On the English Riviera

A morning in Salisbury today. Meetings with HR and lunch with Sara in the George and Dragon. A sombre morning as I was told a close colleague had died earlier this week suddenly and unexpectedly. So sad. I had passed him in the street only last week and we had said “Hi” to each other. I nearly stopped him for a longer chat but he had bounded off – clearly on a mission. No doubt the full story will emerge over the next few days. I returned home at just after 3 p.m. packed, had a cup of tea with Sara and left for Torquay, picking up Nigel on the way at his home in Wilton. We had a very clear fast journey to Torquay arriving at the Grand Hotel a little before 7 p.m. We checked in and asked the girl on reception to recommend a Chinese restaurant. She suggested the Yum Sing on Babbacombe Road which was about 2 miles from the hotel. She kindly booked it for us for 8.15 p.m. and after a quick shower and a change of clothing we set off along the seafront and into town. We also had a quick look at where the deceased at tomorrow’s inquest fell to his death from the Grand Hotel balcony. In fact I am only two rooms away from the fatal room. The Yum Sing turned out to be much further than we had anticipated but was well worth the walk. It stands in a large house set back from the road and reminded me of “Fawlty Towers” in the TV series. The meal was excellent and it was interesting to listen to the conversation on the adjacent round table where six middle class middle agers were talking about Christianity and New Age Beliefs. Nigel and I also talked about Christianity amongst other things and I wondered how Sara got on with the House Group this evening. I rang her when I got back – in fact, spookily the phone rang in my ear as I was dialling out – Sara was ringing me! The House Group went very well with ten participants across the whole spectrum of the Church. The consensus was for the Group to become a Bible Study Group with a structured course. Mike M-J will talk to Elizabeth for material and I will look through mine. I think the Letters of Paul should be our basic course.