WHEN SOMETHING WENT BANG, HISS!!!!
As they say a funny thing happened to me and Sally on the way home from a short trip around Leeds, Skipton, Harrogate, York and the Lakes. As you maybe aware from my other ramblings (articles) that I like to be prepared for you hope most things and at my tender years, messing about with cars I leave to the “professionals” and I have breakdown cover that will repair the car at the roadside as well as get the car and all the passengers home when we need it, well that weekend we nearly did, well part of it.
On the last day Sunday I drove from Scotch Corner at the top of the A1 to cut across to the Lakes on the A66 and then on then on to Kendal the destination of choice. So on this bright sunny day, why is it always bright and sunny on the last day when the others days had been indifferent, rain, wind and sun to name but a few, so off we set to Catterick before we got to Scotch Corner, a place where my dad did his basic training before his 6 years holiday abroad to such far flung places as El Alamein, Monte Casino and Rome to name but a few but I digress, well maybe not as I am writing this today we are celebrating 70 years of Winston Churchill’s speech “Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few” when the Battle of Britain was raging over our skies.
Back to the plot; Sally and me had stopped off at Catterick at a Sunday( yes you’ve guessed) market at the race course a pleasant stop before going on to Kendal a drive of around 60 miles.
As we turned off the A66 to a more sedate road to Kendal, passing through different places around 25 miles from Kendal a fact that was told to me by Mr Little he will appear soon in the story I heard bang hiss. I looked around for a lorry and the air brakes going off but none in sight so yes you’ve guessed a puncture which became very apparent as I drove 10 yards on when the steering went funny the front wheel dropped and I heard that sound that all motorists around the world dread the sound of a wheel on the road without the help of a fully inflated tyre, lots of flat spent rubber flapping on the road, the place was Kirkby Stephen on the A685 ( a fact I didn’t find out till later), a place that lot’s motor bikers use as the roads wind a lot. I call it a 1 road town, everything is on 1 road, pub, post office, shops, tourist information and a church, although this one had been turned into an antique centre but was closed on Sunday like a lot of places, a fact that was mentioned a lot by Mr Little. Their was a good thing though in all of this I was travelling a lot slower down to 30mph and slower again as I was approaching traffic lights, 10 minutes earlier I was travelling at the speed limit 70mph. After coming to a stop and managing to pull over the road to park at the back of some parked cars in a lay bye, if they wanted to move difficult but I would be on my way soon once I changed that tyre with the freshly pumped up spare tyre that I had checked a week before we set off, it was a little flat when I checked but with more air it seemed ok, how wrong can you be After emptying the boot of “stuff”, how much do you need for a 3 night break, well with a car the “just in case” goes to whole new level. I think I need to adopt the Ryanair and Easyjet policies in future. So with what seemed all our worldly possessions on the street I eventually got to that spare tyre beneath the boot and although it looked ok if you had wanted to blow a balloon up with the air in it you would be very lucky. That was plan A and as they say I quickly moved on to plan B, a breakdown company, a tow truck and a Mr Little. It was nearly midday when I phoned my breakdown service not that nice man who use to salute you a more watered down version cheaper and explained where I was, a fact that I found out from a nice lady who sold hot Panini’s, freshly made balms and tea with a drop of sympathy, but that came later. A text arrived and told me a Mr little breakdown was on his way and would arrive in about 45 minutes, so we sat in the car and waited for him to arrive, however 5 minutes later a phone call from the man himself I am minutes away, things were looking up. Mr Little arrived a local man from the sign on his truck, he was to say the least helpful in a Will Hay sort of way if anyone is old enough to remember a sketch when he was in charge of a fire station when someone rung to report a fire and the conversation went something like this “Is it a big fire as we have just started our tea break, could you keep it going till we get there and we will be along shortly, we have the pools coupon to fill out as well”
“You’re in a bit of a mess” said Mr Little and thought that a compressor to blow up the spare was the answer and so did I, how wrong could we both be, as soon as the connection to the valve was released all the air came out a faulty valve, perished rubber as I found out later. Is their no Kwik-Fit around I asked as I am out my comfort zone and you are in yours. Well it’s Sunday and the nearest one is in Kendal it will be shut and its 25 miles away as though it was on another planet. Visions of an extra night stay were looming into my brain. If we take the valve out of the tyre on the car and replace the one on the spare that should solve it, however I need to go back to the garage and try and find a tool that will do the trick, I wont be long said Will Hay, sorry Mr Little and off he went. Living as we do in Aigburth Kwik-Fit is 4 streets away and always open on a Sunday, so can things be so different we are only 100 miles away from home and yet we some how seemed a million miles maybe because I have lived all my life in Liverpool a big city who knows, so on this very bright Sunday now afternoon their was only one way to find out ring them and find out. Not ringing Directory Enquiries that often I resorted to the 118 advert, which probably cost me as much as the new tyre, but I am going to far ahead after getting the number and the nice lady asking me did she want her to put you through and ring the number an offer I declined, I contacted Kwik-Fit, Kendal and behold a shining light they were open said Mr Kwik as long as you can get here by 2.00pm but we are open till 4.00pm, light was starting to appear at last.
Mr Little came back after my phone call to the breakdown company who in turn told him that someone was open on a Sunday a miracle. When Mr Little returned in his truck he said “I had been busy, how did you find out “the phone was nearly my reply but as I would soon need this man’s help to get to Kendal I refrained and with much stopping of traffic and loading the car and all our worldly possessions which we had loaded as soon as I found out Kwik-Fit was open of we set for a very picturesque drive to Kendal crossing the M6 motorway. We arrived at Kwik-Fit with time to spare around 1.45pm and Kwik and Fit got on with the job in hand replacing the faulty valve and the very flat tyre with a new one and of course £40 lighter in the wallet and we back driving into Kendal at 2.15pm.
So what has all this to do with volunteers apart from I hope an amusing story about me the volunteer, part of it I think is the kindness of strangers, the lady with the kiosk who gave us a cup of tea and reminded me that we were lucky we were going slow, Mr Little who must have been 70+ he did help and as we found out on our journey with him he had travelled the day before up to the Highlands of Scotland and back again, no wonder he seemed in a daze and in his words “He was Knackered” and to the last two in this Mr Kwik and Mr Fit who just got on with the job in hand and showed their help and courtesy to us both, even though it was Sunday.
So back to me while I was volunteering at the Walton Centre information desk the other day a man came looking for a garage, his car wouldn’t start and he had come from Cheshire. After some discussion with Reception a garage was not far who maybe could help but remembering people who had helped me I offered and took him to the garage and explained his problem give me 10 minutes was the answer. As I chatted to him he had got lost and he also needs to come back next week for a scan, his wife was having trouble he explained in more detail the trouble, for him and his wife it could be the start of a long journey with a different type of breakdown man needed, I do hope not. His car had gone when I looked later and I did see him again the next week, his wife had come for the scan and he had remembered the kindness of strangers and brought me some eggs and tomatoes for my troubles. Some people do care and go that extra mile to help strangers in trouble.
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