The British Grand Prix is on at Silverstone this weekend so after Towcester, the A43 was closed to through traffic, meaning we couldn't go our normal way down the M40 and the A34, so we were forced onto the horrible M1 and nasty M25.
The traffic was heavy and you wouldn't think that we were experiencing the highest fuel prices ever! There is still work ongoing on the M1 to turn it into a "smart" motorway and almost until Milton Keynes the speed limit was 60mph. I am surprised the government hasn't actually reduced the limit to 60mph as there were very few sections when we could travel at the dizzying height of 70mph!
We turned onto the even busier M25 and headed towards Heathrow. Our satnav kept telling us there were problems ahead, and we crawled all around the motorway, only making progress once we reached the M3. This was a funny little motorway, and after a while as three lanes, we were all funnelled down to two. We had to stop for ten minutes to use the facilities at the services, which was crammed with people! Where's everyone going? It's not even the start of the holiday season yet!
We arrived at Southampton at 12pm, so a three-hour journey in total, and not a pleasant one at that. I said to Keith that I wasn't prepared to go home that way so we'd better find an alternative route! Mike had a couple of jobs for Keith to do, so he did that and then we left for the village of Romsey and The Old House at Home pub.
The little market town was a twenty-minute drive, and we parked with ease in their car park. Keith and Mike enjoyed a beer called HSB from the Fullers brewery (which sounded like a bank to me) and was delicious. Sophie wasn't drinking so we each had a non-alcoholic Peroni, but I liked Keith's beer so much I had a half!
We sat at a lovely table by the window and had a good chat while looking at the menu. Keith chose fish and chips (naturally!) while I had a chicken burger, Mike and Abbie had beefburgers, and Sophie chose a starter of mushrooms on toast accompanied by chips. The food was OK, but not outstanding. Sophie and I had dessert - a Knickerbocker Glory for me, and a chocolate brownie for Sophie which were expensive at almost £8...
After our meal, we had a walk around the lovely little town and went into some shops. We were almost caught out by a shower of rain but it passed quickly. It was a bit like being back in Chichester again, with the narrow streets and pretty houses.
By now it was 4pm so we headed back to the flat, had a quick cuddle with Hugo and Trixie, Abbie and Mike's beautiful cats, and headed home. I was determined to avoid the hellhole that is the M25, and there were hold-ups of 55 minutes, so we went our usual route, up the quiet A34 and then onto the M40. Instead of coming off the M40 at the A43 junction we carried on and came off at the Banbury turn, and headed towards Daventry. It was a bit of a trek but we did the journey in a shade over two hours which wasn't bad at all!
Back home, we were entertained by the Kyrgios v Tsitsipas tennis match which was very bad-tempered! It went on until almost 10pm with Kyrgios finally winning. Sophie thinks he's great so she was enthralled!
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