Afternoon in Guildford

Things do not always work out as we expect.

I thought I’d spend the afternoon in the garden. But then I learnt Andrew White was at St Saviour’s that evening. I did not fancy going to Guildford, I wanted to relax in the garden. But then I thought, if Andrew White can travel from Baghdad to Guildford, then the least I can do is make the effort to go to Guildford.

I do not like travelling on a Sunday, as public transport is so bad. But, if you do not have to change trains, with a long wait, as I have had the last two Sundays, then it is not too bad, just that the trains do not run as frequent.

The plans was, roast lunch, then go for a walk along the river, maybe have afternoon tea in a coffee bar, then wander along to St Savour’s. But that did not go to plan either.

A week ago, lovely piece of roast pork in Debenhams, but no, nothing left. I made do with scampi and chips. I realised afterwards, I ought to have gone to The Keystone, but it has been so dire of late.

I decided though, maybe go to The Keystone for a drink. I never got that far, I found St Nicolas was open, an ended up staying for the service.

Not the usual St Nicolas. A Black Church called The Upper Room. If the woman conducting the service had not shouted the whole way through, she may have been intelligible.

I could have walked along the river, but thought if I do, coffee bar may not be open and maybe closes early.

I walked up to Glutton & Glee. Yes, they were open, closing at five o’clock. I had a tea, granola bar and their version of a zinger. Good, but at £8, very pricey.

I thought, sit in the Castle Grounds and read Manuscript Found in Accra, only it started to rain.

On the way, I saw that the Castle Restaurant was open or at least people were there. I asked what was going on. It has gone bust and that was what had taken down the lovely little coffee bar Milk & Honey, as they rented from the Castle Restaurant. The new owners were going to run everything, I suggested they ran as before, as it was a lovely little coffee bar and very popular.

By the time it had stopped rainy not worth reading Manuscript Found in Accra.

Walking past Harris + Hoole (aka Tesco), I noticed they were binning all their sandwiches. An appalling waste.

I arrived at St Saviour’s over half an hour early and was told I was the first one. A band was rehearsing and they were awful. I am pleased to say, they were much better during the service. Andrew White gave an amazing sermon. Held everyone spellbound. After, he was signing books, including his latest book Father, Forgive.

Arrived at Guildford Station to find no train until 2259. I could not believe it, an hour and a half to wait for a train. At night trains running every two hours. I checked the timetable, not there should be a train. I asked at the ticket office, which luckily was open. Yes, there was a train, but it was running 20 minutes late due to signalling problems.