The Big Picnic
Last weekend was the Big Picnic, an owner's club event in aid of Prostate Cancer Research (PCR). It's held at the home of club member Barry Searle, on his 70 acre estate in Ashton Hayes just outside Chester. As the weather forecast looked amazing I signed-up the week before. With the picnic on the Saturday I decided to do a visit to Morecambe first on Friday to see a friend, stay overnight there, and then drive down to Ashton Hayes on the Saturday morning. I could stay overnight in Chester before driving back to London on Sunday morning. With hotels booked it was an early night on Thursday.. With so much traffic on the roads I much prefer driving first thing in the morning. So I'm up at 4am and leave London at 5am, heading round the M25 to the M11 and up to Cambridge. My plan is to do the A1(M)/A1 up to Wetherby, and then cut across through the hills and moors to Morecambe. It's quite cold in the morning so I start out with the half hood on. With the heater and my over-