"Bidston - cold weather front and more heating oil please !!!"
One of the most incredible places to be at Christmas time, Bidston Hill still holds an 'olde worlde' charm. In bad weather, there were times when cars were unable to get up the hill, and on one occasion I was awoken whilst sleeping in the Observatory by a distant spraying sound, car engine revving, then more spraying, more revving, getting closer. I had to check out what was going on, it then transpired that whoever this person was who was driving had decided, quite literally, to de-ice their way up the hill three feet at a time (on what what is now called Wilding Way). I could not believe my eyes, "spray, move 3 feet, spray, move 3 feet", it went on for nearly an hour.
Remember the severe winter 2009/10?? I flew over to spend Christmas in the USA (Atlanta) and upon my return early January 2010 I was scheduled to fly out from Atlanta to Newark, Newark to London Heathrow, London Heathrow to Manchester (3 planes!!). So, I get to Atlanta in good time and I thought I had won the lottery when the Atlanta to Newark plane had broke down on the jet way. I managed to get a direct flight to...... Manchester!!! I was over the moon, got on the plane and thought yesss!! car at Manchester park and ride and a careful drive home.
Here is what really happened:
9.00pm GMT Atlanta to Manchester (7hrs 30mins), diverted to London Heathrow as Manchester "snowed in". Waited on plane (1hrs) in case Manchester was given all clear, it wasn't. So, good old National Express to the rescue. London to Manchester (8hrs), minibus to park and ride (1hrs), the minibus collided with the entranceway to the car park, slight shunt all ok. Car to Bidston, huge diversion via M62 and Kingsway tunnel (3hrs 30 mins). By now the time spent travelling was 22hours all told, and I got back to Bidston to be greeted by it's own "sheet ice" runway, all the way up to the Observatory. The Volvo (S40) gave it all she had but we started to shimmy sideways after about 30 feet.
I did the common sense thing, and parked the car on Observatory Road and dragged my suitcases up the hill, no 'de-ice spray and move' for me, I was dead on my feet. I was full to the brim with that gibberish travelling fatigue you get when you're so tired you feel drunk, fumbling around looking for keys, devoid of any control over standing up without swaying, when all that you've eaten in the last 16 hours is an airline meal and junk food. I hate water and chocolate when I feel like this, especially when it's cold; they stir up too many memories of being all that is on offer in those bleak, cold airport lounges slung at one end of the terminal and miles away from restaurants and civilisation.
Back at Bidston, I slept a day and a half and upon looking out of the window into the white haze after a TV-fuelled initial 12 hour sleep, I saw four tram lines woven erratically into the snow, navigating the trees and concealed icy Observatory steps. It's then I realised they were the 'tramline' scars made by my suitcases in the snow when I went on foot from the car to the Observatory the night before!
The one hugely appreciated part of this journey was that the park and ride company (The quite superb 'Purple Parking') had already started everyone's cars, got them all warm and toasty and cleared the snow & ice off them before we all arrived!!! That was such a 'British' gesture, it warmed my heart in a flash; you never forget sentiment and thoughtfulness like that, not ever. It gave us all the boost we required for that final push home.
Here is the UK in January 2010, look closely at the picture and you can see SW Ireland's 'greenery' is visible under the cloud....