The Doncaster region

Hello from the M1/M18 junction!

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, the car park is half full (yes, half full, not half empty), the WHSmith is choc-full of enticing goods and the Ritazza is brewing up overpriced but tempting coffee-based products. Yes, it's a beautiful day and all is well at the Doncaster North motorway services, just north of Hatfield and our chosen stopping point last night.

Yesterday was a day that mainly featured wind, power stations and motorways. The latter two had of course been expected - you'll be reassured to know that experienced navigators such as ourselves are more than capable of discerning a power station and a motorway on an Ordnance Survey map. The wind, though, was more of a revelation. So strong and so continuous was it that we were forced to do without music for the whole day. Think of it - not even ONE single, briefest rendition of Total Eclipse Of The Heart to cheer us on through the long, monotonous country lanes of the Goole region. Harrowing indeed.

The harrowingicity of this state of affairs was further exacerbated at about 3pm. While following a clearly-marked footpath, identified as a public right of way on the map and on the ground, we came upon an inconvenient obstacle blocking our path: the M62. Built straight across the path. When you see a motorway crossing a track on a map, you assume (or is it just us?) that there'd be some way of crossing - but no. Just slap a motorway on there and to hell with pedestrians - after all, it's progress. You'd be surprised at how difficult it actually is to try to reach one place from another on foot. We suspect this is a theme we'll be returning to over future days.

But nonetheless, the harrowingicity was substantially ameloirated by a marvellous round of Sport Beans which spurred us jovially on through a suburb of Doncaster, through to a brief shandy stop, and past several slag heaps to the place we call home for tonight.

The services do deserve a brief mention for their twix machine and notably their take-away list, enabling us to get not only pizza but also stella delivered to our door. We can only hope that tomorrow offers more varied scenery and less wind.