Railview Hotel, Cokeworth

On Sunday, July 29, 1991, the Dursleys and Harry Potter fled Little Whinging in hopes of outrunning whoever was sending the many mysterious letters to Harry. Vernon Dursley, hoping to keep Harry in the dark about both Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Magical World, refused to let Harry read any of the letters, and instead forced him, Petunia, and Dudley into the car and drove off in an unspecified direction.

After a day of non-stop driving, Vernon stopped the car in front of a "gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city" (SS/PS, page 42) called the Railview Hotel. Harry and Dudley shared room 17, which contained a pair of twin beds fitted with damp, musty sheets. Although Dudley slept through the night in his moldy bed, Harry spent the night sitting on the windowsill listening to Dudley snore, watching the cars passing on the road below, and wondering about the mysterious letter sender.

For breakfast the next morning (July 30, 1991), Harry and the Dursleys ate stale cornflakes and tinned tomatoes on toast. As they were finishing their breakfast, the hotel owner told them she was holding about a hundred letters at the front desk. Each letter was addressed in green ink to,

Mr. H. Potter
Room 17
Railview Hotel
Cokeworth
(PS/SS, p 42)

Vernon pushed Harry's hand away from the letter the hotel manager was offering and said he would take the rest. Infuriated that his choice of hotel was not remote enough to thwart the persistent letter sender, Vernon collected Harry, Petunia, and Dudley and they set off again.