Diary: Burleigh Court Hotel (Stroud)

Monday evening we stayed at the Burleigh Court Hotel in Stroud. We liked it so much that our hotel room yesterday morning looked liked Tracey Emin had stayed (video).

We drove to Bath, specifically Debenham's to buy Clare some trousers. As we queued to pay on the first floor I noticed a rack displaying a dozen DVDs of the movie "Fifty Shades Darker".

I asked Clare: "We're on the womenswear floor. Why are they prominently displaying DVDs of a young ingénue who gets chastised by a handsome hedge-fund hunk?"

Clare was surprisingly speechless; I was rewarded only with a glare.

Up the escalator to menswear, where I had to buy a couple of shirts. Doing my best 'incompetent male' thing - not hard as I have no idea how to buy a shirt - a succession of middle-aged women fussed over me, measuring my neck size, choosing the right kind of shirt (slim, single-cuff) and giving me feedback on fit.

I found it curiously agreeable - perhaps I could pitch the idea to a film director?