Following the excesses of the Great Knaresborough Bed Race 2014, preparations for which had turned two garages and the back yard of my house together with much of the dining room into a production facility for Gru’s Car from Despicable Me and a 3.5 metre Thunderbird 1, the long-suffering Mrs Ward and I decided to take a well-earned weekend break in Whitby.
Gripped by the preparations for the Tour de France, Knaresborough is festooned with hand-painted tee-shirt and knitted bunting, yellow painted bicycles, flags, banners and flowers. The mayor’s house is covered with 30cm red spots to welcome the Tour – what could be more normal?
So, it shouldn’t really be a surprise to come back on Sunday to find that mid-summer madness had seemingly led to my second decoration - Thunderbird 1 - coming in to land on a new resting place on the roof of the Half Moon Inn in the Town.
Carefully manhandled into place by the landlord Max and an experienced tree worker, TB1 is now securely lashed onto the end of the roof; attempts at a ridge location being regarded as a tad risky!
Hopes are that the ‘bird’ will stay in place until the Tour de France has passed through the Town on 6th July and moved on, at which point we shall think of a fitting finale to her tour of duty. Zip line across the Nidd Gorge anyone? FAB.
