Fantastic story,
BBB, absolutely brilliant. Thank you for sharing it with us, and please do feel free to continue to do so.
our first night stop, somewhere North East of the UK and flipping freezing
Oh, shut up, I was working in bloody Leeds last week and I have never been so cold in my life. (And I grew up in New York winters and have lived in -30C Beijing.) The hotel's heating was on the blink and I swear that my boots never actually managed to dry out the entire three days I was there. At least places that are properly cold know what to do with it.