Seemingly a day of minor mishaps what with one thing or another. Ten minutes into the ride and a 1″ nail had to be extracted from Charlie’s rear tyre. Then the day started to deteriorate on all fronts. Read on.
Note that this afternoon run – starting out at a quarter to four – in the middle of March – meant that he wasn’t going to get much daylight. He then makes matters worse by stopping for tea in a café before getting under way again. I like the bit about stopping to light up – does he mean turning on the carbide, or putting a match to a Woodbine ?
Well at least he was home for a reasonable time for once.
More blinking of the eyes at the Trespassers sign and more midges to combat today. I am intrigued to know why the vehicular ferry across the Manchester Ship Canal in those days had platforms at either end to adjust for changes in water levels – I mean this is a Canal, surely big changes in water levels would not take place ?
It sounds like a lovely day for the first century of the year, and no rain mentioned. The Tower Charlie mentions is the Victoria Tower and it needs no imagination as to where that name comes from. Queen Victoria must have been quite overwhelmed with the towers dedicated to her, most of them before she died !
This was to be a challenging day for our hero, in which his map proved to be of little help in the event, for a circular route was the end result. We know he became lost because of his amazement at stumbling across a familiar road. Perhaps he rarely mentions maps because they are somewhat unfamiliar, leading to his frequent complaint about losing his sense of direction.
The correct name hereabouts is Brockholes Brow – not that Charlie refers to it – but he does tell us about Samlesbury Church just a half mile distant. The steep hill up from the Brockholes Bridge spanning the River Ribble, up into the outskirts of Preston and forming the ‘New’ road connecting Blackburn and Preston and named Preston New Road, had obviously not been built at the time Charlie is writing.
Why the name of this famous road access to Preston was called Halfpenny Brow I don’t know, but it could have been the toll price, as I imagine there would have been a ferry of sorts across the Ribble long before the Bridge was built.
Mentoring a new kid on the block today. Mostly today is about rain, and it was only an afternoon run to start with ! But an ideal opportunity to train a new member in coping with everything the world can throw at you, starting with punctures. But it seems he passed the test for getting wet with flying colours !
He must have written up this run shortly after the event, because his excitement, enjoyment and enthusiasm all shine through until I wish for a return to my youth also.
And I can tell you why he didn’t start out with the run in the morning – his parents in those early days of his cycling career, would not allow him to start out if it was raining – well he could catch his death, couldn’t he ? And he was only 19 years old. But he made the most of what was left of the day, and it is a joy for us to be able to share it with him.