Premier Inn

Having given Travelodge a few goes recently, I thought it right to give the competition a go and put some time in with Premier Inn. Not the one above, which is in Edinburgh and got into the news a few years ago for its five ton battery which can run the hotel for several hours and which saves Premier Inn some £20,000 a year, this being the margin between peak and off-peak rates. It didn't say whether this figure was net of the capital charge for the battery. Rather the one on the Newmarket Road in Cambridge, on a rather more cramped site, with a building site, perhaps an extension, at one end. As it turned out, I had a good view of the building site from my second floor bedroom.

On a train from Epsom before 10:00, which is early for me these days, and was reminded of the long change from underground to overground at Kings Cross, seeming the longer for carrying an old style (car boot) suitcase with a handle rather than wheels. And then, all bustle and confusion amid the shopping centre masquerading as a railway station, it taking me some little while to work out whether the next train to Cambridge ran from the suburban or main line wings of the station. The main indicator board was not very helpful in this regard.

But I got on the right fast train and was in Cambridge in about the same number of minutes it takes me to get from Waterloo to Epsom, despite being three times as far. Not expensive either with the help of my senior railcard which attracts a hefty discount.

Lunch at the café in Mill Road, snapped opposite, taking the form of a bacon and egg sandwich made with foccacia rather than my usual white bread or white roll. And a glass of white to wash it down with. Very pleasant atmosphere and ambience for a light lunch. 

Behind the camera we had a real butcher with a reasonable selection of meat. But the place had a slightly tired look, not the busy & cheerful look of the butchers of Wood Green when we were not long married, around fifty years ago. We might have got a lot richer in that time, but butchers, along with many other shop keepers, have got left behind. I associate this evening to the pork belly strips which I once bought in Lyme Regis's Broad Street, so much better than anything to be had from Sainsbury's. Probably Ginger Pig too, come to that. Snapped at reference 1 below.

Along the way, snapping this once substantial family house, called the Durdans, just by the Mill Road railway bridge. I don't think it has ever been a family house in my time, always having been home to one or other of the funny little private schools and colleges you seem to get all over Cambridge. Presently a newly opened maths crammer, as described at reference 2. A member of the Eastern Learning Alliance family, as described at reference 3, one of the many funny but not so little outfits which have popped up to take over the role of the local education authorities. On fancy salaries for members of their management teams.

In any event, a far cry from the Durdans of Epsom, a succession of rather more substantial family homes, particularly suited to those who liked horses. The one snapped above was the property of Lord Rosebery for more than thirty years. And not to be confused with a big hospital in Sri Lanka of the same name.

And so to the hotel, rather less basic than the Travelodge next door, but also rather more expensive. But very much the same sort of thing. Clean, decent and basic, with a basic bar-restaurant operation downstairs. Good value buffet breakfast at a tenner or so, although I did not get to try this particular one.

My room seemed rather cold and fiddling with the local control did not seem to make any difference. But the young man at the desk went and did something with central control. Hopefully all would be well on return.

Later on a stroll into town to sample, once again, the Eagle, and old and famous hostelry patronised by pilots during the war and scientists from neighbouring colleges after that. Now more a tourist spot than a boozer. But Midsummer Common still carries cows - possibly bullocks rather than cows - a bit fuzzy under high zoom above - and I wondered what sort of a farmer could be bothered to run his animals there. Perhaps the council pay him for the attraction.

Down King Street, once famous for its many pubs and its King Street Run, and then into Sussex Street to inspect the premises which once used to house a high class hand tool shop. The sort of shop which has more or less vanished, along with the butchers. The sort of place where you could buy, for example, sash cramps, rosewood mortice gauges or chisels with boxwood handles. Long gone.

The site of the stall in the market where, for some years, I used to buy the family vegetables. To be carried home in what seemed then like a large wicker basket. This at a time when quite a lot of the stalls, not this particular one, were selling their own produce from the fens. I think the market now is more tourist tatt than produce, although it is a while since I have seen it in action.

Great St. Mary's, the then important church where my elder brother once used to turn the pages for the organist, right.

The famous second hand bookseller still hanging in there. I think he took quite a lot of my father's fancier books when my mother had one of her clear outs after he died.

And so to the Eagle, patronised on this occasion mainly by tourists of one sort or another. Possibly staffed by students who preferred to stay in Cambridge during the long vac. rather than go back home. Back bar snapped above. Various memorabilia visible at the back.

The fish and chips looked pretty good from a distance so I took that, but not so good on closer inspection. The mushy peas were actually frozen peas bashed about a bit. The chips were fresh enough but a bit taste free. While the cod was long on size but short on texture and flavour. I suppose, for the money, the kitchen decided to go for quantity rather than quality. The veggie burger behind was rather better.

Note the beer mug upper right, used to deliver the cutlery. It was very light so I don't know what it was made of - and rather to my surprise the barman assured me that, to the best of his knowledge, people never pinched them.

All washed down with a spot of Seahills Sauvignon Blanc, with a quick search failing to turn up its home in New Zealand. Unusually these days, no choice and no wine list. A Greene King house with a pleasant enough atmosphere. And if you did not like it there, plenty of casual dining in the same street.

Back to the hotel, where my room had indeed warmed up. And I remembered to remove the giant duvet from its cover - with the result that I slept fine, despite the thermostat refusing to go below 17°C. I assume that the chambermaid would have done the removal anyway when she came to clean the room, so no need to feel bad about making her extra work. Or him - you do see the odd him doing the work these days.

Passed on their breakfast, opting instead for a sausage sandwich in Mill Road. A sandwich which looked OK, but which tasted rather odd. Maybe it was one of those flavoured sausages which were all the thing in London ten years ago. Maybe the problem was that the sausages contained a significant amount of real meat, which one is not used to in your traditional English breakfast sausage.

The now leafy roads of Romsey behind Mill Road. No doubt there is lots of fun with parking, with builders vans and with delivery vans. Cars usually parked with two of their four wheels on the pavement, not leaving a lot of space for pedestrians. But what else can you do?

Caught a slow train to Liverpool Street, which meant that I could change to the Victoria Line at Tottenham Hale, a much easier change than at Kings Cross. Even if the tube did contain a serious drunk from Glasgow. Bleary and talkative rather than stroppy.

One serious train spotter at Clapham Junction. A man of about thirty, sporting what looked like a serious camera bag. No aeroplanes.

And nothing of interest at Raynes Park. Heritage magazines, Waitrose magazines and RHS magazines, A few numbers of the Eagle comic. Lots of old-speak tapes. A few books, all rubbish. One rather cheap Bible.

PS: a bit of good news was that I learned about files on my Samsung telephone. To the extent of putting files onto it, where I think I will be able to find them. So I now have a tube map and a railway map to admire when I am bored or offline.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2021/10/holne-one.html.

Reference 2: https://cms.tela.org.uk/.

Reference 3: https://tela.org.uk/.

Reference 4: https://eehe.org.uk/?p=29595.