Petworth

At the end of October, B & J phoned to say they would meet us at Petworth. The first plan had been to go over to R's flat to do some work on preparing woodwork for painting but the weather had been damp. We met in the cafeteria, then went round the large rooms .

Petworth House


They contain a large number of paintings from Reynolds to Turner. Took photos of the colourful leaves still on the trees in the Park.

A visitor

One day in the middle of October we had a phone call from Cedric so, the next day, he came to stay until Saturday. We went over to Arundel one day and browsed in the antique shops. The cafe by the river Arun was busy - sat outside in pleasant sunshine, watching workmen on the other bank do renovations to a building. There was a craft centre nearby in an old building, part of an old part of the castle owned by the Fitzalans of the 13th century. The small ruined building had been restored.

Arundel Castle

Later that evening we went over to see "And then there were none...", a play based on Agatha Christie's 'Ten Little Nigger Boys', a thriller first published in 1939. The play centres around ten people being invited to spend a weekend on an otherwise empty hotel on a deserted island off the Devon coast. They are gradually bumped off as they discover that they have been accused of crimes earlier in their lives which have led to the deaths of innocent people. The actors played it well, and the full audience enjoyed a well-crafted play.

Church walk

On a fine October Saturday morning drove over to the 'Black Rabbit' pub near to Arundel. The pub is right by the Arun, which was fast flowing down to the sea at Littlehampton. The walkers arrived on cue and we had hot drinks sitting outside.
After a while I went into town, which appears very prosperous, with its fine immaculately-kept Georgian houses. Looked into the craft warehouse and then on down to Kim's bookshop, a warren of small rooms packed from floor to ceiling - with books!