Mouse

OK so this doesn’t sound much like my usual Derann posts, but It’s Christmas and if you’ll bear with me for a few minutes you’ll understand. As you know Derek and I made regular trips down to London where we’d head to Wardour Street, Dean Street, Brewer Street, Golden Square and the surrounding area. It was here we would visit our many contacts, some with appointments and others just to show our faces, as these off-chance meetings would often end in some unexpected 8mm or 16mm rights. When I first joined Derek on these often exhausting visits we generally only spent one day and would be back in the Midlands by 7 or 8pm the same evening, however as time moved on and we had so many old and new contacts to see, it became obvious that these one day visits just didn’t give us the time we needed and so the two and occasionally three day business trips began. Derek never wasted money and we stayed at a couple of small hotels/guest houses before finding a hotel that was reasonably clean and near the Soho area. ‘The Shaftsbury’ was the first one we used on a regular basis (can’t find this on London maps now so it may have changed it’s name or even been demolished). It was off Seven Dials and that meant that after a good breakfast, just a short walk up Old Compton Street  would bring us into Wardour Street. I can’t remember why we moved hotel but after 6 months or so we began using the ‘Regent Palace’, situated in Glasshouse Street, near Piccadilly Circus. This once impressive building was a vast place, but was now somewhat moth eaten and a little shabby around the edges, but this too was just a short walk from Soho and the multi story carpark where he would park the car upon our arrival. Lunch during our visits was often missed as we would have a hearty breakfast but on the odd occasion we would grab a sandwich or pub meal. One such lunchtime Derek had pie, chips and peas at a pub in Wardour Street (can’t remember what I had), and later that day he’d began to have stomach ache and needed to visit the loo several times. He’d mentioned that his ‘homemade’ pie had been over seasoned and I think this had been to cover up the fact that it was past its sell by date, salt can can act a disguise to this fact. He was feeling quite ill by 4pm and for the first and only time he called it a day and we headed back to the Regent Palace, where after yet another visit to the toilet he had fallen asleep on his bed. I knew he was in a bad way for him to end the day early, so I sat on my bed, and read some press and campaign books we’d picked up until it became to dark to see them in the gloom, then as I didn’t want to put on the light I  then just starred at the walls. Sometime later my attention was caught by the movement on the floor by the door and I saw a small mouse emerge from under the door and scurry around the room and finally exit only to reappear after a few moments. Acting on impulse I picked up the waste paper bin and placed it over the little critter. Much later Derek awoke and I related the tale and then picked up the bin and we both watched as the terrified creature fled back under the door and scurried up the hotel corridor…. I miss those days.  

Picture from Wikipedia