Meyricke Serjeantson

Jan 10

Wimbledon to Little Kingshill

I said farewell to Steve, having missed Sara who departed to work very early, and packed my bag. I walked with Valerie, through the wild area behind the house and across the tram line to a posh local street which housed the local Doctor's surgery.

Merton Park wilderness	The posh end of Merton Park

She registered without any problems and we set off along the street again. Sitting by a hedge was a fox, completely unconcerned by our presence, but it vanished before I could extract my camera.

We caught the tram to Wimbledon. Just as the fox vanished before I could take a photo, so the tram appeared suddenly so that I could either take a photo or climb aboard. Sanity prevailed and I climbed aboard. In Wimbledon, we did a few chores and then walked home.   Right: Merton Park tram station

Valerie had to collect her new credit card from the DHL offices off Beddington Lane. This involved a drive through Mitcham, an old stamping ground of mine. There had been lots of changes in buildings, one way systems etc and a complete failure in my sense of direction, so it was a tense trip as I regularly got lost. We made it safely, collected the package and returned home without getting lost quite as often.

I said farewell to Valerie and managed to get out of London and onto the M25 without getting lost too often or killing myself under a truck. There is no doubt that I no longer have the skills or co-ordination required for serious London driving. Once in rural Buckinghamshire, I got lost several more times, failed to find room in a nice village pub that I had visited once before, and then stopped in the centre of Beaconsfield Old Town.

	The White Hart, Beaconsfield Old Town
The White Hart, Beaconsfield Old Town
The car park was busy but I found a space and then a good pie in the White Hart. The beer wasn't memorable, probably the worst pint I had on the whole trip. This isn't quite as bad as it sounds as the beer on this trip has been of a very high standard and I have had fewer of them than usual. The chicken and ham pie was excellent and appeared to have been home made. Right: Chicken & ham pie

I arrived at Malcolm & Janet's, let myself in without setting off the alarm and did some packing and unpacking. This was followed by a small amount of computer work and a lot of resting on the sofa reading my book.

Malcolm arrived home from work and we departed shortly afterwards for the Firecrest, a pub about five miles away, which I visited on my last trip. It was in the same chain as the White Hart, which I had visited at lunchtime, and the menu was the same. The belly pork was good as was the beer and, with one exception, the service.
The belly pork was good ...	... and so was the beer

We returned home, waited for Janet to return from a meeting and I had, by my standards, a late night.