January 08, 2003
Abbey Farm
How did I end up here? I remember wondering, the traffic speeding past me on the A5 as I stood, shivering, in the frostglazed carpark of the Bull Inn, Witherley, North Warwickshire. Only six weeks had passed since I'd quit my job in Rome, and here I was, waiting in the cold of a December Tuesday for my new colleague, the floppy-haired Mr P_____, my tongue exploring what remained of the ruined molar from which a sizeable piece had broken off during our hastily eaten full English breakfast.
The Inn was a short drive from the offices, attached to a huge transport depot, where we had both just begun our six-month contracts. As I didn't (and still don't) drive, I had to find myself somewhere more convenient to stay, in or near Atherstone, which was the closest town. At lunchtime that day I made a few phone calls, and got an answer at a place called Abbey Farm. I walked straight over there to check it out, and found, after a ten minute walk along a country road, a handsome old stone farmhouse that stood near an old church, and which was overlooked by Merevale Hall, a rather grand-looking country house.
Silhouette of Merevale Hall at dawn
The room there was basic but clean, and the promise of a farmhouse breakfast every morning was appealing, so I opted to stay there that night, as, it turned out, I stayed there pretty much four nights a week for the whole year that followed. I would sometimes wonder what passing motorists thought when they'd catch sight of me in my suit & raincoat, umbrella in one hand, Toscanelli cigar in the other, strolling alone along the dark country lane.
Church of Our Lady at Merevale, near Atherstone
I shudder to think how much cholesterol I must have consumed that year, as hardly a weekday morning went by when I didn't have a full, fried breakfast. I would sometimes wonder whether the enormous pig who was kept in a barn close to the farmhouse could somehow guess that I was eating bacon and/or sausage every day I was there... the thought would raise in me a distant pang of unease, though never quite strong enough that I would consider the vegetarian option...
Big Pig, Abbey Farm.
