January 2025. Leighton Buzzard.
Death sets in motion a whole chain of events, many outside your control. The only thing I knew on Monday after a day of interviews and statement taking and a lot of advice was that I couldn’t stay in Waterbeach that night.
Hence that trip to Mum’s birthplace, and a night in Leighton Buzzard.
“You didn’t get your last Bedfordshire GBG tick did you ?“.
Well, why not, life goes on, even in the home of Kajagoogoo.
I always though this was the town’s other claim to fame,
but that’s Leyton (Orient).
That Spoons is gorgeous.
Cheaper hotel prices have pushed down UK inflation a bit, and Wetherspoons have a few offers (£59) in January. I’d been wanting to stay at the Swan for years. It gave us our first uninterrupted nights sleep in months.
I was biting at the leash to hit the town after checking in. Mrs RM was powdering her nose, or whatever it is centuries of women do to keep men waiting for the pub.
“Bring the key with you. I’ll be in the bar. Don’t forget the key“.
10 minutes later, I’d half finished that NBSS 3.5 Abbot (forgot my Spoons voucher again, but only £1.79 on Mondays) before Mrs RM arrived.
“I brought the house key and left the room key in the room” she says, before finishing my pint.
It had been a stressful day, and even the anonymity of a moderately busy Spoons brings you back to normality.
It’s Monday in Dryanuary; it’s time to hit the town and feel normal for a night.
retiredmartin 
This blog is a nice piece of writing RM. You can really feel it.
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Martin,
I commented not long ago that we should all remember that a pub is for bed and breakfast and not just beer and lunch.
You’ve made me realise that that is all the more so in exceptional circumstances.
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You’re right, a death sets a load of stuff in motion. Faffing about with doctors, lawyers, banks, Coroner’s officers, pension departments, the taxman, undertakers, even taking books back to the library. You need some time off and a drink after all that.
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