This almost insignificant roundabout on the A15 approximately twelve miles north of Lincoln will be navigated by thousands of people every day and until today, I confess, I didn’t even know that it was called Caenby Corner. This roundabout will have a special place in my memory until my dying day. One Saturday in August 1967 my mum and dad, my brother and I set off on our epic journey from the village of Calverley in West Yorkshire, to Great Yarmouth a journey of around two hundred miles, which, according to Google today should take around four hours. This holiday had taken some planning, we had bought several Bartholomews sheet maps for our journey (not ideal in a three wheeler Reliant) and we had plotted the journey. I can still recite off by heart, Wakefield, Doncater, Bawtry, Gainsborough, Lincoln, Sleaford, Kings Lynn, Norwich, Acle, and Great Yarmouth. Mum didn’t have good eyesight, so uncle John had recommended looking for road numbers rather than place names.
We had a false start, because it was still dark at 4am, so we waited until dawn, but made good progress until we arrived in Lincoln. It was mid morning, there were busses, cars, and pedestrians everywhere. There wasn’t a bypass in those days, we had to go right into the heart of the city on a busy shopping day. In a state of panic, we were so relieved to see a sign to the A15 and dad accelerated away (as fast as you could in a 500cc Reliant with four passengers) We quickly cleared Lincoln and headed along the A15 and even now fifty four years later, I can hear my mum says “Denis, I can’t find Scunthorpe on my map” my dad, knowing that we still had a long way to drive wasn’t interest, navigation was mum’s responsibility, she kept asking him to pull in and see if he could find Scunthorpe, but all he would say was “we must keep batting on”
We arrived at the roundabout that I now know is called Caenby Corner and dad saw the sign to Gainsborough on the first exit to our left “Gainsborough!” he said with pride “that’s where we want to be!” and set off up the road. Mum burst into tears and explained that we had come through Gainsborough and hour earlier. It turned out that Uncle John’s advice on following road numbers, made sense only if you understood that roads go in two directions and of course we had gone north, rather than south. To make matters worse, mum had switched maps just before Lincoln, so it didn’t matter how much she scoured her map, Scunthorpe was nowhere near where we needed to be. We did eventually arrive in Great Yarmouth, hours later.
Advent Sunday is the start of a new journey in the Christian calendar. We are already being enticed by the major retailers to start spending our money, to create the perfect Christmas, which is normally about over indulging. This year we are conscious that we were robbed of our traditional Christmas last year because of the Pandemic. As we embark on our new journey can I suggest that we:
- Plan carefully.
- Make sure that we are properly equipped for the journey ahead.
- Remember to try and head in the right direction.
- And always remember to keep batting on with a goal in sight.
A prayer for this week: Find a few moments to stop, be quiet and think for a moment or two.
God of love, Open my heart and my mind to the story I am about to live through, help me not simply to saunter through another year, but make it matter for me, help me to explore the meaning of each milestone as I pass it and make me ready to adjust my thinking and my actions, in the light of the new discoveries I make. Amen