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Published: April 10th 2017
When I was younger I used to think that time passed by slowly. I remember as a child being told not to waste my time but thought nothing of frittering away a whole 24 hours doing nothing but stay in bed all day and sleep through the night. I must have wasted hour after hour as a teenager doing nothing more than sit around. My mum and gran used to advise me that Time waits for no man. Well at the time I thought it waited for me. How wrong can you be? Where has this year gone to? In January Christmas seemed like a dim and distant dream. I kept flexi at work so that if the snow came and the roads were blocked I could use it to stay at home. The snow didn't come. Nor did it appear much in the next month February. March arrived and it went into that black hole of time. Valentines Day long forgotten and we are now in April . Three months of the year have disappeared. It has not gone slowly. In fact it feels as if time has accelerated as I have aged. A week goes with the blink of
an eye. !9 days will disappear. Tomorrow we go for my last hair cut before heading for Grecian shores. Money ordered and put on the Caxton card. Will it be enough? Greece does not do credit. In many places cash will be king. The folks there are frightened of banks since they joined the EU and been bailed out times many. We have received a reminder that our card will be renewed in May. A quick phone call made to tell them that we renewed in January for the very reason we would be out of the country next month. They assure us it will be OK . We ordered a hop on/hop off bus ticket for Athens. They robbed us. The site offered a 10% discount which was taken off the fee payable but once the card went through the 10% disappeared and the price became full price . Another one of those heads you lose , tails you lose moments. The system always wins.
The EU squabbles with us., They demand that we are taught a lesson for wanting to leave . So frightened are they - the faceless bureacrats in Brussels - that others will follow
our example they want to make sure they penalise us heavily. They say they will not talk about our trade deals until our divorce settlement is completed . They tell us - these faceless people we did not vote into power - that they will not talk until after the elections of May and September. Spain are complaining about Gibraltar using this as an excuse to up the anti on the exit process . Malta once our allies and a country we have helped in the past seem to be stabbing us in the back. It will be interesting to pass through France , Switzerland and Italy and see what they say about us leaving . Perhaps they will sorry to see us go. Perhaps the faceless officers of the EU will realise how much money we put in each year and miss us in the end . Who knows what will happen over travel? We used to travel Europe without visas. Why not again? Perhaps we will only be allowed to stay 90 days before having to find a safe haven of Switzerland, Turkey, Morocco or Norway to give us a gap before returning to Europe for another 90
days . Time will tell . Time that slips away and we edge ever closer to the holiday.
Suzy needs a wash. Streaked with black marks she needs a blooming good scrub to make her ship shape and Bristol fashion. A job that needs to be done next week. She needs a top up of water, an emptying and cleaning of grey water tanks . Many jobs and precious little time to do them. In my minds eye I see Mr Hughes a teacher from primary school standing in the front of the class . A small grey insignificant man with a booming voice and a frightening demener to a small child spouting words of wisdom. He was right "Procrastination is the thief of time".
Our plan today was to go and have my hair cut in readiness for the holiday. A difficult choice has to be made about when to go to Wales to have it cut. Too early and it is too long . Too late and there is the risk I or my hairdresser will be sick. The journey was fascinating as the sensor in the BMW pinged into life telling us the
temperature was below 3 degrees. It fell again as we climbed the Cat and Fiddle - the Cheshire Plain shrouded in mist and Jodrell Bank glinting silver in the early morning sunlight as it pointed itself skywards. Arriving I discussed holidays with my hairdresser - her holiday of choice New York and Vegas in a few weeks . I felt envious as I listened to her plans.
On the way home we decided to stop off for dinner and catch an historic house. Plenty of choice - Tatton but we have no National Trust Card with us . Arley Hall and Gardens and Capesthorne closed for the season . Tabley open and also Gawsworth. So Gawsworth it was . A house part of the Historic Houses it only opened several times through the season, It specialised in weddings and wedding fayres in the grounds of the black and white building. We approached it through a tidy and monied area between Congleton and Macclesfield. Even the ex- council houses oozed wealth. An area of stockbrokers, financiers and the monied elite of Cheshire. We lost the hall but found a pretty church surrounded by two ponds with obligatory ducks. On a
circuit of the village we passed the Old Hall, the New Hall, the Gables, the Smithy and various other properties. Eventually we did find the hall. Its black and white gates partly closed with the sign "Hall Closed " pinned onto it. We knew it did not open until 1pm and that today was its first opening day of the season so we sat and waited. There was nowhere to park and we felt intrusive as we sat beside the upper class homes of the rich and a statue of Peel which seemed oddly out of place . In the end we gave up. Another day perhaps - we headed home.
Today though was a different kettle of fish . We had a plan. The plan involved just a short drive to Butterley on the way to Ripley. We planned to visit the Midland Railway. We chose to avoid Butterley mainly because it is half term and the place probably would be packed . We were more certain of a few quieter moments at the mid point of the line. Neither of us had been before and today we were not fussed about riding the train on the short
journey to Swanwick. Instead we relished the thought of walking around the site on our own on beautiful Spring morning.
Arriving we found an empty car park. It was free to go round but donations were asked for at the entrance gate and in the exhibition sheds. The Railway lies on the Ambergate to Pye Bridge stations on the old Midland Railway line . The present line ends at Hammersmith and runs for 3
1⁄2 miles. It is run by volunteers. The railway is also home to the narrow gauge Golden Valley Light Railway . Our first port of call was the old tin church taken down from a nearby railway town of Westhouses and re- erected here in the expansive area of land owned by the heritage railway. A old tin building painted red and fairly spartan inside . All the old pews had been retained , the old organ and the font and pulpit.
The old station building had been moved from Syston and rebuilt on the old platform. A lovely red brick building it has a booking office inside , old lamps and a wrought iron firegrate. We reminisced as we walked inside as we
remembered standing in stations such as this when we were children. We climbed the wooden steps into the old Signal box rescued from Kettering Station. Inside were the levers and pullies that worked the points. How I would love to work those .
Diesel engines were parked up inside and outside. We commented on how pretty steam trains were and how ugly diesel. We talked about running from one side of the road to the other as the steam train passed by . Blackened by smoke and unable to see anything we laughed as children wondering what our parents would think of us . If there is anything to say about this heritage railway it gave us clues that took us back 50 years or more to a simple life where we stood under the water tanks that were used to fill up the trains. It was not a sterile site . Bits and pieces of railway memorabilia lay everywhere amongst the trees and the spring flowers. It felt more alive than some museum sites we had visited . We sat for a cup of tea inside the main sheds which were full of model train tracks, the Princess
Margaret Rose , the Darcy, large engines and small ones all with a distinct character. Some livered in blood and custard colours , some embellished with the British Railways motif. Others brought from the Ffestiniog Railway. We climbed into carriages with dining cars . Some fit for a Queen and used for that purpose. Other trains and carriages were down to their bare bones. Wood eaten by worms, wood slats falling off and in disrepair . The signs told us that there was no intention of doing these carriages up. The reason - not lack of money nor the willpower to do it but something far more important . If they were done up they would lose their character . They would become replicas. What they wanted to leave was the original in all its glory - warts and all.
To top it all at 11.50 in rolled the train. Not a steam train - a puffing billy but a heritage diesel. We watched it as it rolled out of the station. Huffing but not puffing. Majestic enough but somehow it did lack a little of the character of a huge and powerful steam train.
We hadn't expected
to enjoy our trip out so much but it was a lovely day and gave us a fascinating insight into keeping alive a small heritage railway line.
We are now down to 10 days to our big trip. 2400 hours - we are both excited and worried . The hop on /hop off bus was booked by me for the wrong date . A month too early - we have lost that booking and had to book again . The trip now has gone up to £76 instead of £38. Nothing we can do about it but smile and put it down to experience. We are thinking a lot about the trip and cannot wait.
My thoughts for the day though tell me that "If I think too long on my next step I will end up in life standing on one leg". It is hard though to stop thinking of what will hopefully be a long and interesting trip and a worthwhile experience . When I write again I will travelling down the M1 on the way to the Tunnel . It will be Goodbye to England and Bonjour to France and a long journey to look forward to towards Greece.
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Ake Och Emma
Ake Dahllof and Emma Holmbro
I love that
As you say, back in the days they knew how to make it both functional and grand looking. You are not the only one who loves wrought iron /Ake