Terrafirma Travels

L went for a run on a cold, sunny morning while N stayed in bed. Once the M60 had calmed down we drove the hour up to Preston and headed straight to The Harris for elevenses served veery slooowly. L immersed herself in the special Horrockses frocks exhibition while N remained in the cafe, making notes for a script idea he has had.  L loved the Horrockses show.  The cotton company based in Preston made very fashionable cotton frocks through the 50s to the 70s, worn by royalty and film stars as well as middle class Lancastrians. Lunch was had in a small, minimalist cafe apparently just opened, again rather slow but delicious salad and omelette. It was interesting observing the young, mostly Pakistani, clientele coming and going. On the way back to the car L spotted the traditional old jewellers where L's nana bought her 18th birthday present. Surprised and pleased it still survives. Back to no.38 for tea and plum bread, reading, sitting with cat, early dinner before L's Greenwic...

Pete and K left at 7am. We had a shower, porridge and whizzed off to Crewe for Nic to have some private blood tests.  Crewe wasn't a lovely spot. Onward to Little Moreton Hall, a NT Tudor mansion, black and white half timbered.  There were beautiful windows, a great hall, and a bloody brilliant cheese and onion pie for lunch. This is the motto at the end of the Long Gallery, whose floor was very sloping.  We looked down the long drop of the Tudor toilets, down to the moat. Some of the glass was original though the windows in the chapel date from the 1930s. It was a really great NT house, quite spookily dark and moody, with original oak tables and cupboards.  After the Hall, we went north to Sainsbury's to buy food for the week, and went off to M & S to get nice salads for L's lunches. Then we went home to the cat, who greeted us enthusiastically. We fed him, medicated him and later snuggled him. We cooked a whole chicken and had it with ordinary veg. L had her gi...

Up at 0545, cuppa & biscuit, in ferry queue by 0645, searched by Customs (!), on ferry by 0745 and departed at 0755. Au revoir, IoM, it's been a lovely 36 hours. Could not find our assigned seats in Nahrbyl lounge. Sat anywhere. No-one checks. Big cooked breakfast, our traditional early ferry treat. A damp grey morning. Dozed and read.  Disgorged into Heysham at noon. Drove up to Morecambe where the tide was dropping rapidly. Many oyster catchers and a single bar-tailed or black-tailed godwit - beautiful long straight beak. Brucciani's for a toasted sandwich lunch, comes with salad and crisps of course. Lovely cafe, largely unchanged since est. in 1939. Quick charity shop, v downmarket but L found trousers - £2! Morecambe looked v quiet and scruffy in the grey Oct rain as we drove through towards motorway and Manchester. 

We had a poor night's sleep due to the heat of the hotel room. N turned off the huge radiator in the bathroom, that took hours to cool down. L opened windows and curtains and switched on a fan but even so there was little sleep. Once we did fall asleep, we needed extra time in bed so the promised swim never materialised. We had a full breakfast in the hotel and drove 6 mins to Catherine's large house where she gave us tea and we talked and talked, especially about the sad story of her beloved husband Dave, who died suffering from motor neurone disease during Covid.  Then Nic drove us half an hour to Gansey where we had a delicious lunch of poached eggs and brunch specials. Then we drove down a coast path to the bench dedicated to Dave, a spot where Catherine and he often had picnics with the grandchildren.  Once we got back to Douglas we dropped her off and had a couple of hours rest in the hotel. Then we walked to a nearby restaurant to meet Catherine again for an expensive d...

A cooked breakfast, an almost tearful goodbye with Ann (who left first, to drive Emily and Jackie to Gretna retail park), and slotting our bags into the car. An hour and a half later we were at Heysham ferry port - a bigger operation than we expected. We were parked on the aft deck and promised a smooth, stabilised passage in a SW F5. Pic is car in middle of deck - crew just letting go the aft warp. The ship was very full and the coachloads of people ahead of us had grabbed most of the seats. We managed to get a couple of the less comfortable. Half the seating is in reserved/premium lounges. Catherine did warn us, but we didn't understand. Sunday pm is the busiest, apparently. L booked seats for our return to be sure. Not much to see en route apart from the odd gas platform and many wind farms. Douglas arrival straightforward, although we did have to drive out past some fierce-looking policemen. Took 3 minutes to reach hotel - N v glad he had researched the underground car park ent...

 L got up early, had porridge, drove to Ambleside to join the Park Run at 9am. The drive was exciting as the very low bright sun was quite blinding on hill brows. Nic did a parking app rescue for her by phone, after the pay machine at Millers car park broke down. The course was three times around the park, but it was dangerous in the 2-way narrow and slippery paths where fast runners were overtaking others regardless of the risk. L was one of the slowest, but 3rd in her age category, probably out of 3. The photo shows the finish line. She walked into town and bought a DryRobe swim mat, a Guardian and chicken soup for lunch. Arriving at the gate of the Bield, she was stuck in a ten car jam, unable to turn into the gate until some plonker finally decided to reverse and let her in. It was good to be back for a rest, for soup and bread and cheese, a little light packing and a chat to Ann's son Robert who was mowing the lawns of the Bield.  Now the sunny afternoon stretches ahead. ...