Let’s do this together

It’s been a mixed bag of holiday photos being posted on social media this half-term. Some friends have gone in search of sunshine and are showing off with snaps of daiquiris at the pool bar, with captions like, “It’s always 9am somewhere”.

But most, like me and The Dark Lord, have stayed local, and spent the week dodging showers, moaning about the price of popcorn at the cinema (more expensive than gold per ounce) and trying to do fun things on a budget – hard with a rapacious teenager.

At least with little ones you can spend the afternoon at the swings in the pouring rain and they are endlessly grateful. At most you splash out on a day out to a petting farm and a few ice creams.

Now it’s just demands for hard cash, mobile top-ups, hair dye and extreme sports.

Mobile phone data of the nation’s movements shows we’re not the only ones staying home or not travelling as much as we did in our pre-pandemic lives, but that hasn’t stopped The Dark Lord from her pilgrimages to theme parks to find the most death-defying rides.

This week she went with her cousins to

Thorpe Park Resort in Surrey, which is ideal for thrill-seekers who get an adrenalin rush from a two-hour queue.

Her photos from the day trip looked like they were in a refugee camp not a theme park. But rather than be put off, she’s been force-feeding herself boxes of cereal to collect the 2-for-1 vouchers so I can take her to Alton Towers in Staffordshire. Although I’m not sure how much we’ll have saved by the time she’s turned into half child, half Coco Pop.

I showed her how far away it is on Google Maps on my phone.

“Look, it’s a six-hour round trip to Alton Towers from our house which, given the price of petrol and queues at pumps, it would have been quicker and cheaper in the 18th century.”

Then I had an idea.

“We can always go to Alton – that’s only 20 minutes away from us,” I said, only half joking.

She sneered at me: “And how will that be anything like Alton Towers?”

“Ooh I dunno, I can drive round the roundabouts really fast to give you the same experience?” I chuckled. “Maybe scream in your ear a few times?”

Email me at siobhan.mcnally@mirror.co.uk or write to Community Corner, PO Box 791, Winchester SO23 3RP.