London>Devon>Rochdale

When I let Suki out in the morning I saw that the garden had burst into bloom while we had been away and was looking absolutely fabulous.

I turned up at Chiswick for the 8 am service to find the place full of flowers - with this creation on the font!

An interesting challenge for the 8 ringers Monica had lined up to ring for the Festival!  Mind you the church looked absolutely lovely

I was particularly taken by the Remembrance one - including the perspex cut out figures representing the fallen who were no longer with us

Monica decided that it was only practical to ring the back four, so I was able to get away early without ringing and get a nice early start for Devon - arriving around mid-afternoon - for a week's visit prior to picking Mike up from Intrepid.

It was lovely to finally be able to relax and recuperate from the activity and early mornings of the week before.  Suki was a bit clingy for a few days but eventually settled back to her usual self.

I didn't do very much for the whole week.  Lee and Emma came over and introduced us to Elora

- who is delightful.  Emma and I were going to go to Trago Mills but we spent the whole time talking and just never got round to it!  Lee worked all day in the garden, "assisted" by Beau, and made huge progress.

Jayne was working but got home about 2 pm and joined him for the last few hours.  It was looking great when he left - a new edging to the terrace, and the flower bed dug out and the ground cover sheet put down ready for bark.

I cleaned Mike's car inside and out - it was absolutely filthy and I was pleased with the result.  The next day it was covered in seagul poo splatter! A bit disheartening - but it didn't spoil the overall effect too much.

I rang some handbells with Tim, scoring a quarter peal of Cambridge Royal, went to the tune ringing practice at Moretonhampstead,  had some lovely walks on the moor, and spent some quality time with Jayne. A lovely quiet week.

On Sunday 27th I went to church and ringing and then set off for Rochdale.  It was a  hour journey, which I broke after about three and a half hours with a stop at Stafford services.  I gave Suki a short walk and then had my sandwiches and flask of coffee.  I put her back in the car to dash to the loo - but of course she set the alarm off!  I unlocked the car to stop it - but by the time I got out of the building it was going off again because the car locks itself after 45 seconds!  However this was the only drawback and I looked apologetically at all the other people at the picnic benches who had been right next to the car.  As I was driving away I saw a dog having convulsions in the road, its legs having given way - and being dragged along by two teenagers who were not aware of what was going on.  I was just about to intervene when their parents turned up and quickly administered water to the dog.  It was quite distressing to see the dog in such a state - it must have got overheated in the car.

After another hour and a half I arrived at The Red Lion in Whitworth where I had a room booked for the night.  The address indicated it was in a square but when I drove up to it I discovered it was a dead end, and there was nowhere to park.  So I had to do a multi-point turn in the road, nudging up to all the people sitting outside at the tables - requiring them to move back etc.  I was directed to a car park up the next road, and tried to look casual and unperturbed when I went back past everyone and in to the pub to book in.  In keeping with the emails I had received (ie no breakfast - like it or cancel - and long list of dog rules) it did not have a particularly welcoming feel to it -  I was immediately presented with two disclaimers to sign and advised there would be live music that evening until midnight - but the room was light and airy and the location was good.  Once I had checked in I took Suki for a walk and found a nice circular route with good views of the church next to the pub where I had parked.

John and Gill came over to join me for something to eat about 5 pm - I had thought that might be a bit early but actually the kitchen closed before we had finished our meal so it was just as well we had eaten then.  The food was excellent.

When they left I went over to The Summit Inn to meet up with Mike and the others on Intrepid and had a drink with them.  They had clearly had a good week.  I was feeling really tired by 9 pm so I decided to head back to my accommodation - but first I had a little walk round to reconoittre the area for parking the next day and to stretch my legs and give Suki a little walk.  It was the summit of the Rochdale Canal where it comes over the Pennines and the scenery was lovely. Intrepid looked particularly good moored up in such a splendid location.

Suki didn't want to walk very far, and wouldn't go past Intrepid, so I headed back and despite the live music quickly fell asleep.

The next day was baking hot.  I followed Mike's wishes and parked at the Summit Inn and walked down the canal to catch up the boat - which I did within a couple of locks.  I then helped out with the next couple of locks - and then JJ announced that he had cooked me some breakfast which was a lovely surprise and very welcome. 

Summit Inn to Breakfast - 1.25 miles

Mike had hoped there would be a slot to ring handbells with Simon before I had to get off but this didn't work out and after about 2 miles I got off to walk back to the car.  It was very hot for walking and I was a bit concerned about Suki, especially as I didn't have her water bowl with me, although she seemed to manage ok. 

Littleborough back to Summit Inn.  2.5 miles.  200 ft of ascent

When I got back to the car the pub still had 10 mins to go before opening - so I went off to the Blue Pitts Inn to get south of the boat and walk back up to it.  The pub was very basic - no food - and a grotty piece of wasteland for a car park - but very friendly.  I had a pint of orange and lemonade and then set off to walk up to the boat.  It was by then absolutely boiling, and there was very little shade.  When the tow path ran out and I found myself wandering the streets in the full glare of the sun, I took the sensible decision to abandon the walk and wait in the shade for the boat. 

Blue Pitt Inn to pick up.  1 mile

A passer by gave me a bottle of water for Suki which was helpful too.  I couldn't shake off the memory of the other poor dog who had been so overcome by the heat and I didn't want her to go the same way.  When the boat caught us up we both jumped on and boated back to the pub - and Mike then disembarked.  We set off for home around 4.30 - a little anxious about the bank holiday traffic, but actually it was ok.  There were a few slow bits but nothing like as bad as we have experienced in the past.  We stopped off at Warwick Services for fuel and a coffee in the picnic area, and got home around 7.30 pm.