Winstones old and new

I had one of those aromatherapy sessions today that closely resembled a nightmare. More and more students, most of whom I'd never seen before, kept trickling in just as I got in my stride, saying things like "I don't really want to be here" or "I don't believe in any of this stuff" until there were no more seats left and we resorted to getting chairs from another room. Just as I thought the room could hold no more, two more students turned up! By this time I was chasing my boss down the stairs, saying "aromatherapy is full up!" and she was saying "so is woodwork". Of course if it had really been a dream we would have then departed to Bristol zoo in seventeen taxis, but as it was I stuck it out. I debriefed afterwards, and then begged Steve to take me up to the ice cream factory on Rodborough Common! It was either that or the pub.

The ice cream shop has had a makeover and a new building, the previous having stood as a kind of shack on the common for 90 years. The factory is behind, along with their fleet of vans. Now there is seating, and they sell coffee and waffles as well as the cold stuff. I liked the feel of it. We chatted with the assistant, who is a member of the original family. Yeterday, he said, was the busiest day ever (yes, the busiest day since the factory opened 90 years ago!) I am so pleased that the staff will now have warmer winter premises, and that walkers, golfers and dog walkers will have somewhere to go for a hot drink in cold weather.

I had coconut ice cream, as seen here, and CleanSteve had nothing :( I have chosen to show an image of one of their older vans as shown on their walls, plus their modern-look logo on the cone stand. As you can see, the sun had broken out from the clouds, but it was not as warm as at the weekend.

Last year I blipped a little girl and her dog outside the factory, on the first hour of my summer break. As we were leaving, a bunch of people of all ages, with South African accents, came in to buy ice cream, bringing with them a tangle of dogs on leads. I counted two black labradors, two pugs and a Jack Russell. It is a very inclusive ice cream parlour!