Sharing is vital to keep spark alive

‘NO birthday presents,’ said my husband, ‘I just want to go somewhere with you.’

I thought of boutique hotels with posh restaurants — then stopped. This wasn’t about me, was it? What magical mystery tour would be his treat?

It was a trip to the glorious English Midlands. A good, reasonable hotel, the Manor Hotel in leafy Meriden — the latter once being the home of Triumph motorcycles.

Our first stop was the wonderful National Motorcycle Museum at Solihull — a temple to the once-great British motorcycle industry, with which we led the world from 1898 to the 1960s.

I was delighted to find the museum’s still a family-run affair, with warm, delightful staff — and that the stories of nearly a thousand fascinating bikes, historic photographs, a good cafe and shop make the visit a joy for any non-biker partner. Of course Robin (currently rebuilding a 1962 Matchless) was in heaven.

Our next visit was Coventry Cathedral — a place of breathtaking creativity, history and spirituality everyone should visit at least once. My parents took me when it opened in 1962. I was 16 then and already passionate about art, as well as fervently anti-war.

I still remember being deeply moved by the ruins of the old cathedral (destroyed by the Luftwaffe in 1940) and the blazing glory of the new. Now that same awe and wonder shone in my husband’s eyes, seeing it for the first time.

Motorcycles, art and architecture, history . . . then a National Trust property: Baddesley Clinton, near Warwick. Happily we explored the medieval moated manor house and gardens on a perfect summer day . . . and I was confirmed in two beliefs.

First, that you don’t need to fly to expensive exotic places — because Britain has everything. Second, that a marriage is kept alive when you think what your partner would most like to do, then share it. Followed by a decent dinner and a bottle of wine, of course.