It is a year since Ma had a trip away.......last October we went to the Isle of Wight......the weather was very kind to us and we had a splendid time.
Half term was approaching........Nicola and Greg had both managed to get some time off work, so I told Ma I was free to be companion, ladies maid, wheel chair attendant.
She said she would look for somewhere for us to go.
She chose Eastbourne.......an 8 day trip(5 days does not give ma enough recovery time from the long journey down there).
I was quite happy with that, although I did say that nearer to home would be better.
Not that she took any notice.
Anyway the Gods must have been smiling on me.
When Ma did the booking she told them about the wheelchair....'no problem' they said.
So Ma was looking forward to going to Eastbourne. Lunch in Wetherspoons. A trip on the bus to Brighton. A ride on the train somewhere. A day out to Worthing.
She was smiling like a cheshire cat.
Then she had a phonecall which told her that she couldn't go to Eastbourne. The company only allow three wheelchairs on any one trip....and only two if they are these ride on electric chariots.......and someone had booked a wheelchair and later rung up to say they would be taking the electric version....so the trip to Eastbourne was off!
Ma was most dischuffed and vowed that she would not book something else with this same company.
She spent a pretty fruitless day trying to get on tours run by other companies.
Scarborough was mooted......aaargh, just the thought of pushing the chair up those steep streets made my legs hurt......then the Isle of Wight.....but only five days and at a hotel that was at Sandown(not my most favourite place)........I told Ma that travelling down to the Isle of Wight on a Monday and coming back on a Friday would be problematic - especially so at half term. So that idea was kicked into the long grass(phew!)
Ma had booked for the dog to go into kennels. I joked to her that it looked like he was the only one who looked like he was going anywhere. Ma looked really glum. She had built up on the idea of going away and now it had been ripped out her grasp.
Anyway just a week before the half term Ma phoned up for a break to Llandudno...yes there was room for us...and room for the chair.
Ma was a bit botheredd that it would not be enjoyable for me as I had been just a few weeks earlier.
I told her that it didn't matter where we went(as long as it wasn't down south) I was happy for her to get away for a break.
So Llandudno it was.
We could not sit together on the coach...but we were close enough so that it didn't matter
We had to be on Bridge street at five past seven on the Monday morning.
Five past seven?????? Five past seven!
What was that all about?
It could only mean one thing.......we would be hoofing around all the towns in the north west picking up passengers.
The thought didn't fill me full of joy, but it seemed that beggars can't be choosers.
Monday morning saw me up early. Bleary eyed, making bacon butties so that Ma could have a second breakfast on the coach......Roast PorK and stuffing butties too in case we didn't get any lunch.
I hauled my case up Riley's hill before dawn cracked. I wanted to help Ma get the wheelchair and her case out to the place where the taxi picks us up. I felt that if I left her to her own devices she would try and get the case and the wheelcahir up several uneven steps, and then be knackered for the rest of the day.
We were on Bridge Street at 6.45.....the coach didn't turn up until 7.25.
We could sit anywhere on this feeder coach.
We visited a variety if towns in the north...Blackburn, Darwen, Bolton. Chorley, Standish,Wigan......it seemed endless.
We arrived at Stretton at 9.30........we had to wait to have our luggage transferred to our destination coach, and for all the feeder coaches to turn up.
It was an hour or so before we were on the road again. Goodness, Llandudno is only an hour and three quarters down the motorway.
It took us somethin in the region of 5 hours to get to our destination....what a fag!
We landed at the hotel. We couldn't get into our room for another three hours.
Ma made herself comfy in the lounge bar. I ordered lunch and drinks.
After we had lunch I asked Ma if she wanted a breeze down the main street......'no' was her reply. 'Leave me here and you go...and will you get me'....Ma gave me a list of things she would like from the shops.
to be continued.
Half term was approaching........Nicola and Greg had both managed to get some time off work, so I told Ma I was free to be companion, ladies maid, wheel chair attendant.
She said she would look for somewhere for us to go.
She chose Eastbourne.......an 8 day trip(5 days does not give ma enough recovery time from the long journey down there).
I was quite happy with that, although I did say that nearer to home would be better.
Not that she took any notice.
Anyway the Gods must have been smiling on me.
When Ma did the booking she told them about the wheelchair....'no problem' they said.
So Ma was looking forward to going to Eastbourne. Lunch in Wetherspoons. A trip on the bus to Brighton. A ride on the train somewhere. A day out to Worthing.
She was smiling like a cheshire cat.
Then she had a phonecall which told her that she couldn't go to Eastbourne. The company only allow three wheelchairs on any one trip....and only two if they are these ride on electric chariots.......and someone had booked a wheelchair and later rung up to say they would be taking the electric version....so the trip to Eastbourne was off!
Ma was most dischuffed and vowed that she would not book something else with this same company.
She spent a pretty fruitless day trying to get on tours run by other companies.
Scarborough was mooted......aaargh, just the thought of pushing the chair up those steep streets made my legs hurt......then the Isle of Wight.....but only five days and at a hotel that was at Sandown(not my most favourite place)........I told Ma that travelling down to the Isle of Wight on a Monday and coming back on a Friday would be problematic - especially so at half term. So that idea was kicked into the long grass(phew!)
Ma had booked for the dog to go into kennels. I joked to her that it looked like he was the only one who looked like he was going anywhere. Ma looked really glum. She had built up on the idea of going away and now it had been ripped out her grasp.
Anyway just a week before the half term Ma phoned up for a break to Llandudno...yes there was room for us...and room for the chair.
Ma was a bit botheredd that it would not be enjoyable for me as I had been just a few weeks earlier.
I told her that it didn't matter where we went(as long as it wasn't down south) I was happy for her to get away for a break.
So Llandudno it was.
We could not sit together on the coach...but we were close enough so that it didn't matter
We had to be on Bridge street at five past seven on the Monday morning.
Five past seven?????? Five past seven!
What was that all about?
It could only mean one thing.......we would be hoofing around all the towns in the north west picking up passengers.
The thought didn't fill me full of joy, but it seemed that beggars can't be choosers.
Monday morning saw me up early. Bleary eyed, making bacon butties so that Ma could have a second breakfast on the coach......Roast PorK and stuffing butties too in case we didn't get any lunch.
I hauled my case up Riley's hill before dawn cracked. I wanted to help Ma get the wheelchair and her case out to the place where the taxi picks us up. I felt that if I left her to her own devices she would try and get the case and the wheelcahir up several uneven steps, and then be knackered for the rest of the day.
We were on Bridge Street at 6.45.....the coach didn't turn up until 7.25.
We could sit anywhere on this feeder coach.
We visited a variety if towns in the north...Blackburn, Darwen, Bolton. Chorley, Standish,Wigan......it seemed endless.
We arrived at Stretton at 9.30........we had to wait to have our luggage transferred to our destination coach, and for all the feeder coaches to turn up.
It was an hour or so before we were on the road again. Goodness, Llandudno is only an hour and three quarters down the motorway.
It took us somethin in the region of 5 hours to get to our destination....what a fag!
We landed at the hotel. We couldn't get into our room for another three hours.
Ma made herself comfy in the lounge bar. I ordered lunch and drinks.
After we had lunch I asked Ma if she wanted a breeze down the main street......'no' was her reply. 'Leave me here and you go...and will you get me'....Ma gave me a list of things she would like from the shops.
to be continued.
