Hastings Battleaxe shivered? Well, what about all the people who can’t afford to heat their homes at all? What is the Government doing about it? Less than nothing. Same with them doing anything positive to negotiate with the strikers, just talk of bringing in the troops and blustering about legislation to forbid industrial action. It has been pretty darn cold, but is now incredibly wet… Ugh. Have been to London for the day, to meet Anna and Gareth. Last Sunday we had snow – Battleaxe had a bit of trouble getting back from the Friends of Conquest volunteers tea party. Snowy outings with friends – the great Christmas lights switch-on, and to Birmingham for a spectacularly cold few days with friends.
So, last Sunday, as a Trustee of the Conquest Friends, Battleaxe opted to go to the Volunteers tea party at the British Tea Museum in George Street, in the Old Town. It is actually a high-class tea shop, but we had a talk on the history of tea etc. from Rebecca, the proprietor, which was interesting. Battleaxe would recommend the Tea Museum – something different. In the picture below I am actually wearing a tea-cosy on my head with a knitted cow on top. Such is the life of a Trustee. Well, this one, anyway.
Anyway, the weather was OK when I went down there – cold, and a bit threatening looking. Had a v jolly tea with yummy food… But… We noticed when we had been there for about an hour that it was sleeting quite heavily… next thing we know, someone showed us a picture of Silverhill on their phone, with thick snow. I called Philosopher in a panic, because he was going to fetch me, and there was thick snow up by us as well. He slithered straight down to meet me – by the time I found him and the car, I was soaked by sleety blizzard… We had a terrible struggle to get back up again – the roads had not been gritted, there were abandoned cars everywhere, people incapable of driving, and even a bus abandoned half across the end of our road.
Next day, we went with our friends Jan and Tom for Christmas lunch at Bannatynes Hotel. It was OK driving there, and we were the only people having lunch – they gave us a very pleasant and cosy room all to ourselves – very good indeed. Battleaxe would recommend.
Tuesday was the WI AGM, not much to say about that, and on Wednesday it was our annual Christmas lights switch-on – this year our friends Jenny and Peter came to help us celebrate. Unfortunately no pictures on the night, but here’s one I took later, in the pouring rain. We froze outside (plus mulled wine) until everything glittered into life at 5pm. The famous singing Santas even briefly burst into song. Here they are in a post from 2015. They were dodgy back then – now they only dance and sing on very special and rare occasions….
Thursday we set off for Birmingham. Cold? I’ll say so. It scarcely rose above freezing, and fell to less than -4 degrees. We stayed, as usual, with Sue and Alex Twynholm. They have a big Victorian house with a handsome hall and stairwell open to the second floor. Handsome? Yes. But warm… er no. Sue and Alex are hardier than us, and more used to it… we softie southerners were freezing! But it was a nice few days catching up and meeting old friends. Went to Le Petit Bois– a new French restaurant in Moseley on Friday night. Battleaxe would recommend.
London? Excellent. The trains behaved themselves, and we had an excellent meal at Richoux in Piccadilly. We were a bit early, so thought we would kill a bit of time in Fortnum and Mason. It was absolutely, totally heaving. You could hardly fit in the door…
Readers will notice that Battleaxe has largely given up ranting about politics. What is the point? Of course, I do still get very angry – like when watching that vapid, gormless little creep Oliver Dowden burble on about ‘standing firm’ against the striking nurses. What does he know?
But looking back at this post, it looks like Battleaxe does nothing but eat huge meals in fancy establishments. We are trying to economise, honestly. We have the heating off as much as possible at home…
