The best laid plans...

Nothing wrong with the plans. They all work nicely. But...

Firstly we are going to Cheltenham later in the year so somewhere else might be nice. Also the Premier Inn in Cheltenham has upped its rate substantially now it is time to book. Anyway it looks like we could actually get a bit further on day 1 - Tewkesbury perhaps. Now I'm not a Wetherspoons fan, Tim Martin and I have totally differing views about the UK's involvement in the EU which I respect. What I have a problem with is him using his pubs to proselytise those views. Still food is cheap and breakfast will be plenty early enough to get a 9:30 bus next morning - but the real deciding factor is that the Royal Hop Pole in Tewkesbury appears to be an hotel of fascinating historical significance. OK, pride swallowed, and despite it being slightly more expensive than Cheltenham's Premier Inn the Wetherspoons does make sense.

Day 2 will be pretty much unchanged except that the closer starting point of Tewkesbury should mean either more time in Coventry or an earlier arrival in Leicester. One of our friends lives in nearby Lutterworth and has offered us the use of his luxury motorhome (on his drive) as accommodation, but since we are now only planning to spend one night in Leicester the additional trip out to Lutterworth seems hardly worth while and anyway Liz fancies hotels all week, just for a change.

Day 3 will still be exploring Leicester but we now plan to leave late afternoon and press on to Derby. Partly because hotels are slightly cheaper, partly because it is a different city with different pubs, and partly because we can press on further the next day.

Day 4 - no longer Leeds or Otley but Skipton - can we make Settle? The plan is to get as far NW as possible so that Day 5 no longer needs an overnight at Kendal or Keswick but we can press on into Carlisle where we can spend two nights, nip in to Scotland, explore the town etc before getting an early train home on Day 6 (Sunday).

Now let's see if all that works