Thursday 27th June
I’m not well, I have a very sore throat and a serious cough! Ken has bad hay fever so we don’t make a good one between us. We haven’t done much today really. We decided to walk in to town this morning via the racecourse footpath but discovered that, as it was a race day today, ‘in the interests of public safety’ the footpath was closed.
We walked in to town the usual way and went down to the racecourse for a look. We found we could stand right on the rail a couple of hundred yards from the finish line and the grand stand without actually paying £15 each to go in. The first race was at 2-10pm so we decided to return later and see what we could see.
We then went back in to town and did a bit of shopping, trainers and cough medicine for me and half a dozen eggs was the sum total of our purchases. I also scoured the place for a reasonably priced hairdresser to deal with my unruly locks. In the end I settled on Sue Allen’s (didn’t she used to be in Dallas?) near the church, who advertise a cut and blowdry for £20 and am having it done tomorrow at 9 am. Aaaargh 9 am, I haven’t usually been up long by then!
After all this shopping and appointment booking I needed something to gargle with for my throat, a pint of Abbott seemed as good as anything so we sat outside the Thomas Lloyd for a while. There are good people watching opportunities outside the Thomas Lloyd because their tables are in the market square where there is always a lot going on. Today there was more potential for people watching than usual because of all the racegoers in town. Also, the manager of the pub (a short chap) and the under manager (a small blonde woman) seemed to be at odds with each other over something and we found this rather amusing too (we’re easily pleased).
At 2 pm we made our way back to the racecourse for the 2-10 pm race and got quite a good view of the runners and riders as they went past on their way to the start and as they came round the bend after the race. I got a few photos to bore you with anyway.
Tomorrow, after I get the chop we are probably going to Leamington again.
