It has been 10 months since I last updated my blog; Lots has been going on and I’ve spent a lot of time stuck in the mental health care system – but now is the time to start actively updating my website again!
Firstly: Happy World Autism Awareness Day / Month.
Autism Awareness is much more poignant for me this year. The last few months have been very tough for various reasons. I am in a much better place now and am starting to return to a more normal, and stable, state of mind – thanks mostly to Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. More on that in the future – but for now…. I’m travelling again (for the first time in months).
As I write this evening I am half way to Scotland. I’ve picked the right week….warm and Sunny, as my cousin Victoria told me this week “go quickly for this once in a decade phenomenon in Scotland”. I’m staying tonight in a hotel just off the M6, about 10 mins drive from Lancaster City Centre.
I made really good time today; Including one stop of about half an hour, I did the journey in 3 hours 45 minutes (departing Cirencester at 10:45, arriving in Lancaster at 14:30).
Apart from one traffic jam as I got on the M6, and being held in a rolling road block just before the Blackpool, it was a fairly easy journey. I arrived at the hotel today before my room was even ready – so that’s a plus (bit different to when I drove to Berlin in November and arrived at each destination after dark, sometimes quite late at night).
I did drive in to Lancaster itself to walk around the city centre; I missed the chance to get a tour of the Castle – and won’t have time tomorrow as I need to leave after breakfast (I’ve got something on in Glasgow at midday).
But I did manage to see Lancaster Castle from the outside. For much of its history, the castle has been associated with crime and punishment – it has been used as a prison since the 12th century, has been the scene of notable trials, hundreds of executions and has housed prisoners of various categories until as recently as 2011. Nowadays, it is open to the public for guided tours 7 days a week. The castle is also still used as a Crown Court – one of the oldest working Crown Courts in the country.
Maybe on the way back down I’ll stop for a tour.
How does it feel to be travelling again after all this time? Really good actually! As much as I enjoyed driving to Berlin in November, at the time I hadn’t recognised how unwell I was. My head was all over the place. Now? I feel like I am genuinely enjoying the freedom of being out on the roads, sight seeing, and we have the added bonus of the time of year – it is spring, the sun is shining, and the temperature is a lot warmer than Germany in the winter!
Good night,
FH.
