Bloody football/travel/weather

[100milesaway]

Last Saturdays home match. Very enjoyable, and a great result.  THEN   I left for the journey back home to North Yorkshire (Leyburn ).  First matrix on the A627 M  read,    M62 closed at junction 23. my heart sank.

 

When the M62 suffers a closure, it always causes utter chaos.  So with about five minutes to think about my options ie Go back to Oldham then Saddleworth/ Holmfirth/ Darley Dale, then pick up the A1  Or just continue to Junction 23, and join the inevitable mayhem that would ensue following the diversion off the motorway. Or, come off at junction 22, Then go through Ripponden/ Halifax, Keighley/ Skipton, then ever onward to the Dales. 

 

BUT oh no, From J unction 22 to Ripponden was was just one set of road works with traffic signals after another . By now after leaving BP at 5 bells it was 6-30, and I had smoke coming out of my ears. However it was about to get much worse. Eventually got to Triangle to find a car upside down across the road, which was completely blocked. The police directed traffic towards Elland, Which was right on the path of diverted traffic from junction 23.  After another hour and a half of going very slowly round in circles, with what seemed like no escape, I gave up, and headed back towards Halifax.

 

I eventually  found a road that I knew, so cracked on towards Keighley/Skipton/ Kettlewell and a moorland road to Middleham.  What a bloody ordeal.  I got home at 9 pm.

 

 

So then fast forward to this Saturday and the much anticipated game at Spotland.   Could travel be any worse than last week  ?  Course it could.  I had arranged to be at my brothers house in Moorside , at 10-30, where my good lady would drop me off to travel to the game with my brother, then she would visit friends in Saddleworth. After not one flake of snow in Leyburn so far this year, we woke to being buried under the stuff on Saturday morning . The forecast was for it to be very wet once we got beyond Leeds. So we decided that we would hope for the best and crack on.. We left home at 7-30, with deserted roads, and about 4 inches of snow laying on the ground, 4 wheel drive engaged and off we go. 3 miles into the journey, we come across our first vehicle, a Transit van laying on it's side after hitting the only other vehicle for miles around.

 

Not a great start, but hey ho. The roads stayed treacherous, with not a gritter in sight, With just one lane of even the A1 passable, with 30 mph just about possible. Fortuitously by Leeds there was just standing water on the M62 to contend with. We arrived at Moorside at 10-15, and whilst having a brew the news come through that the game had been called off. Cant say that it came as a surprise, after coming off the M62 at junction 22, and looking over to the right in the direction of Rochdale, the sky looked like the world was about to end. So the upshot was, I spent the the next 2 hours with my partner visiting friends. Then called at Buckley's baker shop in Uppermill to buy a sandwich and a cake, that were both awful. 

 

So all that was left to do was endure the 100 mile journey home in torrential rain, with standing water on both the M62 and A1. And being glad to get home safe and sound.   

 

 

[disjointed]

Bet you are back for more, bleeding bonkers the lot of us. 

[100milesaway]

23 minutes ago, disjointed said:

Bet you are back for more, bleeding bonkers the lot of us. 

Yep, totally crackers 

[League one forever]

3 hours ago, 100milesaway said:

Last Saturdays home match. Very enjoyable, and a great result.  THEN   I left for the journey back home to North Yorkshire (Leyburn ).  First matrix on the A627 M  read,    M62 closed at junction 23. my heart sank.

 

When the M62 suffers a closure, it always causes utter chaos.  So with about five minutes to think about my options ie Go back to Oldham then Saddleworth/ Holmfirth/ Darley Dale, then pick up the A1  Or just continue to Junction 23, and join the inevitable mayhem that would ensue following the diversion off the motorway. Or, come off at junction 22, Then go through Ripponden/ Halifax, Keighley/ Skipton, then ever onward to the Dales. 

 

BUT oh no, From J unction 22 to Ripponden was was just one set of road works with traffic signals after another . By now after leaving BP at 5 bells it was 6-30, and I had smoke coming out of my ears. However it was about to get much worse. Eventually got to Triangle to find a car upside down across the road, which was completely blocked. The police directed traffic towards Elland, Which was right on the path of diverted traffic from junction 23.  After another hour and a half of going very slowly round in circles, with what seemed like no escape, I gave up, and headed back towards Halifax.

 

I eventually  found a road that I knew, so cracked on towards Keighley/Skipton/ Kettlewell and a moorland road to Middleham.  What a bloody ordeal.  I got home at 9 pm.

 

 

So then fast forward to this Saturday and the much anticipated game at Spotland.   Could travel be any worse than last week  ?  Course it could.  I had arranged to be at my brothers house in Moorside , at 10-30, where my good lady would drop me off to travel to the game with my brother, then she would visit friends in Saddleworth. After not one flake of snow in Leyburn so far this year, we woke to being buried under the stuff on Saturday morning . The forecast was for it to be very wet once we got beyond Leeds. So we decided that we would hope for the best and crack on.. We left home at 7-30, with deserted roads, and about 4 inches of snow laying on the ground, 4 wheel drive engaged and off we go. 3 miles into the journey, we come across our first vehicle, a Transit van laying on it's side after hitting the only other vehicle for miles around.

 

Not a great start, but hey ho. The roads stayed treacherous, with not a gritter in sight, With just one lane of even the A1 passable, with 30 mph just about possible. Fortuitously by Leeds there was just standing water on the M62 to contend with. We arrived at Moorside at 10-15, and whilst having a brew the news come through that the game had been called off. Cant say that it came as a surprise, after coming off the M62 at junction 22, and looking over to the right in the direction of Rochdale, the sky looked like the world was about to end. So the upshot was, I spent the the next 2 hours with my partner visiting friends. Then called at Buckley's baker shop in Uppermill to buy a sandwich and a cake, that were both awful. 

 

So all that was left to do was endure the 100 mile journey home in torrential rain, with standing water on both the M62 and A1. And being glad to get home safe and sound.   

 

 

In the years to come it’s an anecdote, when you’re in the moment- it’s up there with Christmas at the in laws for pure entertainment value.