The Adventures of Brian The Snail
I was threatened with having my stuffing removed to enable the other Brian to pack me into his panniers, luckily for me he changed his mind. At least, I think it was lucky.
It took Brian a long time to work out how to carry his home with him, he should have asked me.
Eventually he had packed everything (except the kitchen sink) into his panniers, and having found a special bar bag for me to travel in, set off from Waltham Abbey.
I thought we were heading for France but our first stop was Brisbane Road in Leyton, where apparently grown men kick a ball about the field. They must enjoy it. Brian has been going there to cheer them on for many years, even though they don’t seem to be having much success lately.Still I had my first selfie in front of the ground, and my second at the pub! The Birkbeck Tavern is match day local so we had to say farewell to that too.
It wasn’t too far to the Woolwich ferry, I didn’t want to look at the water, so turned my back. There was rather too much for me as I can’t swim, although I like rain ’cause it makes it easier to move.
Next stop was The Hastings in Gillingham where I had a welcome rest from the wind while Brian had a well deserved pint before moving on to see some of his family.
They waved us off next morning to start the journey, but I soon got into my bar bag and left Brian to do the hard work while I snoozed my way to Folkestone where we camped for the night.
I think Brian thought I might need a proper rest after the first 150 miles so he left me to sleep while he crossed the Channel and began to find his way into Normandy, France.