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| Shame about the dull weather. And sad really to see the parade ground being used as a car park. |
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| Napoleon's Chair |
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| The explanation of the provenance of the chair |
My grandfather had been a mere
Quartermaster sergeant (QMS) at
Stonehouse Barracks, so he won't have been using the Officers' Mess, but I had been given the rare privilege of a tour and it was exceedingly pleasant to hang out with the upper ranks for an hour or two and was shown a fascinating number of paintings, furniture and artefacts that have been collected by or given to the marines.
And where else for lunch but the
The Fig Tree at
36, Admiralty Street, Stonehouse? On my father's birth certificate, 36, Admiralty Street was the address given for his parents, so they and the new baby will have lived in the accommodation - probably rooms on one floor and a share of a cooker on the landing, it has been suggested - in what is now the current restaurant owners' home.
