To Holne

Via Chippenham then RD&E for social calls. RD&E being the main Exeter hospital.

Set off in good order, pleased with the organisation which had got us out of house not long after 09:00, to be pulled up a little short of the M25 with what turned out to be a leaky radiator. Crept back to Epsom Autos and from thence to Enterprise, as previously reported at reference 1. Not much more to report, except that I found it a bit power light in the lower gears and I had terrible trouble getting the windscreen wipers under control. Minor complaint in that Enterprise bounced us into buying some expensive insurance just as we were climbing into the car with the threat of massive insurance excesses. It would have been proper to explain them while we were still in the office.

All this meant that I was able to walk some bricks, taking in the dwarf cyclamen at the bottom of the garden, now coming into flower. But not over the brown patch left in the snap above, site of either a very large corm or that of a colony of smaller ones, at the foot of a small bay tree. I had thought the former.

The terms corm, bulb and tuber might all amount to the same thing in this context and the ones that I have seen are flattened spheres in shape, like a small flat turnip. Bing is not much help on the search term 'cyclamen corm size', but Google turns up the confusing snap above. While a bit further down it offers: 'Cyclamen are a genus of about 20 tuberous perennials grown for their pink and white flowers. Most grow to about 10cm tall, although established tubers can reach the size of a dinner plate and produce dozens of flowers'. Do not trust everything that flies under the flag of 'AI'.

Given that we were now starting out late afternoon in a new car rather than early morning in our old car, I decided that M25 then M4 to Chippenham was the way forward. Less to think about when I was tired.

Took a break at Membury Services near Swindon, where I bought a pint of hard core orange juice from Waitrose. Maybe a bit cold and sweet to be drinking it as fast as I did as the journey proceeded. Also a Bounty Bar, coconut version, something we do from time to time when travelling. Also took in the piano noticed at reference 2. 

In the circumstances, I was impressed that BH got us off the M4 and to our destination in Chippenham without fuss. Stopped for a bit there and then checked into the Angel where we found that they have taken to charging to use their car park. Only a fiver, but irritating just the same: I suppose too many people were taking advantage, and when they got around to doing something about it, it was easiest just to go the whole hog.

We were given a very large room with a very large bathroom - this last complete with an iron bath with feet and with a separate shower. While the room contained a good variety of furniture, some of it brown wood. Our cupboard, for example, was mahogany and had started life with shelves, perhaps for storing linen rather than shirts, jackets and hanging things of that sort. Our bed was noticed at reference 3.

The room was in the old part of the hotel, rather than in one of the courtyard sheds or in the large new annex beyond that, which meant we had some stairs to climb. I might have only had a small suitcase, but what with laptop and the odd book, it was heavy enough. I was glad that I had not attempted, the day previous, to carry it from home, over the hill to Enterprise, electing rather to go back for it once we had collected the hire car - and transferred to it the rest of the luggage from our own car, by then holed up in Epsom Autos. The rest of the books were packed separately and, in the event, were not used. But in the matter of reading, even with the Kindle, better safe than sorry.

Breakfast the following morning was a bit mixed. Orange juice and tea bad. Orange and bread adequate. Sausages good. From which it may be deduced that I took sausage sandwiches for breakfast. A bus load of what I took for pensioners from the Netherlands for company. Which made me think that I was not quite ready for bus holidays - something that FIL & MIL (especially FIL) got a lot of pleasure out of in their retirement. And they are very cheap, with a day rate well below what it would cost you for the hotels, travelling independently. I dare say that aspect appealed to FIL.

Waitrose for a spot of shopping, where we found that car parking was operated by the council - machine or Mipermit of reference 5, a parking outfit we were not signed up with. I think we must have done cash.

Decided once again that the straightforward motorway route was the way forward: M4 to Bristol then M5 to Exeter, rather than cutting cross country down to the A303 - a route which I remember as being pretty but time consuming. Took a break somewhere in the vicinity of Bristol, possibly the Gordano Services, just west of the River Avon.

Where we came across a football team from Aveley on the estuary, complete with the odd girlfriend and hanger-on. I think they were on their way to play Torquay United and they must have got up very early in the morning to be at Bristol at the time they were. Another Bounty Bar, this time pushing out as far as one each.

BH got us to a hospital fine enough, but it turned out to be the wrong hospital, or at least the wrong part of the right hospital. The car park was suspiciously empty for a peak visiting time. Shortly after that we found the right hospital with a large and busy car park. Connected to Apcoa of reference 6, which my telephone did know about, so that was alright.

The RD&E turned out to be a large, fairly new, hospital, probably a bit smaller than St. George's at Tooting, but a good deal bigger than our hospital at Epsom. The canteen, for example, was much bigger and better. And one of the courtyards contained a fine sumac, of recent interest. And the lifts started at level one rather than ground. The second time I had come across this convention - with the first time possibly being the South Bank Centre at Waterloo.

Very different to the old red building that I remember, somewhere near the old city walls. But I don't remember what the red was: brick, red rendering or the red sandstone you get a fair bit of in Devon.

From there just the last stretch from Exeter to Ashburton and from thence to Holne, where we arrived late afternoon. Having managed not to scratch or otherwise damage our hire car. A result!

PS: Wikipedia rapidly tells me that it was red brick with white stone trim. I don't remember this last at all. I just remember red, old and shabby. But why? I don't think that I was ever actually inside the place.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/08/function-rich.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/piano-90.html. 

Reference 3: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/09/fake.html.

Reference 4: https://www.pitchero.com/clubs/aveley.

Reference 5: https://www.mipermit.com/.

Reference 6: https://www.apcoa.co.uk/.