So April 2026 has seen an awful lot of sunshine – not great if you are a farmer but not so bad if you have a Marcos Mantis Spyder! Blazing sun was especially welcome because the passenger window refused to go up, which has meant religiously checking the weather forecast before heading out. I am at a complete loss as to why this issue has resurfaced. Anyway last weekend was a lovely if entirely random drive out to Holmes Chapel & back – definitely not as the crow flies! This weekend I set out to go to Hope Valley via Macclesfield & Buxton coming back via Snake Pass. However wild fires near the summit meant Snake Pass was shut so I headed back via Winnat’s Pass & Lower Macclesfield where fortuitously some roadworks meant a diversion to the wonderfully named Pott Shrigley. Driving a very winding road through rolling hills & dales was enormous fun. I consider myself extremely lucky to have the Peak district a mere half hour away. Sadly I was too busy enjoying myself behind the wheel & never stopped to take any pictures. I really really must get a dash cam though.

Today was a public holiday & time to embrace the challenge of the unidirectional passenger window. Having backed the car out of the garage to get some room to poke around a bit, I gave the window switch a cursory prod & could not believe my eyes when the window glass went up! Whilst I am not complaining about the opportunity to make the car a bit more proof against the traditional Manchester weather, the intermittent nature of the fault is doing my noodle. I could do without the whole ‘Will it? Won’t it?’ thing so I have reached out to Guru Chivers for some Marcos Wisdom & may well be hot footing (wheeling?) it to Wigan to enlist some emotional support from the Morrisons.

Watch this space!