Tuesday 11th February 2020

Dateline: Holywell, Flintshire, Wales.



The hotel is fine. Just not spectacular.

There are no views over the Savannah, and herds of elephants and wilderbeast. There are views of the main road, the North Wales "expressway" and over the water to The Wirral.

But not from my room. There is just views of a flat roof and an old stone barn.

I turn on the radio and laze in bed as I don't have to be in the office until nine. So, this is the life.

At half seven, I get up and am dressed and ready for the day at eight I stop for breakfast; all bran, yoghurt and a bacon and sausage butty. And lots of coffee.

But I am all set for a hard day at the audit face.

I audit, therefore I'm an auditor.

I program the post code of the office in. The sat nav says no.

So I program in the town of Mostyn, and the sat nav tells me that will be 15 minutes.

I drive along the dual carriageway, then turn off, following narrower and narrower lanes up and over the line of hills between the road and the coast. Then down steep twisty lanes towards the coast.

I turn a corner and find a tunnel in the way. Not in the way, but the tunnel is under a house. A gate house. I recognise it from the GWUK group from years back. Before I can think I am through the tunnel the other side, but I can get back to the hotel this was, I thought.

Down through the village, bult on the side of the steep hill, past rugged looking houses and a church. A chapel, really, and down to the coast road which runs between the foot of the hill and the water separating this part of wales with The Wirral.

I have a 50:50 guess to which was to turn to the port road, and I guess right, up a hill to turn over a bridge leaping over the railway, then down into the port, once a bustling place, now just seems to exist to service the windfarms offshore.

Which is why I'm here.

I take the main road almost to the end, and there is our offices and a large parking area.

Right, let's get to work!

I go into the office and sign in. I have time to prepare my questions and leads. The auditees assemble, and we get going.

The day passes, very well in fact, I am a kind inquisitor, I prepare them for the big ordit that is to come.

The morning passes.

We break for lunch.

We audit through the afternoon, and finish with smiles and handshakes.

My job is done, just need to coordinate all the follow ups now.

I know they have work to catch up on, so I leave them to it and drove back to the hotel, back through Mostyn so I could snap the house on the tunnel.

Back to the hotel, parking up just as the sun set and the wind turned an extra ten degrees colder.

Brrrr.

Back to my room, put the radio on and relax, until half five when my stomach tells me it really would like feeding.

Now.

So, I go down to the bar, look at the menu and the only thing, other than burger again, that grabs is is ribeye. So I have that, rare with a portion of onion rings whilst I read an article on the Black Crowes reunion, and ponder whether I might have tickets for the tour. Or not.

We shall see.

Back in the room, I hear the wind whilstle through the ill-fitting windows. It sounds like winter.

And feels like it.

I call home, and get the news, and then lay on and then in the bed, listening to the radio. At nine I put on the football, but soon fall asleep for over two hours, waking up with a review of the day's news.

I go to clean my teeth and climb back into bed.