Owain came over for a final breakfast with his sister, then she packed up and set off for her motorway rendezvous with her Aunt and Uncle. Three quarters of an hour later she rang home in a panic. Had she just driven past the service station in question? It no longer seemed to be called what Uncle Geoff called it. To hell with marketing and ownership and the name changes this imposes. To those of us (myself and Uncle Geoff included), who remember it being built and the opening of the first Severn Crossing, the place will forever be 'Aust Services', named as it was after the nearby village, from which cars were ferried across the Severn to Beachley near Chepstow during the 32 years before the Severn Bridge opened.
Fortunately I knew the route well enough to be able to give Rachel instructions that took her up to the M5 interchange, back down the M4 and then turning on to the M48 to reach the Aust turn-off, the service station, and a happy extended family re-union. "Thanks for being my personal sat-nav." she said.
When we lived in Chepstow, during my time working for USPG, Clare commuted to Bristol daily, accompanied by Rachel and Owain, who attended the Steiner School there. So that piece of motorway was familiar territory in some ways, yet it's so different being a passenger struggling to wake up on the way to school, than it is being a mum with your own child to look after in the back of the car while you navigate. Certainly no time for memories on a journey like that.
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