South Coast Road Trip - Highlights

Right now Im enjoying a 'proper' bean to cup coffee from my own coffee maker, in my own kitchen, having slept in my own bed for the first time in a week. Having been forced to endure 3 nights in a Travelodge and one in a freezing garret, my own bed was heavenly.

I drove over a thousand miles this week, all to enrol a hundred learners on a new course. To be honest, they could have posted the forms out with an instruction sheet, but who am I to worry about money being wasted.

I have to remember that this was a work trip, and not a weeks holiday for me to jaunt around meeting old friends and taking photos of seaside places - however, those were the highlights of the week. The lowlights were the hours spent sitting in grubby depots, waiting for drivers to come back in to sign a form. The nights in grubby Travelodges, and lack of decent showers!

I actually enjoy driving. I did a lot of it when working for Clarins in the early 90's when I travelled around the south west working in department stores and salons for them. The long drive to Bristol was ok, boring being on motorways, but I had the Newcastle match to listen to and my playlists.

The best driving was from Bristol to Portsmouth, passing sign posts for places I knew and fleeting memories of driving to Yeovil for some Giorgio perfume hours before attending a wedding, going to Wells for wedding dress fittings, Dorchester, Weymouth etc etc.

It was hard to plan anything as I never knew how long I would have to hang around in depots, so I was amazed that on Tuesday I went into Poole depot at 7am and had finished by 9.00 so was able to set off to Portsmouth much earlier than expected. It left me with an afternoon to spend with my best Navy mate, Mo and a chance to see Portsmouth, and Lee on the Solent again.

First stop was Lee, and HMS Daedalus. I spent 5 years there, and of all the places I was based, was the one I felt was most like home. It was sad to see her like this though.

South Coast Road Trip - Day 4

An early start today. This was the biggest enrolment session I had. Southampton depot.

As agreed I arrived at 7am only to have to sit and wait for 30 mins for the manager to turn up. The day was spent talking and filling in enrolment forms on and off. Finally at 4pm I had finished the last one and headed back along the M27 to the luxury of the Travelodge.

On the way out this morning I had asked for someone to look at the shower which was nothing but a drip. Hoping to wash my hair properly before going out to meet friends. They had looked at it, had fitted a new shower head, but even that couldn't make it a shower. My garden hose has more pressure! So I had another bath and did my hair with the feeble excuse of a shower.

An hour in the hotel, followed by a meal in the Toby next door and I was ready to drive back over to Lee on the Solent to spend the evening with some Twitter friends at the squash courts.

I did stop off at the seafront to take a photo of the sunset over the Isle of Wight.

As a squash novice, it was really great to see people play properly. No fairy elephants thundering across the court, no apologies for hitting a good shot, but stopping the game, and no chatting as they played.

Had a good natter with Paul, Elizabeth, Nicola and Steven....who are proper squash players btw! and realised that not everyone on Twitter is odd.

South Coast Road Trip -Day 3

This was always going to be the highlight of my trip. The day I got to return to places where most of my best memories were made. Memories of being young, free and single, drunk, and often irresponsible.

It started with a very cold early start in Poole. Fortunately it was only a couple of hours until my enrolments were completed and I could hit the road and head east along the M27, towards the places that were home for several years of my Naval career.

Fareham was the first place to greet me and the first to annoy me with its convoluted road system. I avoided the town centre, mainly because I didn't have a clue what lane to be in and ended up heading off to where I really wanted to go purely by default.

I spotted a McD's...I needed to do some work and of course they have free wifi so yet again I was forced to buy a meal. Spookily, this was right opposite the main gate of HMS Collingwood. Not somewhere I was ever based, but knew it well - or thought I did! It was huge! It was huge back in the 80's but even bigger today. Had I joined up as an aircraft engineer now, this would be where I would do my basic training and not the place I was desperate to see again, which was just a mile or so down the road.

From that point on the roads and street names became more familiar. Suddenly there in front of me was the airfield, dotted with small rusted hangars that in my day were clean and hives of activity. I pulled over to take some photos and realised that the estate behind me was where the Field Gun Crew, Training blocks and Wrens Quarters had been.

The next hour was filled with driving around the town. Structurally it hadn't changed much at all. The buildings were modernised, but in the same places as I remembered. The seafront was exactly the same.

I had one very emotional moment when standing on the seafront in the exact spot where Me, Pam and Mo, had stood in Dec 1981 on our first day at HMS Daedalus. We looked out at the Isle of Wight and said "It's just like being on holiday". Was it really 32 years ago??

Having taken photos of various places I headed off to meet my old mate Mo who still lived in the area. She had managed to take the afternoon off, and we were going over to Portsmouth to wander around what is left of the dockyard and places we knew back in the olden days.

It was great being with someone who knew where things were and what they are now. The Gunwharfe sits on what was HMS Vernon. The buildings in the big modern complex would have been accommodation or admin blocks back then. Now they are pubs and restaurants. Weird.

I did all the touristy places, saw the derelict pubs on The Hard, The Victory in the dockyard, The Royal Maritime Club...(Home Club). HMS Nelson, and of course the Gosport Ferry.

We also talked non stop.

It was a lovely afternoon. I had spoken to Mo a few times over the last few years but we hadn't actually met. There were no awkward moments, it was just as it was 30 years ago. Some mates are proper mates, the kind that never change. Mo is one of those. I don't have many I can say that about. We were 17 when we met at Reading Railway station on June 1st 1981. This year we will both be 50. Where did all that time go?

As we said our goodbyes, we hugged and agreed not to wait another 30 years to meet up.

South Coast Road Trip - Day 2

The forecast on the telly in the hotel bar last night, told of huge snow drifts, chaos on the roads and temperatures so low that whole libraries of books needed to be burnt in order to stay alive. (Ok that bit may be in a film!)

My first depot visit in Brizzle was just a hop skip and jump from the hotel. Not a problem, but I arrived earlier than expected as I intended to depart as soon as possible to avoid being caught up in the snow chaos described on Janner TV.

The enrolments were fine, no one had a clue what it was all about, but that's par for the course at this stage. The supervisor was very helpful getting all but one members of staff into the office to fill in the paperwork. The 'one' had decided to get delayed somewhere and spoil my plans for an early get away.





However, it was all a farce, because the snow of 'The Day After Tomorrow' proportions......(another very good argument for saving libraries - like what good is a kindle when it's minus 50 outside and you need to keep warm? ) was merely a flurry of flakes on a windy day and did nothing ro hinder my journey south....

....unlike the lack of fast food outlets.

I presume McDonalds and the like are still novelties in Jannerland. I recall driving past one on the route out of Brizzle (and was the road planner on something at the time the road from Bristol to Bath was planned???) but then nothing all the way to Blandford. Like where do you yokels stop to relieve yourselves?

In the North East, you travel barely 20 minutes before passing a McD's or KFC. In Blyth we have one right across the road from the other! There must be just one per county down here. Your kids must be starved!

Anyway. I took a slight detour to have a bite and pay a visit before getting back on the road again.

One thing I do like about Jannerland is the entertainment value of driving through Piddletrenthide, Thropton on the Stump, Westonzoyland, Up Sydling and Mudford Sock. I mean who made these names up? I know there are places like Spittal Tongues, Oswaltwistle and Giggleswick up north, but you have to admit, they must have had a right old belly laugh when thinking up names for places in the South West of England.

So, finally at rest in my garret in the rather nice, if slightly chilly guest house in Poole. I am reflecting on the mission so far and planning the next couple of days as best I can. These are trickier days. I have things to see, places to go and people to meet while in the Portsmouth area. I wont know the lie of the land until I arrive at the depot tomorrow. Can I get away early?

All will be revealed tomorrow, unless I have something better to do.


Night night x

South Coast Road Trip Day 1

About a week ago we were told that we had a huge national contract on the horizon and we had almost a thousand new learners to enrol. The list of places was released and people were asked to state preferences. I was hoping not to get involved, so stayed quiet. Bad move.

Some trainers were given specific locations as they would be delivering training there, but there were areas where they just needed enrolments done. I had a choice of two weeks dotted around the north west/midlands, or one week in the south west. I chose the latter, thinking it was only a week and it was also in my old patch. Places last visited around 25 years ago.

Bristol, Poole, Southampton, Horndean, Hove.

So here I am. Mothering Sunday, in a hotel just outside Bristol, having driven for 5 hours to get here. I also chose to miss going to the Newcastle v Stoke match. I could have gone but didn't relish the thought of getting up at 3am and driving down here through the night. Especially as wouldn't sleep for fear of not hearing my alarm.

Not much to say about the journey. Sometimes dual carriageway, sometimes motorway. Sprinklings of snow all the way down and one stop for a wee and coffee break. Starbucks of course!

The hotel is ok. very close to where I need to be tomorrow, handy. Its cheap, but friendly and clean. Nothing fantastic but its got to be better than the Travelodges that I will be using further along the route. Our company isn't known for it's generosity regarding hotel accommodation.

I'm sitting in the hotel bar, watching 'Dancing on Ice' while eating a cheese and ham pannini.
As soon as I finish this using the free wifi, I will retire to my room, get comfy and maybe have a few of my Mother's Day chocolates.

This week requires a lot of flexibility as the people I am enrolling work shifts. I may have to do a lot of hanging around waiting, or I may get them all done early and have the afternoon off...who knows. I am hoping to meet up with a couple of friends, one of whom I joined up with back in 1981 and who I haven't seen since 1987.

Right, off to relax. I know you will be waiting with baited breath for Day 2. Patience my lovelies.