Bridgetsmusings’s Weblog

Ok, so I’ve been ‘rhapzodizing’ about England’s countryside, history – and I haven’t started on the food yet (why does it get such a bad press?) – but it’s not all sweetness and light in the land of Pimm’s and cucumber sandwiches.

Since I arrived 3 weeks ago, the weather has been dire with only infrequent patches of sun and I’ve hardly had the chance to peel of the jeans and bare a leg.  Over the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May, many of the festivities such as the Hay Festival were miserable, rain-drenched, thundery affairs.

And just before the Bank Holiday, I read in The Independent that 18 million cars were due on the roads and more than 30 sets of engineering works were expected on the railways. Nothing changes…..

And if you do manage to pick a road that is not grid-locked with traffic, there’s the problem of soaring petrol and diesel prices to deal with.  The cost of filling a Renault Espace with diesel now costs £23 more than it did a year ago.

Rising petrol and food prices are all part of the ‘Credit Crunch’: a much-used phrase in the press and everyday conversation.  It’s probably biting harder in the North than in the affluent South East – in the small Nottinghamshire town of Retford, one shop was advertising a special 50% off ‘credit crunch ‘ sale.  I have experienced severe bladder crunch at several railway stations. You can’t have a pee for less than 30p nowadays and so it’s bad luck if you don’t have the right change.

Terry Wogan is still hosting the Eurovision Song Contest – although apparently the voting is heavily rigged – and Cherie Blair has washed her dirty linen in public by publishing her memoirs with the me, me, me title of ‘Speaking for Myself.’  Broadcast on Book of the Week on Radio 4 (what were they thinking?), she reveals when and how baby Leo was conceived. She left her contraceptive equipment at home on a visit to Balmoral to avoid embarrassment. She goes on to explain that when the royal valets unpack ‘one’s’ suitcase, they lay out all ‘one’s’ belongings. But she and Tone nevertheless decided to rock the castle – as if we want to know…..

The papers have also been full of the dodgy deal made by Peter Phillips (Princess Anne’s son) and his Canadian bride, Autumn Kelly. They negotiated a £500,000 deal with Hello magazine to feature their wedding. Many think their sell-out to the airbrushed world of the celebrity magazine was very vulgar and that the Queen was an unwitting victim of the deal. Who knows – maybe the Queen is feeling the Credit Crunch and needed some extra funds!