I started New Year in the Smoke (London to the uninitiated) and what a good break it was. I could wake up and look toward Connaught Square 100 yards to the West and think of Tony & Cherie or at least the five coppers outside their house in the bitter cold.

Winter Sun over the £3 ooo,ooo town houses in Connaught Square
The Capital has something for everyone how about going skating (is it still called “roller”) Going into The Victoria a local period pub ,off Hyde Park Gardens, for lunch, a
herd of skaters whizzed past
and vanished Eastward toward Marble Arch.
The Sunday lunch was excellent. My local pub is the Duke of Kendal and Sunday evening they have a knees up.

Transport outside the Duke of Kendal
As I mentioned something for every one in “The Smoke”.

Close up
Joan the pianist has been playing in pubs for more years than she can recall and she is joined by a variety of singers, some from the shows others who have trained in the medium,all great voices, and its a great evening where I joined them after giving the casino a few shillings to help them out. The next day counting my loose change before the congestion charge kicked in ( Which Boris has promised to drop ,this Western extension ) I headed further South.
I had a chore to do in the Kent wine country and experienced the first problem that the weather was to bring.Traveling down tarred narrow lanes the trusty vehicle couldn’t manage an ice-covered slope and sliding backward became stuck.It would have probably taken a day for the AA to reach me as I was in the area of Pett Bottom (I kid you not) however after some heavy engine and gear work I managed to slide and face back from where I had come and continued by another route.
For logistical reasons,ex wives, I was booked into the George Hotel in Battle .A building on the main street that was at one time a military headquarters.

GEORGE HOTEL,from what were the stables.
Other than the outer appearance of the building little except the stairs remain of any past grandeur.

1st Floor landing.
Overnight it snowed and continued snowing for the next two days.The Police would not allow traffic to travel South so a journey to Hastings meant going North to the A21 and then backtracking to the coast.

GEORGE HOTEL,Courtyard.
The main thoroughfares into and around Hastings were cleared but the danger was on the very hilly roads that lead down to the sea. Recently the Conservatives held a seat in a by-election in their St Helens Ward after a resignation and although the Member of Parliament is from Labour at the election this isolated seat in the area could well change.
The local council is quite innovative and with partners had a number of festive trees in the town centre and an ice rink in Queens Square.

Ice Rink & tree supplied by Rotary.
Hastings Council can be found on Facebook as can Brighton.Wirral with its large IT resources are no doubt thinking along these lines…….after a re-think maybe not?.
After many lunches and dinners it had to happen a family fallout and it did in aptly named Battle High Street.

HIGH STREET,BATTLE.
Both sides scored hits but it did seem to be ”get grandad night”.

Before snowballs and after an Italian.
Hitting the road the next day just South of Robertsbridge on the A21, I ran into heavy snow that continued until just before the M25.

North end of the A21 before the M25
It was a traffic free run from then on and only slow where the highway was down to two lanes.
On Friday I was attending to residents problems that included requests for wheelie bin replacements,the lids had been taken to use as sledges as had life saving equipment positioned along the promenade by the Beach Patrol.
Oh yes, Happy New Year !
P.S. “JOIN THE ARMY AND SEE THE WORLD” The Regimental Band of the Irish Guards head off to America tomorrow ,on tour until March 26th.