Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Rosemaryyyyy
Happy birthday to you
I had a bit of a day last Saturday...
A friend of mine from Fife had sold a miniature gypsy wagon to a couple in Staffordshire and had agreed to deliver it on Saturday.
By coincidence, I had seen a litter of lurchers advertised at a place called Bromyard, just on the border of Herefordshire, so I decided to accompany my friend on her trip and look at the dogs whilst there.
I rose at 03.45 and got organised, then drove my wee horse lorry to Fife. Friend was ready to go, so we set off at 05.30 in her car, towing a horsebox with the wagon in it. She drove to South Queensferry, where we stopped to fill with fuel. On the way there I'd realised that she is one of those people who can't talk and keep a consistent pressure on the accelerator
, so I drove from there, promising to ask her to drive if I felt tired.
I must admit at this point that, for reasons unexplainable, I have previously had some difficulty driving into England. I have been down in the past, but always with work (I was a security guard for a company which handled government contracts, and had to accompany 'sensitive' cargo), but one the one occasion when I was invited to visit a Fell pony stud in Cumbria, I took fright about twenty miles over the border and turned tail for home
. Stupid, I know, but true.
However, this time, probably owing to having no real worries about having my family with me, and driving someone else's yoke, I felt up for the trip. We had an uneventful journey down the M6, at sixty miles per hour, and my friend's AA routefinder was spot on. The downside was having to pay eight quid to the M6 toll1
We found the place easily after about seven and a half hours of motorway, during which my friend talked incessantly
, and delivered the wagon safely. The recipients live in a beautiful rural village with lots of thatched houses and barns. The weather was lovely, although I did notice that they were kinda desperate for rain. Despite our lengthy journey, we weren't even offered use of a toilet, or a cup of tea, however, so we quickly set off on a further fifty miles to see the pups.
By total contrast, the people we met there were very hospitable. They are a family of four who live in two gypsy wagons on a well-kept farm in beautiful country. I suppose they could be called new-age travellers if a name was required for them. Immediately we arrived we were offered a cup of tea at the camp fire.
They keep five heavy cobs, ferrets, gamefowl, and lurchers. The chap works in the woods, hauling timber with his horses, and they find all sorts of seasonal work as well. The day before we arrived, they had just finished hauling 1500 square bales of new-made hay off the fields and into a shed...with horses and carts. By all accounts it had been a great social affair with hearty feed and much sipping of cider.
I was greatly impressed with the simplicity of the lives of this family. The children were spirited, polite, and happy, without tv and electronic trappings, and took much to do with us visitors. The young lad, eight years old was very confident around the tethered horses and spent time freeing them of clegs and spraying a home-made fly repellent on their vulnerable parts.
I was able to spend a bit of time (but not nearly enough) discussing horses, harness, trees, dogs, gamefowl, and horsemanship...all subjects close to my heart...in the company of nice people and the open air. The pups were not what I was looking for, but I was so glad that we met the people.
Much bolstered by this encounter, we set off for home and finally arrived there at 04.45 the next morning! I drove all the way
, although I confess I had one of those red bull shots at a service stop near the lakes. These things are incredibly effective...I was still pinging when we got back to Fife
I crashed for two hours at my friend's house, then drove my wee lorry home, had a bath, and then went to Brechin with my wife and two sons to have a trip on Thomas the tank engine on the Caledonian railway
That evening (Sunday), I fell into bed at 7pm and slept for twelve hours.
I really enjoyed the trip, though. Hello England
