HIGH
TIME I posted again, I think – readers, if I still have any, will think I’ve
been kidnapped by Martians or something…
I’ve been
somewhat preoccupied with My Good Lady’s health scares – including having to
ring for ambulances a couple of times, and her four-day stay in the local
hospital; and that is on top of the various GP sessions I’ve had to take her
to. It’s all been a little worrying.
She’s
doing a little better now, I’m relieved to say, although she’s still got more
scans to attend – we’ve still no real idea of what the problem is.
Aside
from this what’s new? Well I suppose one of the main issues is that we’re now
no longer going the Geriatrics’ Corner of the Pub. So many of our friends have
either passed away, or just drifted away, that making the eight-mile round trip
seems pointless. It appears that the happy, golden, Camelot years there are
well and truly over.
Instead
we’ve been visiting a local landmark pub: Snatchems, more properly known as the
Golden Ball Inn. Sitting right on the river, as it does, the road to it floods
twice a day, cutting the old place off from the outside world.
The
original pub dates back to about 1710, but the new owner has spent a fortune
restoring the place, adding an upstairs wing which looks out across the river
towards Lancaster
and the open Pennine fells beyond.
MGL and
I come to spend an agreeable hour here, watching the birds on the water –
herons, geese, gulls and the like – and occasionally meeting up with some other
refugees from the Geriatrics’ Corner.
The pub’s
nickname comes from the fact that the River Lune is navigable at this point, and
ships setting off from Lancaster Quay which were undermanned would put in here
and shanghai any drunks who happened to be about!
I’m
told the practice is now discouraged!
