Home!

Of course, the inherent complication of having an effective strike is that you are going to annoy the very people whose support you want. Consequently, I tried to keep some perspective on the complications of getting Dan home from London for Christmas.

In the end, though, it wasn't too bad. The trains were running, which was the main thing, and once he was on board one, I simply timed my drive back from Salford such that I was passing Lancaster at the right time to pick him up.

On the way, we stopped at the recently re-opened Royal Oak in Hornby to see how that was - very good, as it happens - before heading home and out for a curry with Abi. The pair of them were very happy to see one another, which was lovely.