BB1209 : On, On, You Noblest English!

Wednesday 7th March 2012

Today was going to be a bit of a test for me.  The target was easy enough in theory.  But when I last attempted the combination of Loughrigg and Silver Howe in BB1110 I had to give up the climb halfway between peaks.  To be fair to myself, it was not long after my stroke and I had not recovered as much as I thought.  Today would be a test of how I had progressed over the last ten months.  

Loughrigg from Ambleside

One of the great things about the sort of linear walk we intended was the opportunity to leave the cars behind and catch the 555 bus; to Ambleside on this occasion.  After donning our gaiters, we crossed the footbridge and passed the memorial to the lady hotelier who was murdered by her chef.  

His midday body clock working to perfection as always.

Panorama west to Langdale.....

..... and north over Dunmail Raise

The weather was rather better than we had anticipated and the air quality was very good. Then, as we moved over to the real summit, there was ten seconds of hail before the sun came out again.  It was, however, cold and blowy on the north-exposed tops.

We knew the weather would deteriorate but we were all determined to press on to Silver Howe which we could see in the distance.  

There was a fortunately very brief shower then it cleared and became bitterly cold in the wind.  Stan disowned me when this wimp put on his face mask and goggles, as if skiing.  

The well dressed Don

Appropriately, we made our way to the Black Run ascent- up a gully which, from a distance, looked fierce.  Funnily enough, when reached, it didn't look too bad; certainly not Double Diamond standard.  However, Tony, who had being going remarkably well, began to flag on the climb  He tried his relaxation technique.  I experimented with it and nearly fell asleep so Stan and I decided this was quite the wrong way to spur him upwards.  Instead, we sought to inspire him by reciting motivational lines from what we thought was Henry V's imploration before the battle of Agincourt.

Actually it was a mish-mash of:

• Agincourt, where Henry, appropriately, addressed Westmo(e)land:

He which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

[or should that have been "Upon Saints Perpetua and Felicity's day"?]

• and of Harfleur:

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect.....

On, on, you noblest English......
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

• and even Julius Ceaser with Marcus Antonius' urge to cry "Havoc" and
  "Let slip of the dogs of war".

Of course, John S. would have put us right (despite being Irish) as the Honfleur speech was his party piece, often leaping to his feet in a surprised pub and invoking the English to achieve great things.

Suitably motivated, Tony redoubled his efforts and in no time we reached the top nearly to be blown back down, the wind was so fiercely strong.  I have never previously known my rucksac's bad weather cover to be blown off and when I tried to put it back on, the sack itself nearly flew down to Grasmere

Tension was now mounting..  Tony was so incensed by having been driven up to reach such conditions that, at the summit cairn, he was intent on taking revenge by stabbing Stan in the back with his pole. Fortunately, Stan's plea for mercy was observed and sanity prevailed.  Despite the magnificent view, with emotions running so high it was not a place for lingering. Nobleness was soon restored and we band of brothers descended as swiftly as we sensibly could.

Comitibus : On the bus

Mountain and pub tests passed for all of us Noblest English, we could now catch the bus home with honour (and virtue) intact.

 Don, 7th March 2012

Too Fast to Snap?

Thursday 8th March 2012

The next day, a breakaway group of Bryan and James sallied forth.  Bryan reports:

We were going to go with a mate of James from Ulverston, but he cried off at the last minute pleading tiredness from walking the day before. So we decided to head off that way anyway and went for a stroll around Blawith Common.  

Although I had my camera with me we were going so fast that I didn't have time to take it out and take any photos.

That's one version. The honest one is that the camera was at the bottom of my bag and I forgot!

Anyway, it was a pleasant, short, walk - 6 miles and 1,150ft. But, as James was just back from an inactive trip to Australia, it suited him.

Well, ta, Bry, that's real fair dinkum!

Full Circle

It was reported in BB1207 how John L's affections had moved on from

Someone mentioned to me recently that he fears (i.e. looks forward to) what these reports will be like once we are too old to hit the hills!

STATISTICS:

BOOTboys routes ares put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading BB1209a and BB1209b.

To see which Wainwright top (excluding Outlying Fells) was visited on which BB outing see Which Wainwright When?

For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.

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