The Lauriston Hotel

Part 40 – Blast from the past

The Lauriston Hotel
Jump to Mar 2025

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Note: Around the middle of May, expect some further sections of Part 40.

December 2025

On 2nd December Donna and I visited Bristol and Clifton Golf Club for the annual Christmas dinner for retired staff. It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces, older of course yet clearly still the people I remembered. Of course, as we age we all change under the influence of new experiences, getting to know so many new friends and aquaintances, yet all the old patterns and habits are still there, faces instantly recognised, voices still sounding the same, facial expressions just as remembered from decades previously.

There were some glorious skies during December. I captured this view on the evening of 12th, walking around Stratton. In December the sun sets early here in the UK where the latitude is fairly high.

JHM: I wrote about an amazing photo of a volcano in Chile; and considered the effect of fog. World events:  EU leaders approved a €90bn ($105bn) loan for Ukraine for the next two years; and Israel became the first country to recognize Somaliland.

< Nov 2025 – Jan 2026 > (Jump to 2011)

September 2025

I did a canal walk along part of the Stroudwater Canal with my friends Al and Phil. We began by taking a look at Dock Lock, east of Stonehouse, It was under repair as the canal restoration steadily heads towards Saul Junction where the waterway will be reconnected to the national canal nework.

We walked from Dock Lock right into the centre of Stroud, stopping for lunch and coffee next to the Canal at Ebley en route. It was mostly dry with the odd shower.

The second photo shows Albion Street in Stratton where a lovely double-rainbow jostled for attention with telephone cables and local properties.

JHM: I wrote about clouds reflected in water; and about a wooden jigsaw. World events: There was a serious funicular derailment in Portugal; and a UN inquiry found that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.

< Aug 2025 – Oct 2025 >

March 2025

On 15th Donna dropped me off at the Daneway Inn at Sapperton and I walked east along the short section of the Thames and Severn Canal to the tunnel portal. I then walked the above ground course of the canal tunnel to Sapperton, through Hailey Wood and on to the Coates portal following the canal again as closely as possible to Siddington, and then along the Cirencester Arm to meet Donna in town and walk back to Stratton together. It was a 15 mile walk in all as I diverted several times to see the canal at various points where it’s not possible to follow the towpath.

I had my laptop rebuilt and had it back on 5th, now with a 2 TB SSD and the original HDD for internal backup. I hooked it up to our Wi-Fi and began streaming data back from Dropbox.

Another task this month was to transfer the Gumstool Brook website fully over to Nick Henderson. This was completed on 21st and it’s a relief to have passed on the responsibility.

Aidan was travelling and exploring in Columbia this month, very adventurous and exciting for him. He seemed to be doing well, making some friends with other young people doing much the same thing, and having a generally awesome time.

JHM: I wrote about a new terraced garden at Blenheim Palace; and installing our heat pump. World events:  The Trump administration paused military aid to Ukraine; and Israel launched widespread aerial bombardments and attacks on the Gaza Strip.

< Feb 2025 – Apr 2025 >

March 2024

I took this photo of the Lauriston Hotel in Weston-super-Mare where I stayed for a week with my parents and grandparents when I was about two-years-old.

I ordered a refurbished Google Pixel 7 phone to replace my old Pixel 3, and I continued scanning photos and documents. Paul and Vanessa visited with the dogs, I took them to see the old amphitheatre but it was too muddy. We bought a second-hand ‘Rollator‘ from Minchinhampton for Isobel so she can sit down at a moment’s notice if she comes over dizzy.

On 16th we visited the Newt in Somerset where the reconstructed Roman Villa was amazing to visit. It’s complete, based on the ground plan of the remains of an original nearby and built using methods that would have been familiar to Roman builders. It’s complete with mosaic floors, an upstairs section, and wall paintings, furniture etc in the Roman style as well. The Master’s office looks as if he’s just been called away and might return at any moment. Amazing!

World events:  Sweden officially joined NATO; and an Artificial Intelligence Act was passed by the European Union.

< Feb 2024 – Apr 2024 >

March 2021

We were beginning to see the first signs of relaxation of the strictest rules of COVID-19 isolation here in the UK. After isolation and 20 million vaccine doses, both hospital admissions, and total numbers of patients were all beginning to fall. I got a bit of decorating done while some restrictions remained in place; the photo shows a first coat of primer/undercoat on a door frame in the hallway.

SpaceX seemed to be doing well now. Starship SN10 landed rather heavily, caught fire, then later blew up. SN11 was nearly ready to make another attempt within a few weeks, hopefully without the explosion! And I was busy updating the MainEvents files.

We visited Paul and Vanessa in Weston -super-Mare and sat chatting in their garden, we can only do this because we’re in the same COVID ‘bubble’, regulations are due to ease further soon and we’ll be able to start meeting outdoors with friends and family more often and more freely.

World events: Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Najaf, Iraq. The first-ever meeting between a pope and a grand ayatollah; and the number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered worldwide exceeded 500 million.

< Feb 2021 – Apr 2021 >

March 2016

There was flooding in St Neots as the Great Ouse spilled out over the surrounding low-lying land. This happens quite often, one year in four or five and usually in the winter or spring. It rarely causes damage as most buildings are above the danger area.

We were meeting regularly with Roger and Carolyn’s Small Group on Tuesdays, these were fairly open and flexible meetings, almost always with a shared meal. sometimes at our house, Roger and Carolyn’s, the Bresnen’s, Leanne’s, or at the Open Door Office in Eaton Ford. Meetings at the office were becoming more common, and at someone’s home rather less so, a trend I regretted. I was also meeting regularly with Jim and Kevin, and sometimes Sean would join us as well. At a meeting on 9th I gave some thought to what it means to be sons of the Most High. How come some sons (or daughters) can be leaders. elders or teachers, but others not; how can one son or daughter have some kind of authority over other sons or daughters?

We were helping Peter and Dadka in practical ways, and also our friend Darryn who was living in our flat up at Stone Hill. Dadka got a new job at Lidl’s in Eaton Socon and Peter returned to work driving the concrete mixing lorry following recovery from his leg injury.

We also visited our friends Ken and Gayna in Yoxford on 26th, we don’t get to see them often these days so this was a special opportunity not to be missed. On 27th we visited Melford Hall, an Elizabethan building, though parts of the building are much older, going back to before 1065.

JHM: I wrote about Ben Scott and the Calais camp; and about Belgium’s pain. World events: Barack Obama visited Cuba, the first time a sitting US president had visited the island since Calvin Coolidge in 1928; and Radovan Karadžić was sentenced to 40 years in prison for genocide and crimes against humanity.

< Feb 2016 – Apr 2016 >

March 2011

Walking along the bank of the River Great Ouse, I got some great photos of common reed (Phragmites australis) flower heads. So delicate and pretty, especially when lit from behind on a bright, sunny day. They might be very effective (with their long stalks) for removing cobwebs from high corners around the house. Some time I might harvest a few to try.

Further upstream I got another nice shot, this time of the River Mill Inn in Eaton Socon.

We visited Debbie and family on 12th for her birthday. It’s always good to see them. Beth and Paz also came over so we saw the entire family and I did a short walk with Paz across the local fields.

Towards the end of the month work started on the new footbridge across the River Great Ouse between Eaton Socon and the secondary school and Tesco Extra in Eynesbury.

JHM: I wrote about a gathering at Moggerhanger; and thought about a blessing and a curse expressed in the beatitudes. World events: An earthquake in Japan caused a tsunami damaging several reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; and protests across Syria sparked the Syrian Civil War.

< Feb 2011 – Apr 2011 > (Jump to 1971) (Jump to top)

March 2006

We had the ceilings and walls plastered in the passageway to the back door, the guy who did the work was cheap but did an awful job, even plastering over cables and so on, I was appalled! We decided to let him finish, pay him, and then decide what to do next. And the old wooden footbridge from Riverside Park to Eynesbury was about to be replaced with a new, steel bridge.

I set up a new server in the KSG collection, this one (named Hazel) provided space for virtual machines that we used to investigate Linux, and versions of Windows beyond those we normally use. I was also trying to get my head around the spreadsheets used to manage the Colworth phone bills, though I didn’t know enough about Excel to do the job and didn’t have time to learn it.

On most Fridays I drove down to Cirencester early and came home late to spend some time with Dad. His health, however, was the main issue during this month; on 30th March (or around that date) he was taken ill at the Little Chef at the Burford Road services. He was enjoying a meal there when he stopped eating and looked very unwell. He was in pain, the staff were worried and called an ambulance, and he was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital for tests and treatment.

Donna and I travelled down to see him on 31st and by that time he was terminally ill with a dissected aorta. He died peacefully with the family gathered around the bed on 2nd April. He was the last member of the Jefferies family to live in Cirencester until Donna and I returned there ten years later in 2016.

World events: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter entered orbit around Mars; and the website Twitter was launched for microblogging and social networking.

< Feb 2006 – Apr 2006 >

March 2001

Donna’s Mum and Dad came to visit us and helped us with some decorating. The photo shows Donna’s Dad, Tony, putting a roller coat of brilliant white emulsion on the ceiling of the stairwell.

Also this month there was a major event in spaceflight, Russia de-orbited their Mir Space Station over the Pacific Ocean. It was the largest spacecraft so far deorbited and re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific on 23rd March 2001.

We were involved at Open Door Church in St Neots at this time, going to the Sunday meetings at Ernulf School and weekday cell group meetings one evening each week. I was not happy in the Sunday meetings, feeling unable to contribute fully; the cell group was more relaxed, friendly and personal.

World events: The Taliban government of Afghanistan began destroying the Buddhas of Bamiyan; and Apple Inc. released the Mac OS X operating system for Mac computers.

< Feb 2001 – Apr 2006 >

March 1996

Donna and I were growing closer and closer in March, in one sense this was wonderful, but we both felt the need to take things quite slowly because it was so soon after Judy’d death and we didn’t want to make things harder than necessary for my family. Debbie and Beth seemed to be coping surprisingly well, but there my sisters and Mum and Dad to consider as well. We both came to a clear decision about wanting to to be married. Debbie was a little anxious that she’d lose touch with Beth and with me, but no fear of that, we have a three-way video chat most Sunday evenings (30 years later!)

My Nigerian friend Elfrida died unexpectedly from a brain haemorrhage leaving Francis and the children without a wife and mother. This was a shock, there was much less warning than with the loss of Judy, and no time to plan or adjust or to communicate or prepare. It was so very much a surprise.

I spotted Comet Hyakutake for the first time on 23rd March. It passed Earth at about a tenth of the distance of the Sun so was very bright and easy to spot in the early evening sky.

World events: The Dunblane school massacre took place in Scotland; and The IMF approved a $10.2 billion loan to Russia for economic reform.

< Feb 1996 – Apr 2006 >

March 1991

Pretty much the entire family descended on Ruth and Martin’s house in Holmer Green on 10th March for a party and a good old chat followed by their daughter, Eleanor’s, Christening.

The video is an unedited view from a VHS copy of my Sony Hi-8 original. It only covers the gathering at their home, you’ll get glimpses and voices of many people who are no longer with us as well as much younger versions of those of us who remain. A real trip down memory lane! (If you’re not a family member you’ll probably find the video utterly boring!)

On 11th, Debbie and her friend Sarah Fido played clarinet at a concert in Bristol’s Colston Hall (now renamed Bristol Beacon). The orchestra played really well, much, much better than most youth orchestras.

The 12th was Debbie’s birthday so it was time to open presents. This year they included a collapsible umbrella.

And on 31st we had a day visit from my Mum and Dad who brought Dan Holme with them from Cirencester. We drove over to Weston -super-Mare and visited the Helicopter Museum on the Westland helicopter site there.

World events: Massive demonstrations were held against Slobodan Milošević in Belgrade; and Germany formally regained complete independence after France, the UK, the USA and the USSR relinquished all remaining rights to the country.

< Feb 1991 – Apr 1991 >

March 1986

Judy made Debbie a cake for her 11th birthday (12th March).

The previous owners of our house had planted a row of conifers along the front of the property and they were becoming too large; I decided to remove them before they got too big to tackle.

It was quite a major task, but I cut them off about a metre above ground level, removed all the side branches, and then used the trunks for leverage after digging round them and cutting through the main roots. They made a lovely bonfire at the bottom of the garden!

< Feb 1986 – Apr 1986 >

March 1981

Debbie was six on 12th

To be continued…

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