Today was a day of the unexpected. I drove the best part of 500 miles going to Liverpool, Winsford, across to Sheffield and then back to work in Marlow. These days out can be long, tiring and a slog sometimes, but today was full of unexpected surprises. I set off at 5:30am so my first challenge was to beat the Monday morning rush hour around Birmingham on the M6 and this I did, so I got to Liverpool in good time just after 9:00.
At Winsford I was chatting to a girl about The Killers at Hyde Park, and the conversation went on to The Charlatans, and it turns out her dad used to work with the singer Tim Burgess' dad! And then as I left heading off towards Sheffield I went through Sproston, which all Charlatan fans will know...
After Sproston I came across Congleton, a place I delivered to when I first started work and hadn't been through in over 25 years; in fact when I went there before my godfather came with me to keep me company as I hadn't done many long trips at that point. I felt quite nostalgic.
My journey to Sheffield took me right through the Peak District, which was looking stunning on a clear and hot sunny summer's day. It was so nice to be off the mundane motorway route and driving through the beautiful English countryside, and if I was feeling tired the views kept me very much awake.
I would imagine that once the holiday season really kicks off these roads will be rammed with traffic, but today it was so quiet and I saw only a few vehicles. I can also imagine how bad these roads must get when the snow comes down in Winter.
The scenery was so varied, I could have stopped for hours and taken loads of pictures, but unfortunately work did not allow me such a luxury.
The final surprise of the day happened once I was heading home as I passed through Chesterfield and saw the crooked spire on the cathedral. The last time I saw it was on a football special train back in 1985 I think. Who needs The Leaning Tower of Pisa?
So a fun packed 10 hours on the road today :o)
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