Trip 20 – In A Nutshell

Tour de Yorkshire – Without a Bike!

19 buses, 1 tram, 1 train, 4 car journeys, 2 counties (Yorkshire and Teeside),  1 AnchorHanover guest room (Goole) , 4 Wetherspoons, 1 Adventure Park (Flamingo Land), 1 White-Water Rafting experience (Tees Barrage), 1 theatre (Theatre Royal, York), 2 libraries (Hull and York), 2 birthdays (Daniel’s and mine) and 90+ new recruits.  What a way to celebrate your 75th birthday! It was certainly memorable for many highs…. and one big ‘low’!

My misgivings about the adventurous aspects of this trip were soon dissipated by gritting my teeth and entering into the spirit.  Yes, I enjoyed the experiences and, yes, I was delighted and relieved that no bones were broken.  However, both Janet and I paid the price a few days later when we developed symptoms of Leptospirosis bacterial infection and both felt very ill with aches, pains, fevers and headaches.  A week-long course of very strong antibiotics soon rectified the problem but the side-effects were almost as bad as the infection itself! Neither of us wishes to repeat the experience so the idea of future white-water adventures has been obliterated from the wish list!

The highlight of my birthday was enjoying a performance of ‘A View From The Bridge’ by Arthur Miller at the Theatre Royal, York.  My great-grandmother’s oldest sister, Clara St Clair (stage name  Clara Morfitt) had performed in this theatre in 1888 and it was a wonderful feeling to sit in the auditorium and experience the atmosphere of this beautiful building.  Most of the original architecture and décor still exists which encouraged my imagination to wander into days gone by and try to envisage Clara’s performance as Prince Izan in Sinbad The Sailor.

Trying to complete the challenge of finding 75 new ‘rubbish’ recruits on my 75th birthday proved quite hilarious.  I almost got thrown out of Wetherspoons in Selby for talking to customers about the campaign – I was accused of interrupting peoples’ privacy! Staff in local charity shops, pubs and  bus stations were much more enthusiastic and encouraging and I eventually reached my target at the theatre in the evening.  Overall, throughout my trip, I ‘persuaded’ 90+ new recruits to be photographed. #Respect!

As ever, my eternal gratitude to my friends, followers and family for your enduring support, posts, tweets, retweets, shares, comments, likes and loves, not only for the campaign but also for my birthday.  Your support raised my Twitter followers to over 1,000 – the best birthday gift for the environment. I love you all for your kindness and dedication to the cause and for keeping me motivated – especially when I was suffering from Leptospirosis!

In the words of J.K. Rowling: “We do not need magic to change the world.  We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already; we have the power to imagine better.”

To all my magical supporters…..you boost my power to imagine better.

Thank you!

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