Memories

Grandma and I have developed a new tradition most weekdays. It is to watch a television programme called “Escape to the Country” at 3 p.m. while having a cup of tea. The format of the programme is that a house-hunting couple are shown three houses in countryside locations according to their budget and area of choice, and then either choose the one that they would most like to proceed with buying, or if none of the houses are quite right, the viewings have at least helped them to find out more about what they are really looking for. We don’t just watch the programme, we discuss the houses and locations in detail, choose our favourites, and criticise the ones we don’t like. This usually leads on to a discussion about places that we have been on holiday in the UK; Grandma has many happy memories of holidays in Devon and Cornwall when her boys were small. She told me today that in those days you could load your car onto a train at Stirling, and travel all the way Newton Abbott near Torquay, so that you could start your holiday in the south of England with your own car packed with your suitcases, and all without having to drive at all until you got there. I wish they still did that nowadays, but the service stopped years ago. It’s lovely having these chats with Grandma.