Chertsey 27-29 Jan 12

Once again, back to Chertsey to give the bus a run and take in a Quins game (LV Cup vs Leicester). This time, however, I went down alone on Friday, diverting to collect some old photos from Pat Sheahan, a very old friend, who lives in in Camberley. In stunning, bright weather I arrived at Chertsey, set up in minutes and debated whether or not to pull one of the chairs out of the storage bin and enjoy the sunshine. The weather really is odd, with daffodils and crocus appearing and the grass growing quite considerably. Has Spring sprung already?

I was not allowed to post pictures of her going
 to the shower in shorts, puffa
 and bright pink wellies!

Debs had arranged to be at the Station by 1815hrs, but, typically, South West`Trains screwed up yet again and she missed her connection. She didn't get in until 1845hrs, so it was a mad dash to get to the Kingfisher for a meal booked for 1900hrs. The pub was a disaster. They had no record of the booking, despite me showing the manager the text confirmation. They had no Doom Bar beer and we sat there for nearly two hours only to be served some pretty average fish and chips. Still, the manager let us off the price of the drinks, but, in all, not a brilliant experience, which is a shame as the last couple of visits to this pub were really good.

Chertsey Bridge

Saturday, up for egg banjos and a drive to the Stoop, parking in the posh bit with the coaches. We cooked up bratwurst for lunch and relaxed, watching the car park fill up. One poor woman had the fright of her life as she nosed through the window of what she thought was an empty motorhome, only to find me waving my bratwurst at her! She soon scuttled away! The game was rubbish, so we had a quick chat in the bar afterwards and headed back to Chertsey for a dinner of pasta arribiata and garlic bread. There will be no vampires around the bus tonight!

Sunday featured a bit of a dawn stroll around Chertsey Meads then a very lazy morning with bacon rolls and a relaxed read of the Sunday Times, followed by another little stroll around the site and a very interesting chat to a couple who managed to secure a couple of canoes to their motorhome roof and, ingeniously, didn't access the roof of their bus by a ladder up the side, but by using a loft ladder to clamber up from the inside through one of the rooflights.  Hmmm - food for thought. Lucky devils were on their way to Greece in their motorhome, whilst we headed back up north to Huntingdon, cleaned the bus out and started thinking about what we actually use and what is just extra baggage.

The Stoop (Rosebine) car park They obviously know who we are. No muddy old grass for us!