South towards London

We woke to heavy fog, and dire weather forecasts so delayed our departure from Dalesgate for an hour or so. Wifi was impossible in our room, so we sat on the stairs to try to send email and post to Facebook. Later, to fill in more time, we enjoyed another English breakfast.

Despite the weather warnings, the fog did begin to clear, so we set off for the next leg of our journey, to an area called Yorks. According to the census material I'd managed to access, the Booth family, those of our Grandmother's era at least, were born in this area, in various places around Parkgate. There were many mines in this area, and our Great Grandfather was listed on the census as a miner. We had one actual address in Parkgate so drove to that street, only to find that number 93 no longer exists. There was a short row of houses at one end, at the other business yards behind high wire fences. But the house the family lived in would have been similar to those that remained, so we took a photo of them and then continued on our way. 

We left the glimpses we'd had of the moors, and the little county lanes and villages behind, and drove south. We were going to Petersborough, which was about as close as we could get to London for a place to stay to suit our budget. I had seen London a few times previously and didn't particularly want to go again, but Lindy had never been and of course wanted to see it.   

Once again, our GPS was unreliable. It would not accept the address 'Norman Cross' so we settled for the coordinates and hoped it would get us close. It did, but it still took a phone call to the Premier Inn to finally find them. Somehow they were in Yakesly, although that wasn't their address. 

We hadn't stopped for lunch so opted for dinner in Thyme, the Inn's restaurant. I ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio and was a bit dumbfounded to be asked if I wanted a small, regular or large glass. I said I just want an ordinary sized glass of wine. The waitress said, 'regular then'. What she brought me was a small glass filled to the brim! Delicious meal, although we were discovering that food prices in the UK are much more expensive than in Australia. The chicken Caesar salad I had, along with the wine, cost the equivalent of about $28.