Cheshire 15 - Knutsford /posh cars/the old library /over the top into Derbyshire/The Cat and Fiddle

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"Shall we take Gabby? " " She could do with a drive out just to turn her tyres round and give us the opportunity for an easy comfort break and a coffee without having to do into a shop or motorway services " It all sounded a good idea as she had not been out for the past two weeks and a run would do her good and keep her running in good order . However , she was running on empty after our last trip to Clay Cross . If we were to take her out we would have to head for town to fill up. Extra miles and a bill for fuel that would top out at around £200 if our last fill was anything to go by. A few weeks ago her tank filled robbed us of over £170 and since then the price of oil had gone down but fuel had gone up . Not much sense there apart from the angry fact that 50% of that bill was fuel tax and VAT which would go directly into the governments coffers . So the decision was made . Ziggy was full of petrol . Enough to get us there and back again without having to fill up.

We set off via the southerly ring round around the Post House at Chester . The road felt familiar as we had travelled it many times . Yet it felt odd as we had not come this way for some months . It was a Monday and it was busy . There seemed no rhyme nor reason for the slow , stop , start of the journey . There were no traffic works nor any accident . So it was hard to put the slowness down to nothing more than the volume of traffic . " Do you miss coming this way ? We both smiled and said no . We missed nothing of that journey over the Pennines . We would not swop our life down here to go back . All that traffic put our quiet life into perspective . "Wish you were going to the Tunnel instead?" There was a resounding yes to that one . It is only another two months before we do set out down south for our first overnight stay at the The Three Conies pub near to Banbury . That is if we can get a parking spot and Covid does not raise its ugly head . The spring vaccination programme for the elderly in care homes and the over 75's will come to an end at the end of June . The Autumn vaccination programme is scheduled for later in the year and will be added to the flu vaccinations . The Covid numbers are going up again . Yes there is yet another variant of concern . As long as we can get on holiday we don't care but it seems like a long slow eight week wait to see how things progress .

We reach Knutsford. The home of posh cars and posh car showrooms . Couldn't afford one of those if we wanted one . An affluent commuter town for Manchester and handy for the airport . Today we were on the flightpath and planes were flying overhead . Towards the USA we thought . The cinema an Art Deco copy was showing the latest Top Gun movie and the slated Jurassic Park . The park and the town were full of shoppers . The old Library now converted to a creche and nursery was heaving with children and their parents .

We drove on Macclesfield the next stop . We wondered if our train this time to France would be delayed or would we be on time leaving . First night settled we looked forward to fresh baguettes and cakes from the local patisserie at Arras . We stopped off at the local Sainsburys to buy a sandwich for lunch . We would not need to do that in Gabby . We bought an energy drink and forgot that the cashier would have to check us out to see if we were over 18.

The drive took us over Tegs Nose . A car park where walkers congregated before climbing Tegs Nose . Narrow lanes with wide green fields . All bounded by Derbyshire stone walls . The sun shone as we climbed over the Cat and Fiddle pass . Called that after the pub now empty on the top . Or was it the other way round . The trees we commented on were bushy and green and everything looked larger , thicker and more lush than we remembered . Housing estates were springing up in the most unlikely of places . Thanks to the need to keep housing more and more people . Buxton was full of shoppers . Some things looked different . We eventually got to our destination , did what we needed to do and turned Ziggy round and pointed her home .

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