Road Collapse, Stained Glass, Scadden's Lamb, Norfolk Arms

We were on the road by 09.05 next morning pretty much on schedule.  Breakfast on board and tea taken it was farewell first to Diane heading to work at 08.30 and then to Cherie just before leaving.  It had been a great few days and a lot of fun. 

Now, hindsight is 20/20 and never truer than on this day when the M25 southbound turned into gridlock.  Had we checked the news that morning we would have been able to divert; had we read the Facebook message from Christine also sent that morning we would have been able to divert.  Fact is the middle lane collapsed close to M25 junction 9 Leatherhead.

We didn't and a 2.5 hour run became a 5 hour run.  It was dramatic and testing but would have been far worse if we had not driven into the Cobham Services for a rest break.  Tempers among other travellers were also escalating.  A truck driver attempted to cut me off as I drove onto the slipways and a few choice words accompanied the horns.  The Megane horn was actually quite impressive and not one of those parpy farty horns that embarrass.

Once in the services we found the traffic no less thick.  Rest Room visited we then found we couldn't exit southbound back into the gridlock.  The directing staff at the services which you can see above right were re-routing traffic back north to exit 10 then south on smaller roads via Cobham towards Esher and then Oxshott. 

Credit to them.  What they were explaining made great sense reducing frustrations in drivers.  The diversion signs were quite clear and the sat nav very well behaved.  We emerged onto a clear motorway at Junction 9 twenty minutes later.  Even a short spell in traffic behind a hearse could not deflate us.

Regular calls back to Christine enabled her to delay lunch and the slow cooking lamb did its own thing.  Roast Lamb two days in a row and this leg of lamb was from family farmers and relatives in Somerset.  David and Diane, Paul's family.  Happy memories of Scadden's and the Nest in Rodney Stoke going back to the late 80's.

The late afternoon was about assembling Christine's stained glass for a Christmas Craft exhibition in the home of long time friend Tina.  The house in Storrington.  An evening exhibition to be followed by a day on the Saturday.  The quality of the stained glass pieces is amazing to me and Kim and I would buy two pieces to take home.

 

 

 

 

Christine, Paul, Kim and I drove the 40 minutes to Storrington, spent some time meeting up with co-exhibitors and reconnecting with Tina, husband Mike and daughter Rebecca.  Once assembled Paul, Kim and I headed out to Steyning and a pub for a couple of hours.  We were looking for the White Horse but unable to easily locate settled on the Norfolk Arms. 

 

 

It turned out to be a real locals pub a place where the Lord of the Manor and the head gardener would not have looked out of place chugging an ale of two.  It also turned out to be a cash only establishment, rare in this day and age.  Searching on line it became clear this was a rugby pub and that perhaps went some way to explaining the community integration.

We enjoyed the ambience and then refreshed took to the road again returning to pick up Christine.  The stained glass sales news was also extremely encouraging and while I am not at liberty to disclose sales it was smiles all round.  I have included some more pictures of pieces here.

 

 

 

 

Our day concluded with a late supper.  Pork Pie, Cheeses and Chutney and the expected indigestion eating so late did not materialise.  So it was to bed after an eventful day.