Despite the early rise my day turned out OK. It was a lovely morning, very clear skies so I may have missed the frost here as dawn broke - but there was a majestic waning moon in the sky and some very clear constellations, the plough being notably obvious.

into Glasgow by 5.40 a.m. where Mr Bob was in good spirits, a bit of a change for him from last week when he took ill,collapsed, passed out and broke his nose as a result of the fall in the bathroom while being violently ill.

The skies were pretty dramatic this morning as the moon set and the sun rose, not a full sunrise with the expected golden orb, but just a mass of crimson cloud hiding the sun until it was up far enough to force me to pop on the "shades".

the M6 is getting worse with road works and I had to cope with four sections of several miles of 50MPH under the average speed cameras - which is a real pain. BUT it still does not stop some from speeding - or stop them using mobile phones.

there was a young lady in a red Micra, who passed me four times, in excess of 90 mph then slowed down to chat on her hands free.

Into Runcorn for a very quick turn round, most importantly to remember to drop off the pies and sausages I had taken for one of the girls.

Home wards, and at just past J22 southbound an accident had just happened so the M6 which had ground to a halt with queues rapidly forming, and some several minutes later all three emergency services were seen heading south to the scene at high speed under the blue lamps.

With no need to go to Glasgow I turned off at Moffat on the A701, the town Moffat was choc a block with visitors and tourists, and being market day there were cars and folks everywhere.

Northwards, I only passed one car between Moffat and Broughton, the weather was superb and it was a beautifully classic autumn day with some intense colouring through the trees and enhanced by the bright sunshine which deepened shadows, ec.

Into Broughton, home of the Broughton Brewery, and also the rebound summer garden, owned by a couple who must spend hundreds of pounds each year and all the money they receive from visitirs goes to charity.

As I was making for Leadburn I was thinking back to the time when the Leadburn Inn was struck during the night by a drug induced driver, which resulted in the building being so seriously damaged that it had to be demolished. I had intended to to stop and get a photograph, but as I approached I could see the blue lights in the distance and sods law, there was a bad accident, with the junction blocked - someone having driven out from the Moffat road into the path of a south bound car on the Penicuik - Peebles road. I actually knew the two Officers dealing with the incident and due to the situation was not able to snatch a photo of either the scene or the "Phoenix" of the Leadburn Inn which is looking really good. BUT i have to question the wisdom of rebuilding the Hotel, especially in this out of town location where motor transport is essential, however, only time will tell, perhaps good marketing, etc will revive its fortunes.
I think my deepest memory of this junction, and the many accidents which I dealt with there was the death of a young female passenger in a car. Someone had pulled out in front of the car which was heading south, the passenger was trapped and as I sat there comforting he before the ambulance arrive the girl, while talking to me leaned forward, and died. It transpired that she had sustained a broken neck in the initial impact and her spinal cord severed as she leaned forward, something which I had not considered.

So, home, and despite the fact it was such a sunny /beautiful day, I took myself off to bed for an hours snooze to recover.