Surrey 1- Runneymede - Rambling in Runneymede /Burnt out cars/The night at the Star /What has happened to text messages?

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Thursday - another one of those days which found me wondering how I managed to work and get ready to go on holiday. Over two years ago I would have found myself sitting at work with my mind divided between work and thinking what had I got to do to get away for my holiday . Life had changed . A blood test result sought out . A mixed message from the receptionist . What was wrong with saying one result had not come back . Instead she led us to believe all had come back and one required the GP's attention . Ring back tomorrow . Last minute shopping and buying just enough to tide us over for a few days . Plans made of where to hide said contraband from the authorities who were policing Brexit .

Friday - Haircuts , feet pampered and whatever is not done today wont get done at all .

Saturday and we are on our way . The cat is sorted out we hope. The post sorted out too and we decided to leave early for Surrey . The plan had been to stop on the way for some lunch and then set up camp in a motorway service station somewhere close to Leatherhead . In the end sense prevailed and we picked Runneymede . The home of the signing of the Great Charter Magna Carta in 1215. A national trust site where we could park up free for a few hours sign into the internet and listen to the football match at Dorking . Just up the road from where we would be parked up.

The roads were relatively quiet and we made good progress . We did stop for lunch on the motorway services . Perhaps one of the better ones but still not the best of places . An accident along the way made us think of our own mortality . A burnt out car . The fire engines were still there at the scene putting out the last remains of the fire . Thankfully everyone seemed OK.

Runneymede was much better . We had two choices of spots . The first a pleasure area around the Thames . There were cafes , hard standing and a statue of Elizabeth II. Just as we arrived the heavens opened . The worse rain you could imagine . Coming down in stair rods. The second spot was on grass but given all the hot weather the parking area was rock hard . I struggled with the parking machine . It was free to National Trust members if you put your card up against the scanner. I must have tried around three times before it worked . Whilst I was trying it the driver tried to connect us to the internet. We had paid to put an add on 30 days of data and planned to set it up today . Whilst he was trying to sort this one out I went for a ramble around Runneymede. I crossed the road which was at times busy and headed for the small shop where I bought a rose ice cream and a magnum which I took back to the van . The driver was struggling with sorting out the add on. For some strange reason it would not work . I left him to it as I walked over to read the writing on the two piers outside the shop. It seems that after the death of the owner of the land in 1929 the celebrated architect Sir Edwin Lutyens was commissioned to design the twin memorials which consisted of posts of stone blocks topped with laurel leaves and urns. There was an inscription " In these meads on 15th June 1215 King John at the instance of Deputies from the whole community of the Realm granted the Great Charter the earliest of constitutional documents wherein ancient and cherished customs were confirmed , abuses redressed and the administration of justice facilitated new provisions formulated for the preservation of peace and every individual perpertually secured in the free enjoyment of his life and property ". What a wordy inscription that was without full stops or commas .

My walk then took me past willow figures . A man with his scythe , a hollow hut like structure which was filled today with a family having fun and a horse being stroked by a child . There were other monuments scattered around the site . Writ in Water , another couple of memorials to the signing of the Great Charter and the Jurors . I was accosted at the Jurors by a young man who wanted his photograph taken. It was difficult to get him in without anyone else. One couple insisted on taking pictures at each one and however hard I tried I could not get them out of the snap. The sculptures of 12 chairs were commission by the council and the National Trust to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta . A board told me that the sculptor was Hew Locke who created 12 extra large bronze chairs . EAch was decorated with past and present struggles and the idea was that people stopping to look at them should sit down and and reflect on and discuss the themes he was representing . Some of the images represented Nelson Mandela and others the Suffragettes .

I headed back and still the problem of the internet was not sorted . We had no texts , no phones no internet so we carried on to our overnight stop. The Star a large friendly and extremely busy pub. We parked up and put their free internet on and listened to the second half of the match before going over to the pub for our evening meal . The staff were busy but friendly . We were seated and offered a free jug of water which was promptly delivered to the table next door . We sat for a while waiting and even thought of asking the couple on the next table if they had ordered water . After about 15 mins they said they thought it was ours . Our wine had not arrived and I had to go to the bar to ask for it . When the food arrived it was very nice . The fish and chips at London prices were tasty, my soup carrot and thyme was extremely nice . The bread was the sort that you could eat more of . And the chunky chips were chunky . All in all it went well and for a little shy of £40 we had a stop for the night and two meals thrown in . A campsite would have cost us £25.

And the reason the internet would not work was because of a massive outage . We had to chat to the phone company who eventually added our data package for us . Hopefully tomorrow we will get service resumed .

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