10 Weeks in a Box - Day 19

Midlands Monkey Business - 27/07/2007



The next day as we manoeuvred the beast that is the Boomobile to leave, we noticed that the entrance to the car-park was now under a foot of water. The swans were expanding their territory as the waters invaded further into the town. Definitely time to leave. “There comes a time in the tide of the affairs of man, which, if taken at the flood, leave you with a very wet motorhome” I think someone once nearly said…..
Luckily, the exit from the car park was at a slightly higher level than the entrance, which was now under a foot of water. We left a sodden Stratford before requiring scuba gear.
Following an inaugural Sainsbury’s shopping visit for Miki in Warwick (inexplicably favouring the supermarket over Warwick castle) we came to rest in a lay by just shy of Twycross, home of the Zoo from my Junior School outing…ah, the memories, the short trousers, the powdered lemonade…
I fondly remember visiting the zoo in my second year of junior school. Founded in 1963 by two remarkable women, Mollie Badham and Natalie Evans, it was already making a name for itself in the late 1960’s, being the home of the famous Brooke Bond PG tips Chimps. I’ll never forget those TV ads, especially the Tour de France one, with the chimp cyclist asking, “Avez-vous un cuppa?”
By all accounts the zoo is still going strong.
Deciding to stay in our lay-by, Miki set up her desk and began painting a series of watercolours, while I rehearsed and read a little.
A cursory glance around our parking area revealed a sign allowing us to park for a maximum of twelve hours. Taking into account our time of arrival, we would have had to leave at 3 in the morning. However, taking into the account that the law in this case was an ass, we would leave whenever the hell we liked, adopting a sort of “rolling clock” system along the lines of: the first time we see a police car, is when the twelve hours start. Simple, when you think about it.
As it turned out, a peaceful night preceded our arrival in Derby on July 28th, for my Dad’s birthday, which I’ll tell you about tomorrow!



Text by Kev Moore
Drawing & Photos by Miki
Both on Planet Goodaboom

10 Weeks in a Box - Day 18

Motorhoming; As you like it! - 26/07/2007



The next morning we decided to skirt as close as we dared to Oxford, driving through Banbury, catching a glimpse of a delightful statue immortalising the “Fine lady upon a white horse” who rode to Banbury Cross; the words to the old children’s nursery rhyme carved around the base. Finally, we reached today’s destination; Stratford upon Avon, the bard’s birthplace.
Driving into the historic town, we were alarmed to find the waters lapping at the riverbank, but we nevertheless parked up for the day and night in the Marina car park. We enjoyed (if that’s the word) a drizzly afternoon, wandering the old streets, Miki excited to be shopping in England for the first time. Our enthusiasm paled however, as we slowly came to realise that our primary target, second-hand bookshops, were in very short supply indeed. We returned to the Boomobile replete with Toiletries, but sadly no books. Shaking off our disappointment, we were rewarded with a brief appearance of the sun, and Miki set to work sketching the narrowboats and bridges, while I headed over to the tourist information centre which inexplicably had a life-size head of a Tyrannosaurus Rex on wheels outside the door. Perhaps Shakey had written the first draft to Jurassic Park before Spielberg got his hands on it?

Come not between the dragon and his wrath - Coriolanus

My reason for venturing into this monster’s lair was to find a postcard for Miki to send to her parents; our first from England. We were sending them on a regular basis throughout the trip, with a simple route plan on each one, so her Dad could follow our progress. Mission accomplished, I returned to the Boomobile, the T.Rex grinning wordlessly at my back.
The Marina car park was a lucky find, it being reasonably priced and very central. Close inspection of the tariffs revealed that, if I paid until 6pm, and then bought an overnight ticket until 9am the next morning, it would only cost £2. Well done, Stratford! And a Pox on the robbers of Clackett Lane! It’s an expensive lark, this travelling, and as Shakespeare himself put it in Henry IV;

I can get no remedy against this consumption of the purse: borrowing only lingers and lingers it out, but the disease is incurable.


The car park regulations were very firm about “parking in marked bays” and the rather hefty financial penalty for not doing so. As luck would have it, we had found a corner space, the only one in the entire car park that accommodated our lengthy vehicle. I sought assurances from the patrolling security guard that we hadn’t transgressed the letter of the law, and we settled down to an infinitely more peaceful night than that spent in the Beaconsfield lay-by.




Text by Kev Moore
Drawing & Photos by Miki
Both on Planet Goodaboom