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.