I had considered a stop on the drive down but in the end did it in one go, letting the SatNav do its thing on Eco did give me a different route to what I’d expected! I’d assumed it would go towards Swindon but instead it dropped down to the A303. I was prepared for the usual short delay at Stonehenge but if I’d been aware of some major roadworks (they’re dualing another stretch and the work is too advanced to be cancelled*) I’d probably have gone a different way, not that it mattered as I had plenty of time. The route also took me through some very narrow lanes towards the end of the journey, they’re really not very relaxing to drive on, I had a couple of reverses and one narrow squeeze, and you don’t even get a view due to the high banks! Once I’d checked in to the hotel I had a drink and lunch; the afternoon was spent greeting people and not doing much else!
Saturday’s fun started with the Big Breakfast Quiz, where we did OK with 18/20 but the winning team got all the questions right. I was very good in not correcting the lad who was acting as question master, largely because he didn’t write the quiz, Thomas Edison was not the inventor of the lightbulb, he was one of several people at that time working on the problem and Joseph Swan (from Newcastle) demonstrated a sustained electric light some months before Edison. In the afternoon I joined a walk around the hotel grounds led by another member of the entertainment staff, shame he hadn’t been given any information on the estate, history, plants, etc. so we were teaching him things. I wasn’t bothered about the entertainment on offer (a Bon Jovi/Brian Adam’s tribute) so after dinner I had a last drink in the bar before heading to bed.
Sunday started the same as Saturday, breakfast followed by the quiz. I’d planned to go for another walk around the grounds and take some more photos so went back to the car for my walking shoes, unfortunately by the time I’d got to my room at the far end of the hotel sciatica was kicking in. I headed out to the nearby terrace to settle down with a drink and painkillers while chatting with friends and basically didn’t get much further. Some of the group took part in various games, some of us didn’t - there was some more quiz answering to do as well but largely we just chilled until getting ready for dinner. The afternoon had included our supposedly responsible adult getting up a tree but that’s just normal for us. Given that we had two large tables in the restaurant, and things started getting just a little boisterous, it’s a good thing the couple sat near us were friendly - they even threw back the misdirected paper aeroplane that landed on their table!
The drive home largely mirrored going down, although I avoided the really narrow roads. I made a brief stop at a Sainsbugs for supplies and arrived home in time for a late lunch. This is the second time we’ve had this annual event at a Warners hotel, and in the end the organising all worked out, but I believe it was quite a strain as answers weren’t forthcoming before arrival. They redeemed themselves over the weekend though, with some very pleasant and helpful staff so we’ll likely use them again next year.
*This was written a few days after the new government cancelled the proposed tunnel and bypass past Stonehenge.
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