Spring Lunch - Attrition

Ellie had slept here overnight, so there was no need to get up for 6:30. We all got up and got ready at a leisurely pace, then walked Ellie to school. Di then gave me a lift to the station, and I grabbed the 09:26 to Victoria. 

I had arranged the spring lunch for the Band of Brothers. This was booked for The Betjeman Arms at St Pancras. Originally, I booked a table for 7. At one stage, the attendee list grew to 8, but I held my nerve with a booking for 7. In the last 24 hours, Charlie has had to drop out because of a hospital appointment.. While I was on the train, I had two further drop-outs due to health issues. I suggested on WhatsApp that I could change the venue to a phone booth, as the numbers dropped.

I arrived at Victoria and dropped down to the tube, taking the Victoria line to St Pancras. In our carriage, we had the usual entertainment of a "Peace and Love" preacher shouting his philosophy, then breaking into a tap dance every so often. In true English style, nobody batted an eyelid. He gave up and moved to another carriage at the next stop. Arriving at St Pancras, I walked through the various walkways and tunnels to get to the mainline station. I was 45 minutes early, so I had a slow wander around before presenting myself at the Betjeman Arms.

Andrew Mower arrived soon after I sat down, then Brian, and finally, Mike. We then sat and chatted for a couple of hours over lunch and some beers. We talked about everything from holidays to health and our families. In between, we had the usual school reminisces and general life updates. It was a lovely couple of hours (with some very good food).

As we left, I looked out of the windows and guessed there was a quicker way back to the tube. Sure enough, I walked out of the nearest exit, crossed the road, and dropped straight down to the platform. It was so much quicker and saved about 10 minutes of weaving through the walkways. I was soon back at Victoria and managed to get on the 16:05 train back to Bognor Regis, where Di was waiting in the car to drive me home. (It's lovely having such an accommodating chauffeuse.)