8.55 a.m. Well I have completed the morning walk and enjoyed a full breakfast. Now after a three day break, I find myself sitting in front of the computer and back to the good old blog once again.

Well yesterday I found myself flying out on the 7am first flight to Liverpool to attend Clatterbridge for a CT scan and arrange my appointment times for my radiation treatment. The old blog came in handy, it seems the blog has reached the staff at Ronaldsway as I breezed my way through the security. We even discovered a few copies of my book on sale airside at Ronaldsway.

Our first headache of the day was going to be Barbara’s fear of flying. Well, it never really materialized. We took off on time and 20 minutes later we were on the ground at Liverpool. Unlike our last flight from Dublin some 5 years ago, I didn’t even have to hold her down. Our cause was not exactly helped though; when we met up with a French lady who was also going to Clatterbridge. She informed Barbara that she too was terrified of flying in small planes even though she had spent 5 years as an air hostess in her younger days.

We asked Mike the taxi driver who met us in Liverpool, to drop us at Birkenhead shopping centre rather than at Clatterbridge. My appointment was not until 12o’clock and we didn’t want to arrive there at 8.30 and hang about for 3 hours or so. We arrived in Birkinhead about 8.30 and the place was totally deserted. I am not kidding you; we could have lain down in the middle of the road and gone to sleep for a couple of hours and you would not have got run over. We were both starving so the first thing to do was to find a breakfast place. Unfortunately, the Birkenhead health policemen had beaten me to it and made sure that there was no one trying to sell me a full English breakfast. We eventually had to settle for this thing called a Subway mega breakfast. It was utterly disgusting. It was suppose to be a bread roll filled with bacon, egg, sausage and cheese. In fact I think it had been brought straight from the Dunlop tyre factory’s recycling unit. The sad thing was, had we continued for a few more yards and gone down the stairs we would have found any amount of cafes selling proper food, such as full English breakfast for 2.45, and not a health policeman in site.

We strolled around Birkenhead market for an hour or so then, jumped in a taxi and headed down to the ferry terminal to wile away another hour or so. An hour is more than enough time to spend at the Birkenhead ferry terminal. One ferry came and went, and that was about it. There is a little shop there selling a few odds and ends, so I bought the few odds and ends so maybe even they are probably closed today, except it was the ticket office.

At 11o’clock we made out way out to Clatterbridge in another taxi. Clatterbridge hospital is absolutely fantastic. The staff are beyond belief. Absolutely nothing is too much trouble for them. We decided to have lunch in a cafe there. Unfortunately the cafe we choose had obviously been visited by the health police and I had to settle for something called a Panini. Now I had never heard of a Panini before and I hope I don’t come across them ever again. I think the Panini must be a close relation of the subway I had at Birkenhead market. Once again, had we only carried on down the passageway for a few more yards, we would have come across another cafe seemingly undiscovered by the health policemen. There I could have had stuff like chips and what have you. Anyway I had a CT Scan and got my appointment dates all sorted at Clatterbridge. I will return there on June 16^th until July 8^th. All I had to do then was to go and sort out some accommodation.

My sister in law Janet, her daughter Beth and my mother in law Jean, all travelled in from St Helens and Wigan to spend the afternoon with us and help us to find sone suitable accommodation. We headed off to a caravan site in Meols, about 10 minutes drive from the hospital. This was at the suggestion of one of the hospital staff. It turned out to be a fabulous little site and I am now waiting for them to ring me back today to confirm whether they have space for us for three weeks. The lady who appeared to be running the site used to visit the Isle of Man and she had met many folks which I knew, so we chattered for ages. She also cooked and served dinner up for the five of us and would not take one penny for her troubles. My sister in law Janet then drove us all back to the airport. Our 5.45 flight left on time and we were all back home by about 6.30.

All in all we had a very enjoyable day out in on the Wirral. I am looking forward to returning to Clatterbidge in two weeks time. The staff there are simply unbelievable. I spent a full hour yesterday morning sitting on the banks of the Mersey. However, it is the most fantastic feeling to wake up once again, on the banks of the Silverburn.

Until tomorrow then people, this is Tom Glassey with New at 10, on the banks of you know where.