The Angel

I spent my childhood in a small town called Stowmarket in the middle of Suffolk. I remember that it had 2 cafes (one for the Mods and the other for the Rockers), a cinema, and an outdoor swimming pool. But transport was a problem. The time of the last bus and last train meant an early return home unless my Mum and Dad were kind enough to collect me- which of course they were, but... I remember well the first "do" that I went to on my own. It was at the Angel Hotel in Bury St Edmunds. Today I went back, and from the outside it looked little changed. Except I noticed a blue plaque that wasn't before. Charles Dickens had slept there.

I was back in Suffolk for the funeral of a close family friend. He was 95.