Richmond, day 3

I was awake again at 8am and went down for my breakfast at 8.45. I walked straight down beside the river to see the waterfall, which was looking rather brown, and then to try to see the tower near the Green but couldn’t get in the park. The walk up the hill certainly warmed me up, though!

I then went to Richmond castle. While it wasn’t snowing, it was still very cold and the snow was deep. I saw the exhibition then ventured outside again. I started with the remains of Scollands Hall and then through the beautiful snowy garden of evergreens. There was little else to see in the grounds, so I went up the keep. It has been preserved very well and gave a wonderful view all around.

I called Jess when I was finished, and we agreed to meet for lunch at 1pm, which gave me an hour to look in the rest of the shops. We met at the monument in the middle of the square and went to the Bishop Blaize for lunch because of their £5.50 for two meals. Big mistake! Half the menu was unavailable and what we did get was horrid. Jess visited the post office and Boots and we headed to the theatre.

Dick Whittington started at 2.30 at the Georgian Theatre Royal and was fairly juvenile, though worth it for the clever cast and the surroundings. Jess’s cousin Gemma was scarred for life. Jess’s uncle and aunt, Nick and Clare, invited me to stay the night and so Jess and I walked up the hill to their house.

Nick cooked a brilliant Chinese meal and we drank too much wine. Jess started to show me her photos from France and Germany but we were called for dinner halfway through. Nick asked what I’d like to listen to on the stereo, and my answer was, of course, jazz and dance bands. This led to Nick tossing out about two dozen records from his collection to play on the turntable. Most of them looked good and what he played sounded good (only a few tracks from each record). Then he showed me his wind-up picnic gramophone, and I vowed to find one while I’m in England as they will only be around £50 and are quite portable. Then he brought out the original 1984 Band Aid record and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and finally Stairways to Heaven and Queen. It was a very fun night. Jess and I stayed up talking and formulated a plan to travel after New Year’s – to London. I slept in a sleeping bag on the sofa and was very comfortable.