Today

It being a Bank Holiday, Becky and I decided to walk to the village of Kilmersdon where it was their annual village day. The walk took about an hour and a half (we took a slight wrong turn near Lypyeate). Paul drove by and picked us up and we arrived in the village. This is Jack & Jill's village. We walked down the famous hill, passing a well (thoroughly scrubbed up as part of a millennium project) and an inscription. The village is rather a pretty one and was full of the usual cake stands, face-painting stalls and plant collections. There were also a large number of bric-a-brac stalls - where does all this rubbish come from? (well one could start in my loft, I suppose), and an attempt at a classic car display.

There were quite a few bouncy castles so the kids were happy. There were the usual suspect burger and chip vans and actually 2 hog roasts. The stand where you could buy a non-meaty snack was well tucked away. The event was themed around the Wild West with "Wanted" signs up all over the place and a totem pole which the children were helping to paint. The most original display was a creepy-crawly insect show.

We did our duty and took a chance with upturned egg-shells (would mine have a £5 underneath it?), I bought some unidentifiable annuals, and we bought some nice brie, bread and pickles from a coupler of rather classy food stalls. Then back home to feast on the cheese and pickles.

In My Day

Daddy (a true child of London) thought that the way to spend bank holiday was to go somewhere where there would be the maximum number of people. That meant London Zoo, Battersea Funfair or an excursion railway journey to Brighton.

He was perfectly happy as we crowded through the turnstiles into the zoo, and fought our way around the various attractions. Mamma loved the lion's feeding time which was always advertised and at the appointed time we'd crowd into the lion house with 100's of other Londoners and watch while hunks of meat were thrown to the animals. The smell of blood and leonine faeces was absolutelyy vile - was I the only one who thought so? (Perhaps that's where my preference for a vegetarian diet comes from.)

A visit to Battersea was another battle trip. I enjoyed the tree-top walk. It was at Battersea where I became clear about my aversion to heights. I wanted to go on the helter-skelter. Whereas many other attractions were free once you'd paid your entrance, this one cost a whole 6d. In return for this you were given a sort of coconut doormat and you walked up the steep staircase to the top. There was a long line of children. Eventually I got to the top. I looked down the slide and thought "no." I didn't panic; I just pushed my way past all the waiting children , back down the stairs till I got to the bottom. I demanded my 6d back - I think the helter-skelter man didn't want to waste time arguing.

We were allowed to eat all sorts of junk, such as candy floss, honeycombe and toffee apples (honeycomb won hands down as the best).

Journeys home, always on public transport, were tired and sticky affairs.

Still, that's what bank holidays are all about - shared fun.