Dorothy and Samuel – Holidays 1948
SAM: Where shall we go for our holiday next year?
DOT: What about going back to the Isle of Wight?
SAM: No fear! Remember it rained the whole week and the only days that the sun shone was when we travelled there and on the day coming back.
DOT: It was a bit of a miserable week.
SAM: Miserable week – I should say! The holiday brochure stated the hotel was a stones throw from the town centre – they must have used a catapult.
| DOT: | We had a sea view |
| SAM: | Yes I know! It was from our bedroom window between two houses, standing on a chair. I wish I had taken the binoculars. |
| DOT: | The room wasn’t too bad - lovely décor |
| SAM: | What brown wallpaper and faded? The colour matched the ceiling. |
| DOT: | What do you mean? |
| SAM: | Cigarette smoke did that to the ceiling, it was patchy and the scent the landlady had sprayed to take away the smell of smoke was awful. I would have stuck my head out of the window, if it hadn’t been raining. |
| DOT: | Lovely bed, don’t you think |
| SAM: | It’s alright if you like a lumpy mattress one side, with a deep depression where an overweight person had been sleeping – if you remember we kept rolling into the middle. |
| DOT: | I thought you were being romantic and wanted a cuddle. |
| SAM: | What! Every night? |
| DOT: | You must remember the bedroom it was well appointed with furniture. |
| SAM: | All I can remember is that my side of the bed was up against the wall and every time when I wanted to use the loo I had to climb over the top and every night I clouted my head on the lamp sticking out of the wall. It wouldn’t have been so bad had it worked; there was no bulb in it! I bought a packet of bulbs and it still didn’t work. It was on the landlady’s list of work to be done. |
| DOT: | You’re too cynical. Remember we walked down to the beach. It was sort of romantic and we held each others hands. |
| SAM: | Yes, I remember the evening very well; rain was dripping copiously from our raincoat hats. The reason for holding hands was the steep hill we had to climb coming back. When I saw the road sign “No vehicles beyond this point” I knew we were in trouble. We needed climbing boots! |
| DOT: | You do exaggerate – it wasn’t that bad. |
| SAM: | If I hadn’t dragged you up, you’d still be down on the beach. |
| DOT: | Who would have thought that you had to book for a bath? |
| SAM: | Coming back soaking wet and exhausted I was looking forward to a good soaking in a bath of hot water. |
| DOT: | The owner took pity on me and she allowed me to use her bathroom. She said, ‘Your husband will have to wait till 7am for his bath tomorrow morning.’ |
| SAM: | The brochure stated that all the rooms were “En Suite.” I don’t call a wash stand with a basin on it anything like it. The toilet cubicle was so small, you could shut the door while you were sitting. At least you could put your foot against it to stop it opening as there was no locking device. |
| DOT: | The owner explained when we arrived at her hotel – it was a printing error. |
| SAM: | A printing error – the brochure was eleven years old. |
| DOT: | You could have used the toilet downstairs. |
| SAM: | Yes I know and I did once. I was sitting there when the door opened and a man said, ‘Sorry mate, I’ve come to repair the door.’ He took it off its hinges and carried it away. It wouldn’t have been that bad had the couple from next to our room hadn’t passed by. |
| DOT: | We had a quiet time the following day, if you remember. |
| SAM: | I know, I was in bed – I missed my bath and breakfast. |
| DOT: | We had kippers for breakfast |
| SAM: | We had kippers every day, we had boiled beef and carrots every day and a sardine salad for tea every day. The eleven year old brochure also stated ‘that a full English breakfast would be served every morning.’ |
| DOT: | The kippers were delicious that time – she said she had cooked them a different way. |
| SAM: | How many ways can you cook Kippers? |
| DOT: | I don’t know! |
| SAM: | The last time we both had them they were swimming in fat, she put most of it on my plate and the damn fish was elusive, every time I tried to fork it, it slid to the other side of the plate. I picked it up in my fingers in the end and that’s when she came into the dining room with the overcooked toast. We had black toast every morning. |
| DOT: | She explained about the toaster when we walked into the hotel. |
| SAM: | Yes! I remember now – I think I brought the piece of paper home. There were two sheets with typewritten notes on them. |
| DOT: | Why did you bring it home with you. It stated “Don’t take this away – please read and return to the landlady.” |
| SAM: | Just to remind me not to go there again. |
| DOT: | Where shall we go next year? |
| SAM: | I fancy Jersey. It’s different, usually very sunny and warm and in a proper hotel with all the trimmings that go with the room. I’m sure Mrs Stubbs won’t mind even when we said ‘We would be back next year.’ |
| DOT: | Who was Mrs Stubbs? |
| SAM: | The Landlady – her name was written down on a sheet of paper. |
| DOT: | Can you forgive me Sam – we went to the wrong hotel. |
