...........and we're off!
The daunting prospect of travelling 2-3000 miles in a 90 year-old car has started to register as today is the day of the grand send off.
Practical issues like how many pairs of socks to take and what food to stock up on have rather distracted me from the enormity of the task ahead
I’ve been assured that there is no reason to fear that Henry isn’t up to the task but am I up to it?
The plan is to pull up outside the Crown and Mitre Hotel in the city centre with Happy Henry and Henrietta (the Talbot Pilote motorhome driven by my glamorous assistant, Richard Armstrong)
and wait to be admitted to the pedestrian area where there will be a ‘Food Fest’ in operation. We may even have a visit from Jean Christophe Novelli, the TV chef (hope he has made us some lunch!).
We arrive at the appointed time but the City Centre officer is nowhere to be found.
My fellow Rotarians have arrived to take a collection but we can’t get in!
About half an hour late the officer/manager arrives and we are able to set up.
Brian White is also providing excellent entertainment for all and sundry.
The media are out in force and I have to do three television interviews and one for radio. You forget what you’ve said without an ‘idiot sheet’ and I’m sure I omitted some important points though anyone hearing or viewing the complete set would get the full story!
I buy an enormous German sausage roll as Jean-Christophe has failed to oblige and my mouth is full just as the Lady Mayor, Trish Vasey, arrives to give us a send off. Yikes – what do I do with my lunch?
I haven’t even had a chance to speak properly to my family and friends.
Trish does an excellent piece to camera and then gets into Henry to pose for some pics.
She wants Paddy, my cocker spaniel bitch, to sit on her lap and Paddy duly obliges (later that day I discover that Paddy has come into season! I do hope Trish didn’t have to get her outfit dry-cleaned!)
We drive off for the benefit of the cameras but only as far as the Cathedral grounds where Trish says a few words and suddenly we’re off.
It is a relief to be away but I feel almost punch drunk from the stress of months of preparation. First stop is to fuel up and that is where we make our first mistake...
I fill Henry to the brim and ask my glamorous assistant, Richard, to do the same with Henrietta. Wrong!
I suddenly notice petrol pouring out from below. I’d never brimmed it before as I usually run it on LPG (Different tank) but our fuel card doesn’t cover LPG. Seems there is a leak in the filler tube so we’ll have to be careful in future. In the confusion I put the spare keys in the ignition to see what the fuel gauge needle is reading. Unfortunately that leads to us leaving the locking cap and a set of keys on top of the pump. Doh!
In blissful ignorance we set off on the ‘back’ Penrith road and I breathe a sigh of relief. All is well with the world – until we reach the Blackbeck roundabout outside Penrith. The traffic is stationary and seemingly reaches all the way to Penrith. We proceed in a stop/start manner all the way to Penrith at no more than walking pace. Not a great start. I decide to take a detour at the first opportunity and go over Beacon Hill and rejoin at Carleton. This proves a good move and we pause for a breather at Brougham before heading over Shap.
A quick pause for a photo on Shap summit then it is off to Kendal.
We are due to stay with my friend Andy Halsey at Garth Row and it is quite a climb. Henry takes it in his stride but Richard is less confident in Henrietta’s climbing skills though she crests the top eventually.
Just as we are about to turn into the Garth Row lane a lady runs out waving frantically, like a scene from ‘Genevieve’. I hop out to see what the problem is and discover a lorry has gone into the ditch and the road is impassable. She gives us alternative directions and I leap into Henry with gay abandon and slam the door smashing my iPhone in my jacket pocket.
Another Doh!
The directions prove futile because the road is 1’6” narrower than Henrietta (she’s quite broad in the beam)! Can’t use my phone to ring Andy but manage to get his number from my laptop and use Richard’s phone.
There is no way we can get to Andy’s so we decide to adjourn to his local pub, The Black Labrador
http://theblacklabrador.co.uk/. It is dog friendly, there’s great food and beer and the landlady allows us to stop overnight in the car park (thanks to Andy Halsey and the friendly landlady)
...........And so to bed
