Remarkably for us we were packed and ready to go before lunch. We phoned my mum before we set off because she was feeling down in spirits due to a recent diagnosis that added to her ongoing health issues.

After the phone call we set off on our journey to the Premier Inn Heald Green for our overnight stay ahead of catching our flight to Rome. Along the way we stopped for lunch at Hungersheath Tea Rooms, eventually arriving at the hotel a few minutes before the earliest check in time.

We sat in the car for a few minutes and as we were checking in, we were informed that the restaurant and bar area was currently closed. Dining wasn’t a problem as we were already booked into the nearby Tatton Arms.

We decided to visit Quarry Bank Mill (which was a lot closer than we realised) for an afternoon cup of tea. Comfortably refreshed, we walked through the greenhouses and gardens. By this time the sprinkles of rain that greeted us on arrival became a steady gentle downpour that set in for the day.

We returned to the Premier Inn and chilled out for a while before dining in the Tatton Arms. I wanted to order a small fish and chips but I was informed it was ‘Chippy Tuesday’, small portions were unavailable but the large portions were heavily discounted. The discount on a large meal meant I left half my portion because I only have a small appetite.

For some unknown reason neither of us felt at ease in what is normally a comfortable place so we retired to the nearby Flying Horse which was no better.
Third time lucky, The Griffin, nice drinks and a fun, quirky quiz night going on in the background. We couldn’t help but answer the questions between ourselves.

Then it was back to our room for our 3:45 wake up call to allow us to get to the airport in time to drop off the car at the ‘meet and greet’ parking and check in in plenty of time for our flight to Rome.

All packed and ready to go on our travels to Italy, we set off mid afternoon for our overnight stay in the Premier Inn near to Manchester airport. We chose the quick route using the motorway which turned out to be unexpectedly slow and the fading afternoon light led to unpleasant driving conditions. This caused us to stop off at a motorway service station to have a refreshing cup of tea in Gregg’s before continuing on our journey to the Premier Inn.

It was almost time for dinner when we arrived at our overnight hotel. We did a quick recce of the airport to find where we needed to leave our car for the ‘meet and greet’ service before heading off to the nearby Tatton Arms for our evening meal. On arrival we were told that food was only available until 8pm. The waitress took our drinks order and gave us the specials menu. We were left waiting for some time…

Normally  we wouldn’t have minded but we were conscious of the kitchen closing at 8pm. Our order was taken 15 minutes later. Shortly afterwards the waitress came back to us and apologised that we had been left unattended due to her being in the office upstairs. She went on to say that our drinks would be on the house. We enjoyed our meal before returning to the Beefeater (next to the Premier Inn) for a nightcap before an earlyish night in readiness for our early morning check-in at Manchester airport.