Day 148 – Friday 3rd August 2018
Up early and rucksack packed for my Rivington Pike & Winter Hill walk. The weather was overcast, just right for walking up some hills.
Closed
When I got to the Lower House car park there were notices saying all footpaths on Rivington Moor including Winter Hill are closed until the middle of August because of the risk of fire. Fuck.
Never mind I bought my Dad a smart phone and while I’ve been setting it up for him I’ve been using it as a camera and have just dropped it and cracked the screen so a trip into Chorley is urgently needed.
Bloody thing is like a bar of wet soap
Chorley is one of those Lancashire moor towns that anyone with half a brain leaves the moment they can, usually to Manchester. If you ever meet anyone from Darwin, Burnley, Blackburn, Wigan etc and ask them if they’d ever go back they’ll fix you with a steely stare and very firmly say NO.
They have a lot of chip shops in Chorley
Consequently the gene pool is pretty shallow here and walking around town you get to see the effects of generations of inbreeding. I kid you not; you could hire the entire cast for the League of Gentlemen in about 15 minutes on Chorley High Street.
Along with the inbreds they have a lot of Asians who fix phones so I got my Dad’s phone fixed quite easily but I paid a premium because they could tell I wasn’t a local because I don’t ‘appen at the beginning and end of every sentence.
Chorley in the rain
It pissed down while we were in Chorley, some chance the moors burning today.
Day 149 – Saturday 4th August 2018
I was reading this morning that the reason Rivington Moor is closed is because they had a big fire a few weeks ago and the peat under the surface is still burning and if you stepped on it and disturbed it the moor itself might reignite.
Anyway it is my Dad’s 85th birthday today so off to Manchester.
Of course he was in his underpants when I arrived. He was trying to find a lead for his walkman.
My Dad has about 5 of these knocking around his house.
My Dad, 85 today
Day 150 – Sunday 5th August 2018
Up earlyish and away back down south. We stopped off in Walsall to see Julie’s Mum
Julie’s Mum
Church Road, Reigate
Blisteringly hot day and I was glad to finally park up in the shade at Reigate.
I’d like a couple of weeks in Devon and Cornwall but the van has an MOT in the morning so can’t make too many plans.
Also my eldest Lily arrives back from Hanoi tonight.
Day 151 – Monday 6th August 2018
Up early and off to Redhill to get an MOT for Nelly.
Nelly waiting for her MOT at SES
While I waited I treated myself to a Sainsbury’s vegetarian breakfast
Lovely
Nelly failed on 4 points!
Fortunately they were all minor and SES fixed them all for nothing! Result.
I can feel a holiday in Cornwall coming on!.
Day 152 – Tuesday 7th August 2018
Today is my 60th birthday. Julie cooked me a special birthday breakfast…
… I think this is my last ever breakfast
After my birthday breakfast I booked an emergency holiday in the West Country. We start in Somerset then on to North Devon then probably North Cornwall. It’s going to be so fab.
In the evening we all went to Wagamamas
Me and my two angels.
Day 153 – Wednesday 8th August 2018
Good to get all that birthday nonsense out of the way. The heatwave is over so I had a walk up Reigate Hill.
The view from Colley Hill
Spent the rest of the day doing odds and sods getting ready to set off on Thursday. Although I’ve only been home 4 days but I’m really looking forward to getting away again.
Day 154 – Thursday 9th August 2018
Up early and off to Glastonbury. The weather and the traffic was awful on the M25. Why do they all insist on driving up each other’s arses?
The weather and the traffic improved and the sun even came out as we approached stonehenge.
If you pay to visit they won’t let you near the stones, think it’s best to arrive unannounced at dawn.
The caravan site owners had warned us not to use the Sat Nav, the road wasn’t as bad as I expected.
The lane to Garslade Farm, 1½ miles of freshly laid loose grit; that’s going to be fun on Zippy!
Once hooked up I had Zippy off the back and it was off to Glastonbury Tor.
We managed to park Zippy right at the base
view from the west
It attracts quite a lot of visitors and hippies
St Michael’s Tower © J Riches
You get great views of the Somerset Levels
After the Tor we popped into Glastonbury itself. Hippyville.
half the shops on the High Street sell hippy and new age crap
I didn’t go looking for fridge magnets ’cause I can’t stand the smell of joss sticks or patchouli oil
These crusties had been on something a little stronger than patchouli oil and it hadn’t done much for their yang
It’s great to be back on the road again, Wells or the Cheddar Gorge tomorrow.