We could not get into the cottage we had rented in Ross-on-Wye until September 12 so had nearly 3 weeks of London and the south before heading west.  The end of August is the Notting Hill Carnival, which is now one the largest street festivals in the world with a million odd people rocking up to party.  I attended one of street parties in the early 60s with a Jamaican colleague, which later morphed into the festival we now know.  I was one of the few non-Jamaicans and rather stood out in the crowd.  This was not long after the so called Notting Hill Race riots, so not everyone was were happy to see a honky at the party, but my friend Neville took good care of me. Great experience.  However, these days the local residents board up their houses and get out of town, which meant Neal & Georgia left us to guard the fort while they took off to Norfolk.  All very peaceful with a great background sound of steel bands and reggae music.

Bonding with Mimi.

Friday before Carnival we did the Painters Paintings Exhibition at the National Gallery. A fantastic collection of the paintings that 10 major artists, from Medieval to Freud, had in their own personal collections.  I never thought of artists collecting!  Just fabulous.

After the bank holiday I found my Barclay’s card had stopped working so I was unable to access my sterling account, the source of finance for our European tour!  Barclay’s were “migrating” my account from Guernsey to the Isle of Man – their idea not mine – and I had sent off all the required signed documents by registered mail before we left the States. This was the start a 5 week ordeal with Barclay’s to get my account back into operation! Barclay’s said they never received the registered mail documents despite there being a record of them receiving them, so let’s go with they lost them!  They also managed to “lose” faxes sent to them from their own bank in London and Brighton.  The crass inefficiency and total lack of professionalism of this major international bank was beyond belief; worthy of a John Cleese sketch, which I did mention to them on more than one occasion.  I put in an official complaint and received confirmation that my case would be investigated, but “due to the volume of cases being handled it would take longer than normal”  Totally farcical!

On the home front the family was returning to London with a spaniel puppy, plus the new au pair was due arrive from Paris the next day, so we decided it was time to visit friends in Surrey and Kent, view England’s finest gardens and stately homes, while sampling the south’s finest cream teas, and pubs. After a few wrong turns on Kent lanes we found our aptly named The Wilderness B&B – our base for the next few days as we visited Sissinghurst, Scotney Castle, Pashley Manor, and Bodiam.

Great Dixter

Bodiam Castle

Warm sunny weather so everything was at its best.  After that we went on to spent a few delightful days with Tessa Ellis – her house and gardens are the epitome of the English country house – and the weather remained marvellous.  England when it is like this is quite outstanding, and we made the most of it.  We all managed to have lunch with Peter & Gill Charkin in a nearby pub; just so good to see them again and that Peter was looking so good considering he was seriously ill.  As always it’s the people, your friends and family, that makes the occasion.

It was then on to Brighton where we toured The Pavilion, The Museum, and walked along the pier.  All very touristy, but we could walk everywhere and weather remain good. Surprisingly Brighton has turned into quite a foody town and we ate very well.  Excellent seafood, Chinese, and Indian – absolutely great – the Indian was Goan and produced some fabulous food.  It was then back to London to regroup/repack and head off to Ross-on-Wye.  Sixt Car Hire upgraded us to a Vauxhall Astra Estate so we had plenty of room for the crates of wine we liberated from the clutches of Neal’s cellar.  So after a great family weekend in London including Tuppence, the new tiny brown puppy, meeting Matilde the new au pair, we left a busy Railway Cuttings and headed west.