An odd day...

writing this at 15 - a cafe/gallery in Penrith where I have come for lunch...

I am actually at work today as am not part of any teaching union - as yet of course as this will need to change come Septmber...wonder if the dispute will still be going on.

So; after 3 very long days at work I am able to relax today - well in the sense of doing lots of prep work for next year; reading books; watching the 'History of Britain' DVD to see if any bits are going to be usable next year and changing some ideas I have got for active learning in RE to a history perspective...

will need a rest after all this!!

Finally getting out....

I would love to have lots of pictures of an amazing day with endless sunshine....like the round of Fairfield that Claire and I did too long ago....unfortunately I don't.

The weather has not been good for the last few weeks - to put it mildly it's been changeable; with frequent rain. The forecast today was not too good either - however yesterday was Mum's birthday so we sallied forth and decided on a gentle(ish) round from Rosthwaite. From the car-park near the Flock Inn we walked up the pass which links the Borrowdale valley with Watendlath. It was a steady ascent as the path has been 'made' (it has been a right of way and traditional route for ages). Regrettably - despite it being an ancient bridleway and drove road, the idea seems to have been to make it as least bike friendly as possible...not good.

We crested the path and dropped into Watendlath - before picking up the path which runs alongside the river for a short 2 miles. On this section of the walk we saw the first people we had seen all day - our way is the "wrong' way round (although probably the better way round) to do this walk.  The descent to Shepherds Crag was enlivened by better weather and a lovely waterfall - as seen in the picture - whilst the decision to stop at the cafe therein for lunch was CERTAINLY a good idea - huge portions and sensible prices..

The second half of the walk involved walking back via Grange to Rosthwaite - following the line of the river most of the way. The only place one can really go wrong is the section after the duckboards where one has to take a left hand path - although this is far from obvious (it's not signed/cairned which is unusual in Borrowdale).

From Grange the weather deteriorated somewhat and it was 3 somewhat damp people that made the Flock Inn...and pint mugs of tea....

https://picasaweb.google.com/102361192587557786751/WatendlathFromRosthwaite - are the pictures from today...

Moments in transition...

just back from a lovely nice bike ride with Claire - first time in ages either of us have been on our steeds...


however; it may turn out to be one of Marvin's last rides...over 10 years old he is starting to show his age and more and more things are starting to go wrong with him...not surprising given the work he has put in over the years. The trans-atlas; which pretty much totalled 2 bikes left him with nothing more than knackered gears and needing new bullbars (not bad for 2 of the sickest weeks work any bike will ever do) whilst he has done 2 coast to coast rides (incl 1 in a 14hr single push) as well as divers orienteering events and lots of other rides...


Hopefully I'll be able to get a full suss bike; so Marvin may retire to Mum's garage (if there is any space!) where he can still go out for rides with her on the East coast - considerably less bumpy and rocky; with the new bike over here on the west coast...


However; to do any of that I'll need to get fit, which right now I ain't. Claire and I had a great day on Fairfield 10days ago, however Claire damaged her ankle slightly and we were limited to a nice stroll along the river for the rest of this week...that coupled with the return of some more horrible weather (no drought warnings up here for sure) has limited us. The other reason I have not done much is simply the stress of school hunting for next year. That, at least, is over with confirmation that I'll be doing GTP training next year at the Richard Rose Academy in Carlisle - YIPEE. It will be hard and challenging; also a lot of fun and hopefully leading to a career in teaching....


Also this week - a BIG thanks to Mum and Peter for sacrificing their only free day this side of xmas to come and do some more work on the skylight at the flat...that at least is the good news; there are still ongoing issues with the cellar that need to be sorted out - which could be horribly expensive (possibly punitively so) -  but that is for another day...and we'll find out a lot more tomorrow...

Fairfield Horseshoe...

As can be seen from the photo it was an absolutely stunning day today in the Lakes...so much so that we ran out of water; despite having 2 litres and stopped at the pub in Patterdale for two pints of Orange Squash and a bowl of chips (on medical advice to replace lost salt!!).

So, where to start; we got up reasonably early (despite Claire not sleeping well) and had bacon butties from Bell's in Penrith. Arriving at Patterdale hotel at 8.25 it was annoying to see that the parking charges had increased by 50% in less than a year...in

fact it seems to have increased since I was there in Jan.

Anyway; we slogged up towards St. Sunday Crag stopping to gasp for air (it was VERY still and already VERY hot) and for me to take photo's. We traversed St. Sunday Crag and thence onto Fairfield. The scramble up Cofa Pike was no problem; however it needed lots of water and a sarnie to get Claire up onto Fairfield. Having seen few people all day (the classic round starts from Rydal) it was nice and gratifying to see that the summit of Fairfield was pretty quiet. A nice lunch stop was taken on the summit and yet more water drained. One of the few problems of this route is that it crosses no watercourses (or go anywhere near them) so it would be a thirsty descent to the car again.

We carried on and climbed onto Hart Crag; the descent of which onto the Gill Crag ridge was a bit of a faff...before a long and lovely descent (with superb views of Dovedale and Deepdale) took us back to the road....just in time for chips!!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/102361192587557786751/FairfieldHorseshoe#  - all the pictures are here..

Blencathra via Sharp Edge..

As can be seen from the picture - taken from the top of Sharp Edge, it was a lovely day in the Lakes today.

To celebrate this; Claire and I elected to go up Blencathra!! The original plan had been to do the Fairfield Horseshoe; however a late start to the day coupled with my total lack of energy and everything else meant a change of plan.

The fact we got parked outside what used to be the White Horse at Scales was encouraging; there were

clearly folk on the hill but it was not heaving. We climbed slowly, I suspect slower than Claire would have liked! up Mousethwaite Combe and traversed the hillside following the well worn path to Scales Tarn. There were lots of people at the tarn, however quite a few were going left up the steep path to the summit of Blencathra rather than doing the edge. Sharp Edge is supposed to be harder than Striding Edge, although given how loose the latter has become in summer I am now not so sure. We stuck mainly to the crest but ducked down before the final descent to the col. Claire bounced easily up the slab and onto the plateau of Blencathra, where a country slice was consumed.
I found the last few feet of ascent, once off the edge itself, a real struggle - the heat not helping as it was pretty hot. We therefore elected to descend over Scales Fell and back to the car - a lovely descent in a lovely early afternoon.

https://picasaweb.google.com/102361192587557786751/BlencathraViaSharpEdge02#

for all the pictures.

Summer in Cumbria..

 This flower was taken on the walk back from Gouther Crag where Claire and I spent a couple of hours on Tuesday...one plus about the dry spell after all the rain is that everything looks lovely and fresh..









As do this clump of trees in lower Swindale..