[Gill H]

Then on the Wednesday I got a train to Manchester, where I had planned to drop in on some work colleagues briefly, but unfortunately train delays scuppered that one, as there wasn’t enough time before my train to Bridgend.

This was my first experience of the new train company ‘Transport for Wales’ about which I can only say – bless them, they’re trying their best. Three and a half hours on a train with no charging points for phones (I asked the guy who checked my ticket, who confided breathlessly that ‘they’re supposed to be happening next year!’) and although some of the scenery was spectacular, much of it was spent pulling in and out of the least picturesque parts of various small towns. There was at least a trolley service, albeit a very limited one which had trouble taking cards, and a wifi service of sorts which worked sporadically. To cap things off, there were various delays along the way due to ‘mechanical problems’, culminating in all of us being asked to leave the train in Cardiff so it could be taken out of service. This proved to be a blessing in disguise though, as the new train was a proper GWR one with – yes! – a socket to charge my phone. So I made the most of the 20 minute journey to Bridgend, and then managed to find another socket in the station cafe while I waited for the Llantwit Major train. I took the opportunity to grab a hot pizza slice and a coffee in the cafe, as it really was very cold that day.

After a brief 20 minute train journey and a few minutes’ walk, I arrived at my parents’ house in Llantwit, to a welcoming cuppa and a nice warm house. I spent from Wednesday to Friday with them, in a blur of sorting, cooking, shopping, cleaning and running all the errands Dad would normally do, helped by Mum where she was mobile enough to join in. We found time for several more proofreading sessions on the book with Dad, and the customary card games every evening. Since it was too uncomfortable for Dad to sit at the kitchen table, we played on a portable table on wheels which we could draw up to his chair – not ideal conditions but we made it work!

On Friday evening Peter arrived, having made a similar but less fraught train journey to mine. He did, however, discover the bizarre trolley system, whereby if you wanted to pay by card, you paid the conductor, who gave you a ticket with the amount of money on, which you could then give to the person on the trolley. From then until the following Thursday morning, we spent time with Mum and Dad, and also had trips out on our own to McArthur Glen outlet centre, where we sorted out a new mobile phone for Mum and went to the cinema, and to Cardiff, where we got new landline phones for Mum and Dad, as well as having a browse round the shops and the Christmas market.

Oh, and there were lots more games of cards, as Dad could sit at the table by now which was a lot easier with four people!

As well as some nice walks.