I had a Talking Newspaper today, so there wasn’t really room for anything else. It started at 08:30 and ended at 16:00 so, basically, a day’s work. There were a few breaks for coffee, but that was it. It’s a good job I don’t eat lunch anymore.
I had Susan reading with me and Charles was our engineer. Apart from a really badly written letter which I hadn’t read carefully during editing, it all went very smoothly.
I had a story about a red 1961 Mini which was delivered to Swain and Jones before heading to California. It has since returned to Farnham and, surprisingly, it has retained the metal plaque inside.
I would have included the photo of the plaque but, unusually for the paper, it was blurry. So, here’s the Mini instead.
Even more surprising is the fact that the phone number hasn’t changed. Okay, Swain and Jones is no more (here’s my 2015 post about it) but Motest, the company that has taken over the business, still has the same phone number.
The story led to all three of us relating our Mini stories. Charles had one exactly like the one in the story, and Susan had one which her then boyfriend wrote off. I asked her if he became an ex-boyfriend as a result. Susan said, “Sort of. I ended up marrying him.“
The story I didn’t relate was how Fred used to have a Mini, and we were coming home from something one afternoon when someone crossed through a line of traffic, going at speed, and destroyed the Mini.
My leg was forced under the dashboard, which wasn’t pleasant, and made even worse because it was only just recovering from the bike accident I’d had a week or so before. It was awful and only scant pleasure that it was a teenager in his parents’ car who was frightened about what would happen to him.
It was a shame because we had a lot of adventures in Fred’s Mini.
Apart from the red Mini, the only other story of note was one about the newest addition to Farnham. It’s called the Wine Yard (they don’t have a website yet) and is an enoteca bar. I’d never heard of them, so I looked it up. It’s a particular type of wine bar where you can try wine over a plate of antipasti, sitting on barrels, and, if you are so inclined, you can buy the bottle. It’s a sort of try before you buy.
Now that really appeals to me.
