My Somerset Life

A diary by Brian Snellgrove

A trip to Honey Street, Wiltshire

The Barge Inn at Honey Street which is in Wiltshire would not be a name that trips off everybody’s tongue. We decided to go today because the weather tomorrow is forecast to be worse and warm weather was promised. I spent my bank holiday perfecting a video for my new website. This is an absolutely brilliant place not for everybody but for those aware of alternative things to spend time in a wonderful pub at the side of a canal called The Barge Inn which is run as a community by local people.

Nearby to it is a cafe and also a crop circle visitor Center and exhibition which is open all the year round. At the Barge in we had a lovely local cider which unlike some other brands do not have any after effects. We strolled up and down the canal and talked to some locals. It was like going back in time 50 years. We could see one of these seven white horses on a hill in the distance. Here are some images

lovely restaurant with great home made cakes.

these were the two men who claimed that crop circles were fake and that they did it themselves with planks and a string.

very colorful junk

me with my reactalight glasses

a remarkable piece of 3D art.

outside the Inn



My Somerset Life

A diary by Brian Snellgrove

A weekend when nothing is expected of us. 

We noticed that there was a village day at High Lyttleton so after lunch we hopped off to see what was going on. this event is always the same formula, dog show, refreshment tent, various local charities, tombola, one or two bric a brac stands, entertainment for the children. We were blessed with a sunny if slightly breezy afternoon and enjoy the company of locals.

The local canal restoration society had a splendid set of photographs of the often backbreaking work undertaken by the volunteers.

vegetables made to look like animals competition

a modest display of prize winning vegetables.

Francoise talking to a local church-goer

I think this was set on a sports field. Lovely scenery and countryside views..

A short trip across country to Rockaway Park. We were told that someone had a wedding there with 150 guests yesterday and a huge vegan meal was produced. It is certainly the strangest place I have heard for having such a celebration but funnily enough if it’s suits the bride and the Groom then the atmosphere would be perfect. We met the ever affable owner, Mark, and I asked him about his recent trip to Glastonbury. He agreed with me that the music was rubbish but also that we were too old to be the target market. I said I thought about the young Festival goers were enjoying themselves and it was probably a good right of passage. I met a lady who had never come across this phenomenon before those she lived only 10 minutes away.

Somewhat of a parody of religion, which is not held in the highest esteem here for some reason.

van 2

at the entrance

possibly an anti-tory poster

 



My Somerset Life

A diary by Brian Snellgrove

The best service I have received in many a long year

I had a recent order for a printed color leaflet which I received yesterday and all did not seem right with it so I decided to approach the printing company to get redress in other words I wanted the job done again.This is an exact record of what happened today Thursday 22 August 2024 and why my opinion of the company remains at a high level

08.45 – I ‘spoke’ to the firm’s bot that is on duty 24 hours a day and said that I wanted the job reprinted and the bot said that this was probably a job requiring the human touch.

08:55 – the bot (or was it a live person?)  replied to my email address asking me to confirm the job number and  send images. It said thank you for reaching out, I am sorry to hear of this

09:05 – a human reached out to me saying’ thank you for contacting us. I am very sorry this happened. Can you send me an image of the printer received so I can investigate this for you? Kind regards,

09:09 – I photographed the leaflet and sent it to them

09:18 – i received a reply saying ‘thank you for the image. I do agree that the color is not acceptable representation of the artwork. I would like to reprint this. Are you happy to proceed?’

09:25 – I wrote back saying yes thanks

09:31 – I then received a reprint confirmation ” further to our conversation we have arranged for your job to be reprinted for delivery on 23rd August 2024 (that is next day). This will have a new job reference of434**** please quote this in all future communications.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further queries.Kind regards

This transaction made my day. If people would work with their customers and not regard the customers as a nuisance the world would be such a different place. I feel the same about Wetherspoons, the pub chain.

So well done Solopress.com  you have a loyal customer for life. I should add that I first had dealings with them 1 May 2017 so I am not a new customer and this was the first significant problem I have had

PS The next day I received the revised printing and surprise surprise they gave me as a bonus double the quantity that I ordered.  That’s how to keen customers happy. They are investing £3.4m in new plant to keep up with demand.

I was motivated to read some of the reviews by their staff. These are from uk.indeed.com

Good managers, friendly and professional coworkers. The environment was safe and clean. Music and phones are allowed on site. Work could be high pressure but good support was always given. Decent environment overall

I’ve been working at Solopress as a Workflow Specialist, and my experience has been great. In my role, I focus on utilising various systems to automate repetitive tasks and streamline the work through to print. This not only enhances efficiency but also ensures a smooth and seamless process from start to finish.One of the notable aspects of working at Solopress is the fantastic company atmosphere. The environment is very supportive, and the team has a great sense of camaraderie. Everyone is committed to working together towards common goals, creating a cohesive and motivating workplace.The support from management and colleagues is excellent, whether it’s providing resources, offering guidance, or simply being available for a chat.Solopress is an excellent workplace, especially if you’re looking for a collaborative and supportive environment. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a fulfilling and dynamic workplace.

I like working at Solopress in the factory. My job as a print finisher is good, and I’m learning new things. The people I work with are friendly, and we help each other.Solopress has gotten better since they joined. They got new machines and made things work faster, which is cool. The bosses care about making things good.I got good training here, and it helps me do my job better. The work is interesting, and I feel happy when we finish making things.Overall, Solopress is a good place to work. It’s improving, and I like being part of it.

So, everyone, take note.  You either offer a service or you do not. If you do then put your whole heart and soul into it. Be of service to others. (the clue lies in the title).  If you don’t enjoy it find someone else to take over.

xx   Brian, Editor



My Somerset Life

A diary by Brian Snellgrove

slightly unhinged Weymouth

We decided to have a day trip to Weymouth to get away from it all if only briefly. Little did we know that there were two football matches connected with the city in directly or directly so we have to ourselves up for a lively day.   Direct trains to Weymouth are infrequent so we took the 10-22 train from Bath and found that we could hardly get on as the three coaches were nearly full. Thank goodness we did not join the train further down for example at Frome. The journey took just over two hours which was quite long enough and I found myself a little bit roasted by the EMF effects of the 100 mobile phones that were in our vicinity.

a crowded beach full of happy families. The beach is very safe and life guards are on duty. Good quality sand.

at the station

good historical display

Very great pride in the quality of the fish and chips offered in this town

their continuing campaign for inclusive advertising

knitted ice cream

knitted pedal cycle

In a fish and chip show – I was fooled when I saw this paper and tried to pick it up


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My goodness this car was throaty but I guess that’s part of the joy of owning a head-turner.

I was impressed with this church, the last time I came, but this time I was even more impressed by the beauty and caring shown here here they really do welcome everybody irrespective of race and creed and sexuality and the atmosphere was very positive so I hope they get a congregation to suit


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A jolly man and his friends celebrating his birthday

On an August weekend we would expect the whole place to the crowded as indeed it was. I found myself even more able to engage with people randomly and talk about all sorts of things. Buying oysters and so on was out of our reach but we did enjoy the most amazing fresh fish and chips with a haddock and a fresh fillet of mackrel for little short of 20 Pounds and one portion was enough for two of us. Francoise went for a swim, one of the few she has undertaken this year and I was very content to have a paddle and ground some of the unpleasant EMF energies that I picked up in the train.

We had a tea consisting of drinks and Dorset apple pie with cream which to my taste was rather undercooked but I did not feel like complaining so I just ate it due to fully knowing that the ingredients were of good quality. We suffered no Ill effects.

The return trains were not frequent, 15.35 and 17.35 and the last train was about 20.00 We arrived half an hour early for the 17.35 to find a crowd of people already waiting to get on, the train being parked in the station. By the time the train was due to depart you could hardly move along the platform so we had formed ourselves at the head of a cube at the further this point away so we had a chance of getting a seat.

The seagulls noticed that a lady was about to open her bag of chips. The seagull was joined by another one who kept watch of few yards down and there was a supervising seagull who watched from the roof top opposite. Fortunately for her the lady decided to put away the chips otherwise she would have been dive bombed.

Overall we had a great time. The only problem was the time spent in traveling. It took us one hour by bus to get to Bath and then two hours seven minutes to get to Weymouth. Taking everything into consideration we spent at least 6 hours traveling but I must say I prefer to travel by train at least from time to time as you get to see the unspoiled countryside. Driving by car you can tend to believe that the whole countryside is made up of roads but of course this is not the case,

Theoretically we could have gone by car but I really couldn’t be bothered with the finding of parking place in this very restricted town, I didn’t feel like going to the outskirts of the town to wait for a park and ride in fact I just generally felt like letting someone else take over. The rail fare for us to with a card was £30.60  the petrol and parking would have cost us about the same even not more



My Somerset Life

A diary by Brian Snellgrove

My favourite jokes

 People used to laugh at me when I used to say ” I want to be a comedian”, I am successful and nobody’s laughing now
I used to think I was indecisive, but now I’m not too sure
 Scientists say the universe is made up of protons, neutrons and electrons. They forgot to mention morons.
Behind every angry woman is a man who has absolutely no idea what he did wrong
 God gave us  the brain to work out problems. However, we use it to create more problems
Whatever you do always give 100% unless you are donating blood
 The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was
If four out of five people suffer from diarrhea does that mean that one or five people enjoys it
 Hospitality: making your guests feel like they’re at home even if you wish they were
One day you’re the best thing since slice bread. The next, your toast
 I saw an advertisement for burial plots and I thought to myself ” this is the last thing I need”
Escalators don’t break down…. They just turn into stairs
 Some of us learn from the mistakes of others; the rest of us have to be the others
The reward for a job well done is more work
 The first time I got a universal remote control, I thought to myself ” this changes everything”
The light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off due to budget cuts
 A chicken and an egg walk into a bar . The barman says,” whose first?”
You sound reasonable. It must be time to increase my medication
 My psychiatrist said I was preoccupied with vengeance. I told him ” we will see about that”
Doing things that you are not supposed to do at work makes your vision, hearing and alertness much better
 A garage sale is actually garbage sale but the B is silent
Anyway I could go on for ever but I’m trying to make the point that we can maybe cheer ourselves up with jokes when there is precious little else to cheer us up in this dreadful age.
Brian
OH and one more thing to cheer you up. How about this young violinist prodigy.