He tells us he is mentally back in North Wales on this late night ride in the dark. I think he was.

Incidentally, I have been pondering how they could go paddling last (10th January) time they were on the Wirral.  I believe I have the answer.  They regularly speak of having a ‘wash and brush-up’ when arriving at cafes and before eating.  This I understand, because in those days not all the roads were sealed with tar or macadam, so that there was a lot of dust about.  But they would have needed to carry towels, would they not, in order to have a wash.

That brings me to the conclusion that a hasty decision to go paddling would not have left them with feet they could not dry!