Yes, I know I said 'to be continued'.....but sometimes life just gets in the way!
It was still grey and overcast when we arrived at Alfriston, but it was warm too...humid. I just knew that pushing the chair was going to have me wet through with my efforts.
The main street into the village only had a pavement on one side. Tony, our coach driver had told us to make sure to use the pavement as cars came whizzing through the village at a rate of knots......and that because of the winding lanes there was little chance of stopping if you were not on the pavement.
The pavement was not a bit wheelchair friendly...it was narrow and elevated from the road by about 18 inches to 2 foot in some places......if Ma went over the edge I would be in deep doo-doo.
I was very careful and did get several offers of help along the way........the village was very picturesque. We had all been advised to go and look at the church and also the Clergy House by the side of the Church......apparently it has wonderful gardens.
Ma asked to be parked by the village green while I went on and assessed the wheelchair accessibility. It was accessible by wheel chair if you were in the Iron Man competition.......and being part of English Heritage there was an entrance fee.
Now while I understand that these things have to be maintained in good order, and this doesn't come cheap......I would prefer a donation system to be in place......especially as there were places that the wheelchair couldnt get at all......so the upshot was the we didn't actually go into the Clergy House.
I would not have been allowed to take my own pictures either.....the only way you could get images of the place was to buy an expensive glossy book of the place.
I did go into the church....it was very plain......nothing much to write home about.
Ma asked me to light some candles, but there were none to light so I just spent a few moments in silent contemplation.
Some of the folks on the coach took the opportunity to go and have a cream tea.....scones, cream and jam......Ma and I don't do that because the scones don't agree with us.
After seeing the church there wasn't much else to see so we headed off back to the coach.Once on board it started to drizzle, so it looked like we had done the right thing.
The clouds drew in very dark and the earthy smell of the air suggested that we might be in for Thunder and lightning........and I had one of those 'thunder' headaches too.
The Thunder never materialised...well, not while we were there anyway.
Soon we were drawing up outside the hotel.
On the trip back Tony had run through our departure arrangements...making sure that we all knew that we had to be ready on the coach by 8.30 the following morning.....breakfast was at 7.30.
We got back to the room and started to pack up our things.......I am never ready to come home after a five day break......I could always go another few days.
I didn't buy much while I was away, but still had trouble getting my little case to close.
Do you think that clothes get fat on holiday?
Maybe it is all those cooked breakfasts....it couldn't be the desserts, cakes and ice creams because I don't recall having many.
OK I did have a large shortbread biscuit.
Our evening meal was a little bit subdued......but both couples said they had enjoyed our company...this was my cue to bring out the cards to say 'Thank You' for their company, their fun and their conversation.
Margaret and Joy were both in tears......and Eric and Bob both got up and gave ma a big hug and a kiss.
Ma said that she was going to miss them all, and that they would be remembered and talked about...which believe me they are.
It was still grey and overcast when we arrived at Alfriston, but it was warm too...humid. I just knew that pushing the chair was going to have me wet through with my efforts.
The main street into the village only had a pavement on one side. Tony, our coach driver had told us to make sure to use the pavement as cars came whizzing through the village at a rate of knots......and that because of the winding lanes there was little chance of stopping if you were not on the pavement.
The pavement was not a bit wheelchair friendly...it was narrow and elevated from the road by about 18 inches to 2 foot in some places......if Ma went over the edge I would be in deep doo-doo.
I was very careful and did get several offers of help along the way........the village was very picturesque. We had all been advised to go and look at the church and also the Clergy House by the side of the Church......apparently it has wonderful gardens.
Ma asked to be parked by the village green while I went on and assessed the wheelchair accessibility. It was accessible by wheel chair if you were in the Iron Man competition.......and being part of English Heritage there was an entrance fee.
Now while I understand that these things have to be maintained in good order, and this doesn't come cheap......I would prefer a donation system to be in place......especially as there were places that the wheelchair couldnt get at all......so the upshot was the we didn't actually go into the Clergy House.
I would not have been allowed to take my own pictures either.....the only way you could get images of the place was to buy an expensive glossy book of the place.
I did go into the church....it was very plain......nothing much to write home about.
Ma asked me to light some candles, but there were none to light so I just spent a few moments in silent contemplation.
Some of the folks on the coach took the opportunity to go and have a cream tea.....scones, cream and jam......Ma and I don't do that because the scones don't agree with us.
After seeing the church there wasn't much else to see so we headed off back to the coach.Once on board it started to drizzle, so it looked like we had done the right thing.
The clouds drew in very dark and the earthy smell of the air suggested that we might be in for Thunder and lightning........and I had one of those 'thunder' headaches too.
The Thunder never materialised...well, not while we were there anyway.
Soon we were drawing up outside the hotel.
On the trip back Tony had run through our departure arrangements...making sure that we all knew that we had to be ready on the coach by 8.30 the following morning.....breakfast was at 7.30.
We got back to the room and started to pack up our things.......I am never ready to come home after a five day break......I could always go another few days.
I didn't buy much while I was away, but still had trouble getting my little case to close.
Do you think that clothes get fat on holiday?
Maybe it is all those cooked breakfasts....it couldn't be the desserts, cakes and ice creams because I don't recall having many.
OK I did have a large shortbread biscuit.
Our evening meal was a little bit subdued......but both couples said they had enjoyed our company...this was my cue to bring out the cards to say 'Thank You' for their company, their fun and their conversation.
Margaret and Joy were both in tears......and Eric and Bob both got up and gave ma a big hug and a kiss.
Ma said that she was going to miss them all, and that they would be remembered and talked about...which believe me they are.
