So one of the tihngs on my list of forty things to do before I turn forty next January was to go away by myself for a couple of nights. I have rarely been away by myself as I've been with Lee forever and if I don't go away with him I go away with friends. When I had been by myself it's been to go to a gig or a conference or something, so I wanted a couple of nights with nothing to do except please myself. I booked two nights in Denshaw, which is one of the villages in Saddleworth, just over the border in Lancashire. I was booked into an annexe to someone's house which looked very cute and cosy. It was basically a studio with a living area, kitchen and dining area, a bed hidden behind some Ikea Kallaxes, and a separate bathroom. I didn't spend very much as I didn't want to, and I also didn't book too far from home as I didn't want to drive too far.
I am rarely by myself these days as Lee works from home 24/7. I'm sometimes alone if he goes out to brand practice, and briefly alone when he goes to the supermarket, but otherwise, I'm only alone when I drive myself places. I miss being at home by myself but as Lee's company is based in Bratislava he works remotely all the time. So I wanted to be by myself for a bit too. It was an interesting experiment and one I was looking forward to!
A couple of days before I set off I started looking on Tripadvisor for places nearby with decent vegetarian options. I found about three pubs that had at least something I wanted to eat (no thank you to vegetarian moussaka) and I found a place for brunch on the Friday, but that's in the next post. I also looked at 'things to do' on Tripadvisor and discovered that Saddleworth Museum would be open, and also that a theatre in Shaw turned out to be showing Meet Me in St Louis on the Thursday afternoon! I love that film and I didn't watch it last Christmas like I usually do, so I thought I might go. The tickets were five pounds! Five quid! What a bargain! That meant I had to leave home at about 11.30 on the Thursday, so I did.
I got to Shaw about 12.30 and went into Asda to buy some lunch, which I inhaled before going across to the theatre. There was a screen pulled down above the stage and the film was projected on to that. Halfway through there was an interval, and the volunteers of the theatre had cake and coffee to eat. This is absolutely adorable and I wish I lived closer to the theatre because I would go and see these films more! The film finished at about 3.15 and I then drove to Denshaw.
I couldn't find the Airbnb so had to ring the owner but she was really lovely - one of the nicest Airbnb owners I have met! She had set the woodburner going for me so I got settled and cosy and sat watching TV for a few hours.
About 7pm I headed out to the Junction Inn and got a table and a glass of wine. I had feta and spinach rolls to start with and then a vegan burger which was only okay, but it was fine. I had my tablet with me so I could read, and I had a nice time. I was enjoying my experiment so far! I went back to the cottage and watched a film and did some writing before bed.
I slept really well! I'm often a bit scared of the dark and it was very dark, but it wasn't too bad and I slept fine. Here's photos from my first day:
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