Camping in Wales

One of my friends had noticed I had not blogged for ages and got in touch using other means !

This has spurred me to sit down and mash the keys 😊

So current state of play, I am not too happy at work at the moment, so the weekdays are a bit of a low point. Weekends are not so bad, I usually have things to distract me.

Got blood tests on Friday morning, I am keen to see what my levels are, I am possibly expecting my Oestrogen to be too high now that I am on testosterone blockers.  We shall see !

I do think i've had a bit of a boob-spurt too, seem to be less finger room in the bra's - not a scientific method, but a method at least :)

 

Adventures !!!! 

It's been a fun filled month since my last post.

Wales was the high point, it was a 'Womens Drivers Social Club' meet, we were all mostly in classic or at least old cars.  Camping for four nights at 'Bryn Ffanigl Ganol Caravan and Camping Park' 

I was taking my friend Charlotte, she had not been to the group before, or been camping in many years, or done long distances in Josephine, so it was a bit more of an unknown for her !

Wales Day 1

We had planned to leave on the Friday morning, stopping off for lunch in Chester, then on- wards for a quick detour to see her father who lives near Chester. It seemed rude not to pop in since we were so close.

The journey over the Pennines was very good, we had nice weather and although we had gone a fairly non-motorway route using Woodhead pass we made good time.

On arrival in Chester we had a lovely lunch in a nice cafe - had originally looked at the posh food places in the market, but they were too fancy for my simple tastes. How hard is it to do a jacket potato !!!

Spent an hour or so with her father and partner, consumed some nice fruit tea, then on-wards towards the campsite. I think we arrived at 5ish , the traffic was pretty bad with it being rush hour on Friday.

After getting the keys from the nice site manager we drove up a steep hill to the end of the site where the non-electric pitches were.

Then came the fun of putting up the tent - a brand new one never been out of the bag. It was a 'bell tent' design with a long central pole that facilitates standing in the centre of the tent - at least if you are a heffalump like me, Charlotte is taller 😆

It only took us about 30 minutes, which I thought was good considering we were researching knots, and trying to figure things out as we went.

My friend to her horror did discover that the toilet block had loud piped music blaring, which was a bit of a downer.  We assumed it was to stop people sleeping in them ! - we had decided to use the disabled as per my previous po
st. It was at least very modern and clean.  

I had brought cooking equipment and a selection of easy to cook food, so we did that next - I think it was a pasta and sausage affair. 

After unpacking the car and getting the airbeds blown up we were not feeling particularly energized and had a quiet night. Some of  the other ladies did have a bit of huddle and socialized for a bit, but figured we would get chance the next few nights to do that. 

We didn't sleep too well, although it had been a sunny day, there was no cloud cover and it got rather cold !  The sleeping bags we had brought were sadly lacking, way too thin. The pillows were bad too - so we vowed to go shopping for some additional warmth the next day.

Wales Day 2 - Anglesey

Breakfast was consumed, with hot beverages - I had to boil a saucepan of water as my
tiny kettle was not sufficient.  Charlotte had brought some biscuits she had made, and also jam. I had not had chance to buy eggs on the way, but they were a nice alternative.

The plan for the day was a group drive to a motor museum in Anglesey , were we would stay for most of the day, then a scenic drive back to the campsite. 

I spent some time getting my 360 camera attached to the back of the car, then we sort of formed a formation to get going.  The instructions were a little vague, but i was meant to be following a white beetle, so I did that :) 

The drive was fun, lots of tunnels which do sound good when you go through them, although we were keeping to a steady pace so nobody got left behind.

We arrived at the museum  at 11:30ish , and managed to mostly park together. 

The museum was fab, lovely staff and cafe, and plenty of exhibits.  I won't bore with all the photo's I took, there was a lot to see.  We had lunch first, then wandered around with some of the other ladies, and spent a good few hours there.  

We decided to forgo the scenic drive back, and go our separate way as we needed to find better sleeping equipment. So we headed off before the rest. First to a farm shop to buy eggs for my standard breakfast :)  - also got some real apple juice and some Welsh bread, i I forget the name. 

Then we set the sat nav for Dunelm !  figured this would have bedding, our aim was a duvet to go over the top of us and provide more insulation. 

We got that, and also some pillows and some throws to put over us while sat out on an evening, then headed back to the site.  We were the 1st to arrive by some time, some of the other girls had mechanical issues and a puncture, and had been helping each other out to get back ! 

Wasn't much we could do, so we had some food - there was meant to be a communal cook later on, but we were hungry and wasn't sure if there would be a delay so we did some rice and sausage.

The others did eventually get back - aside from one car which took a long while to get fixed !  Food was cooked, and we ended up sat around with everyone in a big circle. 

We had a few beverages with the food, and spent a while chatting with everyone, it was really nice.  The throws were not that warm though, and as it got colder we did decide to head off to the tent - we were not the 1st though.  I think if i do camping again in May I need an oodie !

Wales Day 3 - Llandudno

This would be a day where no driving of Josephine was required. There was a big transport event in Llandudno - which has terrible car parking. So the plan was to take everyone to a nearby train station in as few cars as possible. Then we would get the train in, spend the day there, then train back etc.

We ended up in Tashe's mum's Mazda 2 :)  which had been borrowed for the day. 

After the short drive, and short train journey we ended up in the town centre, and were given instructions on where to meet later. There was a vintage bus ride around the Great Orme, and we had to be at the transport festival to meet the other ladies for that. 

There were lots of things we could do during the day, but I had always fancied going up the Greate Orme on the tram, and Charlotte is a fan of these too, so we decided to go get some lunch, and then ascend the headland ! 

I found us a vegan cafe that did intresting food, and we had our fill, and a beverage. Then we walked along the front - there were some supercars doing a bit of a show along the front so stopped and watched these for a while.

Upon arriving at the tram station, it was clear there would be a bit of a wait. I think we ended up waiting about 30 minutes.  The ride up was fun, you have to stop half way and change, which broke it up a bit.  

At the top, the cafe was a bit disappointing, and it was very windy, so wasn't feeling too great about the plan - but we stumbled on a food van doing really nice food and drinks in a very out of the way location - and also two other members of the group using it !

We sat on a bench and had a nice natter with them, it was out of the wind too, so very pleasant.

After this I decided i didn't want to queue for ages at the top tram station, so we walked downhill , past the mines to the intermediate station. This meant we were nearly at the front of the queue when the next tram was coming up ! 

We trundled down on that, and then made our way back into town. My gas had run out, so we nipped into an outdoor shop to get some more bottles too.

Then along the front all the way to the vintage transport showground.  We paid to get in, found some more food - pulled pork sandwiches !  then met up with the other ladies. 

After this, we did some waiting for the vintage coach that was to take us around the town, and then around the Great Orme.  It didn't seem like we waited that long.

The coach was fab, it had air ducts, which were very pleasing, it had been a hot day.

The trip around town, and around the Great Orme was really fun, we were all in a group at the back of the bus. We were very near the front of the convoy of vehicles and we could see it stretching miles behind us.  

By the time we got back into town, we actually crossed paths with the tail of the convey which hadn't even made it to the Orme yet !

We got off in the town, and did spend a while watching the tail of other vehicles go past, which was fun.  Then we headed into a nearby large pub to get some food until it was time to get to the train station and head back to the campsite.

The food wasn't bad, and had a few ciders.  The train back was good, and we got a lift back in the same car.  Unexpected conversations about octopus bum holes were had  😂

There was a gathering when we got back, but it was dark and cold and we just ended up saying goodnight fairly early.

 

 

Wales Day 4 - Home time

The others were going to the zoo - I hadn't bothered booking this part of the weekend, as I wasn't that fussed about trailing around while worrying about getting home.

So we were going to head back to Yorkshire via Chester and have a little explore and find somewhere nice to eat instead.

We ended up at a pub near the river 'The Boathouse & Riverside Rooms'.  We arrived shortly before they were doing food, which was very good, as it got busy very quickly and we were able to get our orders in first :)

After a really nice meal, we did some walking along the river, and along the walls, and a nearby park to help settle the food.  The walls were fun, we only managed a short section of them.   

Soon we were back on the road heading mostly the same way as we had come.  Traffic wasn't too bad and we made good time !

 

Then the adventure was at an end - well for me, Charlotte had to drive home to Hull !

It was a really good weekend , and I am glad it went so well.  Had been looking forward to it for months. 

 

 

Women's motoring

 

General Updates

Have got some better passport photo's , paperwork to send off on Monday !

I have also booked a haircut with a posh stylist in Wakefield for Friday morning. I am going to give a bangs/fringe look a go !

I had a call with my new boss on Thursday, my move to IT is actually happening, it all sounded positive. There is a team meeting (video call) on Monday, so I will need to remember what I am working on for that.

Women's Drivers Social club meetup (Winter Warmer)

This was in Bicester. which is about 150 miles south of my location in the grim north :)  .  I had been preparing Josephine over Christmas, but as always was still working on her the night before to get her ready.

I had taken her for a test drive, and all was well, aside from her desire not to inform other road users that she wanted to turn left.  Which is unusual, as it was usually turning right that had the issue.  So I bodged up a spare generic indicator stalk in addition to the one already fitted.  This was required as the original stalk does the horn, and this generic one doesn't.

The meeting was on Saturday, but it's a long drive, so I decided to go down the day before and stay at Banbury. I found a cheapish hotel the 'Whately Hall Hotel', which looked to have a nice car park - which is clearly more important than my own comfort.  It turned out to be quite a nice place, the room was good, although a little noisy during the early evening as it seems the main road gets a lot of traffic.

Friday 

I arrived around 2pm, having stopped for a sandwich on the way down at some services.  After checking in, I had a bit of a wander around Banbury, it was quite dead really, but not as depressing as some places.  I found a tap bar in a shopping ce
ntre and had one stout in there.  Possibly losing a penguin earring in the process.  Then headed to a pub nearer the hotel, where I had a couple of pints of bitter, and ham eggs and chips.  It was a nice place, seemed actually interested in her job, and was good at remembering what had been previously ordered.

I had noticed the missing earring in there, so did re-trace my steps, but couldn't find it.  So went back to the hotel. I was going to chill there for the evening, and get an early night, as the plan was to do the Womens Drivers event, then drive to Birmingham for a Trans night out in the evening.

Saturday

I had been upsold breakfast when I checked in the previous day, so I got up at 7ish to be ready for 8am when they started serving,  The were only a few of us in there that early, a table with some tourists and then myself on my own.

The food was good, aside from the sausage which didn't have much texture to it - but for £10 it was OK.  

I had to be in Bicester for 10:30am, so there wasn't much of a rush after I got back to my room.  Josephine started fine, but on attempting to use the windscreen washers the pump died, didn't think much of it until I I was on the move and realised the dashcam had switched off - so i must have blown a fuse.  I was able to swap the dashcam to a power bank without stopping though.

I arrived on time, there were quite a few other ladies and cars already there, so I got a space nearer the car park entrance. We were meeting a garage that specialises in keeping classics on the road - not a place that does full restorations.  Classic Collective

I do feel a bit of imposter syndrome when around the other ladies, but they are very
welcoming, and other than a few short periods where I was looking a bit lonely I had a fab time. 

There were about 20 of us there, so quite a crowd really, 518 members on the FB group, but there seem to be not that many that go to real world meetups.

There was a workshop tour, a bit of a sales pitch on some fuel stabiliser, free hot drinks, and just some time for us all to chat. I got some video of the workshop of course :

At around 1pm we all headed to a pub for some lunch. It was a 15 minute drive away, so we did a convoy, and arrived together.

Not by design I ended up on a table with a trans woman who I had seen but not really spoken to much before, and also her partner, and some other ladies.

Had a really good talk with them, and had some nice food. The service was a bit chaotic, so we all ended up getting our orders way after others - I was lucky and got mine first. 

It was around 4pm when I decided I should make a move - a few others had left so I wasn't the first by any means. I said my goodbyes and headed out for the next leg of the adventure.

Birmingham 

I think it took me about and hour and a half to get to Birmingham, it was quite cold and I had to stop
for a wee, and also fuel on the way.  I put an extra dress on at the services to try and stay warmer for the remainder of the journey.  It got dark while I was driving as well which made it less fun too.  

I think I was at the hotel by 5:45pm  , It took a while for me to find a parking space in the multistorey I had chosen for her.  The Travelodge was only a 5 minute walk away and I got checked in quickly.

One of my friends from Leeds / Hull had heard I was going and wanted to join, so had booked in at the same hotel.  After a quick refresh of my makeup I arranged to meet her in reception so we could go get some food.

We had decided upon Wagamama's as it was close, and we were going to change before heading to the pub for the social event around 8pm.  

I can't say that I had been that impressed with them previously, but I did manage to find something I really liked at this one. It was a rice bowl with chicken - "Shu's Shiok Chicken'  - was very nice, and only 478 kcals.  With the breakfast and pub meal, I didn't want anything too calorific.

We headed back to the hotel afterwards and spent another 30 mins or so getting ready for the evening. I went with a gothic-ish look, which suited the biker boots and leggings I had kept on because it was just too damn cold !

Transcend 

This event was previously called 'Birmingham Belles' but had been re-named to make it more inclusive for trans-masc and non-binary people. The lady that runs it is a regular at LFF and comes along to our Pints and Straws event regularly too - had been meaning to go for ages.

We met in the Equator bar , and spent a good hour or s
o in there. I liked it, it had a nice atmosphere and did at least have Guinness.  We ended up talking to a couple who were going to LFF in February, so will be looking out for them  at that.  

My friend wanted to dance, so we decided to go investigate other venues,  we had a look at 'Missing' but it seemed like there was a queue, so ended up at 'Sidewalk', where we felt very old. We had a drink in there though, then moved to 'The Fox' where we ended up back with the rest of the gang.

It was a fun place, there was a pool table and some banter going on around there, I did play my friend but lost :(  

I can't remember the exact order from there onwards, we did 'The Village' , possibly 'Sidewalk' again, and 'Missing', before finishing back at the Fox.  They kicked us out of there - I think 1am , 2am something like that, and we wobbled back to the hotel :)

All in all a very good night, some really nice friendly venues - I was struck by the number of non-T rainbow people in them - LFF it doesn't feel like there are many other members of the community out with us, it just seems a lot more straight in Leeds.  This was more like Manchester in that regard.

The long drive home 

I was a bit hungover, but nothing a paracetamol couldn't mostly fix.  I wanted to get off early, so that I was in less traffic getting out of the city centre.  It wasn't a bad drive, but still quite cold. I stopped off at Woodall for a loo stop, but other than that I just kept going.  

I was a bit tired on the Monday, but was well worth it, was a very good weekend ! 

You spin me right round baby right round

Life Updates 

It has been a fairly quiet month in terms of attending the big trans night outs.  I hadn't planned on going to anything until December. It's nice to have a slow month every now and then. December is going to be hectic, but perhaps I will try and keep January a low key one too.

I did still have some things to go to, Swimming and chameleons got me mingling a bit every other week, which is nice.  It's good to have regular normal things that don't involve alcohol.

Work

Not really sure what triggered it, but it was suggested that I might like to move department. So as of the new year I shall be back in the ranks of the IT . There is another woman who works under the same boss,  but the rest are blokes, whereas finance has a lot more women. 

From a company tree perspective, I will have fallen a few rungs, but I have always thought I was reporting way too high, so it's not a bad thing. 

It's not the first time I've had my role changed, it seems to happen quite regularly to some people in the company.  Ones they don't want to keep don't seem to be moved, so I am hopeful it's not part of a move to oust me.  I am having to hand over some critical business tasks to others in the finance team, it's a bit difficult as a lot of what I do is in my head, but I am improving processes and documentation to make it possible at least.

Medical Matters

Due to the name change at the doctors, and them having a new computer system installed, I've been unable to re-register for online access to my medical records.  I used to get access to my blood tests which I need to provide to Gender GP for them to safely prescribe my hormones.

I am going to pop into the doctors with the form next week to see if they are ready to process it, fingers crossed they will.

In the mean time, I just told Gender GP I didn't have any results to provide, and they seemed happy to just give me the same dose as last time.  Once I get access again , I can check if the levels were OK, and adjust my dose if the E is too low. It will just run out sooner, and I will have to re-order sooner.

Home life

Things are fairly static, I did note that my wife seemed to be calling my Izzy more often, rather than daddy ( to the kids)  which is an improvement.  

My parents seem to be doing OK, my brother has been doing some painting for them. I try to pop in when I go swimming if possible, it can sort of be on the way.

Hobby News 

The new (old) car is not going well, the aluminium head is firmly stuck on the head studs. But I have finally got around to purchasing a metal working lathe !!

I have coveted one for a long time, and this issue with the car sort of swung it.  With the lathe I can make a very thin long hole saw to cut around the studs, and free the head.  I will also be able to tackle the worn out steering nut in the steering box with it too.  Plus lots of other things I wanted to use it for as well.

I also bought a new extruder assembly for my 3D printer which should rejuvenate it, and give it much superior performance.   

This is the bad side of not being out drinking at the weekends, I actually get to do other things, and they expensive.

Things Attended : 

NEC Classic Motor Show - 8th of November

My friend Alice was meant to be meeting up with me at this event, you have to pre-book tickets. It's a very big show, the biggest I've ever been to.  

The Woman's Drivers Social Club had a stand, and I had set off really early to ensure I got there for the 10am group photo - but not early enough as it seems.  I had pre-booked parking in the EV part, but the car park people were directing everyone into a normal car park, so I had to try and find my way back out of that, and then around the congested roads to the correct one - which I missed and then had to do another lap.  Anyway, did eventually get into the event.

My main mission , aside from meeting up with the WDSC girls, was to do a bit of networking with the people on the Standard Motor Company group stand, as I will likely need help and to buy parts from fellow club members - and get advice on certain things.

I did manage to talk with Rodger who was lovely, and he said he would put me in touch with a chap who owns the same model as mine. 

Spent a while walking around the event, I got my eldest a drone from one of the stands, got a bit ripped off, it turns out there is no Android App for it !  Bought some tools from one stall, a Morris Minor t-shirt from the owners club stand too.

Did sit with the WDSC girls for a bit as well.  My feet were starting to hurt, so I took a shuttle bus back to my car to change into an alternate pair which were flatter, and drop off some of my goodies too.

Overall it was a nice experience, there were a few bad moments though -  some guys who were clearly having a joke about me while I was walking into the event in the morning, I could hear them a bit, then they all went totally silent while they past me, and then started joking as they got far enough away to feel brave again.  There was also some guys who were less than impressed that there was a Gay motoring club with a stand there.   But most people we friendly enough, and I saw lots of nice cars. 

Perhaps next year I will do 2 days, there is far too much to see on just one day.

  

Swimming Bramley Baths - 10th of November

I popped into my parents an hour before the session just to see how they were. The house was a bit of a state as my brother was there, he had been painting their hallway for them. He stayed for a bit so I got to talk to him too.  I only stayed about 40 minutes, but was glad I had made the effort.

I did 34 lengths during the session  -  it was quite quiet, and neither of my two usual companions (distractions) were there, so I ended up having to swim lots.  I managed 34 lengths, which for the 22m pool is nearly 750 Meters ! 

Alex was there I did talk to her for a bit before we got into the pool, but she likes to try and do 1Km, so doesn't chat in the pool - that's 46 lengths.

This is a new PB, and a target I hope to try and beat one  day soon.  

Chameleons - 14th November

Given that I hadn't been out much, I was even more keen than usual to go. It was a lovely night, packed again. Had a good natter, I made some disappointing tea - I am no good with tea pots. 

There was some new ladies there which was nice to see, and a very packed room once again. We certainly do seem to be on a roll with new people coming this year. 

Swimming 24th of November

I met up with my friend Charlotte at a shopping centre that could be on our mutual routes to the baths.  Had offered to have a coffee with her before the swimming, as it's only a 1 hour session, so you can't have a popper chat really.  

We met at the White Rose centre, and ended up in Starbucks.  I had a Fudge Brownie hot chocolate, with cream on the top - thus neutralising any calorie loss due to the imminent exercise 😄

She had cracked her ribs doing some indoor climbing with a Queer climbing group this week, so I didn't try to make her laugh. We had a nice chat, then headed to the baths which was about 20 minutes away. 

I did only manage 22 lengths this time, well short of the previous count, but it was a lot busier session, and I did have someone to talk to.   I am back on the 1st of December, I think I will be on my own for that one, so hopefully get to 30 at least.

Plumbing the depths

Thursday Night  - Nottingham Chameleons 

I was in two minds as to come, as I would be driving Josephine to a car show near Birmingham on the Friday, and wanted to be fresh.  But I figured if I made sure to leave by 10:30pm I would likely get a good night sleep.  

There was also a chance that Sue might be popping along, so I didn't want to miss her if she did. 

Anyway glad I did, it was a fun night, some newbies there to talk with, a full house nearly.  I might end up sat on the tea trolley if it get's much busier. 

Was in what I had been working in all day, a tunic top and leggings, very practical 😊

I was chatting to Charlotte mainly, who had not been out much and was possibly a bit overwhelmed. But she seemed like she enjoyed the night.

Was fab to catch up with the regulars, including Ann and Sally who I would be meeting up with on Saturday too.  Lynn had done some nice posters which likely made the staircase of doom seem more inviting to the newcomers.  

Was nice to see Joanne back too, on her electric bike, which was a bit of a struggle to get up the stairs.

Several new biscuit options were passed around, which I did my best to resist.  My diet isn't going too badly at the moment, which is nice.

I did manage to bid farewell roughly when I had hoped, and got home around midnight.

Friday - The drive to Daventry 

I had to pack in the morning, as I hadn't had chance the previous night. I had lunch and headed off around 1:30pm

The A1 seemed like the better route, I prefer having a hard shoulder for emergency's.  It wasn't a bad trip, it took around 2:30 , it was about 120 miles.  Mostly sat in the left lane and found other vehicles to site behind (at a safe distance).

I didn't stop on the way down, so was in need of the loo by the time I was there. 

There was clearly an event on at the hotel when I arrived, some desks in reception, possibly a conference of some sort.  They had given me a room quite a trek away, possibly out of the way of the other guests perhaps.  It all seemed a bit tired, and was a bit disappointed with it. 

Had a pizza and a beer in the bar after 6pm.  There was meant to be a pool, but it wasn't open, so spent the evening relaxing in my room. 

Did sleep too well, there was a dog barking somewhere, not sure if it was tied up outside, or was in one of the rooms.  I had to get up at 6:30am to be ready to get to the show as well. It was about 30 minutes away, but wanted to get there fairly early to be assured of a spot with the Women's Drivers Social Club girls.  Also my friend Alice was meeting with them for the 1st time too.

Saturday  - 'Rustival' car show 

It was quite cold in the morning, and I wanted to let the car warm up a while before setting off.  I had to
use my USB fan, on a camera mount pointing at the windscreen to stop it misting back up - she had no heating system or inbuilt fan, a somewhat poverty spec car  😂

By the time I was ready I was behind schedule, but did still manage to get there around 9am , with about 30 mins to spare before the official cut off time for the parking area we were in. We had managed to bag 'Vanden Plas' parking, which is meant to be the best area, and you have to apply early for.

On arrival we were directed to the appropriate row, and I spied Alice and her Land Rover, and ended up parked next to her !

We spent a little while chatting to some of the group, then headed off to get coffee and food, then around the event to look at the 100's of cars that were there. So many nice ones,  it's a real mixed event - Dubbed 'The friendliest car show'.

I got lots of compliments on my Doc Marten knee highs but don't actually have a picture of me in them :)

Elaine - A friend from Uni had been taking a break in the local area for a few days, and so I had invited her over to the show, she arrived mid-morning.  We also looked around most of the cars, before re
joining Alice and heading into the Museum buildings to look around their collection.  

We had some lunch in the café inside after this, and then did a bit more looking outside too.  She headed off mid afternoon, and I stayed for another hour or so.

Alice and myself were going to meet up with Ann and Sally in Derby, and have a meal out and drinks that evening.  I think it was 3ish that we headed off, the event hadn't officially finished, but we wanted to get going. 

The drive to Derby wasn't particularly eventful, other than I was getting quite low on fuel, and did panic Alice when I disappeared from behind her into the services for some really expensive E95.

I actually managed to get to the hotel before her, as she had stopped at the next services to message me, but I didn't hear it come through.

Saturday Evening - Derby 

Met Ann in the car park of the hotel, she was unpacking her car as I pulled up, I was confused as to why I had beaten Alice there, but she turned up a few minutes later. 

We had a meal booked for 7:45, but wanted to do some pubs before hand. So we didn't spend long getting booked in and changed.  The rooms had their heating turned up really high and the windows only opened a crack, so it wasn't the most fun place to be hanging about in either.

I changed into my cat circuit board print dress, partly as it was a lot cooler to wear in the room :)

We did a few real ale pubs on the way to the restaurant, meeting up with Sally in one of them. She had designed a new game called 'trap your jacket in your handbag zip' , which kept us amused for at least 10 minutes 😂

How many trans girls does it take to free a jacket stuck in a handbag ?  two as it turns out ! 

I only had a few halves as didn't want to be bad the next day as driving the Morris with a hangover is much less fun than a modern car.

The pub Ann had booked for the meal was really nice, and we all enjoyed the food. I had a hanging kebab which is always a fun option :)

We did some more pubs on the way back to the hotel, Sally had been in some new heels and wasn't able to walk that fast in them at all.  We managed to find one pub still open near the hotel, and stayed in there till last orders.  Then we all went back to the hotel, and Sally got an Uber home from there.

It was a very pleasant evening.

Sunday - Victorian Pumping Station

Despite not drinking much I wasn't feeling that great in the morning, tummy troubles mainly.  I did manage to eat some of my cooked breakfast - it was buffet style so I didn't waste it, just didn't get much. 

The plan was for myself and Alice to head to Clay Mills Victorian sewage pumping station near Burton upon Trent. https://www.claymills.org.uk

They allow you free entry to the museum if you take a classic vehicle along to display, so we got to park in the main compound rather than the car park.

Alice was nearly taken out by an insane Kia on the dual carriageway on the way, going from the outside lane to a slip road for a filling station right in front of her. Thought she was going to do a bit of impromptu off-roading !  unfortunately I wasn't directly behind her so have no footage. 

I made sure to get some nice photo's of us with the cars before we looked around. There was a lot to see there, 4 huge beam engines arranged in pairs, 2 of which we saw running. Other ancillary static engines doing minor roles, also one powering belts for lathes etc.  

There was a 'land girls' singing group in one of the sheds, and we listened to them for a while until a load of motorbikes arrived and we decided to go look at them instead.

There was a fire engine rescue demonstration too. 

It was a really fab place, I got some nice video but not uploaded any yet.

We headed home about 1:30 ish, we were going mostly the same way up the M1 for a lot of the journey, so I stayed in convoy as much as I could.  Got home after 3pm.

I was meant to be swimming at Bramley baths at 5ish, but I was very tired, and didn't bother.

I couldn't be bothered to go into the office on Monday morning, choosing to WFH instead 😂

Women Drivers Social Club

 

Saturday the 17th was my first meet up with the club. I had learned of it's existence when I had posted a picture of my car on the Morris Minor Owners Club Facebook page.

The trans flag grille had got mostly positive comments, but a few negative ones that people challenged on my behalf.

Anyway the largely positive reception had given me confidence to join the Facebook page for the WDSC, and I received a nice welcome on there to my introductory post.

There was a southern meeting of the group, which involved camping and a bit of a drive around to some motoring attractions earlier in the year, but I had already made plans for that weekend.

So when a northern event was planned I made sure to book tickets for that one.  The itinerary was
officially a Saturday/Sunday event, but it seems that quite a few people turned up the day earlier - so I did miss out on one evening.  

The meeting point for the Saturday was the NY500 café near Pickering ( https://ny500.co.uk )

I had been packing the day before, so was mostly ready to get going, just needing to gather up my makeup and mirror and wash bag.

I didn't have any breakfast, as the plan was to eat brunch there.  The drive over was pretty uneventful,  I did video snippets of it, in case I wanted to do a video later.

NY500

I arrive bang on the 10:30am meeting time, to find I was the 1st there - there were plenty of bikers
around, I got a nice comment on the car.  I decided to have a sausage sandwich and a tea while I waited.

I think it was around 10:45 before everyone else turned up, they were in convoy as had come from the camp site.  They had clearly seen the car, I had parked right out the front, and when they parked up they had left a gap for me to move mine into, so we had them all arranged in a line, which was nice.

They were quite a friendly bunch, and I did manage to talk to most of them.  I sat with a number of them while they ate their breakfasts indoors.  Another group sat outside, it was quite a nice morning so was still pleasant out there. 

One of the girls was trans, which I had known about before I came, and was nice that there was
someone else there - although I didn't really want to get talking to her about that aspect, as I didn't want to throw up a divide between ourselves and the rest of the group as such,

The café itself doubles as a showroom for a small number of classics, and also a bit of a museum. There are chopper bicycles arranged around the upper walls of one part.  It was quite a nice place, and friendly staff too.

We were intending on leaving the café for a drive around the moors, towards Goathland, where we were supposed to go for a wander and more refreshment.  However one of the attendees had not yet arrived, and there was news they were limping in to the café shortly.

The straggler was in a Hillman Imp, which had a potentially disastrous petrol leak.  After it arrived and promptly died in the middle of the car park, it was pushed into a space, and the ladies got to work on disassembling and re-assembling the carburettor.  Other than spotting and picking up a gasket that had made an escape attempt, I didn't do much to help.

A lot of them were very much more experienced than me, some doing it for a living. They eventually stopped it pouring petrol in the ground, and converted it back from an external combustion engine to an internal one :)  , and it was able to start.

Saturday Drive Out

We headed out in convey shortly afterwards.  The drive was fun, lovely scenery, the roads were a bit
more vertical than I remembered, we did some 30% hills, both up and down.  There were a few fords, but unfortunately dry so no fun with the water.

Unfortunately there was a village fair at Goathland, which meant the place was packed and nowhere to park. So the refreshments and village tour was skipped, and we drove on continuing the senic route. We stopped for some photo's briefly.  

The route took us back to the NY500 café, where we re-grouped, as had got a bit fragmented in traffic on the way back.  We got a few more photo's then headed for the camp site.

Camping

We were staying here:  https://www.valeofpickering.co.uk  which was a really nice place.  It had it's own café and shop, and really good toilet blocks.  Would definitely go back again.

After checking in, and setting up my tent , I joined the others who had gone to the fish and chip van which visited the site on certain evenings.  Ended up holding a place for a lady who needed to get her toddler back to her caravan, we had a short but nice conversation - everyone seemed very friendly.

We gathered our camping chairs around and ate the food together, and then we sat around with what alcohol we had all brought along and talked.  

The organiser Becca had brought a friendship bracelet kit, and was sat making one, didn't realise everyone had one, and she was making one for me :)  - I was most touched
by this !

It was getting a bit cold , so I was eventually sat with leggings, a dress, a hoodie and a jacket on by the end of the night :) - was also quite tired.

I think it was about 11pm when I said goodnight, I wasn't the first one to head off, and I don't think they stayed up much longer.

Sunday 

I didn't sleep too well, I was quite cold, had a thick nightie on, and my hoodie in the sleeping bag.

I ended up needing the loo at 1am, which didn't help.  Did manage to sleep a bit at least.

The on-site café opened for breakfast at 9am, so I had got up around 8am to get ready - made a cup of tea on my camping stove and did a cold shave in the tent, and put on my makeup.

The breakfast was really quite good, high quality ingredients - I had a full English of course.  I had made sure to be there as soon as it opened, as it didn't have many tables, so was served pretty quickly.  Most of the other ladies seemed to join us over the next hour or so.

Had a nice chat with a few of them over breakfast as well.

Those that were heading home that day , myself included packed up our tents as best we could and got them in the cars.

Group Photo

Before we set out on the days drive to the coast, we were going to do a group photo with all the cars arranged in a bit of a semi-circle, and us all stood around. I lent the nominated photographer one of my 3 meter selfie sticks to help with this. They turned out pretty good !

Coastal Drive

We were going to Filey , then back inland to stop at Thorton-le-Dale to explore and visit the famous Mathewsons Auctions - ( from Bangers and Cash TV show) , and get some food.

The drive to the coast was nothing special , the one the day before was a lot more fun - but it was still good to be in convoy and enjoying the cars.  We pulled up on double yellows along the seafront for a cheeky photo, and then drove back out of there - which was a shame, I thought we would get an ice-cream at the least :)

At Thorton-le-Dale we did the same illegal park to get a picture of us outside the auction house, and then found a car park.  

We had a look around some trinket shops, and a chocolate shop, and then onwards to the gift shop at the auction house. I got a mug for my dad who is a fan of the show :)

There was a nice picture of us with our friendship bracelets outside there too.

I had only put an hour on my ticket which had expired by the time we had left there, and was quite
tired. So instead of heading with them to a tea room, I decided to call it a day and start the drive home. It was only 1hr 30 mins away, but I also needed to find E5 petrol, as I had heard rumours the local garages only had E10, and I don't want that muck in her !

I had popped back into the chocolate shop to get gifts for my wife and kids first, was worried they might melt on the way home, but was assured if I kept them out of sunlight they would be fine.

I got back just after 4pm, feeling very tired indeed.

In Summary

 A really fab experience, and so lovely to be accepted as one of the group, it felt so nice. So glad I joined, and made the effort to go !  

There is another meetup in September although don't think there will be camping at this one. I am looking forward to going to this too.