By Andy Hirst
It’s the ultimate Christmas driving song … and perfect for a drive through Slaithwaite.
Chris Rea’s festive favourite Driving Home For Christmas brings tears of Yuletide joy welling up … and a warm feeling inside.
But in Slawit the ‘red lights all around’ – that’s the 4-way traffic lights along with the brake lights of thousands of cars stuck in it daily – brought nothing but tears of frustration and a feeling of inner rage.
The Yorkshire Water roadworks – although now at long last lifted – caused months of misery for drivers passing through, so much so that Slaithwaite hair salon owner Tim Szoradi has now done his own version of the Rea classic.
Called Driving Home Through Slawit, it comes with its own video so we can always remember just how dreadful those roadworks were should the nightmare memories ever start to fade.
Standout lines include ‘driving home through Slawit with a thousand other cars’ and ‘take a look at the driver next to me, he’s turning grey.’ I suppose Tim, who runs the Waterside Salon on New Street, could have sorted him out with some highlights. He’s also a vocalist who sings in clubs and care homes around Huddersfield.
Anyway, please, now go out and shop for England in the Slaithwaite businesses that have suffered so much for so long.
And finally … some good news. Yorkshire Water has finally finished its work weeks behind schedule and won’t be back after Christmas.
READ MORE: The terrible impact of the roadworks on Slaithwaite traders and why we should help them now
* Written by former Huddersfield Examiner Head of Content ANDY HIRST who now runs his own Huddersfield-based agency AH! PR, specialising in press releases, blogging and copywriting for business in Yorkshire and across the UK.
