Day 17 - UK

11 April 2011

We arrived late to Val’s in Flookburgh last night so only had a couple of hours to sit and chat before Richard had to go to bed. Richard still works in Derby so lives away during the week. He had to leave at 5am so we said our goodbyes then.

When we arrived we were greeted by a delightful schnauzer named Freddie, who was most put out about our unexpected visit. He barked and howled and was all a bit huffy for about 15 minutes until he worked out that were actually welcome guests.

Of course come the morning he’d completely forgotten about us and when I went downstairs in the morning he leapt off the sofa and stood at the bottom of the stairs and barked as if to say “How did I not know you were here? Someone should have told me you were here” He was all a bit huffy again for a short time and then he seemed pleased as punch that he had company.

It was just wonderful sleeping in a comfortable bed and Val’s 16th century terraced house was just gorgeous with its low ceilings (no problem for a shorty like me) and big wooden beams. The place was just stunning and I honestly felt like I was staying in a B&B.

Val was my boss during my O.E. many years ago and she’s such a stern, black & white doesn’t suffer fools person that every time we catch up I’m always a little scared of her. However, as per usual, my fears were completely unfounded and I really enjoyed her company. It was such a relaxing, comfortable environment I could happily have stayed a week.

We spent the morning just talking and catching up and then Val took us for a walk. It was a bitterly cold day, heavy with low cloud and raining. Still, it was our one day in the Lake District and we weren’t going to sit inside moaning. The 4 of us (that includes Freddie) went for a bracing walking up the side of a mountain called Gummers How. 

Val was telling us what a fantastic view it was but of course we could barely see in front of our noses let alone anything else. I took photos of the mist and joked about how I would show friends and family of the ’stunning’ views of the Lake District. 

We got to the top of the mountain and cursed our bad luck and then as we descended the clouds thinned out and revealed the stunning view she was talking about. Not only that but half way down we discovered we’d walked by a herd of cattle and hadn’t even seen them.

Back at Vals we decided to go for a drive around a couple of local villages and then drive into the seaside town Grange Over Sands for some shopping. 

We really liked Grange Over Sands and bought ourselves lunch at a butcher/deli Val had recommended and fruit and veges from a greengrocer she recommended. It’s a very attractive, well kept town with some lovely shops.

Back at Val’s we relaxed for the afternoon, reading, talking and playing with Freddie and the huge selection of toys he has in his toy basket. Val had suggested we stay another night and offered to take us to a pub in the next village for dinner and quite frankly we thought this was a fabulous idea.

We had a good night out. The tv was going in the pub all evening and was playing Emerdale Farm and Coronation Street. Despite not watching tv any more I couldn’t help but keep getting distracted, especially when Coronation Street came on. I was playing spot the old characters and they still have quite a few. Liz McDonald was behind the bar at the Rovers Return and then this grey haired dude came on.

“Oh my god, that’s Jim”

“Who?”

“Jim. I thought he’d gone to jail and then left the series…?”

“What??” Aaron rolled his eyes

“Jail. Every Coronation Street character ends up in jail at some time during their time on the show”

Aaron wasn’t the slightest bit interested and actually I wasn’t that bothered either so normal conversation resumed.

And then about 20 minutes later I looked up at the screen again and there was Jim on screen again in a bank with a shotgun in his hand yelling at everyone to get on the floor.

“Oh my god! Jim’s going to go to jail a 2nd time!”

Aaron turned around to watch and just then the bar manager came over and pulled down a big screen and switched the channels on the tv before I found out what happened.

There on the big screen instead was the footy, with Liverpool and Man City facing each other. There was a minute’s silence in remembrance of the Hillsborough tragedy and I have to say it was quite skin tingling to watch, knowing we had stood and looked at the Hillsborough memorial the day before.

And so we left and went back to Val’s and she put on the game for Aaron to watch. 3 - 0 to Liverpool. It was a good night for Aaron.

Once again we had a good night’s sleep