Friday, February 12, 2010

A warm welcome in the frozen south-east

Last night's adventure took me to St Pancras International for the journey to Ashford, Kent, using the new high speed service introduced last December.

On arrival in Ashford, we were met by Chris Took, our enthusiastic yet realistic PPC for the constituency, and several inches of snow. Despite the almost total absence of white stuff in London, East Kent had been hit hard, with train delays, treacherous road conditions, and pavements like sheet ice.

Luckily, it wasn't far to the venue, so we were quickly warmed up and ready to meet local members for dinner. Ashford is not exactly fertile territory for Liberal Democrats, but there were enough councillors present to demonstrate that local Conservatives don't have it all their own way.

The meal was slightly unexpected, in that I got to eat a traditional Christmas dinner, turkey, pigs in blankets, cranberry sauce, brussel sprouts and all. No complaints on my part, I must admit.

Ros spoke to the gathering before answering questions, and we were whisked off to the station, just in time to catch our train back.

All in all, a very pleasant evening out, and it was nice to see so many people enjoying themselves before the campaign really heats up. Hopefully, Ashford will too...

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