- You have to take your opportunities when the arise so since it was National Heritage Open-days Weekend I decided to check out the heritage events in Manchester and then do the same in Leeds on Sunday.

- I went to the beginning of the M62, but the hitching was not good after 40 minutes I was still waiting when a blackcab Taxi pulled up and offered me a free lift.

Got a free taxi ride It turned out he had just dropped off some football fans for the Liverpool Manchester game so he would have gone back empty. So lucky me by 11.15am I was right in the middle of Manchester and then on a tour of the Friend's Building, which wasn't great.

- there wasn't much interesting happening in the middle of Manchester, but there was some things in Bolton so I decided to go up to Cheetham Hill Festival and then go to Bury then across to Bolton. I hate that.. when people use the word festival, when it's not a festival at all, rather this one was a series of open days. Today was the Old Bus Museum. It was a bit irritating I had to walk the 3Km cos at the station there was no sign for the free bus, and when it passed me it wouldn't stop.

- Bury was nothing special, but Bolton was much better than I expected it had a a lot of old beautiful buildings like a Bath like Georgian cresent all nearby to the beautiful moors and hills. There were 2 old historic Tudor houses both connected to the foundation of the cotton spinning industry. I didn't have time to visit both so I picked one Smithills Hall

Smithills Hall, a Grade 1 listed building set in formal gardens on the edge of the West Pennine Moors.

- Hall i’ th’ Wood Museum, a 15th century half-timbered hall and birthplace of the spinning mule.

- 40 minutes later I arrived after a big walk past a big big chimney to find it closed. Turns out this building was opening Friday and Sunday whereas the other was opening Saturday/Sunday. Anyway that was another 40 minute walk away so by the time I arrived it was 5.40pm way past closing time.

The interesting thing is this smaller tudor house sits on a hill overlooking the town yet also with views of the moors, but just next door the council build council houses so these lucky people have the same views.

- I walked into Leeds - visiting the Town Hall and old gaol, then the new Leeds Museum that wasn't that great.

-I got to the Leed City Trust - walking tour - The guide took us past streets of empty buildings he explained that sometimes the developers leave a building years in the hope that it will fall down so that they can build a lucrative office tower. Other times buildings are left empty for years cos it takes them time to build up all the surrounding buildings in order to develop the whole block. There were 2 times we saw policecars chasing people runnning from cafes ..strange www.leedscivictrust.org.uk

- I went to visit Temple Newsam a huge old mansion 4 miles from the centre, but I was unlucky with the buses, so it was 4.45pm before I arrived and they wouldn't let me in.

- I needed to get to the M62 to hitch home, but again I was unlucky with the chain of buses again so by the time I arrived it was dark so I ended up camping out. Even the next morning I had to walk 3 miles to get to a more friendly junction.

- Hull could be nice like all those other Baltic/ North Sea port towns, Copenhagen, Riga, Stockholm etc i.e.quaint with all those heritage buildings around the docks, but it seems Hull has been let down by it's own coucil. .. The town's a bit of a mess : drunks in the street in the morning, a shed shopping centre complex built in the middle of a dock.

... Still they have made 8 free museums. Though each bloody one has the same policy of not having a cloakroom and neither bus train station have left luggage so I had to carry my heavy bag around . I did the Hands on Museum, Wilberforce heritage Walk, Maritime Museum, Ferens Art Gallery, Spurn Lighthouse, East Riding Museum (much better than the Leeds Museum). Strangely it has lots of Roman mosaics which come from South of the River Humber in Horkstow, I don't know why they aren't in the Lincolnshire Museums. The Transport Museum is next door,

- and the Wilberforce House museum. Same old story .. it promalgates the myth that Slavery is all Europeans fault .. at the beginning it says "Since Europeans first began trading with Africa millions of Africans were enslaved "etc etc
- only later on does it actually mention .."although there were some raiding parties the vast majority of slaves were bought from African traders.. slaves had always been taken in local wars .. though it is thought that potential profits from the trade may have caused later Africans to make war for slavery profit." etc..

- I got the bus to Hessle and got a good ride right home.

- The Hands On Museum has an electric instant hot water heater in the bathroom.. I guess this is much more ecological/economical than using a boiler