CHRISTMAS DAY

Friday 25/12/2009. We have been enjoying a very snowy and cold week leading up to Christmas Day and I'm delighted that the snow has stayed to brighten up the village. On the down side we feel for the poor birds who suffer a lot in the cold so we have a twice daily routine of feeding them - few that we get in our garden. Being Christmas our Blackbirds, rare Thrush, and very ocassional Wren are being treated to mince pies, no greater love or what? Pretty traditional turkey lunch with Joy doing all the work as I sample my customary gift bottle of Laphroig single malt (it's what Christmas is for). After all that with the sun shining we took a stroll round the village for half an hour or so. The sun is out and this is a pleasant a Christmas day as could be imagined.

FIRST SNOW

Friday 18th. December 2009. As forecast we have had our first real snow of the winter overnight and as usual the country is is grinding to a halt as everybody make the best of the situation! In the afternoon about 3pm I walked down to The Holme on the river Tees to have a look around. Not too much about, 150 or so Lapwings huddled together on the ice looked even colder than I was. Some Widgeon and Mallards too a large flight of the latter took off in the direction of Bowesfield as the Tees Princess pleasure boat passed by, not many people on deck today! A Robin, Great Tits and a Siskin in the trees, Blackbirds patrolling. Wonder if it will last till Christmas? I am wondering if I will be able to get another local walk in before the end of the year, I would like to so will watch the weather outlook over the next few days. I have yet to do The Shepherd's Round a 40mile walk in the North York Moors as this is on my doorstep I could knock it off in a couple of days or so, we shall see, so we shall.

PARTY TIME AT RSPB

Wednesday 16/12/2009. As the year draws to a close the RSPB put on a party for the volunteers and we all had a fun night on a bring your own booze basis. 2009 has been a wonderful year for the Saltholme reserve and I am delighted to have played a very small part and for the success of the venture. The business plan for the site envisaged a total of 35,000 visitors in the first twelve months of operation, well with three months to go till the aniversary of the opening the visitors numbers are in excess of 93,000 a wonderful achievment and what a great service is being provided to the birdwatching fraternity and the greater community, to say nothing of the benefits of care and conservation for our birdlife. All in all everyone desreves a party. The picture is of me and my good friend Barbara Kevill who describes me as her "right hand man" which is fine by me. Our main task is to look after the garden when we have opened up the reserve and the bird hides on Thursdays our volunteering day. One of the many bonuses I have as a result of this volunteer effort is the pleasure of making good new friends and Barbara is chief among them.

VISITORS AT SALTHOLME

Tuesday 08/12/2009. My ususal volunteering day at the RSPB Saltholme reserve is Thursday but today I am in to lend a hand with a work party set the task of errecting an aluminium shed in the workshop compound for the administration department, who in their brand new suite of offices have no room to store anything! Also my friends Jennifer and Keith Dobson from Leeds who are close neighbours of ours at Burnside Park in Keswick are calling in at Saltholme to visit the reserve and I will be showing them around the hides and our estate. Jennifer and Keith are in the Saltholme garden in the picture opposite, we spent a couple of hours in the various hides but the birds were not very obliging today. Our best billet was the Saltholme Pools hide which gave us excellent views of great flocks of Lapwings and Golden Plovers while on the water I identified a Goldeneye duck, which upon confirmation I was quite chuffed about as this is the first one I have knowingly seen and I managed to recognise it OK so I am slowly getting a little better at this birding lark.

I left the reserve about 2pm., Keith and Jennifer heading up to Northumberland for a mid-week break in a top hotel, lucky things. Meanwhile back at the work party tempers were fraying as the task was proving to be more complex than thought and the broth was suffering from a surfiet of cooks!

HAMBLETON HOBBLE DAY 3

Monday 07/12/2009. A good night with neither wind nor rain to cause concern or impinge on sleep so I was up a lot earlier than on Sunday morning despite having a short day's distance to walk I want to make sure there are no problems with catching the Stokesley to Middlesbrough bus connection given that these country services rarely run into the evening. So away just before eight am gave me plenty of time. But first I had to sort out my route and to my pleasure located a north bound track about 25 yards from my camp, I had walked past this in last night's darkness or would have taken it then as it clearly heads for the forest boundary. Still finding it saved me a long walk back to the last main north bound main junction. However I exited from the forest on the road just below the hamlet of Cowesby thus I was about a couple of miles off-route. My new GPS proved it's worth by giving me an accurate grid ref at my access point onto the roadway and it was a simple walk through Cowesby to regain the "official" route.

From here the going was straightforward although the ground was very muddy- and a slip had me rolling in cow muck! I made quite fast progress. On approaching Over Stilton to the north of Pen Hill I visited the lovely old church of St. Mary Magdalene which sits in isolated splendour, a tiny stone church in it's disproportionately large graveyard. (See picture above). After that rather than continue along the high level route through the forest I headed down into the valley level and walked along parallel to the road through Thimbleby and on to finish in Osmotherley market by way of the delightfully named "Paradise Row" With the best part of an hour to wait for the 13.15 bus to Stokesley I had time to clean up and enjoy a cup of coffee from the village shop and commiserate with the owner on the recent loss of her sub-postmistress business!

A good walk despite the wettish conditions and I have seen a lot more of the villages around Ryedale in the North York Moors National Park and so am getting to know my local hills that much better. The next walk I have in mind for this area is called the Shepherds Round which is a 40 miler. The Hambleton Hobble is given as 32 miles but I managed to up that to 35!

HAMBLETON HOBBLE DAY 2

Sunday 06/12/2009. Today's section of the walk is a mixture of field edge paths and woodland with the delights of Boltby forest at the end of the day. I soon passed Arden Hall and then on to Combe Hill an area I first walked in October on the Inn Way to the North York Moors. Once past Old Byland the route was for a time co-incident with the Inn Way and the Cleveland Way as I got closer to Rievaulx Abbey, then back up out of the dales to the quiet village of Scawton, on over the fields to Cold Kirby with the next section taking me over the Cleveland escarpment at High Barn (see picture and a little bit of sunshine) and into Boltby forest as daylight receeded. I had hoped to get out of the north side of the woods and to be able to camp on Gallows Hill but as per usual when I get into forestry commission land I always manage to get lost and so it was again! I kept going till 5pm and as the track I was on was heading well off-route I pitched in the dark on the rough verge of the track. As I often find camping on rough ground gives an excelllent night's sleep thanks to the indentations on the ground matching hip and bum ect. can't be guaranteed of course but thankfully it was the case tonight, and again thankfully, the rain kept off the wind died down and I enjoyed a few pleasant hours listening to Radio 4 on my MP3 FM radio, my wife's very welcome and useful Christmas present from last year. Wonder what I can look forward to in a couple of weeks time, fingers crossed.

HAMBLETON HOBBLE DAY 1

Saturday 05/12/2009.

With the North Yorks Moors on my doorstep (well less than ten miles to Carlton Bank) I am keen to do the major routes and walks. Earlier in the year I managed the excellent "Bilsdale Circuit" and today I am off by bus-pass to lovely Osmotherley to tackle a route called "The Hambleton Hobble" which sets off from Osmotherley for a mile or so along the Cleveland Way before heading round the north end of Black Hambleton and then across the moors heading south east. The route passes through the grounds of Arden Hall (the Earl of Mexbrough's pad) on to Hawnby, Old Byland and Scawton, the furthest point south, then it's north-east back to Osmotherley via Cold Kirby, Boltby forest, Kepwick and the Siltons.

Despite a good weather forecast giving rain overnight but dry days I had a lot of rain overnight on Saturday and well into Sunday am this was followed by more showers and rain, hey ho! All of this made for muddy and slow going. I started at 11.20am and got about ten miles done before nightfall which found me camping near Sunnyside Farm close to All Saint's church in Ryedale. Wild camp as per my picture.

It was very wet overnight and in the morning the rain kept me intent till well after nine 'o clock with the result that my start was about 10.15am. a bit late really for daylight hours so short as they are in December. Still 16 hours in the sack is not such a bad thing is it?

DRACULA IN WHITBY

Tuesday 1st December 2009

For some time I have wanted to visit Whitby to photograph the Dracula associations for addition to my Brit/Lit group on Flickr. Today's the day. From home it's a 15 minute bus trip to Middlesbrough where I catch a connection for the 40 miles to Whitby this takes an hour and ten minutes or so - on the quick service. I got to the town about 11.30am. A short visit to the TIC to enquire about the "Dracula Trail" proved fruitless as they had run out of leaflets! I picked up a brochure the usual overpriced local publication with six pages for a scandelous £2.50 but it helped by directing me to Royal Crescent where Bram Stoker, the author of Count Dracula originally developed the ideas for his novel. He could never have forseen either the success it would have nor the impact on Whitby. The town now has a twice-a-year "Goth Festival" and you can't book a bed for miles so successful and well attended they are. Next year I'll be giving it a try.

From Royal Crescent I made my way through the harbour area and picked up useful pictures of a restaurant called The Moon and Sixpence, a tribute to W. Somerset Maugham, and in Church Street the delightful "The Owl And The Pusseycat" filched from Edward Lear. From here Its up the famous 199 steps to reach the parish church of St. Mary's, I photographed Caedmans Cross (again), and the tombstones and views that Bram Stoker so vividly describes in his novel. I fitted in a quick tour round the church which is a rather ugly functional place of worship but has very interesting doored and lockable pews and an ancient piped stove in the center of the naive still in use today.

After that; back to the town for a round of the second hand bookshops, but found nothing compelling then a slow bus return via Sandsend and Staithes etc. to Middlesbrough and home for tea. A good day out.

COELIACS IN PENRITH

Saturday 07/11/2009. Today the local branch of the Coeliac Society are holding their annual food fair in the Ullswater Community College in Penrith, this is designed to allow sufferer's from coeliac disease to meet, greet and find out about new products and generally see what is going on in this area of health concern. The show was spread over two large rooms and must be judged a success as it was packed out. Joy takes a keen interest (unsurprisingly being a coeliac herself) in these events and had a good examination of what was on offer spending quite a lot of money on various food items. Me? I was happy to see it all and made free with the many food samples on offer. Before leaving Joy tried out the gluten-free fish and chips- a real treat for a coeliac, and then we retired to the cafe for a cup of tea. After all this it's back at the lodge in Keswick.

REMEMBRANCE DAY IN KESWICK

Sunday 08/11/09. This has been a bad week for British forces in Afghanistan, six dead, five of them murdered by an Afghani policeman whom they were training. This is making me remember my paternal grandfather who was killed in the first world war, my maternal grandfather served and happily survived and my own father who spent the second world war in the Royal Air Force. So I thought I would go along to Keswick's parish church of St. John (quite keen to see the inside of this church which has wonderful views of the Borrowdale and Coledale fells) commencing at 3pm. The service was as you would expect but I couldn't get into it, I think I get most out of churches when they are empty and I was a bit disconcerted to see so many youngsters in uniforms of scouts guides etc all parading colours, seems a bit like training them up for their turn, I think it was just my mood, I went through all that with the Boys Brigade in Hurlford and it hardly made me into a soldier.

Following the service a parade made its way to the cenotaph where all the civic organisations laid wreaths to the memory of our war dead. The only good thing we can say about today's wars is at least, kill as they do, they do not kill so many as in former times. Lest we forget, that is something to be thankful about.

LITERARY COCKERMOUTH

Wednesday 04/11/2009. I'ts been raining non-stop in Keswick since the weekend so it seems like a good day to bus up to Cockermouth and spend a couple of hours looking round William Wordsworth's birthplace, now a National Trust Property. This is something I have wanted to do for quite a while as it should give me an opportunity to get some good photographs to post to my "Literary Britain" group on Flickr. Alas it was not to be as the property closes for the winter and I have missed the deadline by four days! Never mind the town of Cockermouth has quite a lot to offer by way of literary connections and I can keep myself occupied. On the Wordsworth front I photographed the drinking fountain on the junction of Main Street and Sullart Street which is dedicated to the memory of William and Dorothy Wordsworth's childhood years in Cockermouth, as this is immediately adjacent to a bust on a plinth of William Wordsworth donated to the town by it's local Round Table in 1986, it would have been churlish not to have photographed that too!

Next I pictured the two Main Street pubs with literary connections, The Wordsworth and the Fletcher Christian Tavern (see picture). Fletcher Christian led the infamous "Mutiny on the Bounty" was a Cockermouth lad who went to the same infant school with William Wordsworth. Many books have been written on this act of trechery on the high seas so I'll not repeat the story here suffice to say they all came to a sticky end. Another less well known literary connection with the town is the Scottish novelist, poet, travel writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850 - born in the year of Wordsworth's death- to 1894). Stevenson stayed at least one night in the town and wrote about his time here in one of his tavel essays. He made reference to Wilson's Hat Factory and I will be coming back to find and photograph it's remaining ruin on the outskirts of the town. A suitable diversion for another wet day in Cockermouth perhaps!

RIGG END KESWICK

Saturday 31/10/2009. This is our holiday lodge at Burnside Park with Joy's car beside it. The site will be closing in a few weeks time so this will be our last trip, unless we come over during the Christmas/New Year break, so we need to do some "closing down" maintenance tasks. Joy sees to the internal things while I get up on the roof to clear the gutters and trim the overhanging trees. Where we are sited close to the lane running up to Underskiddaw is a bit of a trap for the falling autumn leaves and requires regular attention to stop the leaf mould becoming compost.

Next spring I will need to have another round of wood maintenance on the verandah decking which seems to need re-proofing every couple of years thanks to all the Lakeland rain it has to contend with. November is also the time when Lowther Estates (the Burnside Park gardening contractor) trims our trees which grow apace. The Silver Birch trees are particularly vigorous, I notice most of them have red paint splotches at various heights and it will be interesting to see how aggressive this year's cut back will be. I love trees and don't really mind ours too much but they do seem a bit close to the foundations of the lodges and they restrict our views of Latrigg and Blencathra, against that we get red squirrels, woodpeckers and (this morning) nuthatches who would certainly vote to keep them.

ROSTHWAITE TO KESWICK WITH JOY

Friday 30/10/2009. Today we got the local Borrowdale bus down to Rosthwaite and from there walked back home taking the old packhorse bridge over the river Derwent to join the route of the Cumbria Way as it wanders by the river's edge through the woods passing the remnant quarry workings below Castle Crag. The trees are truely beautiful this autumn; we seem to have had the right combination of weather conditions to ensure a super display of kaleidoscopic autumn colours, these wonderful sessile oak woodlands managed by the National Trust are quite splendid and lots of walkers are out enjoying them today. And I found a copy of a short walks guide to the Keswick Area near the camp-site at Hollows Farm at Grange, a little bit of good fortune to set against my own tendancy to lose things on walks, an egregious fault at the moment! We detoured into Grange and had a pot of tea and a bit of cake, Joy being able to get some gluten-free biscuits, making the cafe very supportable. The last part of our walk takes the lovely shorepath along the west bank of Derwentwater, through Brandlehow Park (where Joy almost lost her walking pole), on to Portinscale where we split, Joy going directly back to the lodge me heading into Keswick to replenish the drinks cabinet, a mission of mercy you might say! Another lovely walk completed in very good weather, what more could you ask for?

EASEDALE TARN WITH JOY

Wednesday 28/10/2009. We got an early bus down to Grasmere, unfortunately the weather has changed a bit and we are having showers but there is little wind so it's not too bad. We have decided to walk up to Easedale Tarn and have a picnic lunch by the water's edge - hope springs eternal, this will be a walk about six plus miles as we will come back to Grasmere by way of Far Easdale Gill.

From Grasmere the Easedale road runs about a mile and a half north west and just before it expires we cross the footbridge over Far Easedale Gill and head up the rather damp footpath climbing steadily upwards to pass the foaming waters of Sour Milk Gill. After that it is a steady plod up to the tarn where we sheltered by a large boulder and had our tiffin. Quite a lot of people around today despite the rain. We had thought about walking round the tarn, and even began to do so but turned back because of the very wet boggy ground. Next we had a bit of excitement crossing the outflow of Sour Milk Gill at the east end of Easedale Tarn, the rain has swollen water volumes which made for an interesting crossing of the stepping stones. On the way to the tarn we encountered quite a few walkers heading back for Grasemere which seemed unusual so early in the day, perhaps they had looked at the stepping stones and thought better of it? We got across without mishap then Joy led off and we made the descent into Far Easedale to pick up the good track that is the continuation of the Borrowdale to Grasmere path crossing higher up on Greenup Edge. Once over the beck it was an easy and pleasant walk back to Grasmere where we indulged in a pot of tea in a local cafe, and to Joy's delight they had a selection of gluten-free cakes on offer, the Bakewell Tart can now be thoroughly recommended. Then back to the lodge for dinner and a good bottle of wine. Good or what?

BUYING NEW KIT

Tuesday 27/10/2009. For some time I have been thinking about buying a pair of "proper boots" for my long distance walking outings. For years past I have favoured lightweight boots, known as "trainers" in the trade and I have to admit that I regurlarly get pressure blisters on the soles of my feet after about fifty miles. A bit of antiseptic cream does the trick but it is still not the most comfortable way to walk and as my current boots which cost me about £100 from Nevisport two years ago have had it I have decided to splash out today so here I am at George Fisher's the premier outdoor retailer in Keswick. This lovely building was formerly the home of the Abraham Brothers famous photography pioneers who recorded the birth of rock-climbing in Lakeland at the middle to end of the nineteenth century. I think George Fisher established their business here about 1967 built it into probably the most respected retail brand in the industry before selling out for 2.5 million pounds a couple of years ago. It's now owned by one of the multiples but still seems to thrive despite the fierce competition in Keswick as the town transmorgifies itself into "the adventure capital of Britain", in the process almost every retail outlet has converted to selling outdoor kit. I got a pair of boots for the princely sum of £150.00, so they better do the business! Still in spending mode I also succombed to the lure of a half price offer (£89.00) for a new lightweight sleeping bag at Needlesports. I need a lock for my wallet.

A CIRCUIT OF SHEFFIELD PIKE

Monday 26/10/2009. Joy and I set off on a fine sunny morning driving to Ullswater we parked up on the access road to Seldom Seen. Our walk is to take us over Sheffield Pike by way of Glenridding Dodd, and Sheffield Pike's subsidiary top of Heron Pike then the primary top. The start of the walk took us along the banks of beautiful Ullswater and although this path runs alongside the road, it is still a treat and today the autumn colours are wonderful, this is turning out to be a very good year for tree leaf coulour in the Lakes there are stunning yellows russet reds and orange hues which make for good pictures. On reaching Glenridding we turned up the Greenside Road passing the Travellers Rest pub and on to the old miners cottages before heading steeply uphill to the coll known as Blaes Crag, from here we head up to the right and the excellent viewtop of Glenridding Dodd (1450'). Ullswater sparkles away to the north-east and on to the Eden plane. On the opposite side of the valley Birkhouse Moor towers over upper Glenridding and runs up to the Helvellyn fells. We retrace our steps back to the Blaes Crag col and then pick our way up the blunt nose of Heron Pike, on the summit we miss the summit being a bit distracted by a vain attempt to keep our feet dry as we cross the bogs to reach the primary summit top of Sheffield Pike, a second ascent for me and a first for Joy. Here we get our exact position conifrmed by some walkers (I thought it was Heron Pike)! and settle to have our sandwiches in the sunshine with views on every point of the compass. Sitting still it gets chilly so after our snack we set off just north of west to pick up the good path down the valley of Glencoyne to pass through the woods and the houses at the romantically named hamlet of Seldom Seen (what a pity the housed all front the steep northern face of the Brown Hills and not the glorious views of Ullswater to be had 90 degrees to the east). The path through the forest is running with water but soon we are back at the car and that is the end of our walk. About six miles with 2,000' of ascent. A very good days outing and a grand start to our week here.

BIRD IDENTIFICATION

Sunday 25/10/2009. I'm attending a "bird identification" course organised by the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust, tutors Eric James and Vic Fairbrother from the Teesside Bird Club. As the bus service on a Sunday is poor I made my way to Charltons near Guisborough (and just off the Cleveland Way) on Saturday 24th. and wild-camped on the outskirts of Skelton Warren (woods) with a short stroll to the Trust's premises in the morning, (see picture). The course was first class, the Teesside Bird Club is keen to recruit helpers for their bird surveys and I think I might give this a go, it may discipline me sufficiently to give the study-time this fascinating subject deserves. At the end of the course one of my fellow attendees gave me a lift to Thornaby and Joy drove out to pick me up. After a quick meal and wash, we then set off for a bit of time at the lodge in Keswick, before winter sets in completely.

NYM INN WAY FINAL DAY

Wednesday 21st. October 2009.

A very wet and stormy night up on Newtondale Moor is followed by a wet and windy morning to finish the final 13 miles or so that lie between me and the end of the walk at my starting point of Egton Bridge. Today's highlight was my passage through Goathland - the fictionalised Aidensfield in the popular TV series Heartbeat - co-incided with the arrival of one of the North Yorks Moors Railway's engines running from Grosmont down to Pickering, this is a steam rail serivce now run by a charitable trust and the enthusiasts who do all the work have done a wonderful job of preserving the fabric and spirti of steam railway travel. I made this journey on the train about 20 years ago but today I am simply admiring it from the station, as indeed were lots and lots of others, all our cameras clicking away merrily. Quite a sight. Ah well back to the walk, and it's a steady plod over the moors and back into the Esk Valley and Egton Bridge where I arrived at 2.15pm very wet and a bit footsore. So my journey took a total of four days, one hour and thirty minutes. The rain stayed with me to the finish and beyond and I had real problems getting home. The next bus to Whitby was not until 3.27pm which was fine as it gave me time to wash and clean up in the public loos (all to myself out here) and get a warming brew of tea organised. Trouble was the bus did not show and it took me till 3.50pm before I found a kind fellow Scot who took pity on my situation and drove me to Whitby, a round trip of about 25miles for him and his wife soley for my benefit, this is the kindness of strangers in action, I thank you Sir. My travel problems continued as the Whitby Bus to Middlesbrough was delayed by 40 minutes as the passenger door would not close! What next, I feared missing my connection in Middlesbrough for home and having to walk another seven miles on top of the 101 miles recorded on my GPS. However, I made it OK. So another excellent walk, but now that I have sorted out the route finding problems I think I will come back next summer hopefully dry weather and give it another round.

NYM INN WAY - DAY FOUR

Tuesday 20th. October 2009.

I had hoped to complete my walk today but with over 30 miles still to go I will have to continue into Wednesday. The features of today's walking were the lovely Yorkshire villages the route passes through, Hutton - le - Hole, Lastingham, Levisham, (Where true to form I had problems getting down from Newton-on- Rawcliffe bank to locate the crossing over the river and railway to Levisham Station). My picture is of the village green in Fadmoor - this section of the route is co-incident with The Tabular Hills Walk which completes "the missing link" in the Cleveland Way by joining Scarborough to Helmsley, so this is not my first visit to beautiful Fadmoor). By the end of the day I was up on the moors and camped at the impressive Skelton Tower overlooking the gorge of Newtondale, famous for being the very scenic route of the North Yorks Moors Railway, which I will encounter at close quarters tomorrow, Wednesday.

NYM INN WAY - DAY THREE

Monday 19th. October 2009.

Still raining as I packed up and set off this morning heading across Bransdale and into Bilsdale again I had route finding problems which added distance and wasted time, the latter more annoying than the former! Going along the ridge of Boltby Scar to Whitestones Cliff is part of the Cleveland Way and so brought back some good memories, however todays weather is wet, windy and cold so that is not so memorable is it? The walking is quite easy today (which helps) as I make my way to Helmsley via the beautiful old ruins of the Cistercian Abbey at Rievaulx. From Helmsley my route follows the River Rye for a few miles then heads into the hinterland of Yorkshires many pretty villages, today I got as far as Wombleton where I camped on a field edge next to the Sports field, not the best place for a wild camp but a good night's sleep regardless. I passed the beautiful old church of St. Gregory's Minster in Kirkdale, this ancient Saxon church is an eccliseastical and architechtural gem of a building and I was very sorry not to be able to have a closer inspection as it is closed for renovations. Just look at the gates!

NYM INN WAY - DAY TWO

Sunday 18th. October 2009.

After an excellent wild camp on the old mineral railway line built to shift ironstone from the Rosedale valley mines to Middlesbrough' smelting furneses I dropped down into Rosedale proper and along the valley into the touristy village of Rosedale Abbey. I walked 12 and a bit miles yesterday which has broken me in nicely and today I am anxious to get up onto the moors, this section takes in a lot of valley with climbs up and over to the next one ( my picture is of the approach to Farndale) and I will be seeing a lot of Blakey Ridge, Rudland Rigg, Bransdale Ridge and Bilsdale East Moor before reaching Easterside Hill and Hawnby. I reached Hawnby about five pm and the weather has turned to rain, drat so I kept going till I could find a place for a wild camp and pitched in a grand spot in a hollow by a dry stone wall, a wet night but I slept well having now completed about 38 miles, some of them not on the route though!

NORTH YORK MOORS INN WAY

Saturday 17th. October 2009

Joy has gone over to Keswick for a short break and I have decided to walk another of Mark Reid 's "Inn Way" series of long distance walks, this one is more or less on my doorstep - the North York Moors. The official start of the route is Helmsley, but as that is rather difficult to reach by public transport compared with an approach from Whitby in the north I have decided to start from "The Village the Reformation Forgot" Egton Birdge, also home to the famous annual Goosberry Growing Championships.

The walk is given as 89 miles but I added quite a few extra due to errors and route finding confusions, much worse on this walk than is my normal error rate, but still if an 89 mile walk is a good thing then an 101 mile walk must be better!

The billy goat in the picture was encountered shortly after the start of the walk, the view is back over the Esk Valley, the sun is shining and all is well with the world.

AOTHER OLD CORPSE ROAD

Monday 12/10/2009.
Another fine day following a peaceful night on my own at the Mosedale Cottage Bothy. My walk today will retrace Saturdays route over the Gatescarth Pass to Haweswater but today I will be carrying on up the east side of the lake to tackle Branstree by way of the Old Corpse Road (from Swindale to Haweswater, though at the time of it's use it's destination end from Swindale would have been the drowned village of Mardale now beneath Haweswaters billions of gallons of Manchester's tea-making water). A steep climb up onto the plateau provides magnificent views across Haweswater to High Street, Riggindale and Kidsty Pike (to get the best of these the walk from Swindale is preferred, no need to stop and turn round to enjoy them!) and the weather is of the simply glorious-hay-ho-wonderful-to-be-alive, variety. What a joy to be out today. The tops reached are first; Selside Pike, then Howes and on to Artle Crag and Branstree with it's impressive stone pillars (two) and rather ordinary stone marker for it's highest point. From which an easy descent again down into the Mosedale Hawes and back to the bothy. So ends three of the best days fell-walking I have enjoyed this year, what a good decision to come. Tomorrow pack-up-pack-out.

LONG SLEDDALE'S EASTERN FELLS

Sunday 11/10/2009. My co-residents at Mosedale Cottage Bothy left quite early, my own departure for the quiet and lovley Longsleddale Fells was about quarter to ten, not exactly an alpine start but today's walk is of the order of seven and a half miles so I am not pressed for time. The walk down the steep and ancient track of the Gatescarth Pass leading into Lonsleddale is a delight, and the river Sprint with it's impressive series of waterfalls is particularly attractive and all-asparkle in the morning sun's stillness as the Stonechats flit and dance along the walls. This is indeed "a little piece of heaven fallen to earth" The start of the round (another Birkett outing) leaves the Sadgill Bridge and goes straight into a steep climb north-east to the summit of Great Howe giving good views south and west out over the Kentdale Fells to Morcambe Bay and wide blue sea. From Great Howe it's an easy walk along the plateau first to Grey Crag, I liked the cairn so stopped for a can of sardines for early lunch, then on north to Harrop Crag then west to bag the final top of Tarn Crag. From here an easy descent to Mosedale Hawse and back to the Bothy to enjoy the rest of the day. In the evening gloaming, I stood by the door of the bothy, mug of tea in hand watching a small herd of Red Deer, with the bull rutting and strutting somewhere out of sight but not out of earshot, wonderful sound of pure nature,and the first time I have heard it south of the border. The picture is of the "tarn" and the old survey tower on the summit of Tarn Crag.

RIGGINDALE HORSESHOE

Saturday 10/10/2009. Slept well in the bothy, being the only resident was just fine by me. Away about 9.45am to do the classic round of Riggindale Horseshoe starting from the car park at Mardale End. However that is about five miles from Mosedale Cottage with a climb up and then down the lovley Gatescarth Pass to reach the "official start" of the walk. The weather is beautiful and it would be hard to improve on the pleasure of being on the hill on a day such as this. My route climbs the long ridge to the summit of Rough Crag before continuing in the same line to the top of Riggindale followed by a simple stroll to the summit trig point of High Street. From here an easy walk along the delightfully named "Straights of Riggindale" to turn to the top of the distinctive Kidsty Pike, this is the first time I will have topped out on this impressive Peak.

Afther that it's back down to Mardale and then the little matter of a 1300' climb up the Gatescarth Pass and over the Mosedale Hawes to reach the Cottage. The picture shows the entire route as seen from near the top of Gatescarth Pass.

Later that evening a party of eight young men, 30's with three boy aged from 6 - 12 arrived from Kendal so I moved into the second bedroom to give them the "master" I've given up sleeping with strangers! They were a good bunch of folks though and it's good to see Fathers doing so much for and with their kids.

MOSEDALE COTTAGE

Friday 09/10/2009. Today I am travelling by bus to Shap and then walking in to the Mountain Bothies Association bothy, Mosedale Cottage. From the Wet Sleddale road end a mile or so south of Shap village it is about a six mile walk in to the bothy. My plan is to stay until my food runs out (it's a 15 mile round trip to the Shap shops) and do a few Birkett routes. In the event I had four nights in the bothy on three of them I had the Cottage to myself which was wonderful, as was the weather which seemed anxious to make up for the rain and mire endured on my last two visits to Lakeland, so as ever, if you want good weather, just keep going back!

ANOTHER DAY AT RSPB

Eight o'clock start with Barbara Keville this morning at the RSPB reserve at Saltholm and once again it seems we have a lovely day to walk round the reserve and open all the hides before the visitors come in and scare our birds away! After breakfast of bacon butties in the canteen we retired to the garden with Mike Wade and spent the day in green fingered mode. We still have lots of Painted Lady butterflies though they are beginning to look a bit worn now. Beautiful things, and we still have our resident hare in the garden he has obviously decided to stay, he moves out of the way when disturbed but keeps coming back, perhaps we could tame him, maybe not such a good idea.

THE RELUCTANT GARDENER!

My wife Joy is a marvellous gardener and as this is one of her main interests she is a wee bit reluctant to dilute her pleasure by employing me as an assistant meaning she would spend less time about her pleasure - additionally Joy points out with some justification that "you don't know what to do" True, I have not been an avid gardener thoughout my life but now that I have more time; gardening seems an acceptable junction for age to meet activity, so having my lack of knowlege referred to grates a trifle and I am prone to point out something along the lines of "there was a time when I didn't know the alphabet but I know most of it off by heart now" This rarely cuts much ice. However I am sometimes called upon to perform those tasks that require a bit of heft and muscle, and so get to hold my head up and feel that "I have done my bit" and I notice that a little bit of chest-beating always improves a man's self-esteem!

Today provides just such an opportunity, we have a fine specimen of a blue flowering bush, or is it a tree? can't remember it's name but it begins with a "C" growing in the front of the house by the window and that's the problem, it is now very well established and is making a decent attempt to get through the window and into our lounge so it will have to go. Joy is over in Keswick and will be returning in a day or two so I will be able to demonstrate that I have been doing more than keeping my nose in a book or a pint glass! Fortunately, the tree has a small root ball with a couple of deep tap roots so it was not too hard to get out. I cut off the main branches before tackling the trunk and roots and all this took a couple of hours to complete, the bigger task is reducing it to pieces small enough to be removed by the Council's fornightly garden waste collection, I have two days to get it finished and this time I must take care with the secateurs! Last time I did a job like this I took the top off my left index finger and finished up in the emergency department of James Cook Hospital, maybe Joy has a point after all. The picture shows the tree exturpated and reduced to twigdom about to set off on it's final journey. Sorted!

LOITERING WITHIN TENT!

Monday 28/09/09 I'm in my tent ruckled up in a warm sleeping bag, the day's walk has been good and tomorrow beckons with a fresh appeal, in other words all is well with the world and this is the height of contentment I get from my stravaigin around the country, travel light, on your own, stay where you will (within obvious reason). And then the rains come down and things change, rain lashing the tent is a good thing, it reaffirms the justification for having a tent and there is a sublime pleasure in being safe from the elements which are thwarted by a mere millimetre or so of protection, so have another brew and enjoy this high and lonely place. But then as the hours go by the thoughts turn to the morrow and what to do if it keeps on raining, well speculation is rendered to the sidelines as it does rain for about the next 18 hours! in the morning I (quite happily) resign myself to the prospect of an extended "fester" and at six in the morning give it another six hours to clear up, well of course this was wishful thinking and at noon in the pouring rain I broke camp, headed down out of the cloud to Coniston, had a pint in the Sun Hotel (expensive) and then caught the bus to Ambleside where the sun was shining, this is the Lakeland I love so much.

ON DROPPING CRAG

Sunday 27/09/09 Travelling by bus to Keswick yesterday took an exceptionally long time, my first connection at Stockton a mere three miles from home was late and my waiting time was nearly one hour, this knocked my Newcastle and Carlisle connections out of timely synchronisation and the best part of an hour was spent waiting there as well, still it costs me nothing which is great, but the background noise is humming that pensioners bus passes will be axed due to public expenditure shortfalls and the need to cut back on the psbr. Just my luck so I will make hay while the sun shines.

Today I travelled by the Pathfinder bus to Ambleside then on to Coniston to finish the walk I started on my last visit to this area but abandoned due to bad weather at the top of the Walna Scar Road. So that is where I headed, having completed the round of Dow Crag from Goats Water todays walk was from the summit of Walna Scar track to the nearby top of the fell then on to White Pike, the short hike east to White Maiden (a lovely summit and rarely visited) and then downhill to pick up the difficult to find top (coming from above that is, from below it would be quite easy), of High Pike Haw. All done in decent order but the location of the last top took quite a bit of time and I doubt if I would have got it right without the benefit of my new GPS toy, still got a lot to learn about how to use all it's features, but as it gives an accurate location for it's own position it earns it's keep for that alone. A short walk across the top of Torver High Common and back up to join the Walna Scar track and a 600' ascent to the top of the pass about a mile away and at the darkening of the night I pitch my tent on the very summit on a great bit of turf. Today has been dry and cloudy, not at all bad for hill -walking. Pitched and settled in then tomorrow the plan is the Dunnerdale Fells, and more Birkett competions. The picture is of the pass over Dropping Crag leading down to the lower valley and High Pike Haw.

OFF TO THE HILLS

We are enjoying a bit of an Indian Summer with high pressure and a good forecast so emboldened we are off to Keswick, me by bus today, my wife following in a day or so. My interest is to continue doing Birkett routes in Lakeland around Coniston (unfinished business), and hopefully a day or two in the Shap Fells which can be incorporated into my return journey, Bags and sacs all packed so nothing to hang around for.

POETRY IN STOCKTON

Wednesday 23/09/09 For a couple of years now Apples & Snakes, a London based production company specialising in poetry, spoken word and mixed media performance works by modern writers has been hosting events at Stockton-on-Tee's ARC studio theatre. I like to go to these shows if I can, the exposure to young British poets is always interesting, if sometimes a bit weird for someone of my age but you might be witnessing the next Maya Angelou, Benjamin Zephaniah or Paul Muldoon, long shots I know but worth a modest punt for a good night out listening to new work from the up and coming wave. Tonight's show is called "Articulate" featuring three acts, the picture shows two of them at the end of the show outside ARC, they are Sheree Mack from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Lemn Sissay from Manchester and the star of the evening and both were good, it's a shame though that their published works were not available for sale. Lemn's performance of "Invisible Kisses" was especially enjoyable and this poem and "Sweetie" by Sheree Mack are featured on my Flickr page tagged by poets name.

BOOKS BREED ON THEIR SHELVES

I sometimes think books breed! but of course the reason I have so many is that I can't pass a charity shop without popping to see what gems might be sitting on their shelves, and one day Amazon just might bankrupt me! A good thing about no longer being in full time employment is that there is more time to read, however there is more time to do everything and of course this competition means that many things I fondly imagined I would do a lot more of, work against each other. I do a lot of biking, bird-watching and walking now, but I don't take books with me (they are too precious), so that cuts down on available reading time. Anyway I have bought two additional bookcases from Argos and spent this morning battling the complexities of flat-pack assembly. Very pleased with the results, the cases are quite cheap and cheerful and in Argos's current sale cost about £25 each including delivery, which is very good value indeed. Now I can get on with the exciting task of filling them up. I have quite an overspill in my "study" and am looking forward to sorting them out properly, fiction by alpha etc. I can see what the author Penelope Lively means in the following quote from her novel: Making it up: -

"The books win, always they win by their sheer numbers, by their dogged diversity. He sometimes sees them as a kind of chronic invasion-a culture that blooms where it can, and grimly proliferates when it gets a hold. The books always have the upper hand; silent, ineradicable". Too true Penelope too true.

Thanks to LibraryThing I can now look up my own book stats with ease, here they are: My catalogued library now consists of 1420 titles (up from 1360 at the beginning of the year), so maybe it's me who's breeding the books. I wouldn't want to be without them. The new shelves have been sited in one of our bedrooms they fit in quite nicely and I now have a chest of drawers which I will try to sell - bringing my costs down even further, a Scot to the end eh?

ALL HIS OWN WORK

Monday 21/09/09 I'm putting in some extra hours at the RSPB reserve at Saltholm, as next week I will be away in the Shap Fells on my ongoing "Birkett" campaign and might not get back in time to do my usual Thursday volunteering day. After that I could be working on a part-time basis with Debenham's Department Store in Middlesbrough over their busy Christmas period. I was employed there last year and have written to them asking for my old job back! So fingers crossed, a little income at Christmas is a good thing. Today's tasks start with the security patrol and opening up of the three hides: The Wildlife Watchpoint which gives access to the north-east reed beds, Paddy's Pool Hide which overlooks the lake and artificial island constructed by the contractors before the reserve opened in March 2009. It's named after the JCB digger operator who played the major role in building the island (I wonder what nationality he is). He did a good job and the island was "cockleshelled" by the reserve volunteers and has produced a wonderful nesting area for Common Terns (which are not as common as their name suggests), Saltholm produced a healthy crop of new terns this summer, so well done everyone. The final hide is the biggest one, called Saltholm Pools Hide, as the name suggests it overlooks two pools from a position midway between them, ie The West Saltholm Pool and Back Saltholm Pool. I took my camera round today and the picture is of the new fencing I helped Toby get in and up last week. The neighbouring farmer's cattle have been wading into the Haverton Pool, in the picture and coming up on the opposite side of the old inadequate fence to get to our pristine fresh grass, naughty things, the grass is for our Lapwings and Geese, not for greedy cows. The fence looks good and so far is doing the job intended, lets hope the cattle get the message. We use sheep on the reserve to help manage the grasslands but we do not want cows thank you.

RSPB SALTHOLM

Friday 18/09/09

With my ride round the Moors to Sea Cycleway stretching into an unplanned third day the only down side was that I missed my normal volunteer day at RSPB Saltholm. Being a volunteer, I can hardly be sacked but I feel a bit uncomfortable as although I have a new mobile phone, I did not have Toby Collette's number in it, and so could give him no warning of my non-appearance. So when I got home on Thursday, I emailed an apology to Toby and volunteered to come in on Friday by way of reparation. My day consisted of the early morning round opening up the hides and checking the security of fences and livestock, the neighbouring farmer's cattle have been getting into the reserve, not welcome, but today all was well on that front. This process of "opening up" takes about two hours and involves a two mile walk round the reserve with lots of opportunities to watch the birds from the three hides. On a good day this is not work so much as a delight. Later I cut the grass in the overflow car park a task which takes a couple of hours it's almost as large as a football field, but looks a lot better for it. I clocked out as usual at 4pm which with my 8am start and a ten mile bike ride there and back again keeps me going and I always sleep well following a day at Saltholm.

MOOR TO SEA PART 3

Thursday 17/09/09.

Minor roads out of Whitby heading west towards Dalby brought me to a bridle path loop that takes in the summit top of Beacon Hill, at this time of day this is exactly what I want, an off-road route over the moors with wide open places in which to pitch my tent. After a mile or two uphill, I came across a wonderful flat piece of springy turf in a sea of uncampable heather, and such are the good things in life! It was a bit early around seven pm but it was just too much of an inviting place and with no pre-knowledge of the way ahead, I wasted no time, this is the place for the night. And after the hassle of the day and the pushing the bike and anxiety of it all I got my head down, brewed up and I suppose it is possible that there was a happier man on earth, but if there was, he was very lucky indeed!

Woke to a fine dry morning, but with only about 40 miles max to do there was little incentive to rush, so I spent an extra hour, just oozing in the luxury of a great pitch, a comfortable pit and another brew, I realise at moments like this that I spend too much time trying to make the most of my time, (doing things) and maybe time needs you to do nothing at all.

Eventually, I stirred myself to the challenge of pulling up the last mile or so to the summit of Beacon Hill, with it's trig point, topo and beacon-holder (well what would you call it, look at the picture and let me know) and a grand view point it is, but as a vantage point to spot Napoleon's forces at the end of the seventeenth century requires a stretch of the imagination, it is a long way to the sea from here and only in perfect weather would it be possible to monitor shipping movements, it is a good day today and I can't see the sea! (I suppose "spyglasses" would have been helpful). From here a wonderful steepening downhill run to Danby, on a perfect tarmac track, so good and enjoyable after the stone littered bridle path of the ascent to Beacon Hill with all it's skittering about. I stopped for another cup of over milky coffee at the Moors Center (I never learn do I?)and then headed over the last miles home stopping briefly at Kildale for can of Coke and a Picnic Bar.

All in all a great ride and the network of routes forming the Moors to Sea Cycleway has many options yet to be tackled the Scarborough end has been completely omitted from this itinerary thus I have reasons and intention to return. This ride covered about 137 miles, with quite a hilly completment, but it's amazingly beautiful countryside and it's on my doorstep, so how can I not become addictied?

MOORS TO SEA, PART 2

This is Wednesday 16/09/09 and after a blissful night in Dalby Forest the morning started with some route finding problems, I found myself hacking through dense woodland pathways uphill and rocky, very hard riding and off bike for quite a bit. But in due course my compass and nose got me to the road on the north of the forest and I was now well on my way, the route quickly moved back into the trees and I recognised parts from my Tabular Hills walk of a year or so ago, I love these incidents of new routes crossing old ones. At Highwood Brow I elected to take the downhill route to Langdale End and then switched over to the Whitby route. Alas as I reached the summit of the ride at Lilla Howe, I got a puncture in my rear tyre, bugger, why is it always the back wheel which means stripping down the panniers and all that jazz! Well I did it and replaced the tube only to find that my replacement, was also punctured, double bugger, I must have picked up a spare not yet repaired from its previous deflation, pratt or what? So I set off to push the bike to Whitby, eight or nine miles away, fortunately mostly downhill! Amazingly after about half a mile I met two bikers going in the opposit direction who offered me their spare tube (size and valves matched, whoopee)! so we upended the bike and started again but to total dismay and consternation this brand new tube refused to inflate, theirs, or my pump made no difference, the valve was faulty and that was that, triple bugger!!! this was a blow, and what are the odds in such a situation of two tubes being useless? We shook hands and went on our opposite ways, two very good people, I should have taken a picture but all my attention was focused on the bike. Well with these two unplanned breaks, it has taken five hours to get to Whitby (Hawsker actually) and find a shop to buy a new tube from. And it was great to get riding again, into Whitby for some food then up out and West to Lingholme Moor for a wonderful camp.

MOORS TO SEA PART 1

It's Tuesday morning 15/09/09 and I'm off on day one of my tour of the variable route that is the Moors to Sea Cycle Network as the name suggests there are quite a few options on the choice of routes to take, basically its east from my home to Whitby, south to Scarborough then back north through the centre of North York Moors back to Cleveland. I was a bit later getting started than I hoped leaving Ingleby Barwick at about 10.30am for the ten mile or so ride to Great Ayton, and the official start of the tour. My plan was as outlined above, but plans often go off kilter and in this case I got to Egton about eight miles from Whitby and turned south instead of heading east to Sleights. I found myself in Egton Bridge and rather than endure a long push back uphill I decided to modify my plan and continue south to Pickering via Rosedale Abbey from there going north to Whitby and then back home by my outward route. All went well and I had a good days cycling through pretty Yorkshire villages, along quiet country lanes and lonely bridlepaths and forest tracks. Weather dry but cloudy and pleasantly warm, a smashing day on the bike. By early evening I was in the depths of Dalby Forest, which alas offered few places to pitch my tent for the night, narrow tracks with steep verges and impenatratable trees! so as the light faded I got more concerned and rather fancied I would be bivi-ing out in my bivi-sac without the benefit of the tent. However just as the light was fading I came to a place in the track which was just wide enough to allow me to pitch and as is always the case the most unpromising of camping spots can provide a first class night's kip, and so it was. Still I had pedalled about 63 miles so was a bit tired and ready for it. My picture is the Millenium Cross above Rosedale Abbey. (I think this is the opposite side of Rosedale Abbey from the famous Chimney Bank, it is however a fearfully steep descent)!

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

Joy has gone over to Keswick fancying some time on her own so I have spent today catching up on outstanding paperwork and applying for part-time employment for the Christmas period. I have written to Debenhams to see if they will have me back again, I worked in their wareouse over the Christmas season last year, and made fresh applications to Matalan and Argos, oh dear what we (can) come to in the pusuit of a bob or two!

I have fitted my bike up with my new pannier set which I got following my cycling accident last June, I have not been out with it yet and as autumn is upon us and I might be gainfully employed in a few weeks I fancy going and doing the Moor to Sea cycle network, a circular route through the North York Moors National Park over to Whitby and back through the forests of the vale of Pickering, I came across the signing for this route while walking the "missing link" on the Cleveland Way connecting Scarborough with Helmsley and have been keen to do the bike route ever since, so now is my chance and I plan to set off tomorrow morning. Two days with an overnight camp should see it done.

NO2ID

My wife and I are vehemently against the proposed Identity Card Scheme, the cards are intrusive enough but the database behind The National Identity Register is truely frightening to anyone who places the smallest value on civil liberties. As we are members of No2ID we have elected to spend some time collecting petitions to tell our masters we do not agree and will resist. This is democracy at work in our modern times where the political parties are side-stepped and out-paced by single issue pressure groups NO2ID will achieve much more than the equivilant energy spent inside any of our political parties.

For four hours we stood in Yarm High Street in wonderful sunny weather acosting pedestrians, distributing our leaflets and arguing the toss. I'm pleased to say that we got 75 people to sign our petition and I think that was a good show for a first effort on our part.

Of course having shown the slightest interest in doing anything I find I am now the local organiser for NO2ID in Stockton on Tees, well that's how these things work, so I'll give it a go.

AN UNUSUAL "COMMON FROG"

While walking down the Walna Scar Road I came across this wonderful frog. I have never seen a frog anything so unusually colourful as this so I photographed it and when I got home uploaded the image to http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/ a great site where you can call on enthusiasts and experts for help in identification of things seen in the wild. Thanks to them I know I have not discovered a new lakeland species of frog, this is just a common or garden ordinary frog apparently the range of colouration runs from the bog standard mucky greeny brown to grey blue and red so my orange specimen is in there with the best of them. It has however been recognised as an unusual example of the variation of Rano Temporaria.

THE CONISTON FELLS Tuesday 07/09/09

Following completion of the Consiton Round, (The Old Man to Wetherlam) yesterday, I walked up from Coniston village to the Walna Scar Road following that for about a mile or so before branching off north to reach Goats Water where I camped for the night (picture) In the morning my plan was an ascent of Dow Crag.

I camped here once before in 1983 with a friend for rock climbing on Dow's dark east face so I was condident of finding a place to pitch my tent, there is however, not an awful lot of choice.

On Tuesday morning the cloud was down almost to the level of Goats Water! so I climbed up out of the lakes glaciated cwm and left round to the top to Dow Crag in 25m visibility. On Dow's craggy summit I recalled being here on New Years Day, 1984, (or perhaps 1983). I was staying in the Climbers Club Hut in Seathwaite and after seeing the new year in half a dozen of us set off to climb to the top of Dowin the wee small hours of the new year. So never doubt the foolishness of youth! From Dow I made my way over the top of Buck Pike to Brown Pike and down to the Walna Scar Road. The cloud was right low, and my spirits were as well, on top of Brown Pike I tripped and fell heavily on my right elbow, precisely on top of the slowly healing injury it sustained on 18/06/09 when I was knocked off my bike by a speeding car. It really hurt and with no visibility I had a lessened appetite for the further hills in Birketts route. So I thought "I am off down the Walna Scar Road to Consiton and back to Keswick". That's what I did, so my tally for the outing was one complete Birkett route and a half but with another nine tops completed I am well on my way and feel inclined to give the Birketts a bloddy good seeing to over the next few months, finish the lot in 2010 should be easy with a bit of commitment and brio.

BACK TO BIRKETT

A few years ago I began a campaign of walking/climbing all the routes described by Bill Birkett in his comprehensive guide book " The Complete Lakeland Fells" this is quite an undertaking as to do them all involves - if you follow the guide book exactly - 130 outings which will take you over the tops of in excess of the 500 + summits in Lakeland that nudge over the 1,000' contour. I see from my diary that the last one I did was way back in April 2008. I think its about time I ticked a few more off so on Monday 7th. September I set off from Keswick by bus for Coniston where my objective was "The Great Round of Coniston" 7.75 miles with 3,150' of ascent by way of the Coppermines valley road through the abandoned mine workings to the summit of the Old Man of Coniston then north along to the top of Brim Fell and Swirl How (see picture), down the Prison Band up to Black Sails and on to Wetherlam and down over Hen Crag back to the valley floor. A great lakeland walk, weather quite good but the Old Man's head was in the cloud when I reached the summit cairn. I did the route in about five and a half hours starting and finishing in Coniston village.

TIME IN LAKELAND

From the 2nd. till the 9th. of September I was with my wife Joy at our lodge in Keswick. The weather was not very good but we managed to get out for a walk around the Glenderaterra valley on Sunday 6th. This was quite interesting apart from being a wonderful walk, Keswick was hosting a Puma sponsored weekend of fell racing for all standards and ages of runners and it's good to see some facilities being made available to the younger generation as was the case during this weekend of events. Fit or what?

A TOY FOR THE BOY

A TOY FOR THE BOY,
originally uploaded by summonedbyfells.

I have recently splashed out on this Garmen GPS, its the Venture model from their "eTrex" series, so yet another bit of technology to get my head around! But I am thinking it will add and additional level of interest to my walking, cycling and general wandering round the countryside. I am from the old school of map and compass men, and of course "mental dead reckoning" which is a posh way of saying guessing, but in all my years in the hills these old skills have stood me in good stead. I aways claim never to have been lost but will admit that occasionally I might not know exactly where I am! So maybe GPS will take all the fun out of it. I am going over to the Lakes tomorrow and have loaded four routes centered on the east side of Haweswater, so I'll give it a try and see if I can get it to work for me.

ANOTHER RSPB DAY

When I am at home I spend Thursdays working as a volunteer at the Saltholme RSPB Reserve, as the day starts at 8am I have an early start at 7am to cycle into Stockton, along the River Tees which I then cross to the north side at the Tees Barrage, then crossing the Newport Bridge at Middlesbrough to reach Haverton Hill, The Clarences and then along the Hartelpool road for a mile or so to reach the Reserve. On Thursdays I am paired with Barbara Keville, seen here working in the "Wildlife Garden" (note the upside down trees) at the Reserve.

Our morning routine starts off with a security patrol of the Reserve, we keep an eye out for anything untoward, check fencing, open up the three hides which will be open to the public at 10am clear litter and watch the birds, scan the lakes, take photos and generally enjoy ourselves. For most of this year we have enjoyed very good weather on our Thursdays and today was no exception.

Once the Reserve is opened up and we have had our ten 'o clock elevenses, we are available for what needs doing and today we are in the Wildlife Garden forking in humus to improve the soil and aid water retention. The garden is quite large, walled and has a grand pond which if it were deeper would make an even better swimming pool! designed by that "designer gardener" Chris Beardsley" it is clearly going to soak up an awful lot of volunteer hours. Good though to be out in the sun and there are always chatty visitors who like to ask questions, sometimes I can even provide an answer. Volunteering can never be assumed to be automatically and mutually rewarding. Volunteers all have their own reasons which can be at odds with organisational objectives but here I think we are a genuinely happy lot, I certainly enjoy my volunteering and I am getting to learn a lot more about birds (one of my motivations), so we all seem well suited. At 4pm I get on my bike and head home (well tired too).

BIRDING ON THE TEES

Went down to The Holme on the river Tees to have another look at the Black Tailed Godwits, they were still in situ and I counted about 20. Canada and Greylag geese also well represented and a flock of about 80 Godfinches kept twittering away all around. While I was watching the water a female roe deer cantered across my field of vision. I was a bit surprised as unless it cares to swim across the Tees it is hemmed in by a dual-carriageway road to the west and Stockton to the south. Still it didn't seem perturbed. Blackberries are in full fruit so I helped myself to some food for free.

BLACK TAILED GODWITS

Took an afternoon walk down to The Holme, a freshwater marshland on the banks of the Tees only ten minutes from my own home. Delighted to find a group (eight or nine) Black Tailed Godwits feeding there. A lovley bird given Red Status by the RSPB and the first time I have seen them on this pond. The picture is not of the birds I saw today. The males are still sporting the red upper body colours of breeding birds but it will be fading soon. I'll be keeping an eye on the marsh to see how long they stick around.