Monday (4th September), we drove back up north from Norfolk, through Lincolnshire and over the Humber bridge.
Tuesday, Rog and his parents went to see Yorkshire play Derbyshire, part of the Scarborough Cricket Festival, it was the 3rd day of a four day test. Yorkshire spent most of the day batting and declared at 520! Derbyshire then batted but held to a very slow run rate. A nice day, with nice weather
Nic declined the cricket, and went out for lunch with a friend in York.
Wednesday, We went to Scampston Walled Gardens, free entry with our Burnby Hall membership, an stunning walled garden and grounds.
Thursday, a packing and organising day!
Friday, Nic set off to Manchester to see some friends for the weekend. While killing time in Manchester she went to the Art Gallery and the John Rylands Library. The Library was built by Enriqueta Rylands, in memory of her husband, and then it was given to the people of Manchester. It is one of Manchester’s hidden gems, open to all and free!
Rog also met an old friend who he knew from the Isle of Man.
Saturday, Rog watched his nephew play rugby, then watched England play in the Rugby World Cup.
Nic enjoyed catching up with her friends from Uni, on a day out in Stockport. Who knew it had a lovely market an old streets to explore! Followed by cocktails and a lovely Italian meal.
Sunday, Rog was getting a lunch time train to Manchester to met up with Nic, but headed in to York early to see the Flying Scotsman, as it was leaving the station for a day trip up to the Settle to Carlisle railway. To continue the train theme Rog visited the Railway Museum, before getting the £7.20 trains to Manchester via Leeds!
Nic enjoyed a bite of lunch with a friend in Manchester before meeting up with Rog at the Station.
Overnighted in the EasyHotel in Manchester, not a bad hotel for £40! Had drinks and food at the Wolf in the Wall bar.
Monday (11th September) checked out of the EasyHotel, had breakfast over the road at Ezra & Gill, headed for Manchester Piccadilly train station, walked over the canal, stopping to watch the narrow boats, bringing back memories of 2021, then a boat came in to view, looking a little familiar, it was ‘Life in Slow Motion’ the very same boat we had!! What are the chances. We stopped to talk to the current crew, who were on board for 3 1/2 months, waiting for their new house to be completed in just outside York, yes in Pocklington!! They would not believe that we were from Pocklington. It is a small world!
Got the train to Liverpool, Rog did a little retail therapy! Looking for a new baseball cap, ended up buying 4!! ‘When cheap caps fit buy them!’.
Because we got a good deal, we hired a car from Liverpool for the week, to make the trip up to Ulverston easier, we had initially planned to due the whole trip by public transport, but got the Car for £107 for the week!
Stopped in Leyland to visit Nic’s family, Tea/coffee and lovely cake! It is always nice to catch up with family.
A very good friend has allowed us to use their Lodge near Ulverston for the week, a lovely place to spend some time (Thank you!!)
Tuesday, we had a walk around Ulverston.
Wednesday, the weather was a lot better than originally forecast, so we drove to Windermere and Coniston. The Lake District is a stunning part of the world!
Rog had to deal with a flight in October, that Ryanair has cancelled! At least they gave us a month’s notice, so we have just moved the flight from leaving Liverpool to now leaving Manchester, 20 mins earlier than originally planned. We also managed to book a cheap hire car for whilst we are in Spain, as the trains were proving trickier than expected.
In the evening, we attended a presentation by Dr Catchpole from Cambridge University on ‘The latest views of our universe with the James Webb Space Telescope’ hosted by the local Institute of Engineering and Technology. A very interesting and informative technical presentation, we can’t say we understood it all, but really enjoyed it.
Thursday, we walked along the coast another beautiful area. We had our coffee sitting overlooking the estuary, marvelling at how fast the tide comes in. It is opposite Morecambe, renowned for tricky tides.
Friday, we visited Barrow in Furness, as part of heritage week, Barrow town hall was open to the public, so we visited! A stunning gothic building.
Saturday, another walk along the coastal path, this time to the cafe at the Buddhist centre, really good flapjack, especially as the server said ‘wherever there is a Buddhist, there is flapjack’.
Watched some more rugby! Samoa v Chile and most of Wales v Portugal.
Went out to the lantern festival in Ulverston, fish and chips at ‘Priory Plaice’, it was very busy so a long wait, but well worth it, very good freshly cooked.
The lantern festival consisted of four processions of people carrying home made lanterns on the theme of “into the garden”, so there was everything from snails, flowers, birds, bees to watering cans, garden sheds and even a generous smattering of Unicorns.
All the lanterns ended up at Ford park for a firework display. We love a firework!
Sunday, a lazy day, didn’t do a lot except watch World Cup rugby. All 3 matches!
Travurple 