Local Church, St. Peters

This was an immaculately presented and well cared for church in the grounds of Bosworth Hall. I felt it was a blessing just to go in and enjoy the rich history going back the best part of a thousand years. If I was moving to the area I would definitely be a worshiper and participant here.

A walk in the park

Back to the English language again. The term ‘walk in the park’ is used not only do describe a pleasant and easy experience but also to compare it with something that is not a walk in the park. For example, I thought marriage was tough, but that’s a walk in the park compared to golf.

Opposite the hotel there is a large park run by the local authority. It is a paradise for dog walkers and anyone who wants to get away from it all.

The hotel complex is part Ex-stately home, part health spa, part ordinary hotel and also a venue for wedding receptions

in the grounds of the hotel

The village which is all of five minutes away is again a historical treat. The offered lunch at the hotel was very ordinary so we decided to be very down market and have some fish and chips at a lovely friendly shop which had been in business for 32 years. We paid £11.20 for one large fish and chips which turned out to be enough for the two of us.

This is an ordinary road, but gated. It probably goes back a few hundred years with a right of way local act. Very peaceful. One of those walks when you greet everyone even if you do not know them.

a local vegetable shop decked out for Christmas

We went back to our rooms and I emerged to meet the people who had gone on the extra tour to Stratford on Avon for which you had to pay 11 pounds per person. They said that it was very pretty and they had a lovely day.

On the coach that day before, the driver Paul announced that he had had some bad news from home.  So I was informed by someone else his father had been diagnosed with cancer. He did not handle this very well probably because he was in a state of shock. He apologized for not being so talkative as he normally is and said that maybe we would not see him today Thursday or tomorrow Friday. I got my messages from ‘upstairs’ and told him that the situation was not as serious as had been told to him on the phone and that other people had stepped into help.

His face did not register anything probably due to the shock. Anyway what happened today is that he was joined by a relief driver, Steph, who was with him to support him as well as to drive back the long way to Penzance if by some chance he did not feel well. The whole Drive would have been 11 hours with stops so that is more than enough for the average person never mind someone who’s got something on their mind. Paul is the sort of chap who keeps himself to himself and this can be an advantage as well as a disadvantage but he was not very expressive and just stared at us.

This evening after supper we decided to try the entertainment again. Third time lucky. Tuesday night was a man who played too loudly on the guitar and Wednesday was a lady who sang but alas not in tune. Tonight the man was back playing even louder than before, so we didn’t even bother to go in to the ballroom to listen to him and decided to go and have a game of Scrabble. I always seem to get high value letters for example X or Z towards the end of the game so although I was ahead on points I lost the game because of the deductions for the letters remaining in hand.

The hotel is so big that you can easily get lost and certainly lose your sense of direction. I dread to think what the heating bill would be especially in winter.

I did have a chat with reception saying that they were not enough brochures on local features, etc and had they thought of getting such a board which I’m sure due to the advertising value contained therein would come at no charge. I might as well have saved my breath. She was a receptionist, obviously competent in her own field but I think that staff these days suffer from a lack of staff meetings and so it is quite common for staff member not to be aware of what is going on in another department. Is important that the receptionist should be aware of the goings on because they are the first point of contact and it’s assumed a reasonable overview of the whole place.

Anyway, it is our last night tonight. We both bought ourselves headsets for our mobile so I could watch something without disturbing anyone else. This came in very useful when I wanted to watch a video on the coach and also in our room watching something while Françoise was otherwise occupied.