Yesterday we undertook a day trip to visit my Aunt who lives in Manchester. There was a time when we always used the same tried and tested route to her house. That was until I purchased a new SatNav last year and tested it out on a visit to my Aunt. The SatNav took us on a completely different, but very enjoyable route past Jodrell Bank and the Manchester City Stadium and as we neared her house it bypassed all the narrow Coronation Street type roads that we were used to travelling along.

At the point of choosing a destination the new SatNav always picks the best route to fit your selected criteria. This means that the routes are subject to change. Yesterday was no different… As we were driving along the Live Traffic feature identified a route that was three minutes quicker and asked if we wanted to choose it. We chose the new route, which took us down a tree lined lane which was especially  beautiful with the sun shining through the leaves and branches. As we turned a corner in the lane we came across a flock of sheep being herded down the lane. The SatNav works well with Live Traffic information but not so well with predicting a mobile sheep block

On the way home we were expecting the SatNav to take us through the Cheshire countryside past Jodrell bank which would have been delightful in the evening sunshine. But no the SatNav had other ideas and took us back by our own tried and tested route…

J.R.R. Tolkien

Dale Carnegie

Philip Ball

The alarm seemed to go off very early this morning…

Mr C quickly did his packing before we went for breakfast.  There was a lot of banter as Toby served breakfast.  When one of the other guests asked him if he was alright this morning, he looked at us and said  ‘No not really’ and we fell about laughing, much to the puzzlement of the other guests.

After breakfast we loaded up the car and settled up the bill with Toby who then went to get Leona so we could say our goodbyes.  We exchanged email addresses and Leona said next time we are in the area, we must call in to have a coffee together, because at the end of this season they will no longer be running the Coach House  It was a sad moment that we were all rescued from by another client turning up to pay his bill.

We set off on our journey home via Mainsgill Farm thinking we might have lunch there.  It was very busy and crowded and not what we were in the mood for so we decided to drive on.   Whilst we were there I noticed that Kevin the camel was not around but I noticed two younger camels who turned out to be Doris and Delilah. Later I found out that Kevin was no longer with us.  He will be missed, he was a magnificent creature.

After driving a little further we arrived in Brough where we found just the right sort of tea shop for our mood.  It was small, busy and quiet.  Overlooking the tea shop were the ruins of Brough Castle which we went to explore after lunch.  We then resumed our homeward journey.

I am not at all sure what that sheep in the foreground is doing?  It is on bended knees with face to the grass…