Sunday Driver

I'm just back from a few days at my parents' house; as they had to curtail their visit to us over New Year (see earlier post), and as Jacob doesn't start at nursery school for a while yet, I thought we'd take ourselves over "the big hill" and pay them a visit.

I really enjoyed the drive back; Sunday morning is an excellent time to drive across the Pennines - there's only light traffic and absolutely no heavy goods vehicles. However, on the way over (a Wednesday morning), I felt that my inexperience as a driver really showed.

From Harrogate, over Blubberhouses moor (ace name!) and down through the Dales to Skipton, the A59 is a snaky, single carriage road. And during the week, it also plays host to a large number of HGVs - most of which I seemed to get stuck behind until the crawler lanes round Skipton and Clitheroe. Despite having a relatively powerful car for new(ish) driver, I just don't feel confident overtaking yet. On a straight road with a good view ahead, I will overtake, but the A59 is so windy that every time an opportunity for overtaking arose, the newspaper headline "Tragedy as Mother and Two Young Sons Killed in Head-on Collision" flashed into my head.

So, I might just stick to driving to and from Rossendale on Sundays for the foreseeable future. That said, I do get a perverse kick from forcing all the drivers behind me to drive at 50mph. But they're all sales reps, so its no more than they deserve.