The Street Head Inn (and Darlington)

I was invited to attend a meeting, today, in Darlington. It was a school thing, not a work thing, and promised to be quite boring but I am in a new role and it would a little cocky to assume that I'm fully cognisant of all the things I need to know and do, so I decided to go along.

To take the sting out of it, I suggested to the Minx that we make a trip of it and she found us a place to stay; the Street Head Inn, roughly halfway between home and Darlington. 

It was snowy, this morning, but Maps suggested the roads were fine - none of the journey times had changed - so I did a bit of work in the morning and when the Minx arrived we set off: along the A65 to Ingleton and then north up towards Hawes. It was perfect; the roads were wet but clear, and not icy, yet there was snow - deep, perfect snow - everywhere. (I took this shot just before we reached Hawes.)

The plan was to drop the Minx at the Inn but there was no one about, so in the end she came to Darlington with me. I went into the DfE building and she went to find coffee. My name wasn't on the sheet but that was OK; I hadn't told them I was definitely coming and, as expected, the lady just added my name to the list of attendees. 

I sat and read my book for awhile before a nice chap called Joe, whom I've met before, came out looking terribly awkward. (In my memory, he's wringing his hands, but I think I made that up.) The meeting, he said, his whole demeanour like one big, physical apology, had been cancelled. He didn't know how I'd been missed, all the schools had been told.

Well, I concealed my delight expertly, declined the offer of filling in a claim for expenses, and shot off with all the decency I could muster to find the Minx. I had a mocha, while she finished her work, and then we went back to the Street Head Inn, which was now open. 

We freshened up in our room and went down to the bar, which was empty at first but, as the evening progressed, gradually filled with regulars, who obviously all knew each other very well. It was a very friendly local, and reminded me of my time staying in Beetham in the late nineties when I would go down to the King's Arms at Hale to finish my evenings. 

The food was good, too, and we had a very pleasant evening, reading, eating, drinking, and chatting, all against the backdrop of the open fire and people enjoying one another's company. 

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-12.2 kgs
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Reading: 'Winter'