Not all according to plan.............
Exploding tyre on the M6 apart I had a good weekend. Compensations included a photo of me with Maddy Prior and a second unexpected stay at a guest house, but I am getting ahead of myself on those Stepping Stones. I'm also not at all sure whether this ought to be a festival post or under the "accidents happen" section.........
The search for where to book is often long, drawn out and painful and I am sure I can expand that statement to a mini rant elsewhere. I spotted Stepping Stones early on in my search for this particular weekend when nothing much presented itself, and once I'd seen whose festival it was I was more or less hooked. Carlisle is a long way though........there was mention on the web site of craft stalls so I emailed to ask if they entertained anything other than craft stalls and if so would they care for a book/cd/clothing (eclectic mix is the official description) and they said yes they would and indeed it was cheap so I went for it, in a nutshell, on the basis that the diesel and the pitch fee would amount to no more than a normal relatively cheap pitch fee and it sounded fun either way. And Maddy Prior and Steeleye Span would be there. It's her festival.
But Carlisle is indeed a long drive and coupled with 8 hours setting up not much of a prospect for one day, and I used my last 30 quid of credit card balance to book a bed and breakfast which looked full of character and in a small village just 15 minutes or so away from the festival, and off I set on the Thursday. I first called at Bakewell to spend time with my dear friend recovering from leukaemia and a bone marrow transplant, had lunch and a long natter and then set off again when he went home for his afternoon nap. I drove on up through the Peak District, passing one of my all time favourites, Monsal Head, and on up into Yorkshire and Cumbria thinking all the while how lovely is the UK in so many places and how fortunate to be passing through all this whilst working, let alone glad to have seen my friend and how much better he is.
The guest house lady had asked for an estimated time of arrival and I confirmed I was about an hour away when I stopped for a cat nap at a service station. I'd got it all planned, arrive before 5pm and get out and about to see something of the area and get a snack at a pub, get to bed at a reasonable hour, get up showered and fresh for the setting up day (and one night less in the back of the van to boot). It was warm and I was driving alone with the window open, 15 mins to go according to the sat-nav, when I started to hear a noise I did not like and as my brain reluctantly started to process the probability or what that meant, someone flashed me and the steering started to go. Yes, a tyre had burst and shredded. Bugger.
Coming to a successful halt on the hard shoulder thinking how fortunate I was already in the inside lane and managed to steer off the road, I also thought this was not at all what was planned and had to inform the guest house accordingly that my time of arrival was delayed indefinitely. Then the fun starts. My insurance is Spanish with cover to come to the UK, and that is a whole other story again, but if does mean I have to phone Spain for help in the first place and then get put on hold umpteen times until I get transferred to the international breakdown blah blah blah. I've done this before you see.
2 hours and more later sitting on the grass verge at the side of the M6 the breakdown truck finally arrived to take me to "a safe area", ie not the hard shoulder of the M6, where I would then wait for the AA to take over. Massive thanks to the kind driver who had the better idea of reaching a resolution in one trip which resulted in taking me to a tyre depot where a call-out charge produced a man to fit a new tyre but because nothing is ever that simple and I was resourceless I had to call a friend to pay for it on my behalf. All this takes time so eventually I arrived 4 hours late to find a delightful village and the guest house right opposite the old church and a friendly welcome to a room with everything provided and totally delightful. I managed a quick walk before it got dark before returning to do battle with a bottle of wine and a totally useless corkscrew which was all I could find in the van at the time.
I awoke to a fairly decent morning and feeling a lot better for a comfy bed, a shower and some breakfast and a mere 15 mins journey ahead. Anyone want a recommendation for this place let me know, the owners have just the one room, are new to the bed and breakfast and have tried (and succeeded) to provide a totally charming room, kitchenette and bathroom in an old house in a village offering