Day Eight - Light at the end of the Tunnel

After a rough night of coughing we awoke to a gray morning up North. Slight drizzle (or what Jon calls "English rain") stayed with us almost all day. At times it poured but the drizzle was what lingered the most. The weather stations were saying it was to be a windy and very rainy day. This put a bit of a damper on my plans to FINALLY see a castle. I've been to England 4 times now and not yet seen a castle (visited a few cathedrals but no castles). I had done a little research when at Becky's and had hoped we'd see Skipton Castle but it was at least another hour's drive North. We had to return to the South today as we were leaving England tomorrow. Alas due to the iffy weather and the distance of Skipton it just didn't work out.

Instead I stumbled upon a brochure for a tunnel ride. I've wanted to see some of the canals in England (especially after Luis Salazar showing me where his wife grew up in Bedford which has a beautiful canal running through it). Since this tunnel offered a dry way to see something I opted for it.

We picked up Chris and headed into Marsden (after viewing his garden and visiting with his very old hen which is kept at the back of the garden). The views of the land around the tunnel were quite beautiful even on the gray, drizzly morning.















If the day had been nicer I would have loved to walk some of the nature trails they offered around the Standedge Tunnel. Here are the boys waiting to board the canal boat.
















The boat drive told me that we were about to enter the longest, highest, and deepest NAVIGABLE tunnel in the world. He said that there is a longer one in France but it is not navigable. I'm not sure how interested the boys were with this short ride but I found it interesting to listen to our guide. Back before engines the men who took the boats through the tunnel had to hoof it - literally! The horses were unhooked from the boats (since they can't go through the tunnel) and the men would lay on their backs and literally push the boat through the tunnel with their feet (lying on their backs feet in the air pushing against the hard jagged rocks in the ceiling of the tunnel). The ride was short but interesting. I immediately thought of my Mother as she would have been horrible claustrophobic in there. Our guide says they still take people through (people with their own boats) and quite often the riders get freaked by the utter darkness and close quarters.

We stopped in the town of Marsden on the way out because both Chris and Jon thought I should see a chemist (their version of a pharmacist). I spoke with the lady explaining my symptoms and she recommended what I feared....cough syrup. Almost all cough syrups make me gag. This one was no exception. I usually can't stand the fake cherry flavor most syrups come in but this was worse....I would have gladly traded for the cherry flavor. While Chris and I were in the chemist, Jon snuck into the local estate agent and got some information about houses in the area. He is wanting to reinvest his money from the sale of Northwood Cottage and was quite impressed with the beautiful countryside in Marsden.

We went to lunch and then dropped Chris back home and headed back to Becky's. The drive back was only bearable because we were still listening to "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince". Poor Jon was so "knackered" that we pulled into a rest stop and let him snooze for about 20 minutes.

Finally we got to Becky's more than a little road weary. I felt like getting out for our last night (Jon would be staying and working while Patrick and I went back home). So I asked Jon if we could go to the pub (not something I normally like). He decided to take me to the Hampshire Bowman . We had tried to go there once before but they were closed - now we know why. They expanded the pub and it is quite lovely in the new part. What I thought would be a "quick pint" turned out to be a rather lovely evening with us not getting back until after 10 pm! Jon knew one of the local brewmasters and turns out that Loopy (nickname) actually turned up that night. He was a delight to talk to (real character in a good sense) and brought his lovely doggie with him. I love that many of the pubs in England let you bring your well behaved dog inside with you. This ended my stay in England on a fun note. Tomorrow we would get up early and make our way to Heathrow. I think even though Patrick and I had fun we were looking forward to going home.