Off to the Races

Day 2

It has poured with rain all night and shows no sign of clearing. I hope the Rain-X works on the screen as Henry’s wiper has stopped again. Not too much of an issue as it only clear an area the size of a postage stamp anyway.

We set off in good spirits though somewhat damp in the vague direction of Cartmel to attend the races. My sat-nav takes us through some very narrow lanes (much to Richard’s consternation as I discover later - he is following me). We reach a gridlocked Cartmel and it seems to take an age to get to the track itself. Despite the heavy rain the grass surface is in good order and we don’t make any ruts driving onto the inside of the course. We are directed efficiently to our ‘spot’ ready to set up. The weather manages to take a turn for the worse and the rain is torrential so we sit in Henrietta watching the waterfall run down the front windscreen.

I’d checked Henry’s oil when we arrived and forgot to close the bonnet which was mistake number 3 (Doh!).

As if by magic the rain stopped before racing started, the sun came out and the chap opposite us, selling umbrellas, started selling parasols.

Unfortunately I couldn’t provide musical entertainment because they had booked someone to play on the bandstand about 30 yards away so we handed out Pancreatic Cancer Action leaflets and hoped that the race-goers would win enough to have something to put in our collecting buckets. We’d already emptied the buckets of nearly 2” of water at lunchtime.

We met some lovely people during the course of the day and got our message across to many. After the Races we went in search of food but everywhere was packed so we settled for beer instead and met up with some Australians on holiday and had a great crack.

As became the norm we retired at dusk listening to the rain which had returned beating steadily on Henrietta’s roof all night