Driver 308’s Commonwealth Games Adventure-Day 8 July 11th 2022

Today was yet another fine bright sunny day, we have been really lucky with the weather so far on the Relay. Apart from a short shower on the way to Plymouth and  10 minute shower on Monday as we drove down to Weymouth it has been warm and sunny.

Ally and I are Team C, and Team C wasn’t scheduled to do anything until 4oclock today in Bakewell. Bakewell in is the Peak District and we decided to leave at 9am for Bakewell and spend our free time exploring Bakewell rather than sit in the hotel all morning. We were joined by two other shuttle hosts, Shannon and Sophie, who were on R&R and wanted to look around the Peak district. I was suffering with what I thought was a summer cold (runny nose and slight cough)

The route from Grantham to Bakewell soon gets into the Peak district and then the landscape changes and its very pretty. We saw signs for Chatsworth House and contemplated a visit but the £33 each entrance fee was deemed excessive for what would be a 2 hour visit.

I dropped Ally, Shannon and Sophie at the far end of Bakewell, to explore, found a suitable place to park up that was very close to where we needed to be at 4pm and then retired to ‘The Manners’ pub and restaurant.

I sent a photo to Ally so she’d know where to find me and the shuttle bus. We all had lunch at The Manners, sausages & mash in onion gravy for three of us and fish and Chips for Ally, followed by Morvenpick ice cream, which was delicious.

It seemed to be a very hot afternoon, even though it was gone 4pm, I was feeling very hot and trying to stay in the shade and not be out in the sun. I even asked the Relay medic if she thought it might be Covid, I didn’t have any of the symptoms she mentioned and I felt alright apart from being hot so concluded it was probably the weather and I’d take an LFT test when we got to the Hotel in Barnsley.

The BBs boarded the shuttlebus, we slotted in behind the Pilot and police motorcyclist as they drove through the centre of Bakewell and dropped the BBs off at each pink numbered sticker. Then it was a police escorted convoy to Buxton. Very scenic drive to Buxton where no-one needed taking back to their starting point, so we were free to make our way to Barnsley IBIS Styles.

My Sat nav chose a very direct route through the Peak District National Park, which I messed up slightly by missing a turning and thereafter the route became rather interesting. As the following video shows.

When we arrived at the Barnsley Hotel I did a LFT which came out positive. I would have to quarantine in my hotel room, so before I left for the Best Western at Wakefield I was given; cartons of juice, bags of crisps, flapjack bars and bananas to keep me going while a solution was worked out.