WE had a week in Keswick recently, visiting our daughter and son-in-law, and taking the dogs. So this time we drove up instead of letting the train take the strain.
Knowing how good the A1 can be, I activated the TP button on the car radio so local stations could alert us to any problems. During the half-hour delay in the five-mile jam near Peterborough, we listened to Radio 4 without a single interruption, so
only found the cause at the end of the roadworks... one lane closed.
But on the A66, as we got near Penrith, Radio Cumbria's traffic news jingle cut in, swiftly followed by an apologetic presenter. He said there was some traffic news, but they had lost it in the studio, "so be safe on the roads out there". Don't you just love local radio.
Driving home via the M6 after the holiday we enjoyed regular traffic updates, although the only hold-ups were, fortunately, on the other carriageway.
Part of the journey was spent listening to a discussion on the crisis in the world economy, which was very interesting until one of the people being interviewed talked about how "the world and his oyster" had known problems were coming.
I'm afraid I missed the point he was trying to make as I was loudly despairing at yet another mangling of an everyday phrase. I blame the schools.
Keswick, as always, was beautiful, although we were lucky to be there for one of the best weeks of the year, weatherwise.
While I strolled up and down mountains and drank in the spectacular views, particularly at sunset, my daughter Sue, who enjoys fell running, vanished into the distance with my dog. I think Hamish visited most of the streams they passed – possibly to cool his feet as well as much as take on water – but the exercise obviously did him good.
Unlike the last time we took him on holiday, and the street lights in Cornwall kept him awake, this time he was spark out as soon as the sun went down.
The day after arriving home a visit to Tesco was necessary, to Sudbury's new-look store. I hadn't been for some weeks, so I think the word nightmare is probably a fair description of the experience.
I bumped into a number of people – other blokes with lists from their wives – who were as lost as I was, and overheard several people saying they couldn't find where anything was.
The best bit came when I asked one of the staff for help. He said, apologetically and very politely, he only worked weekends, and was still trying to find his way round.
I think a map at the door might have been handy on the first visit, but no doubt I'll get used to it in time.
