Good morning people, it is truly magnificent to be home once again and hopefully this time for good. Over the last 4 weeks I have been on one of the most fascinating adventures of my life. I have met some of the most fantastic people on the planet. I have experienced highs and lows. I feel as though I have been put through the washing machine, tumbled dried, ironed, and now returned feeling a little scarred and battered, but cleansed of cancer for now at least.

The situation seems to be that the radiation treatment has sent the cancer packing. Now I have to play the waiting game. Should the cancer return in three months it will be possible to receive treatment but difficult. If I can go six months so much the better, if I can get 12 months under my belt, then I can be treated again just as I have been right now. There is a chance that the cancer might not return at all. On the other hand it might return next week. I still have the side effects from the radiation to contend with. I have to keep applying moisturizing cream to my forehead, eyes, face, back and ears. It is like being badly sunburned. It is also painful to swallow. However, these side effects are indeed a small price to pay for my treatment.

Caltterbridge has got to be the most wonderful hospital on the planet, and by that I mean the people that work there and not the bricks and mortar. It is a shame you have to endure cancer to get there. Before leaving for Clatterbridge 4 weeks ago, I had never heard of the RVWS, The Royal Voluntary Women's Service. They do an unbelievable job in Clatterbridge. They run the cafes on a no profit basis. You can have a breakfast for less than £2. They come around the hospital with free drinks; coffee, tea and so on. They go on errands fetching medicines and drugs from the hospital chemist for patients. They also act as guides around this huge hospital. Clatterbridge hospital would knock spots of the hotel I stayed in Monday night in St. Helens. We will return to Clatterbridge in later blogs and in Manx Tails next month.

Now folks you will have gathered that over the last month or so, myself and the Steam Packet's Super seacat, or sea slug have not been getting along to well. Well, I have to report to you that the tension between us has eased a little after this last trip. I guess we have developed a sort of love hate relationship. I do the hating, and she does the loving. Her gearbox has now been repaired, and so she is now back to her two and a half hour crossing time between here and Liverpool. Just after leaving port, an announcement informs you that the Steam Packet is committed to protecting the environment, so don't throw your rubbish over the side. Well the punters are obeying that and leaving their rubbish onboard the ship, she is a floating wheelie bin. None-the-less going out to Liverpool last Monday, because I had such a good experience when I upgraded the previous Friday, I did so again. I thought on my homeward journey on Friday that £13.50 wasn't bad as it appeared to include sandwiches as well. Not this time though. The £13.50 gave me a quieter lounge, a free cup of coffee, a newspaper, and 4 boiled sweets which arrived with my bill. However, this time I choose the continental breakfast. At £4.50 I found it very good value when compared with the full breakfast on the so-called fresh Ramsey bakery bap. I very enjoyed a fresh croissant with cheese and tomato, a yogurt, banana, and a fruit juice. I have no complaints at £4.50, indeed it is good value. However, £13.50 for a coffee, a newspaper and some biscuits in a slightly quieter lounge just seems to me to be a little excessive. Anyway that's enough Steam Packet bashing from me, when I compare Steam Packet prices against the hotel prices I stayed in last night, the Packet emerged as a saintly company.

I stayed in a 3 star hotel in St Helens. It was £90 for a room. Fine I thought. The room was stiflingly hot and the noise of the air conditioning was driving me round the twist. I rang down to reception to ask how do I go about opening the windows. "You can't" she informed me. "If you are too hot, then turn on the fan," was her response. We managed to turn off the air conditioning but of course the noise of the fan now replaced the noise of the air conditioning. Even with the fan turned on the room remained stifling. We could not locate a kettle to make a drink, so once again I called reception to ask for two cups of coffee to be brought up. The coffee's turned up at a cost of £5 for room service and £2.75 each cup. They did not tell us either that the kettle, coffee, milk and teabags were all stashed away in a cupboard. Well I have very little experience of staying in hotels so maybe this is normal practice. If it is, I shall be bringing my tent with me in future. I like a can of John Smiths at night time as you will all know. So, on locating the fridge which was turned off I called Reception once again to enquire how to turn it on. "You have to pay for the fridge to be turned on," was the reply. Yes not only did you have to pay to have the fridge turned on, but also part with around £30 to stock with all kinds of drinks I didn't want. Frustrated, fed up and ripped off, Barbara and I wended our way down stairs to join Barbara's mother for dinner. We ordered a steak which was supposedly going to be served on a bed of vegetables. The steaks turned up at £19 each and just sitting on top of a spoonful of mashed potatoes. When we enquired about vegetables we were told we could order a bowl of chunky chips at £1.95 and so it went on for each portion of veg. A continental breakfast in this place was £12 and full English was £16. On checking out they tried to over charge us by £30. Needles to say they failed. We left and won't be back. After my one overnight stay in this hotel from Hell, my trip home on the Seaslug last night seemed like I was sailing on a floating Christmas Grotto.

Well people, I have many more stories to tell after spending 4 weeks on the Wirral. I will include them as we go along. The people of the Wirral and the Merseysiders are absolutely the salt of the Earth. I met nothing but kindness and goodwill from both sides of the water. I am delighted to be back and writing the blog on a regular basis once again. It is now time to sign off for today though. I am just so happy today to have traded the busy, noisy banks of the Mersey, for the lush sweet meadows on the banks of the Silverburn.

Until tomorrow then, this is Tom Glassey with News at 11.30., back home again on the banks of the Silverburn River.