Thursday 6th August 2026

Woke at 0700 with back pain...got up and brought a mug of tea back to bed. Packed a bag ahead of our trip to Eastbourne. Porridged. Set off for Victoria Station to catch the 1024 to Eastbourne. Had a nice chat with a Franco-Italian couple who were heading off with their 2-year old to pick up the 4-year old from her dad's in Bergamo. They got off at Gatwick. Earwigged a lengthy argument amongst three musicians who'd got on at Victoria with guitars and snare drum...they were debating what to do with the middle eight in a song they were about to record...it went on for almost an hour, until one of them suggested "We just stop talking about it"...we rolled into Eastbourne just before noon, and walked to the sea front. 

Enjoyed a lemonade at Bistro Pierre beneath a Martello tower, then headed for my favourite fish 'n chip cafe, The Holiday Inn, for lunch. Walked off the calories by heading up the coastal path toward Beachy Head. The Rude Mechanicals were putting on an adaptation of The Wife of Bath in a big top in Helen Gardens. It was a full house. The show was overlong, but a lot of fun...terrific costumes and polystyrene 'wigs', and the six players played multiple roles, and various instruments...they all had great voices...not a head-mic in sight! We got to say hello to Georgie afterward, and congratulated her on her depictions of various male characters...great ball scratching, and man-spreading going on! Ray and Steph appeared in the tent, and whisked us back to their pad in Willingdon for dinner...a tasty fig and ham starter, followed by coq au vin. We repaired to the back garden and sat out until dusk, then moved to the living-room. Had a good catch up. Quizzed them on their recent trip to Rouen. They are planning to take a trip to Padua by train in the autumn. Aki snuck off to bed around 2230, as she had to get up in the morning for a zoom meeting. The rest of us followed not long thereafter...