BB0939 : The Mystery of the Missing Glove

Thursday 10th December 2009

Stan suddenly went quiet as we left the car at the start of the day’s outing.  When asked what was wrong, he confessed that he had just realised that he had left his keys in the lock on the outside of his front door.

We suggested he phone Joan to let her know and he further confessed that he hadn’t got his phone with him.  So, I lent him mine and the job was done but it was a portent that it was not going to be his day.

Not that I can talk.  I nearly didn’t make it at all.  Making my way back from Chester on Wednesday after a long and very liquid lunch, I remember the train pulling into Runcorn station and reminding myself that I had to get off at the next stop- Warrington.  I wasn’t worried as I had taken the precaution of setting the alarm on my phone for two minutes before arrival time.

The next thing I knew, the train was still standing in the station but it looked somewhat different.  It suddenly dawned on me that this was indeed now Warrington and I had better make a speedy exit or else end up in the wrong part of the country.  I dashed down the compartment but couldn’t get the door open.  Then a kind scouse lady said “It’s on the other side, love!”  Indeed it was, and wide open.  I got off just before the doors closed and the train pulled out.  Puzzled as to why my alarm hadn’t woken me up, I checked my phone.  It was set for 4:10.  

A.M. !!

Approaching Whinfell

Our target was a gentle stroll up Whinfell.  This is a short range of hills only five miles out of Kendal.  What was unusual was that we should be going up there on a such a nice day.  Normally we reserve Whinfell for when the weather is too bad to warrant travelling any further, for example on BB0406 or BB0702 when there were 70+ mph gales, or BB0906 when Bryan and I were testing snow equipment.  However, this being our Christmas party day, we opted for a late start, minimal travel and a not too strenuous outing.

Adamant that he had clipped them together before setting off, he concluded that he must have dropped it en route and he set off running down the hill, shouting over his shoulder that he would catch us up.

The problem with this was two fold.  

Firstly, it was all very well saying he would catch us up but we hadn’t discussed where we were going!

Secondly, in my experience (see the "miracle" on the Dales Way, for example, or the missing ski glove in BskiB08) you don’t drop gloves en route.  You drop them at the start or at stopping points.  This meant he would have to return all the way back to the car. I discovered later that if only I had checked through my photos, I could have proved he would have had to go back to the car.  At the outset, Stan had bizarrely hung his rucksac on the fingerpost and I had taken a picture of it.  In the picture, you can clearly see that there one only one glove attached to the rucksac.

Bryan and I debated which way to go on the fell tops and once we had agreed, the plan was for him to take Pete and Tony onwards whilst I went back to find Stan and share the secret with him.

Back down the hill I went, for a surprisingly long way before I met up again with a bewildered Stan.  He hadn’t found the glove and that was distressing him as, not only was it a good one, it had been a present.  Furthermore, he had had a run-in with the farmer who had objected to where I had parked the car.  He must have sweet-talked the farmer into accepting that I had really been quite a good boy and had pulled the vehicle as close as possible into the edge as they ended up swapping telephone numbers and the farmer agreeing to keep a look out for the glove.

We galloped up to the radio masts, half expecting to find the others lunching in the lea but not so.  Instead, we could see figures on the skyline of Grayrigg Common and when we eventually reached its summit, there they were tucking into their butties.  Bryan had risked mutiny by driving them on well past noon, realising that in terms of getting the group back together efficiently it was the best strategy.

Also, it was a much more pleasant place to be than the concentration camp likeness of the radio station, with a superb view over the Howgills plus an unexpected visit from the caped crusdaer!

The Howgills from Grayrigg Common

After lunch, we returned to the masts and continued beyond to Whinfell Beacon where all of a sudden a mist arose, wrapped us in cloud and denied us the view.  

Mist rising on Whinfell Beacon

Fortunately it was not thick, nor long lasting and we soon dropped out of it and made our way off the fell by the track down to Evattsike.

Whinfell Beacon in the evening sun

We returned to the car shortly before a very pleasant sunset and, on opening the boot of the car, what did Tony solve for Stan?  Yes, the mystery of the missing glove.  It had been there in the car all the time.  Stan, of course, then accused one of us of having unclipped his gloves!  As if!!

For the evening festivities, we had originally invited the ladies to dine out in Kendal at a different restaurant to us, as per last year, but for various reasons, it didn’t prove possible this year. So, augmented by John L, whose knee hadn’t been up to joining us through the day, we enjoyed an excellent pizza and several drinks at Infusion, then listened to a remarkably good rock guitarist in Bootleggers.  We finished off the night at the Riflemans where we swapped John L for John S, who was performing with the folk musicians, and were joined by Joan, Suzy and Margaret, bless her, our chauffeuse.

At the chime of midnight, we burst into song for Stan, to help him celebrate his 65th birthday, something he was trying hard not to acknowledge.

Happy Birthday, Stan!  Have a great day.  Sorry your “extra miles” don’t qualify!

Don, 11th December 2009

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STATISTCS

If you have Memory Map on your computer, you can follow our route in detail by downloading BB0939.

Steve G advises: "For those who like to look at your meanderings but use Tracklogs or other software then your logs can be converted using the freeware utility GPS Babel."

For the latest totals of the mileages, heights and Lakeland Fells Books Wainwrights see: Wainwrights.

If anyone wants to claim other peaks, please let me know and I will submit them to the adjudication committee!

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BOOT boys

This page describes an adventure of BOOTboys, a loose group of friends of mature years who enjoy defying the aging process by getting out into the hills as often as possible!

As most live in South Lakeland, it is no surprise that our focus is on the Lakeland fells and the Yorkshire Dales.

As for the name, BOOTboys, it does not primarily derive from an item of footwear, and certainly not from any skin head associations or other
type of social group,
but is in memory of
Big Josie,
the erstwhile landlady
of the erstwhile Burnmoor Inn at Boot in Eskdale,
who enlivened Saint Patrick's Day 1973
and other odd evenings many years ago!

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Archive

2009 Outings

• BB0901 : A Gordon Day Out
  Thursday 8th January
• BB0902 : Thank You,
  Aunty Ethel!
  Wednesday 14th January 
• BB0903 : A Wicked Hike???
  Wednesday 21st January
• BB0904 : Take a Mug With You
  Sunday 25th January
• BB0905 : Down in the Forest
  Thursday 29th January
• BB0906 : Not How But Where?
  Thursday 5th February
• BB0907 : Binsey Can Wait
  (but Uncle Monty Can Not)
  Thursday 12th February
• BB0908 : Badgers on the Line
  Thursday 5th March
• BB0909 : It's not a W!
  Thursday 12th March
• BB0910 : Up on the Roof
  Thursday 26th March
• BB0911 : Not the Blisco Dashers
  Thursday 2nd April
• BB0912 : John's Comeback
  Monday 6th April
• BB0913 : Two Churches, a Pulpit and a Cherry Picker
  Thursday, 23rd April
• BB0914 : Companions of the BOOT
  Thursday 30th April
• BB0915 : The Gale Force Choice
  Thursday 7th May
• BB0916 : The Comeback Continues
  Thursday 21st May
• BB0917 : BOOTboys Encore !
  28th May - 2nd June
• BB0918 : Hello Dollywagon
  Thursday 11th June
• BB0919 : Has Anyone Seen Lily?
  Thursday 18th June
• BB0920 : Ancient Feet on the Greenburn Horseshoe
  Thursday 25th June
• BB0921 : The Tebay Fell Race Walk
  Thursday 2nd July
• BB0922 : For England and St George 
  Thursday 9th July
• BB0923 : The Coniston Outliers
  Friday 31st July
• BB0924 : Little To Be Said In Favour?
  Thursday 6th August
• BB0925 : The Third Night of the Rescue 
  Thursday 13th August
• BB0926 : Long Wet Windy Monty Bothy Fun?
  Thursday 20th August
• BB0927 : Dear Mrs Scroggins
  Friday 11th September
• BB0928 : An Ard Day's Hike
  Thursday 17th September
• BB0929 : A Canter of Convalescents?
  Thursday 24th September
• BB0930 : BOOTboys International Autumnal Expedition
  Wednesday 23rd to
  Sunday 27th September
• BB0931 : A Bit of an Adventure
  Thursday 1st October 
• BB0932 : Paths of Glory?
  Thursday 8th October
• BB0933 : When Yorkshire Was Welsh
  Wednesday 14th October
• BB0934 : Unlocking the Whinlatters
  Thursday 22nd October
• BB0935 : A Tale of Crinkley Bottoms
  Thursday 5th November
• BB0936 : Aye Up What?
  Thursday 12th November
• BB0937 : Where Eagles Wade
  Tuesday 17th November
• BB0938 : After the Floods
  Thursday 26th November
• BB0939 : The Mystery of the Missing Glove
  Thursday 10th December
• BB0940 : A Too Short Walk
  Thursday 17th December
• BB0941 : One Hundred and Onesfell
  Tuesday 29th December

• BH0901 : Back to the Beginning 
  Thursday 13th August
• BSKIB09 : BOOTskiboys in Saalbach
  14th - 21st March
• BB09XX : Los Chicos y las Chicas de la Bota
  11th - 14th May
• BB09Bav01 : Peaked Too Soon
  1st September

Click on the photos for an enlargement or related large picture.

Wainwrights

To download a log of which Wainwrights have been done by which BOOTboy in the "modern" era, i.e. since the advent of BOOTboys click on Wainwrights. 

If anyone wants to claim other peaks, please let me know and I will submit them to the adjudication committee!

 BOOT boys