Once again John and I did our usual tour of the UK. This time we went up North to Leeds, Manchester, Warrington, Mold and The Isle of Man.

We started our holiday in sunny Leeds, 

where our friends, Dave, Ilona and family invited us to a barbecue.

Ilona, Dave, Pollie and Jonah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave follows that very British male tradition of doing the BBQ

 

 

 

 

 

Andrea, Paul and Simon wait patiently for the feast to begin.

"Is it not ready yet, Dave?"

The following day we passed a very relaxing afternoon in Andrea & Paul's back garden.

Andrea & Paul

 

 

Picnic time

 

 

 

 

 

 

The boys v the girls. 

John and Paul on the improvised putting green

 

How many balls can you get in the grass collector?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anything you can do we can do better!

 

Andrea shows us how it's done

 

 

 

 

 

Later that evening we met up for dinner with our friends Steve and Rosa.

OK Steve think of your caption

 

 Bar Risa, a bar for every mood

 

who then took us to a trendy bar in the city centre

 

 

 

Then we made our way to Manchester.

A night on the town with Ferret has to include a trip to the Lass O'Gowrie

it's nice to see that some things in Manchester don't change

We just made it to breakfast next morning

we can't miss the fry up at The Palace, excellent

outside Manchester Town Hall in Albert Square

 

 

and had a stroll around the city. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then it was back on the M62 for an overnight stop in Warrington.

poppadams, samosas, onion bhajis, nans, pilau rice, what a wonderful treat

Margaret & Stu took us to their local curry house.

The next day we went to North Wales and caught up with Paul and Lizzie in Mold.

John, Lizzie and Paul, who's no longer poor and poorly

 

 

 

 

 

Several years later Paul and Fiona pose for the camera again

 

Naturally we all went to their local pub. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we flew across the Irish sea to the Isle of Man

Fiona, Gaye and Nick at Ballabeg

 

First we saw Gaye and Nick and their new bungalow

 

 

 

 

bikes, bikes and more bikes

 

At Ramsey Hairpin we saw the practices for the Manx Grand Prix, which starts 25th August.

 

 

 

 

 

and we went to Robert's Christening

Helen, Pauline, Robert - 3 generations

 Thanks for a great time everyone. See you all again next year!

Check out the pictures from last year's tour.