Causes and Effects
Barry and Margaret
November 2025
Here is the story of how Margaret’s brother is to be reunited with his wife after 10 months apart, whilst we changed our outward ferry sailing four times. Cancelling a ferry to Cherbourg, how could we return from Santander on the same ticket, constrained by the narrow window of the 1985 Schengen Agreement? What of National Cycle Route 62 trying to find its way through Blackpool and across the Pennines to Hornsea on the North Sea? How is it that a hospital can add another ailment rather than remove any of the patient’s five pre-existing complaints? Is OPEL 4 enough to justify playing musical beds? How did two very different people each become distinguished masters in Lancaster? And why is it we didn’t get to that croft on the Isle of Skye?
Read on to untangle these and other twisted threads.
And may your life be less complicated!
Untangle the Twisted Thread
Update on the Health and Well Being of Margaret’s Older and Only Brother, Alan Brown
On 14th September we were in Glencoe, motorhoming and cycling our way north to visit
friends, Rebecca and Kevin, on their croft in the far northwest of the Isle of Skye, when we
learned that Alan had suffered a fall and been taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. He
already had a heart condition with only three valves working, a lump on a kidney needing
him to wear a catheter, and possible prostate cancer for which he was being monitored
regularly. The fall added a cracked shoulder to his problems, along with a head injury leading
to double vision and some mental confusion. As he only lacked a respiratory condition, the
Lancaster Infirmary generously gave him a round of covid, from which he is now recovering.
Finding itself at OPEL (Operational Pressures Escalation Level) four - the highest - the
hospital became “unable to deliver comprehensive care" through overcrowding. This meant,
inter alia, that they tried to return Alan to his empty flat in Kendal on three well-spaced
occasions. The first time, the ambulance turned back with him before reaching Kendal. On
the second attempt he survived at home for a few days with a ‘care package’ of three local
authority care workers making four visits a day between them, until he had two falls and was
readmitted. At the third attempt to discharge him, the social workers spent just a few
minutes with Alan in his flat before deciding he could not manage alone (which should have
been obvious to anyone), so he was returned to hospital immediately.
Whilst we were again visiting Alan in Lancaster Infirmary last Wednesday, he was informed
by the ‘Complex Care Manager’ that the hospital had completed his treatment (for covid?)
and they would ask Kendal social services to find him a respite place in a suitable care home,
for recovery and assessment. We have just learnt that it will be the home where his wife
Pauline has lived since last January, so soon they will be back together, we hope. Whether
this is a temporary or permanent move, only time (and perhaps Pauline) will tell.
As a background to all this, once we believed him to be settled back in his flat with a care
team, we motorhomed as far as visiting Barry’s son near Cambridge. There, on hearing of
Alan’s readmittance to Lancaster, we postponed the Brittany ferry we had booked from
Poole to Cherbourg and drove back north. Fortunately, we can use that ticket to fund part of
the same company’s 24-hour ferry to get us back across the Bay of Biscay from Santander to
Plymouth in due course. We are also now on our third ‘flexi’ ticket on the P&O overnight
ferry from Hull to Rotterdam, a ticket that is so flexible it is starting to flop, as are we!
Coincidentally (among several other recent events of that ilk), one of the few things that
Alan and Barry have in common with each other, and with Lancaster, is that both of us
obtained a Master’s degree with Distinction from its university, after a 12-month
secondment on full salary. Alan in Education (MEd), Barry in the unlikely subject of ‘Business
Administration’ (MBA) using Das Kapital as a text.
As for us, now that Alan is hopefully settled, perhaps we will get away this time to Spain and
Portugal through the open but narrowing window of the 1985 Schengen Agreement.
Meanwhile Margaret’s flat between Blackpool and Fleetwood is a cosy and warm retreat
with every comfort and convenience known to both man and woman. We’ve even added a
water butt to help save the planet.
To add to the joys of the flat, National Cycle Route (NCR) 62 starts in Fleetwood and follows
the wide traffic-free promenade south for 17 miles by the Irish Sea to the far end of Lytham
St Annes. This is from the Wyre estuary to the Ribble estuary, passing through the heart of
Blackpool and its Golden Mile – just as we did on Saturday, breaking for lunch at the YMCA
Gym/Swimming Pool/Café in St Annes. If you ever thought that the British Working Class was
no more, take that ride on a bike or in a tram and see them all at play! The NCR 62 route
continues cross-country to Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast, linking our two native
counties.
After all that talk of hospitals and covid, take a breath of fresh air with us on a bicycle ride on
a short section of NCR 62 along the promenade in the heart of Blackpool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cekweKVwpmU
November 2025
Here is the story of how Margaret’s brother is to be reunited with his wife after 10 months apart, whilst we changed our outward ferry sailing four times. Cancelling a ferry to Cherbourg, how could we return from Santander on the same ticket, constrained by the narrow window of the 1985 Schengen Agreement? What of National Cycle Route 62 trying to find its way through Blackpool and across the Pennines to Hornsea on the North Sea? How is it that a hospital can add another ailment rather than remove any of the patient’s five pre-existing complaints? Is OPEL 4 enough to justify playing musical beds? How did two very different people each become distinguished masters in Lancaster? And why is it we didn’t get to that croft on the Isle of Skye?
Read on to untangle these and other twisted threads.
And may your life be less complicated!
Untangle the Twisted Thread
Update on the Health and Well Being of Margaret’s Older and Only Brother, Alan Brown
On 14th September we were in Glencoe, motorhoming and cycling our way north to visit
friends, Rebecca and Kevin, on their croft in the far northwest of the Isle of Skye, when we
learned that Alan had suffered a fall and been taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. He
already had a heart condition with only three valves working, a lump on a kidney needing
him to wear a catheter, and possible prostate cancer for which he was being monitored
regularly. The fall added a cracked shoulder to his problems, along with a head injury leading
to double vision and some mental confusion. As he only lacked a respiratory condition, the
Lancaster Infirmary generously gave him a round of covid, from which he is now recovering.
Finding itself at OPEL (Operational Pressures Escalation Level) four - the highest - the
hospital became “unable to deliver comprehensive care" through overcrowding. This meant,
inter alia, that they tried to return Alan to his empty flat in Kendal on three well-spaced
occasions. The first time, the ambulance turned back with him before reaching Kendal. On
the second attempt he survived at home for a few days with a ‘care package’ of three local
authority care workers making four visits a day between them, until he had two falls and was
readmitted. At the third attempt to discharge him, the social workers spent just a few
minutes with Alan in his flat before deciding he could not manage alone (which should have
been obvious to anyone), so he was returned to hospital immediately.
Whilst we were again visiting Alan in Lancaster Infirmary last Wednesday, he was informed
by the ‘Complex Care Manager’ that the hospital had completed his treatment (for covid?)
and they would ask Kendal social services to find him a respite place in a suitable care home,
for recovery and assessment. We have just learnt that it will be the home where his wife
Pauline has lived since last January, so soon they will be back together, we hope. Whether
this is a temporary or permanent move, only time (and perhaps Pauline) will tell.
As a background to all this, once we believed him to be settled back in his flat with a care
team, we motorhomed as far as visiting Barry’s son near Cambridge. There, on hearing of
Alan’s readmittance to Lancaster, we postponed the Brittany ferry we had booked from
Poole to Cherbourg and drove back north. Fortunately, we can use that ticket to fund part of
the same company’s 24-hour ferry to get us back across the Bay of Biscay from Santander to
Plymouth in due course. We are also now on our third ‘flexi’ ticket on the P&O overnight
ferry from Hull to Rotterdam, a ticket that is so flexible it is starting to flop, as are we!
Coincidentally (among several other recent events of that ilk), one of the few things that
Alan and Barry have in common with each other, and with Lancaster, is that both of us
obtained a Master’s degree with Distinction from its university, after a 12-month
secondment on full salary. Alan in Education (MEd), Barry in the unlikely subject of ‘Business
Administration’ (MBA) using Das Kapital as a text.
As for us, now that Alan is hopefully settled, perhaps we will get away this time to Spain and
Portugal through the open but narrowing window of the 1985 Schengen Agreement.
Meanwhile Margaret’s flat between Blackpool and Fleetwood is a cosy and warm retreat
with every comfort and convenience known to both man and woman. We’ve even added a
water butt to help save the planet.
To add to the joys of the flat, National Cycle Route (NCR) 62 starts in Fleetwood and follows
the wide traffic-free promenade south for 17 miles by the Irish Sea to the far end of Lytham
St Annes. This is from the Wyre estuary to the Ribble estuary, passing through the heart of
Blackpool and its Golden Mile – just as we did on Saturday, breaking for lunch at the YMCA
Gym/Swimming Pool/Café in St Annes. If you ever thought that the British Working Class was
no more, take that ride on a bike or in a tram and see them all at play! The NCR 62 route
continues cross-country to Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast, linking our two native
counties.
After all that talk of hospitals and covid, take a breath of fresh air with us on a bicycle ride on
a short section of NCR 62 along the promenade in the heart of Blackpool:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cekweKVwpmU
Here are Alan, Margaret and Mother Ethel together in happier times
More Causes lead to More Effects
Alan has now been discharged from the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and transferred to a care home in Kendal, the one where his wife Pauline has lived for almost a year. Delighted to see him after his weekly visits had ceased for several weeks, she assumed that he had come to take her to their own home and began packing a bag. Disillusionment for both was followed by heated argument and they have been put on separate floors! Relieved that Alan is in good hands for now (?), we can only hope things settle down.
Meanwhile, with an overnight ferry from Hull booked for tomorrow (Sunday), we collected the motorhome yesterday afternoon from its storage on a former pig farm beyond the nearby village of Hambleton. We left the car there in its place, for what we thought would be at least 90 days. Driving back to our base, three red warning lights appeared in succession on the dashboard, followed by a warning message and numerous beeps – all referring to faulty air bags!
The local garage’s next available appointment was in 3 weeks’ time; our old friends at the wonderful One Call garage in Leyland could read the codes (runes?) if we got there before closing time at 5 pm. It was 25 miles in the wind and rain along busy roads out of Blackpool, the M55, the M6 (with its own warning signs about high winds), through the centre of Leyland, accompanied by continuous dashboard lights and beeps. We made it with half an hour to spare. Diagnosis: a faulty ECU (Electronic Control Unit) meaning that all communication with the air bags had been lost. An appointment was made for a specialist to transplant a new ECU in an operation next Tuesday. Meanwhile the P&O flexi ticket had had its fourth amendment, changing Sunday’s sailing to sometime later in the week (hopefully).
Is this a warning symptom that the motorhome (registration FR55DUM = Freedom?) is getting past it? Should it find a more restful life, perhaps with a member of the Caravan Club?
Meanwhile, with an overnight ferry from Hull booked for tomorrow (Sunday), we collected the motorhome yesterday afternoon from its storage on a former pig farm beyond the nearby village of Hambleton. We left the car there in its place, for what we thought would be at least 90 days. Driving back to our base, three red warning lights appeared in succession on the dashboard, followed by a warning message and numerous beeps – all referring to faulty air bags!
The local garage’s next available appointment was in 3 weeks’ time; our old friends at the wonderful One Call garage in Leyland could read the codes (runes?) if we got there before closing time at 5 pm. It was 25 miles in the wind and rain along busy roads out of Blackpool, the M55, the M6 (with its own warning signs about high winds), through the centre of Leyland, accompanied by continuous dashboard lights and beeps. We made it with half an hour to spare. Diagnosis: a faulty ECU (Electronic Control Unit) meaning that all communication with the air bags had been lost. An appointment was made for a specialist to transplant a new ECU in an operation next Tuesday. Meanwhile the P&O flexi ticket had had its fourth amendment, changing Sunday’s sailing to sometime later in the week (hopefully).
Is this a warning symptom that the motorhome (registration FR55DUM = Freedom?) is getting past it? Should it find a more restful life, perhaps with a member of the Caravan Club?
THe Sunlight Motorhome in its Heyday