Shit the bed how did that get there? - In the name of Thiago - Day 27
Shit the bed - how did
that get there?
The ‘that’ in question
in the title of today’s blog is the A500 – not something that you would normally
expect to pop up unexpectedly but then that would be to fail to take into
account my absolutely abysmal sense of direction, which I mention in Day 24’s
blog ‘Logistics aaarrgghh’.
It was all going so
swimmingly. Your brave correspondent set off at sparrow’s fart (5.04am to be
precise) with the plan to walk from my humble abode in Newcastle-under-Lyme to
my workplace in Sandbach. I’d driven the route I wanted to walk the day before
and though a bit hilly in places, certainly a lot more than I’d given any
thought to previously, it all seemed perfectly plausible. A blissful 15 mile stroll!
It was going to be mostly
‘A’ roads with a couple of estates thrown in and the road into Sandbach was closed
to traffic meaning that the lack of a path for the last bit wasn’t going to be
an issue. Marvellous I thought.
A mile or so into my
journey my first delay came in the form of a motorcyclist coming flying off his
bike in Knutton. I stopped to help the chap but he didn’t seem overly impressed.
He claimed to have hit some black ice but I’m not so sure. I had my back to him
when he came flying across the road so I don’t know.
He brushed himself
down, scooped up his mobile phone, which remarkably, like him had also escaped
any damage and assured me and another couple of passers-by that he had had worse.
I didn’t feel it was the right moment to point out that perhaps motorbikes shouldn’t
be his thing if that was the case and off I went.
As you can see I took
in the scenic route along Parkhouse Industrial Estate West, which includes the
unfettered delights of Macro and International Decorative Surfaces. It’s the
little wins with walking, one of which I find is turning at a crossroads on the
pavement while the traffic is held at a red light. Yes they’ve gone past you
ten seconds later but just for that fleeting second it feels good!
For reasons I can’t
fathom I decided to take a short cut after I passed through a place called Red
Street as in my head the road ahead of me was not as it turned out the one it was. You're probably thinking how can that be the case, you were looking at it you daft twat. And you'd be right. In short, I fucked up and ended up walking up the A500 for a mile,
dredging through all sorts of detritus. There was a mattress at one point,
which was briefly tempting before I took the turning for Alsager.
All I can say is that
I’m glad I had the hi-vis on, as parts of this trip were not a whole lot of fun.
There are just so many roads with no paths. It really is shit frankly and means
I am going to have to think very carefully about the routes I have planned in the summer. To
say planned is being kind I guess.
But as I limped into
Sandbach shortly after 9 I felt a remarkable sense of achievement. And then I
did a day’s work and got a lift home.
Oops I almost forgot.
I was featured in my hometown rag, the Eastbourne Herald today. Let's hope it sees a boost in donations!
And tomorrow I have a visit from a Sentinel
photographer and am popping in to Signal’s studios to do an interview, which
Elisa is very excited about!
Comments
Post a Comment