I took Friday afternoon off so that we could get a head start on the crowds heading up to the Lake District. I successfully anticipated that the oil warning light would come on and we had already purchased the requisite supplies. Unfortunately after about an hour it became clear that there was growing noise coming from the exhaust. Not withstanding sounding like a boy racer, this started to give me a splitting headache (hopefully not due to petrol fumes!). Consequently, as things started to slow up as we approached Birmingham I was happy to fork out £4.50 to take the M6 toll road – a first for me – which also gave us the option of another set of services (Norton Canes).
We were staying at the De Vere Wychwood Park courtesy of Late Rooms. Very much a conference venue it was a pleasant enough place to stay. It was slightly unfortunate that, having separated the rooms from the restaurant/bar area, they were then closer to the golf club house which was pumping out loud music until the early hours. I also can’t claim to have been overly impressed by the breakfast.