For whom the bell tolls - Monday

Dong! First new thing was going to the Bell at Boxford. Lovely!

Dong! Second was the Five Bells at Wickham, also lovely!

Dong! Er that's it!

Sunday

New thing was Beacon Hill to wash away the cobwebs. Terrific views from the top of this iron age hill fort. Was feeling a little tired from last night, so not paying attention to my descent and came down on my backside, and got so covered in mud I had to sit on lots of stuff in the car in the passenger seat!

Saturday

Yattendon Village Hall for a Christmas craft fair - had a housewarming at 6pm but people were arriving at 1pm, so had to nip out quickly to do something new!

Friday

Day's Inn in Membury

Thursday

New thing was going to be the new cinema in Newbury, but after being woken up by lots of hammering and banging from next door, the neighbour invited me round to see what they were doing, so I got to see their house. Much nicer than ours!

Wednesday

Wednesday

Carnarvon Arms – I’ve always, always wanted to come here since I was young, and we decided that we’d have a look around and hold the wedding here. As a child I had a fascination of Lord Carnarvon and Tutankhamun, and was delighted to have gone on a school trip just up the road to the museum display. And the venue is lovely, just what we wanted, and although slightly out of our budget, we had a really good feeling about it. Except I managed to upset the bar manager because I got lost as the map took me round Kingsclere and towards Whitchurch, so I was very, very late and flustered and reacted badly to the tone in which he told me I had the postcode wrong (I didn’t!). I felt bad about this, because I know he was trying to help, so I joked that I felt old when people called me “madam” to which he said: “Sorry MADAM” in such a tone that we fled to see if we could have the wedding in a shed somewhere....anywhere.

Monday

New thing was the Renault Minute reception at Renault Watford for my car’s service as their main reception, and in fact the whole showroom, are being refurbished.

Sunday - we are abseiling, we are abseiling

New thing today was flinging myself off a cliff! But don’t worry, it was intentional! We went abseiling at Avon Gorge with Mendip Outdoor Pursuits. This was an absolutely exhilirating experience which I will never forget. After a VERY short training session and being kitted out with harnesses, we clambered up to the top of the rocks – 60ft up. The first girl went down very quickly and as everyone lined up for their go, I could feel my stomach flipping and when I got to the ledge, leaning precariously over the edge, my mind went blank. I could not remember a thing of what I had just been told and the instructor had to swap places with me and show me what to do. It’s actually very simple and I was thinking about it too much, so once I realised that it was simply a case of leaning back and feeding the rope through, I relished my descent, bounding off the walls and landing at the bottom with a huge smile on my face. Mabel came down too, a little more slowly, and the rest of the group, all except one followed. We then progressed to the 200ft descent.

The walk up through the trees was the worst bit – I really need to get fit! One poor guy banged his face and his legs and so climbed back up again, so I decided to go righjt there and then before I started thinking about it too hard again. I admired the view while I was being fastened in, and then down I went, giggling all the way until I noticed two climbers right below me. We said hello to each other, which was hilarious, and then I carried on bounding down the rocks until the bottom when I couldn’t get out of my harness! Mabel came down a little more gingerly and we marvelled at how the friction had caused our figure of eights to become hot, hot, hot! A great experience and some nice people which helped boost the confidence!

Saturday

Woolton Hill Church hall for a jumble sale and then the Rampant Cat pub around the corner to recover.

Friday

Newbury Manor again – new things were examining the rooms more closely, including the honeymoon suite.

Thursday

Back to school after 15 years to sell some fudge! New thing was a marquee for the occasion! The fudge went down an absolute treat, thanks to its lovely texture and taste, but also my dad’s phenomenal selling ability! It was really nice to be back, but I was startled at the magpie qualities of some of the pupils, one of whom took a fistful of fudge from my tasting plate!

Wednesday

A room at the back of Membury Services.

Tuesday

RSPCA charity shop in Newbury. Actually managed to come out with less than I went in with which was an achievement for me!

Monday

Monday
New thing was the film Starter For Ten on TV which was a bit better than the book. Fairly watchable but some terribly stilted bits of dialogue – however, it’s saved by its homage to one of my favourite programmes!

Sunday

New thing was seeing the Julian Tulk Band live http://www.myspace.com/juliantulk – amazing performance, and wonderful support from Kat Marsh www.myspace.com/katmarsh who has an incredible voice and the impossibly talented Jumblebox Consortium http://www.myspace.com/jumbleboxconsortium - could not believe what I was seeing....

Saturday

Highclere Church (and round the village) for a coffee morning.

Friday

Friday

New thing was the Salvation Army charity shop in Newbury – I happened to pass this the other day on m’bike, quite surprised to see it was there, but glad I went in today to have a look. Came out with two cookery books, me of all people!

Mark Webber

Thursday

New thing today was meeting the absolutely lovely F1 driver for Red Bull Racing Mark Webber who was at Renault London West to open the new business centre called Renault Pro+.

FORMULA ONE STAR MARK WEBBER HELPS LAUNCH RENAULT PRO+,

NEW ONE STOP SHOP FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES

The largest Renault dealership in the country, Renault London West, in Acton was the setting yesterday for the official launch of Renault Pro+, the French marque’s new service for business customers.

Created to build on the success of the company’s existing ‘Business Centre’ network which was introduced back in 1999, the new Renault Pro+ centres will enable participating dealerships to deliver even greater standards of service quality for sales and after-sales to local business customers for both cars and vans. New service ramps capable of taking vehicles up to 8 tonnes, will also allow them to handle all makes and sizes of commercial vehicles, as well as the forthcoming New Master van which is set to be launched in Spring 2010 in larger and heavier variations than the current range. A total of 11 centres are expected to open across the UK before the end of the year, with a further number of equal size to follow in 2010.

The flagship centre was launched with the help of Red Bull Racing’s Mark Webber, powered to victory by a Renault engine in this year’s German and Brazilian Grands Prix and to second place at Sunday’s final race of the 2009 Formula One season in Abu Dhabi. Also in attendance were several company executives, including Thierry Braems, Sales and Marketing Director of Renault’s international van division, Roland Bouchara, Managing Director, Renault UK and Ian Plummer, Managing Director, Renault Retail Group.

Following a tour of the site’s new workshop facilities, including a new 8t ramp, the 100 guests took the opportunity to chat with the Formula One star over lunch before the inevitable clamour for autographs and photos.

The star of Renault’s current van ad campaign, ‘Le Laitier’, a pristine Renault milk float from the early 1900s, was also shipped gently over the Channel, much to the delight and intrigue of the attendees.

Each of the new centres will act as a ‘One Stop Shop‘, delivering high levels of service to time-pressured business customers. With fully trained sales and after-sales staff, visitors can expect guidance on every aspect of owning and running a commercial vehicle, whether it be new and used vehicle sales, after sales, finance, or service and maintenance.

The benefits of the new Renault Pro+ are considerable, with an 11-point ‘Business Customer Promise’ to ensure that the new standards are consistently met. Among the aspects covered are the requirement for an enhanced range of demo and display vehicles including converted products, rapid diagnostic work, personalised finance proposal in under 48 hours, extended opening hours and a suitable courtesy vehicle to ensure that a customer’s business operations are not unduly interrupted at any stage.

At Renault London West as a prime example, a selection of 25 light commercial vehicles were on show, highlighting the depth and breadth of the Renault range for every type of business use.

Speaking at the event, Roland Bouchara, Managing Director, Renault UK, said: “We’re delighted to be launching our first Renault Pro+ centre. Combined with the recent strides we have made in the quality of our products, this new initiative will enable us to deliver even better levels of service to our local business customers, as well as put ourselves ahead of key rivals.”

Wednesday

Wednesday

New thing was a hasty trip to the Lord Lyon Pub in Stockcross – can’t believe how many lovely pubs there are here, for what seems like a smallish population?

3 Daft Monkeys!

Tuesday
Speedy noodle in Kilburn which lived up to its name! A great plate of special fried rice and some prawn toast but the plates were whisked away from me as I took my last bite, and replaced with the bill before I knew it! Then met my colleague and we went to a pub called The Black Lion, a beautiful period pub with a fantastic chair made out of one large piece of wood, before crossing the road to the Luminaire to see one of my favourite bands, 3 Daft Monkeys. They were preceded by a band called Inflatable Buddha from Oxford, a four piece playing folky ska. They were great fun, very energetic and hilarious. Then, 3DM kick off with the beautiful One Fine Day, and already the whole crowd is eagerly dancing and pogoing. Then Eyes of Gaia, Human Nature, the wonderful Let ‘Em in,and the mighty Paranoid Big Brother, all from Social Vertigo, along with the eponymous title track, of course! The band played an old song called Weird-id, which I’d never heard before, a fantastic Spanish-sounding song which has Athene on recorder as well as violin. I almost weep with appreciation of their multi-instrumental talent. They then play two new songs from their album which comes out....”when we’ve written it”, quips Tim. One is called Masquerade Parade and the other is either Be Careful What you wish for, or She Said, He said. Both brilliant ballads with the usual rousing Monkey chorus. To end, there’s the ever-popular Faces, Hubbadillia and Maximilian. Tom and I smiled all the way home, me covered in sweat!

Monday

New things were both a bit hasty and last minute; bought a prawn risotto from Waitrose and ventured into Lloyds Pharmacy in Thatcham. As I had predicted, this isn't the simple errand it should have been, as three youngsters decided to take in turns to annoy drivers by standing in the middle of parking spaces that people were trying to drive into, looking defiant.

I blame the parents.

Sunday

Elcot Park Hotel to see what the lie of the land is with regard to weddings, then to another scary Mary wedding fair -this time at the Regency Park Hotel in Thatcham. Once again, I managed to upset the woman on the door as I didn't want to provide name, address, shoe size etc. Got some ideas though for dresses, cakes and photography.

Saturday

The Rising Sun in Stockcross - a lovely pub.

Friday - Cobbs Farm Shop near Hungerford

Wow - a huge space covered in fresh food and lovely things to eat. And a lovely cafe! Would be a brilliant, brilliant place if the staff weren't so surly!

Thursday - Tadley

Last time I was here it was for a council meeting, so it was nice to come back five years later for leisure, ie Sainsburys and the hospice charity shop - brilliant shop, but very embarrassing to have three members of staff peering at me and my card because it took 20 minutes to go through the machine. Later in the day, new thing was the Town Local pub in Wootton Bassett before going to M's brother for a lovely dinner.

Wednesday contd

Couple more charity shops in Gerrards Cross - Barnardo's and Shaw Trust. Also two gift shops in a street I didn't know existed. Got glared at by the owner of one - don't know why - I guess they don't have many non Caucausian faces in the town. Drove out of GC along a beautiful road which finally answered my question of why so many welll-heeled people live here!