A long day is nearly over. Set off at 8.30am this morning for Chesterfield to meet up with fellow Club member 'victorgte', to pay him for, and collect from him, some superb camera kit which he'd advertised on the Forum.
It absolutely hoyed it down for the first thirty or 40 miles; we kept seeing illuminated signs warning of a total closure of the M1 motorway, which eventually forced us onto the M62 heading for Hull, and then a further diversion onto the A1(M), followed by the M18 which meant that we rejoined the M1 South of the affected stretch. The effect on traffic seeking diversions was pretty massive, but we made it to the rendezvous with time to spare. Having 'done the business', we set off homewards, and popped into Woodall Services for p&t - to arrive at the same time as EIGHT coach loads of Birmingham City supporters heading for their game at Leeds this afternoon, and various West Brom supporters heading for their game at Middlesbrough. You can imagine the queues for drinks, burgers and loos - we beat a hasty retreat.
We used the M18 route again, as the M1 was STILL closed (the accident that caused the closure was at 11.52pm last night); it took us over 45 minutes to move just five miles from the M18 onto the A1(M) Northbound near Doncaster - just nose to tail, all lanes chocablock - this was the main workaround for all Northbound traffic on the M1.
Pretty Christmas crackered now - but despite all the hassle, it was well worth it for what I bought from Victor
