Tom Idle, Charlie’s friend, having cycled from the other side of Manchester in the rain, was at his parent’s door by 8.15am, but owing to, as Charlie puts it, ‘parental persuasion’ they hung about until they could stand it no longer, and escaped at 11.15am.  (Charlie’s parents never did like to give him permission to go out in the rain, goodness knows he was more than capable of looking after himself).  Miss Bolton, who ran a tea place in Ribchester saw fit to give them something of a history lesson about the River Ribble, and they obviously took note of her stories, for they spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the south eastern bank, a side that has always been difficult to access.