Luke and I were given tickets as a birthday present to go and see the Lion King musical whilst it was on tour in Manchester, we had had them booked for a few months and I had been really looking forward to seeing it. There was heavy snow forecast but there was no way I wanted to miss this amazing show for a bit of snow.
After leaving work at lunchtime yesterday, Luke and I drove across the Pennines from Bradford in West Yorkshire to Bacup in Lancashire. In our infinite wisdom, we decided to avoid the Calder Valley schools traffic and drive via Denholme, Oxenhope & Hebden Bridge over the moor tops.
It was so beautiful on the moortops, the snow still undisturbed and thick, white in all directions as far as the eye could see. The wind was blowing hard and drifting the snow over the dry stone walls and onto the road.
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| Long Causeway between Denholme & Oxenhope |
We arrived safely at my parents house in Bacup, but as we arrived it was just starting to snow very gently, as the forecast had predicted, but as you know "The show must go on!" and we were not missing it.
An hour or so later we left for Manchester, the snow was getting heavier but as we reached Manchester it was just a bit sleety rather than snowy, but I was too excited to see the show.
Our seats were in the centre of the Grand Tier, right up at the top with the really steep staircase, which when you stood up made you want to hold onto something tightly, there was a BIG drop. We had an amazing view of the stage though.
When the show started there was a WOW heard across the theatre, the costumes were absolutely fantastic. I loved the Gazelles they were my favourites, they danced across the stage so elegantly and realistically. I also loved the giraffes and the way the birds glided through the sky and the elephant was just AMAZING (it was a shame that it only came on stage the once at the beginning). It made you feel as if you were in Africa, with the sunrising over the plains and brought back happy memories of my time travelling in Malawi about five years ago. The story and the music was nothing new or unexpected but the costumes and the atmosphere that had been created made it an amazing musical, that is a must see!
The amazing show had made me forget all about the snow until we were leaving the theatre at 10:30pm, but this was when the real adventure truely began. We had to get home to Bradford and my dad to Bacup.
Crawling slowly out of Manchester the snow was getting thicker and thicker the higher we climbed, the roads were moving just as long as you could avoid stopping you were ok. On the M62 just past Birch Services the four lanes of traffic had come to a standstill, we were there over an hour!
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| The M62 at a standstill |
It was frustrating sat watching the traffic flowing freely on the other side and a few snow ploughs passing in the other direction. The snow still falling steadily we wondered if the traffic did start moving whether the car would actually move.
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| Snow plough |
After long enough waiting, we decided that we should pray and praise God for all his goodness and it was only five minutes later that the traffic started moving. PRAISE GOD! We did need a little push to get moving but thankfully two nice Asian men came to help us get moving again. After this it was a continuous steady slow driving pace all the way over the Pennines without another hitch. Who says prayer does not work?
The problem had been several cars and a few lorries had got stuck on the Rochdale sliproad and the motorway had been shut but the Highways Agency were there helping.
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| Rishworth Moor |
We eventually arrived safely home at 2am, very tired and ready for our beds. We were really hungry so late night cheese on toast was needed before going to sleep. The last time I remember being awake that late with Luke was the night he asked me out on our first date.
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| Our back garden with 8 inches of snowfall covering the blemishes |
My dad was still not quite home, he was still stuck on the A56 near Rawtenstall, but got home half an hour later.
THANK GOD that we all got home safely, even though it had taken us three and a half hours, it was worth it. Also thankyou to those men who helped give us a push when we got a little stuck, thankyou to the Highways Agency and local councils for snow ploughing and gritting the roads so we could get home and thankyou to my little reliable car.
Our bed was much appreciated last night!
