We like to spend the Easter weekend in a location where we can join the Sunday Easter service in one of the English Cathedrals. This year we chose Winchester, a place where we have previously enjoyed several mini breaks.

We broke our long, tedious journey for lunch at Gilks Garage café in Kineton.  The Café is themed to its former use in the motor trade. The menu is extensive and I was spoilt for choice, eventually settling on a vegetarian (vegetable) sausage bap. The sausages were served on a lightly toasted bun. Another hidden gem revealed to me by the Extra Mile book.

Suitably refreshed we continued our journey to Winchester stopping briefly at a service station for a leg stretch. When we arrived in Winchester we booked into our hotel, The Winchester Wessex. It is no longer a Mercure hotel and has been rebranded as Winchester Wessex Hotel by Sunday.

First impressions were favourable; we were greeted by a lovely young man who booked us into our room. The room itself, one that looks over the Cathedral Green with a view of the Cathedral, had been spruced up and looked cleaner and fresher than it did on our previous visit several years ago.

We dumped our bags in the room and headed into town where we checked out the board game shop. We were overwhelmed by the number of board games on offer. One game had been on my radar for a while but I chose to leave it on the shelf (for now). We had a mooch around Waterstones and Robert Dyas before returning to the hotel to unpack and enjoy a refreshing cup of tea.

When it was time to dine, we walked to the nearby Fish and Chip Shop, Shoal, for a freshly cooked chippy dinner. I chose haddock accompanied by a glass of rose wine. The food was delicious.

The night was still young so we retired to the nearby Crown and Anchor which had Timothy Taylor Landlord Ale on tap. That made Mr C content and, of course I chose a lovely glass of rose wine. The atmosphere was comfy and initially quiet until a group of very loud ladies settled on the table next to us. This caused one gentleman drinking quietly on his own to beat a hasty retreat (after finishing his beer) to move to another nearby pub.

On my recent visit to Quarry Bank Mill I was reminded of a post from ‘Books Rock My World’ about bookmarks

The Books Rock My World post focused on what people use as bookmarks other than a purpose made bookmark.

Quarry Bank Mill had a display in their second hand bookshop showing bookmarks found within the covers of donated books. In the display is a page from ‘The Windsor Castle Times’ that features Quarry Bank Mill.

Synopsis from the book cover:

Churches are all around us. Their steeples remain landmarks in our towns, villages and cities, even as their influence and quthority has waned. They contain art and architectural wonders – one huge gallery scattered, like a hanful of jewels, across these isles.

Thoughts:

The book meanders through through Britain exploring churches and sharing their history, art, nature and people. It was lovely to revisit old gems and see them through the eyes of others and learn new things about them. I was also introduced to new churches that I am tempted to visit. After my recent visit to Southwark Cathedral I returned to the book to re-read Peter’s experiences of the Cathedral, he is right; the Cathedral is an oasis of calm in contrast to the hustle and bustle surrounding it.

The stay at home and working from home policies due to Covid 19 led to lunch time dates with Mr C with his TV choices. One of the later choices as we came out of the lockdowns was the rebooted Dr Who starting with Christopher Eccleston. We avidly watched all the episodes of ‘New Who’ leaving me with a nostalgic feeling and memories of the original episodes.

I sought out the old episodes on the internet to find some of my childhood memories, enjoying my journey back through time. Some of the original video footage no longer remains but the audio tapes still exist allowing recreations through original photos and animation.

For the 60th anniversary of Dr Who the original episodes were published on Youtube, along with this book. The words from the back of the book describe it better than I can:

Six decades may only be a handful of heartbeats to a Time Lord, but for Doctor Who it’s the adventure of several lifetimes. Evolving over 60 years, the world’s longest-running sci-fi TV show has gifted us a universe of menacing monsters and unforgettable heroes. You might even call it a ‘Whotopia’.

Now you can roam free through the Doctor’s dimension as never before in this special commemorative book for Doctor Who’s diamond anniversary. Join all the Doctors as each tells their own story. Learn about their legions of legendary allies – and hear from the monsters’ own mouths about what makes them tick. Find danger on alien worlds and threats here on Earth in all eras. And explore the gadgets, robots, spaceships, computers and mind-blowing creations that crowd the never-ending corridors of Whotopia.

This book was a Christmas present and I have enjoyed dipping in and out of my ‘Geeky’ nostalgia.

This book is a labour of love with recipes, lovely dialogue along with memories and helpful tips for tweaking recipes.

The book is a joy to read and the recipes we have tried have been delicious.

Synopsis (from book cover):

When Covid-19 hit the UK and lockdown was declared, Mike Matthews wondered how his historic four-star hotel would survive. Then Shrewsbury Council called. The British government had launched a programme called ‘Everyone In’ and 33 rough sleepers needed beds. The Prince Rupert would end up taking in more than 100 homeless people for over a year – many of whom had spent decades on the streets.

This is the astonishing account of how the hotel owner, manager and accountant and their unlikely new guests spent months locked in together and wound up transforming each other’s lives.

Review:

As we get to know the homeless people who were temporary guests at the Prince Rupert Hotel, I found the book is heartwarming, uplifting and sad in equal measures

Many of the homeless were traumatised, addicts or suffered with mental illness. We learn of their struggles and how some were able to lift themselves up to a better life whilst others were unable to break from their addictions.

The compassion, and sometimes frustration of the three hosts to the homeless shines through as does the generosity of the local people and businesses.

I thoroughly recommend this book, it gives an insight to how these ‘rough sleepers’ ended up sleeping on the streets and why some of them even when given opportunities are unable (or choose not to) to change their situation.

Photo courtesy of ShelterBox Book Club

Synopsis from the book cover:

In 2002, three young women with no business degrees, no formal training, and nothing to lose founded a fiercely independent bookstore. At the time, nothing like Diwan existed in Cairo. Culture was languishing under government mismanagement, and books were considered a luxury, not a necessity. Over the next decade, these three women would contend with censors, chauvinists, critics, one another and many people who said they would never succeed in establishing Diwan as Cairo’s leading bookstore.

Frank, fresh and very funny, Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller is a portrait of a country hurtling toward a revolution, a feminist rallying cry, and an unapologetic crash course in running a business under the law of entropy. Above all, it is a celebration of the power of words to bring us home.

Thoughts on the book:

This was my first ShelterBox Book Group read and of three books on offer for the club vote this wasn’t my first choice.

I found the book engaging and like that it is structured in topics rather than chronological order. This reveals the problems with setting up the bookshop and expanding the business in context with other life experiences, allowing the story to unfold throughout the book.

I learned more about the culture of Egypt and the difficulties of three women starting and running a business in a patriarchal society. One of the passages in the book describes how a man wanted to do business with the company but refused to shake Nadia’s hand…

The author, Nadia portrayed herself as an unlikeable person and there is a lot of unnecessary swearing in the book which detracts from the narrative. The way Nadia treated her staff was inconsistent, she admonished and deducted pay for small misdemeanours of untidy book displays whilst letting those thieving from her to get off with paying back what they stole. Was that because the thief was male?

I Loved reading about the conversations between Nadia and her driver, although, sadly they eventually parted ways.

Would I recommend the book?

YES

Description from the Rough Guide website:

Inspirational and informative pocket guide, shining a spotlight on the best of holidaying at home in the UK through clearly laid-out walking and driving itineraries.

Explore the best of Brighton, Sussex & the South Downs with this unique Rough Guide Staycation to Brighton, Sussex & the South Downs, packed full of insider information and stunning images. From making sure you don’t miss out on must-see attractions like Brighton Pier, Chichester’s Novium Museum and grandiose Petworth House to discovering hidden gems, including spotting Sussex wildlife at Arundel Wetland Centre, walking the rambling South Downs Way and mooching down Brighton’s The Lanes, the easy-to-follow, ready-made walking and driving routes will save you time, help you plan, and enhance your staycation in Brighton, Sussex & the South Downs.

Review:

The walking routes within Brighton and the car tours in the wider area inspired me to purchase the book to help us enjoy the best of what Brighton has on offer.  Each tour gave us the information we needed to explore Brighton to the full; sharing information of interest that we would othewise have missed. We didn’t have enough time to explore the wider area more fully but the book has inspired us to go back and explore the area more including places we have visited before.

The bottom line is that this book helped us get the most out of our holiday in Brighton and Arundel so I would reccommend it to others who are interested in exploring the area.

The book includes a FREE eBook version for those who prefer guides in a digital format.

After a refreshing nights sleep it was time for breakfast. Continental breakfast (no rolls) and cooked breakfast options to order were on offer and didn’t disappoint.

We lingered at the breakfast table before walking into town to explore the bookshops. Mr C was keen to visit the Cinema bookshop to peruse its extensive military section. Currently he is interested in the Wars of the Roses, hence the visit to Tretower on our way to Hay-on-Wye. Whilst he was exploring the military section I found a tray labelled ‘Wales’ in the travel section. It was full of guide books for local attractions.  As I browsed the items in the tray I noticed many that I have in my own guidebook collection including some Ministry of Works publications which I miss for their in-depth accounts of the heritage sites they covered. There was nothing new for me to add to my collection so I left empty handed, as did Mr C.

Next we visited the Richard Booth bookshop. We found that the café is currently closed so, at the appropriate time, we left for elevenses in the nearby Granary Café. Sadly the drinks were served in a takeaway cup. Suitably refreshed we returned to the Richard Booth bookshop to continue browsing their book selection. From previous visits, I remember the Folio Society Section of the bookshop and was disappointed to find the extensive collection of illustrated books was no longer stocked, although that part of the bookshop still retains the name associated with the book collection. This was easily my favourite bookshop of the day and I left with three purchases; The Book of Hay by Kate Clarke, The Elan Valley Clearance by David Lewis Brown and Wild Ruins by Dave Hamilton.

After visiting a few more bookshops including Addyman Books with its delightfully decorated themed rooms we returned to the Granary Café for lunch. I had a long discussion about sandwich options and the temptation of an extensive salad bar led me to choose a salad roll. There was a bit of a mix up with my order, when my roll arrived it was filled with smoked salmon (one of their standard options). The problem was quickly rectified and, when it arrived, the salad roll was delicious as I am sure the salmon roll would have been.

Comfortably replete, it was time to visit a few more bookshops before taking our book purchases back to the hotel. The carrying of books through intermittent rain squalls curtailed my ability to take many photographs as we explored the town. After relieving ourselves of our book purchases we returned to to town for a flapjack and tea in the Cosy Café. The Café was warm and cosy so we lingered a while before returning to the hotel to chill out before dinner, which for me included a relaxing soak in the bath.

Once again we dined in the hotel restaurant and on receiving the menu we found that a few of the options had changed to a Christmassy theme. I chose Chestnut Nut Roast accompanied with pureed butter nut squash, sautéed potato and a festive veg medley.  I followed it up with a single scoop of Salted Caramel ice cream. It was all delicious.