We have left the Lake District.
With no real plans, we looked at what was between us and tonight’s accommodation and thought “Old Trafford?”. So we headed to Manchester via Kendal (of mint cake fame) to get some knitting needles for my next small project
Initially we planned just to go and take a photo of us there for the Man.U fan in our life, but decided to book the stadium tour.
For those who have no idea what that is, it is the home stadium of Manchester United.
The ground has hosted 3 FA Cup finals, many European games. The museum has lots of history and trophies. So many trophies, at least Leeds spread their 14 trophies out!!!.
This was a good tour with a humorous tour guide; glad we weren’t Liverpool of Arsenal fans, the jokes might have stung a bit! We were the only two self-professed non-Man U supporters in the group.
The tour started straight away in the Alex Ferguson Stand with a view of the pitch that is being re-laid. Once finished it’ll be 97% grass, the remaining 3% is synthetic.
We got to see the home changing room, home & away dugouts, the press room, directors boxes and seats.
We also walked through the old tunnel that was one of the few parts to survive a WW2 bombing direct hit.
We sat in the stands where 74000 people saw Leeds beat Man Utd 2 months ago. Our guide had forgotten this but Kevin (Leeds fan) reminded him.
We then deove to Peckforton Castle where we will stay for 2 nights. One of our “want to do this whilst on our gap year” things was to stay in a castle. Bucket list item checked.
Today we went to visit the not so secret Hack Green Secret Bunker, a no longer functioning nuclear bunker & defence complex.
This was initially used in WW2 and then subsequently for monitoring potential threats during the Cold War.
This was a really interesting museum, especially a short film that depicted what would happen if such an event occurred. The film was actually banned in the UK for 20 years! (For the bad acting or the images of people being “put out of their misery” we can’t be sure.)
(Noting here, a joint stance that no country needs to have nuclear weapons and they should ALL be destroyed.)
From there we went to Nantwich for lunch and a post office visit. We saw more than one 450yr old building that was leaning forward or sideways.
This evening we had our monthly treat, a 9-course dinner with wine pairing at Peckforton Castle’s restaurant “1851”. This was SO good. Our 2 servers, maybe 25yrs old, were both courteous and knowledgeable and a credit to the castle. The food was fabulous.
Our top dish was a draw between an onion tart tatin and lamb mille-feuille. Also had a lovely English Rosé-who knew there was an English wine industry!
Leaving the castle life behind we drove the short distance to Beeston Castle, ruins of Castles that have been on this site since 1000BC!
Naturally the Castle’s inner yard was right at the top of a hill, with the outer wall about halfway up.
The caretakers (re)built a bronze age hut here too so you can see how people lived. It was an interesting and peaceful walk in the woods also.
From here we drive the huge distance into Wales and to Wrexham.
We will be back in Cheshire in a week or so to stay with some friends for a few nights.
An Unplanned Year 
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