Best laid plans

Well it was decided that Yorkwards we should go, so Yorkwards we went. After some minor admin in Great Malvern with the agents of estate, we motored towards and on the motorway. We tripped down the A449, onto the A444, the M5, the M42, and the M1. We made toilet stops at "Services" a couple of times, but all was going well. The YHA had some 4-bed dormitories for a not-too-unreasonable price, and we'd reserved one.

It was just around lunchtime that the car slowed down. It suddenly seemed to have less power. And then we noticed the little orange light on the dash - you know the picture of the spanner that means some trouble with the "engine and transmission electronics". The book said that we should try turning the engine off and on to see if the light would go away - if it only came on once, this was not relevant. But if it continued to come on, we would need a qualified repair person. Well it just so happened that we were in Nottingham, and there were tourist sign directions to Sherwood Forest and Newstead Abbey. It seemed that these would be an interesting place for lunch, and a place to give the engine a rest. We came across Newstead Abbey first, and had a nice walk. There were lovely gardens, a lake, a pond, a big old house, a mostly dissolved abbey, formal Spanish gardens (almost maze-like where the girls went bananas with some similarly aged others), geese, peacocks, squirrels and rabbits, as well as Christopher's favourite: the tractors (that the gardeners were using). We came across some people who spent a few months in Australia as a trial emigration, but decided to go back to Nottinghamshire. They can't have liked wine or must have found some other problem with Muswellbrook.

After some playing around, we got back to the car, and found that the light had gone off. That was lucky! We got down the driveway, and onto the main road again, when the light came on. We started looking for a service station, but the symptoms were getting worse. We could barely drive at 20mph (30km/h), and it took ages to get moving from the front of the traffic light queue. But we eventually found a garage. A little playing around with the computer scanner analyser thing indicated that the "EGR Valve" (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) was faulty. Apparently, exhaust is recirculated through the engine air intake to warm things up. In fact the whole engine is controlled by the computer, and when the light comes on, the computer switches to a "limp home" mode. Even the accelerator pedal has no mechanical linkage to the engine.

The mechanic didn't like doing warranty work - it never seemed to be profitable for him. We called the RAC - we had just confirmed our insurance and breakdown cover with them this morning. But they explained that the full breakdown service only comes into effect after 24h, so that people don't join up when they break down. Anyway, the mechanic took pity on us, and offered to explore and ordered a new EGR valve. We decided to explore the decidedly unscenic town of Kirkby in Ashfield. After a brief stop in an Internet cafe to change a nappy and arrange international funds transfer, we decided it was time for hot chocolate. (Helen seems to have decided that any time from the end of lunch is Fish and Chips time.) We explored the Half Term Half Price sale in a shoe shop, and while buying some boots discovered that the car was all fixed, under warranty and everything. We bought a fourpack of Fosters export beer for the workshop, and were on our way again.

But it was now 4pm, and we wouldn't make it to York in time for Evensong (5:15pm) at the minster. So after a quick check of the atlas, it was decided that the new destination would be Lincoln. I wonder if the York YHA people believe the "car broke down" story. The car got us to Lincoln perfectly (although there was quite some traffic in the inner city part), and we ended up at the closed Tourist office, phoning different people to try to get accommodation for the night. We didn't find anywhere that came close to the YHA price, and had to settle for a rather pricey White Hart Hotel room, right in the middle of the Cathedral and Castle precinct. We rushed to get some dinner in time to take the Ghost Walk tour at 7pm. The Magna Carta pub only just managed to serve our (very good value) meals in time (we were still eating some in our fingers on the walk).

The Ghost Tour didn't quite live up to the standard that had been set for us in York 13 years ago. This one was was purely stories, with no action. But it was sort of interesting and sort of informative.

The girls and I managed to locate a restaurant that would serve a reasonably economical dessert. After a few tears when the wrong flavoured ice-cream was delivered to the table, and an eventual toffee replacement duly downed, we were back in the bedroom, where Christopher was just about asleep. This meant it was time to try the wireless broadband! And it was beautiful. Up here in the north, it's not only the 3G, but HSDPA which was giving download speeds just about as fast as we were used to from ADSL. The only problem now is that I'll be tired in the morning!

Tomorrow, we plan to explore the Castle, the Cathedral, and the Bishop's Palace at least, then possibly inspect some of the many "Roman Ruins" that show up on the tourist map, and maybe the riverside area. Not sure which direction we'll head back to Malvern - we had planned to go home from York via the Peak District. It's not exactly on our way now, but it's not too far away. We'll see.

It will be fun to visit York next time...