KESWICK VISIT

Friday 05/03/2010. Burnside Park has been open for owners since the beginning of the month and we have delayed our first visit of 2010 to coincide with the annual Words by the Water Literature Festival held in the splendid premises of The Theatre by the Lake on Derwentwater, Keswick. Our first events are not until tomorrow, Saturday so we have no pressure in getting settled into the lodge and getting the heating up to scratch and the new TV back in a proper behaviour mode, which fortunately turned out not to a difficulty.

Last November's floods have not yet been completely overcome, all of the retail outlets are open for business and indeed the approaches to the town all state Keswick is "open for business" I get a feeling that the retailers and bed and breakfast operators in Keswick are so used to a life of effortless and easy pickings that a sense of near panic breaks out at any prospect that streams of income may be interrupted and as soon as that happens (foot and mouth etc.) they immediately set up a charity to help themselves out! Perhaps I'm being a bit mean-spirited to the good folks of Keswick. I was in Keswick and Cockermouth during the week before the floods and Cockermouth is by far the worst affected most of the main street retailers are still closed and drying out, now that does seem a case where concerns are justified. In my picture it can be seen that the retaining wall that protects High Hill, Keswick from the river Greta is being strenghthened, it seems hard to believe that the river came over the wall and flooded the houses opposite, but it did. Interestingly a report has been published from the consulting engineers on this project (or at least someone with an interest in it) that when the work is completed it can not yet be guaranteed that the defences will hold. Given the undpredicatability of the weather that is probably a wise warning if of no comfort to the householders in the line of fire as it were.