|
BB1305
:
Dear Wifey
Thursday
31st January 2013
Dear
Wifey
I
hope you are having a lovely time with the Münchkinder.
Things have been very quiet here but I have a
confession to make concerning seeing another woman,
more of which later. In the meantime here is my
week in brief:
Monday:
RARING
Slunky
day. Consumed in one long sitting (or lying) the new
Rebus that Jamie & Danae gave me for Christmas,
Standing
In Another Man's Grave.
Rankin
is back on form with this one.
Can't
remember the last time I read a book. Probably
the last Reacher, months back.
|
|
That
set me thinking about the business they
could set up together:
RARING
incorporated
The
name, implying what they do to baddies,
derives, naturally, from the initial letters
of its slogan.
Reacher
And Rebus
Interning No-Gooders
|
Or,
in Reacher''s case, Interring might be more appropriate!
Tuesday:
Donny the Clockmaker
|
Slunky
day. Consumed, in a rather shorter
sitting, the book that Luca and Ellie gave
me for Christmas, knowing that I like clocks.
I
first thought it was appropriately called
Donny the Clockmaker but turns out it
was Johnny!
Written
by Edward Ardizzone in 1960, it is the lovely
story of a young lad who suddenly decides
to make a grandfather clock. This proves
to be contrary to the wishes of his mother
who wanted him to help with the washing
up and to the scorn of his father whose
words of encouragement were "stuff
and nonsense".
I
will enjoy reading it to them next time
they visit.
|
|
Wednesday:
Tony's Other Woman's Other Woman's .....
Now
about that other woman. Before the confession,
let me tell you about the cultural day that Tony and
I enjoyed.
|
First
we went to the Quaker Meeting House, hoping
to see the Tapestry. Unfortunately, it is
not on display during the winter. Fortunately,
it was not on display. That meant
we could have a closer look at the interior
of the building which has some interesting
features, especially the way they could
segregate the congregation by dividing the
hall with wooden screens that disappear
down into the floor.
We'll
go back in the spring to see the Tapestry.
|
Quaker
Meeting House
|
Next
was Sleddale Hall, a real Aladdin's cave, reminiscent
of 'Allo Robert in Menton. Didn't buy anything but
was tempted! To show how interested Tony was with
all that ferreting around, he didn't think about his
lunch until 12:35, way after the normal mandatory noon!!
|
Sleddale
Hall
|
Aladdin's
Cave
|
We
ate across the road at the Castle Dairy. A roaring
fire, good ciabattas and an interesting nosey around
the old place.
|
Castle
Dairy
After
a brief flirtation with the Masonic Hall
where we weren't allowed in (despite me
protesting that I am a Lewis) we moved on
to the Kendal Museum.
I
thought this would be boringly old fashioned
but the presentation is much improved
and the ground floor in particular was well
worth a visit.
Despite
what people might say, I have never seen
a Dodo before.
Naturally
Tony had his photo taken with an old pal-
the Polar Bear.
|
The
Castle Dairy fire
The
old Dodo
|
As
we walked along the river, Tony gave a running commentary
on what used to be where when he were a lad. Our
intention was to visit Kendal Parish Church but sadly
a funeral was in process so we went instead to the Lakeland
Life Museum. That was much as I remembered it
with its sequence of well thought out rooms.
|
Inside
the Museum of Lakeland Life
|
Abbott
Hall
|
|
Finally,
it was time for Abbot Hall where I wanted
to see the other woman.
To
explain, I am sure you will recall Tony's affections
for a certain lady, namely Lady Anne Clifford.
His
Other Woman.
Hanging
in Abbot Hall is the The Great Picture that
depicts
three periods of her life.
|
0.jpg)
The
Other Woman
|
Well,
an artist called Uwe
Wittwer
takes old paintings and reworks them via his computer,
often in negative,
and then on to canvas. It makes an interesting exhibition
and one painting in particular, Interior after De Hooch,
seemed a significant improvement on the original.
Tony's Other Woman
has been radically transformed to produce, full size,
Tony's Other Woman's Other Woman. Tony disapproves.
The
Other Woman's Other Woman's .................
Once
I had got over seeing the strange great blobs I realised
that he had removed Tony's Other Woman's Other Woman's
husband and replaced him by a clone of her. In
other words, Tony's Other Woman's Other Woman's Other
Woman. Got that?
You
might understand why Tony's parting shot, as he set
off to the fishing shop, was:
I'd
probably vandalise his work if I went, considering what
he's done to Lady Anne, and I'm not paying for the privilege!!
As
for me, that was quite enough other womanising so I
returned to the church to see if I could find one particular
tomb about which I had told Tony.
|
The
interior was heavily scaffolded and fenced
off for rewiring so I couldn't see what
I wanted.
Needless
to say, St Google provided the information.
Inscribed within the Parish
Church
is a brass plate in memory of Ralph Tyler,
Vicar of Kendal, died 1627, text shown to
the right:.
|
London bred me, Westminster fed me,
Cambridge sped me, my
Sister wed me,
Study taught me, Living sought me,
Learning brought me,
Kendal caught me,
Labour pressed me, Sickness distressed me,
Deathe
opposed me, the Grave possessed me,
Earth did crave me, and Heaven would
have me. |
Cultured
out, I made my way home and prepared for the next, more
energetic day's outing.
Thursday:
Hobgoblin Nor Foul Friends
It's
a while since planning a BOOTboys
outing had so much uncertainty about date, personnel
and destination. On this occasion, the cause was
not my incompetence but the frequently changing weather
forecasts for Wednesday and Thursday, the one common
factor being that the prediction was seldom being any
better than mediocre with much rain. You could
say that confusion rained.
It
was Bryan who settled it in the end. "Away with
your wimplike excuses," he implored. I thought
he was going to turn into a character from Pilgrim's
Progress and sing about coming hither and being valiant,
come wind, come weather. Perhaps with something thrown
in for good measure about Hobgoblin nor Foul Friends
daunting spirits.
To
really test John and me, he insisted on an early start
and a finish before Tony had even thought about lunch.
7:30 is not a normal time of day for me to be
leaving the house!
The
weather was surprisingly better than anticipated with
no rain. Indeed, a day that almost got sunny but
a wind that definitely was gale force at times.
Rydal
Water
Although
our target was Loughrigg, starting from Pelter Bridge
and along by Rydal Water, we decided first to see Lily
Tarn and then avoid the main trods, taking in as many
of the small tarns on the way that we could. I
lost count but there were quite a few.
Lily
Tarn
Windermere
|
Comitibus
: half
way up Loughrigg
|
Bryan
checks the route
|
Two
more tarns
And
another,nearing the summit
It
was almost impossible to stand unaided at the top of
Loughrigg so, without lingering too long, we descended
the steep path down to Loughrigg Terrace, enjoying the
view over Grasmere.
Western
panorama from Loughrigg
|
The
descent, Grasmere behind
|
The
cave entrance
|
When
we reached the big cave we had to pay our respects (the
sign forbidding entry no longer exists- not that it
stopped us previously). We've been there many
times but I still think it is quite something.
|
Inside
the cave
|
The
colourful cave walls
|
Thereafter,
it was a gentle stroll back to the car and on to Kendal.
After dropping off Bryan, John and I celebrated
the gain of a free afternoon at the Barrows Green Punchbowl.
No
Hobgoblin on draft there nor Foul Friends at the bar
but spirits definitely not daunted.
So,
Wifey, that's that is what I have been doing whilst
you have been Bavarianating.
Once
I have finished writing this message, I will repair
to the bathroom and wash off all that sweat from the
hills to make myself lovely again for your return, a
delight to which I very much look forward.
Give
the Münchkinder a big
hug from Opa.
Missing
you loads,
Your
ever loving hubby.
Don,
31st January 2013
Micky
and the Fusilier
Steam
buffs would have been enthralled on Saturday 26th January
when a double header pulling the Cumbrian Mountain Express
passed through Oxenholme on its way north.
The
engines were a couple of Mickies- nowadays known as
Black Fives but in my trainspotting time their nickname
derived from a condensation of Mixed Traffic Locomotives.
Specifically, they were numbers 44871 (unnamed)
and 45407 The Lancashire Fusilier (which my Ian Allen
abc book tells me was not named during my youth). No
new "cops" for me; both seen whilst still
in short trousers!
I
was alerted to the appearance of the train by Natland
News,
my village website which has a resident steam correspondent,
Pat Williams. She regularly gives advance notice
of these events but on this occasion there was a follow
up by Burnley based Richard Ratcliffe. He posted
a response saying:
I found your blog and will be travelling on that CME (Cumbrian Mountain Express)
on Saturday 26th January. It is unusual for me to be on the train, preferring to
take a good walk and watching the trains somewhere along the way. My website is
mainly about walks, but an increasing number of walks have railway content.
Here's the cheeky bit ... I am writing to a few enthusiasts / photographers to
see if anyone would be so kind as to email me (at least) one photo from the run
on the 26th.
It
was a clear morning with snow on the ground. I set up
my camera on a tripod, firing from an open bedroom window.
Fortunately, the train was just about on time
so I didn't let in too much cold air. It was a pity
that the sun was in the wrong direction to get a really
good picture but if you visit Richard's website you
will see a much clearer and brighter one taken at about
the same time from the eastern side of the track. You
will also find many more photos and an account of his
journey.
Richard
later commented
What
a great day it turned out to be. Many thanks are due
to all the photographers who acted as “Special Agents”
and submitted photos for use on my website.
It’s
fair to say that my renewed interest in railways was
sparked by the poor weather of the last 12 months. I
found I had to something other than mountains to point
my camera at, when my main subject was out of bounds.
On good days, I can combine both hobbies with a good
Dales walk timed to meet a charter train somewhere on
the S&C.
Let’s
hope for more of the same in the next few weeks!
To
see more of the Cumbrian Mountain Express and to explore
Richard's walking website, first see The
Winter Cumbrian Mountain Express.
Stan
Does It Again
Stan
really is quite remarkable. When faced with a
challenge that men of our age ought to be leaving to
the next generation, he simply regards any consequences
of aging as something to ignore and get on with showing
those whippersnappers what real men are like. Once
again, his son Martin (who being a doctor should know
better) entered Stan for the 24 mile That's Lyth event.
Once again Stan triumphed. Here is his report:
The
forecast was for heavy rain through the night clearing by 9 am so I got the full kit out with the intention of
making a final decision before I left the house. In the event there was still torrential rain at 7.30
am so I set off from the
house clad in 3 layers and full waterproofs. By the time I got to the
scout hut I was drenched.
I
was pretty much on my own most of the way as there seemed to be more runners than walkers and I was behind the
runners but in front of most
of the walkers.
I went fairly well to
Crosthwaite averaging
over 4
mph despite the slush and mud.
From theron the paths got progressively worse necessitating wading through
knee deep floods or foot deep mud in places. To make matters worse there was a tremendous cold headwind all the way over Whitbarrow
so I'd lost a lot of time when I got to Witherslack.
The weather was quite good by this point so I removed my waterproofs and made
reasonable time thereafter, as the paths weren't as bad, and finished in 6 hours
23 minutes which is 8 minutes slower than last year In terms of effort, though, this year was much harder. I've
obviously got a major character defect because for some odd reason I feel a strange sense of satisfaction in
nearly killing myself!
STATISTICS:
BB1305
| Date
|
Thursday
31st January 2013
|
| Distance
in miles:
|
6.5
(Garmin)
|
| Height
climbed in feet:
|
1,641
(OS / Memory Map)
|
| Wainwrights:
|
Loughrigg
|
| Other
Features:
|
Lily
Tarn
|
| Comitibus:
|
Bryan,
Don, John Hn
|
BOOTboys
routes are put online in gpx format which
should work with most mapping software. You can follow
our route in detail by downloading bb1305
To
discover which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
see
Which
Wainwright When?
For the latest totals of the mileages and heights see: BB Log.
Photos
have been gleaned from many sources although mostly
from me! Likewise written comment. Unless stated
otherwise, please feel free to download the material
if you wish.
A reference back to this website
would be appreciated but not essential.
.If I have
failed to acknowledge properly the source or infringed
copyright, then I apologise.
. Please let me
know and I will do my best to put things right.
E-mail addresses on this web site are protected
by
Spam Trawlers will be further frustrated
by
Spam Blocker:
help fight spam e-mail!
|
