the route of the previous evening which continues until reaching the end of the pedestrianised High Street and then turns left and heads south parallel to the pedestrian High Street and then to the set of junctions with roads to Carshalton, Wallington and Croydon or swings round and across the High Street with exits south to the M25, towards Epsom and back into St Nicholas Way for central London. The Halford site suggested a different approach which was to make a large detour towards Epsom and then back into Sutton and this I followed only to find that the car park entrance was not in St Nicholas Way but around the corner at what has now become the end of the pedestrianised High Street. Previously it was possible to continue a little further to The Grapes Public House where I would alight with the “aunties” on the 654 Trolley bus on the visits to Sutton during my childhood.

Unfortunately although the fuse was located by the available assistant it was not blown which suggested the problem was with a second fuse within the radio itself and the radio man was not due in until 11 would could make me late for my visit to relatives and going out for an early roast lunch. I decided not to go in search of the Halford’s at Croydon but have a coffee and look around Sutton, parking the car in the Times Square Car Park.

During the last decade before the death of my care mother and before the admission of my birth mother into residential care I would usually take the car to the park along St Nicholas Way next to the Cinema with a bridge overpass into the St Nicholas Shopping centre where there was a food court on the top third floor and where we go for a fish and chip lunch followed by a short walk around the shops. The Times Square is a small shopping precinct also reached by a bridge over the one way road system and then into the High Street crossing over to the other centre and taking escalators or a lift to the food court level where I was greeted with a surprise because although all the tables remained the fish and chip and the other two food outlets had disappeared and all that remained was a coffee and sandwich shop. This was a change which from the look of the area suggested it been made before the recession affected High Streets, everywhere.

After the drink I was surprised that the two bookshops did not have any of the writings of Galsworthy in their sections on the classics. Perhaps the Forsyte Saga books had only achieved fresh success over the years because of the two TV productions and film releases.

I then had my third meal in a restaurant within four days. A freshly sliced roast turkey dinner with the plate piled high with vegetables- roast potatoes, cauliflower cabbage, Brussels sprouts and some Swede. Missing were parsnips. This feast only cost £5 in Christmas week. I usually have the beef with a giant Yorkshire Pudding. There is a choice of sauces including apple and blackcurrant jelly as well as gravies, mustard and such like. Arriving early it was unusually quiet for the time of the year the year although several parties arrived later for the Christmas lunch with the same carvery roast as the main course.

As I was travelling only a few miles to the Travel Lodge there was plenty of opportunity for a long exchange of news with the relatives and encouraged that the roads had become clear with rain more than sleet, there was no indication of the horror to come.

It was moving rapidly towards dusk when the first flurries were noticed and settling, but these were not the cause of the problem which I shortly faced, along with the hundreds of thousands of car and bus using commuters, shoppers and travellers. Train and air travel in the greater London area and South East were also severely affected.

I hurriedly left, failing to realise that my mobile phone had slipped between the cushions on the settee. The quickest route was to have turned right across the traffic and then taken the couple of miles to Purley from there a few more miles to the Travel Lodge. However the traffic was solid in both directions, and moving very slowly so I elected to turn left and motor the mile or so to five ways road junction close to Waddon station turning right along Purley Way passing through the former Croydon Airport where the control Tower and a Battle of Britain plane are the only reminders of what used to be London’s main civilian airport between the two world wars.

I quickly understood why the traffic was moving so slowly as the earlier rain and turned to ice above which the falling snow had quickly frozen. Any sudden movement and the vehicle skidded. It was only safe to edge forward when the opportunity arose. It took me an hour and a half to reach Purely and then I made a decision which added at least an hour to the journey. Traffic going on the direct route to the Travel Lodge appeared to be a standstill whereas it was moving on the road to M23 and then quickly onto the M25. I chose this route and it seemed to be the right decision with traffic at a standstill in the opposite direction. This was the clue as to what was to happen although there was no point in trying to turn round and back.

I joined a stead flow of traffic on the road to M23 and then to a full three lane M25 going towards the Dartford Tunnel and then approaching the road to Caterham and the Travel Lodge the inside line formed at a snail’s pace over a mile from the exit. The cause was a combination of a traffic light at the exit and the ice on the long winding ascent and descent of Caterham hill. I had forgotten that the hill was between the motorway and the Travel Lodge and not between the Travel Lodge and Purley, The road from the Travel Lodge is along a valley with steep sides with several road closures and residents living along some of the slopes having to leave their cars in the valley. It took me over an hour to travel the mile to the exit and a further hour to Travel Lodge. I had left the home of the relatives at 4 and arrived at the Lodge at 8.30, I was told of someone who had taken 14 hours to drive from Cardiff, usually a two hour run along the M4 and M25.

I developed a great urge to have a pee and having spotted a police and emergency vehicle area set back from the hard shoulder and gone there, thus avoiding view from the stationery traffic on the inside lane. I was then immediately let back into the line of traffic which had only moved a few yards forward.

It was only on entering my allocated room on the first floor that I realised I had left the phone behind and with no public use phone at the Lodge or nearby, I was marooned until the morning. I had soup, beans and rice with me as well as sliced salami with peppered crackers, dates and grapes. I eat voraciously more as a reaction to the ordeal experienced than hunger. I purchased a cold diet Pepsi from a machine on the ground floor.

I had arranged the trip with an extra day at the Lodge with the intention of visiting the Calle exhibition again at the Whitechapel, having a pre Christmas meal at the Cafe Rouge at Victoria station and a relay from Barcelona of Il Travatore at the Odeon Convent Garden. I will write separately about the plan to spend Christmas with Calle and the Opera although continuing to attend both were in question that morning. I had set off early with the intention of getting the train to East Croydon and walking to West Croydon for a train to Wallington, possibly using the bus to collect the phone, assuming it was left at the home of the relatives. The decision to take the train was reinforced by the slow line of traffic heading towards Purley. I arrived at the railway station across the roadway from the Lodge forgetting that the cheap day travel ticket commenced at 9.30 and it was around 9 am with a train to London Bridge via East Croydon a few minutes away. I debated paying the premium double rate of £14.70 as it was cold and did not fancy standing around for half hour but settled on doing so which in the circumstances was a brilliant judgement. This did not immediately seem so when I found that the next train to central London was cancelled. I would have to wait an hour.

The electronic notice board announced that Capital Connect trains were operating an emergency service because of the weather conditions. I then read a poster which explained that during Christmas week and continuing until the New Year trains to and from central London would end mid evening. Anyone wanting to return late evening would have to travel to Victoria and get the train to East Croydon and then a taxi or buses to Purley and from there to Whyteleaf and Caterham. A change in plan was required and I returned to the Lodge for the car which I then drove first to the home of the relatives when the phone was found and a cup of coffee enjoyed before driving to Croydon and finding a long stay car park close to East Croydon Station.

The car park is located at one end of Dingwall Road and where with the exception of the Warehouse Theatre at the other end all the land between the roadway and the railway is to be transformed to a major office and residential complex of building including a 4.5 acre area of parkland. There are to be five office blocks providing 900000 square feet, over 8000 square metres of space immediate facing the railway line. At the carpark end there is to be 500 residential units half of which are to be low cost. The Warehouse theatre is to be replaced by a new 200 seat auditorium between two of the train track side towers and in addition there are to be restaurants and cafes and a GP centre as part of an area for health and fitness. There are to be five towers with 18 to 25 storeys and the development is to be known as Ruskin Square.

John Ruskin was the Victorian and Edwardian art critic and political and social commentator who exercised significant influence upon British culture in his day and subsequently, especially through his support for J M W Turner and the Pre Raphaelite Brotherhood. His period at Oxford is remembered with the creation of Ruskin College which I attended 1961-1963 and the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art. His connection with Croydon is that his mother was born there and his parents are buried at Shirley and he erected a statue to his parents at Carshalton, visiting the town and area throughout his life. Ruskin Road Croydon is already a major thoroughfare. His thoughts on Christian Socialism influenced me as a young man together with the work of William Morris.

At East Croydon station the position of a reduced and uncertain train service was confirmed and by the time I arrived at Victoria it was midday and I chose to have a leisurely lunch and then considered what to do for the rest of the day. I chose the Cafe Rouge despite learning that the low cost menu on offer was achieved by paying the basic statutory wage and which had been made up through the service charge which had only been changed a couple of months before.

I choose items which were filling but appealing with Camembert Enrobe as the starter- Camembert cheese melted on toasted croutons with tomato and wrapped in Jambon Cru. This was followed by two small baguettes filled with turkey and back bacon with caramelised onion, sage and chestnut stuffing and a cranberry sauce dip with salad garnish and French Fries. A small glass of Merlot accompanied the meal followed by American coffee. The restaurant became packed between one and one thirty but eased before I left so there was no pressure.

I then made my way to the cinema intending, according to the available information about its location to change at Green Park for the Piccadilly Line to Convent Garden station. The pavement at Convent Garden station is only reached by lift unless one is an enthusiast for the 153 spiral stairway. The was a great crush and the available lift would not move until some of those trying to cram in waited. I went back to the platform area with the intention of returning to the Leicester Square Station and walking from there but got on a train going in the opposite direction by mistake and therefore had to alight again and return back from Holborn. At Leicester Square I looked at a local map to decide on the best exit and this revealed that the Odeon was just off Cambridge Circus and therefore this was a better station than Convent Garden. My reason for going straight to the cinema was to check that that the ticket ordered by telephone automatically was available as I had received no reference number or printed out confirmation. The theatre just opened as I arrived at 2.45 to the annoyance of some customers who had arrived for the first showings due at that time. I inserted a credit card in a small seat collection machine on one wall and obtained a printed paper ticket.

There was still time to visit the Whitechapel Gallery and beforehand to look on Blackwell’s where I had found the volume of contemporary art which had such an influence on the direction of my life in 2002 and then to Foyles to see if they had an edition of the Forsyte Saga novels. Foyles and to my surprise there were something like nine novels collected in three volumes with only the first three appearing to cover the most recent ITV production. The full set cost of the order of £45 in paperback so I held back and determined to see what Amazon had to offer.

I then went back to the Piccadilly line to Kings Cross and from there the District Line to Aldgate East for the Whitechapel. The main purpose was to watch the 30 performances of reading the email on which Take Care of Yourself is based, and which will form part of a separate writing, New Year with Calle. I also wanted to obtain an additional copy of the broadsheet about the first showing of Guernica in 1939, the creation of the tapestry, its exhibition at the UN Security Council and its coverage by a blue curtain when Powell made his statement about the Iraq War. After experiencing the performances I had a cup of tea observing everyone else at six seater tables made up of three twin seats. There was a party of westernised Asians, some North Americans, two mothers with children although they could have au pairs, and elder man like me on his own and a young couple debating Calle.

I then made the journey on the District line to Victoria Station to check on the trains for the rest of the evening. There appeared to be no problem and indeed the non stop Gatwick Express which leaves for the airport every fifteen minutes was stopping at East Croydon because of the weather conditions. I had time to look in on Smith having collected my free copy of the Evening Standard and looked through the latest edition of Community Care, noting a letter praising the former Children’s Inspectorate of the Home Office from Bob Holman which prompted me to say ho ho and rubbish and the urge to write a letter. I will publish the letter here if Community Care magazine decides not to do so. I arrived back at the Odeon at half past six as a number of other early customers for the Opera had assembled in the small coffee lounge and bar. The theatre was opened shortly afterwards and I was able to take a coffee into the auditorium and eat the final Danish pastry I had brought with me for the travels.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the cinema had allocated its largest screen area with about 240 250 comfortable seats especially those in the centre area classified as Premium. The theatre was over half full when the curtain was raised although I had spare seats on either side which made the experience more comfortable to the point of luxury at the amazing price of under £9 including credit card charge. Although the show commenced at seven it was over before ten as the four act opera is performed with one interval of thirty minutes. I then reached Victoria Station in time to get on a one stop train to East Croydon as it prepared to leave the platform, but I managed to find a seat albeit next to anew European who appeared t have been drinking heavily although there was also evidence of some office partying among others returning to Sussex, Brighton and other south coast homes. My car was one of only a few left in the car park and I had a brief moment of anxiety as the machine fully consumed the credit card which it read automatically without my needing to insert a pin number. The roads were clear and quiet and was back in my room well before 11.30 having spent several minutes sorting out the room key card which had lost its potency and to be recharged although it led to my having a short conversations about the conditions with the duty receptionist.

I only realised my familiarity with Il Travatore when we came to the well known chorus, The Anvil Chorus. The opera was the most satisfying of all those experienced this year to date. I will write more fully separately. I set of for what was to have been a brief visit to the Midlands with an overnight stay back at the Mansfield Travel Lodge. The weather was about to intervene once more.