Yes, another nice cryptic title for you, although those who have kept abreast of our exploits on Facebook and Twitter recently will know what I’m on about. If you haven’t – stay tuned.
So, what have we been up to? Well, more 65 mile round trips to Addenbrookes Hospital to see HRH a.k.a Trev’s Mum, who seems to be improving although the list of things they are finding wrong with her is growing and growing. At 91 (nearly 92 you know) it’s hardly surprising, although If she were a car going through and MOT I’d be worried. No idea yet though when she’ll be out so we’ve booked a CL site south of the city and much closer to the hospital which we’ll be moving on to Sunday. It says on the website that the nearest pub is 300 yards away, although of course that is of absolutely no interest to us. At all. In any way. Whatsoever….
We’ve been visiting in the mornings – anyone local will tell you what a nightmare getting out of Cambridge is at rush hour. So we’ve been around when lunch arrives on the ward. Yesterday Hilda had ordered fish fingers, chips and mushy peas. Imagine her face then when it turns up with one, yes just one, fish finger. The expression on her face was priceless – although one I’ve seen many times before. Incredulousness mixed with severe disapproval. The poor assistant didn’t know where to look and hurriedly returned to the mobile servery to see to see if another could be located. It couldn’t, there were none left. The withering look eased only slightly when an extra portion of pudding was promised. It made my day – mean I know – but at the same time the situation gave two clear signs that she was feeling better – appetite and moaning….
Away from the hospital, there isn’t much else to report although we have been into Littleport again and found something of interest thanks to Steve Buckley who gave us the heads up on Facebook:
It’s a statue (nothing get’s past me does it!) of a motorbike erected in 2003 to commemorate 100 years of the Harley Davidson company. All very nice but what’s that got to do with Littleport? Well, William Sylvester Harley was the co-founder of the company in the USA in 1903 and his parents – William Harley Senior and Mary Smith - came from Littleport and emigrated around 1859.
Littleport may seem a quiet sleep place now – occasional traffic aside - but it wasn’t always the case. In May 1816 riots broke out, triggered not least by high unemployment and spiralling grain costs. A number of - and woman were brought before the court following the riots. Some were acquitted and for those convicted, imprisonment, execution or transport to Australia followed. For a more in depth look you may want to visit the relevant Wikipedia page HERE.
That’s really been it, sightseeing wise and to be honest I’m not that bothered. It’s been nice just to relax and enjoy what summer caravanning has to offer. Chilling with a book and cooking, eating – and yes drinking – outside. Whilst Trev almost invariably cooks when we’re at home – thanks not least to our working hours, I’m happy to pick up the reins – or should that be tongs – when there is some cremating to be done. And yes, that is me not wearing a long leather coat…
After two nights of cooking ‘at home’ though it’s back to the pub tonight as we have some friends joining us that we haven’t seen for far too long. The Swan on the River is as it’s name suggests and just 400 yards or so away and across a bridge. The beers – the regular Doom Bar and the guesting Workie Ticket, all the way from Tyne & Wear – have been in excellent nick. I was really pleased to find ‘Workie’ on draught after having tried the bottled version up in Northumberland over three years ago. The other two pubs in Littleport have offered nothing new in the way of ‘research’ – more well known ales from Cornwall and from the Suffolk coast.
Right that’s it for now. Just a little one I know (Not the first time I’ve had to utter that phrase sadly….) Hopefully next time I’ll have some pictures of this lovely site for you.
Until then, cheers!