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Sunday 07/03/2010 This has been quite a week. On Thursday my daughter Katherine phoned from Liverpool where she studies to tell me she had been taken into hospital. My anxiety was compounded because the extension I picked up on has a fault so I could hardly hear her. I
gathered she had been taken in with abdominal pains and was awaiting the results of tests. I
took the details and then waited for Eileen to come home. Once she received the news and had
spoken the Katherine we set off for Liverpool.
The City is not a great distance from where we live - a little less than 30 miles - yet it
always seems an awkward place to get to. Living close to the A59 Liverpool Road we nearly
always go in on that route and although it is direct, using it never seems straightforward,
especially when you're in a hurry. It is as if the road is reluctant to take you to the city
and has all sorts of ways to impede progress - especially traffic lights. Suffice to
state we had a frustrating drive.
At length we reached the Royal Liverpool a monstrous building in the heart of the city
constructed in the East German style. We made our way to emergency admissions to find
Katherine in a state of stoic distress and a great deal of pain. While we were there the
registrar saw her and after examining Katherine offered her diagnosis that she was 90%
certain it was appendicitis. I think we were meant to be reassured by this, but it was odd
how that 10% of doubt played on our minds as we drove home later that evening.
As it turned out it was appendicitis and a keyhole procedure was performed the next morning.
Katherine is home now to begin her convalescence. The Royal Liverpool may not ne housed in the most attractive building in the city, but its staff couldn't have been more helpful, treating both Katherine and us, her very concerned parents with kindness and consideration.
The 48 hours of drama had come at the close of a stressful week for Eileen. On Tuesday
Ofsted had made an appearance at her school. OFSTED - don't get me started! Like most
teachers I have a deep seated loathing of OFSTED and all its works and this antipathy has
stayed with me even though it is over four years since I have been in a classroom. I could
write a lot about OFSTED but my GP won't let me. Eileen survived Tuesday.
Until Katherine's to do my week had been entirely different. The high pressure system we are experiencing has given us more cold, bright weather - absolutely wonderful for
walking. On Tuesday the Dotcoms went to Newton in Bowland and went on a splendid walk up to Stocks Reservoir. That day was Jim's birthday and we celebrated it very pleasantly at Hark to Bounty Inn, Slaidburn. It was Enid's birthday too - she was another diner who told us about her birthday having heard us sing to Jim. It seemed to be an invitation so we sang to her too. 
On Thursday five of us met up in Widdop which I'm afraid to report is in TOP. Malcolm led us on a moorland circuit taking in Dove Stones and Lad Law. Once again a day spent mainly in snow. Our cameras didn't stop clicking. A day's walk is my panacea for all ills - including Ofsted and recovering from surgery. Hopefully Katherine and I will be able to go for a walk or two before she returns to university.
Thursday 25/02/10 This week could be titled "One Wedding and a Funeral". The wedding was at the very posh hotel the Devonshire Arms, near Bolton Abbey, in TOP.Along with my fellow fellwalking club members we found ourselves mingling with the guests as we attempted to locate what passes for a public bar in a very posh hotel. I think they called it a brasserie. Imagine the scene - top hat and tails encounter 50 walkers booted in waterproofs and with rucksacks as they passed through the lounge areas in search of refreshment at the end of their walk. There must have been a moment when the groom's family wondered whether we represented some wild branch of the bride's family to that point unrevealed, and vice versa of course.
The day had started in Grassington, once again in snow. GPS Dave made the decision not cross
The Dotcoms had snow on Tuesday - not so much but sufficient to allow Val to make and throw a snowball that hit me on the back of the head. Blinking Dotcom walkers. This turned out to be the day of the funeral. Our lunch stop was the Butlers Arms, Pleasington, which is very
close to the cemetery and crematorium. As we reached the pub the staff were keen to serve us
quickly and usher us to our reserved table. I wasn't altogether surprised at this as on a previous occasion John and I were not served at all because of an expected funeral. That must have been a big one. The one on Tuesday seemed on a rather modest scale and once more created the incongruous mingling of suit and boot. Meanwhile the Dotcoms are becoming a little concerned about Malcolm. Ever since that incident in Bleasdale last month we have been keeping a close eye on him but on Tuesday he escaped our supervision and look what happened!
There is a time to die and a time to wed and a time to slide down slides and a time to...chop down trees. The trees in question are the avenue of horse chestnuts beside the river in Miller Park, Preston. As I blog these trees are being removed. The council have 
been forced to act because the trees are dead or dying from Bleeding Canker and have become unsafe to the public. Part of me would like to echo the old Phil Harris song "Woodman, woodman, spare that tree/touch not a single bough/for years that tree has protected me/and I'll protect it now." However I am persuaded that the work is necessary. Rather alarmingly Bleeding Canker is a widespread problem affecting almost half of all horse chestnuts in the UK. So I am sad that the trees have to be destroyed; magnificent in any season and majestic in autumn. They will be replaced but I am resigned that I will not see their like along that reach of the river in my lifetime.
been forced to act because the trees are dead or dying from Bleeding Canker and have become unsafe to the public. Part of me would like to echo the old Phil Harris song "Woodman, woodman, spare that tree/touch not a single bough/for years that tree has protected me/and I'll protect it now." However I am persuaded that the work is necessary. Rather alarmingly Bleeding Canker is a widespread problem affecting almost half of all horse chestnuts in the UK. So I am sad that the trees have to be destroyed; magnificent in any season and majestic in autumn. They will be replaced but I am resigned that I will not see their like along that reach of the river in my lifetime. 
Thursday 18/02/10 "Oh look!"Don exclaimed after we crossed a stile onto a lane. He pointed down to the verge. Snowdrops! It wasn't my first sighting but nonetheless was in accord with Don's 
delight at seeing these lovely flowers. Small, unobtrusive and easy to forget when spring is in full rage; but how they gladden the spirit when first noticed. Nature's promise that winter will come to an end.
delight at seeing these lovely flowers. Small, unobtrusive and easy to forget when spring is in full rage; but how they gladden the spirit when first noticed. Nature's promise that winter will come to an end.Returning to the great winter walk up Ingleborough, thank you to Broni and David for their kind message on the guest book posted a couple of days back. Jim and I spent several minutes with them in a mood of mutual congratulation that we all had the good fortune to be out on such a wonderful day. They had arrived at the summit shelter about a minute before we arrived. Bronwen was inspecting the view indicator set in the centre of the intersecting walls of the shelter. David was breaking out the sandwiches thereby confirming one of my theories of walking which goes like this: walk up any prominent hill in the United Kingdom, take out your lunch and within five minutes you will be joined by other walkers. By the time Jim and I bade farewell to the couple the summit plateau was positively busy. Of course, you may point out, Ingleborough is a popular hill, it proves nothing. However I have tested my theory at the top of some fairly remote hills such as Mount Keen, the most easterly Munro. Walking up it entailed a seven mile approach during which I saw no one. After reaching the summit I took out my lunch and immediately a couple came into sight across the rock and heather...just a minute, Broni and David?...no it couldn't be, could it?
Saturday 13/02/10 My anxiety level always increases when Eileen takes me shopping to buy me clothes. Earlier today we had found our way into the clothing department of a supermarket near Colne. I had laboured under the impression that we were there to buy food and drink and failed to see the warning signs. As we hit the menswear aisle Eileen deftly took down a pair of trousers and said, "Here. What do you think?" I offered no opinion. I felt tight about the throat. Of all the garments I feel most anxious about it's trousers. My waistline tends to be a moveable feast. Eileen's ideas on what my waistline should be are fixed. ("I'm not going to be married to someone with a 36" waistline!") We found the fitting room. I walked in as if to the scaffold. To my horror I realised instantly as I pulled the trousers over my knees that there wasn't a hope that they would even zip up. I took them off and examined the label - 32". They had been put on the wrong hanger. A stay of execution, but I was not out of the woods yet. Eileen checked and set off to find 34"s. Perhaps my silent supplication to St Valentine worked - there were no 34"s left and my heart rate returned to normal levels. I made a mental note to do more at the gym.
On Thursday Jim and I had a perfect day out walking up Ingleborough which is in TOP. In fact Ingleborough is one of the Three Peaks of TOP. It was cold but without a breath of wind and we spent most of the day in sunshine. Looking south we could see Pendle Hill clearly, while across to the east there were superb views of Pen-y-ghent.
It was without doubt one of the best winter walks I have ever been on and it was great to share it with my friend Jim.
It was without doubt one of the best winter walks I have ever been on and it was great to share it with my friend Jim. After Pendle, Ingleborough is my most climbed hill and one of my favourites. It is majestic in scale and situation. I love its flat topped distinctive profile so that it can be easily identified from a great distance away. I first went up it in 1976 on an outing with a church youth group I was involved with. Perhaps it would be more accurate to state that I had to be encouraged up and coaxed up by the young man leading the party. Although 26 years of age I was a smoker and seriously out of condition. I doubt if I enjoyed that initial contact with the peak, but I must have made some kind of resolution to improve my fitness level. Since that time I have completed the 3 Peaks Challenge on five occasions and have been on Ingleborough possibly 20 other times. I have scaled every fell in the Lake District as well as three dozen Munros. So why, somebody tell me, do I struggle to get into 34" trousers?
Friday 12/02/10 On Tuesday the Dotcom Walkers climbed Pendle Hill. It was an outing postponed from January. I had in mind back then of issuing a press release"DOTCOM WALKERS START THE NEW DECADE ON A HIGH!" In the event the weather intervened so our first outing was a low level affair and somehow "DOTCOM WALKERS START NEW DECADE ON A LOW!" just did not have the same ring to it.
As we set out from Barley I had a number of cares. For a variety of reasons I knew that for some of our party Pendle would be a challenge. I had built into my plans a contingency that if anyone decided enough was enough, they could meet us later when we descended Ogden Clough. 
As we passed Pendle House I knew the moment of decision had arrived; the steep, stepped incline of Big End is unforgiving to anyone suffering from shortness of breath and unkind to vertigo sufferers too. At around the 450m contour Paul and Elaine realised they had reached the point where it was sensible to go back. Brian said he had reached that point too. The three made their way back to the village.
As we passed Pendle House I knew the moment of decision had arrived; the steep, stepped incline of Big End is unforgiving to anyone suffering from shortness of breath and unkind to vertigo sufferers too. At around the 450m contour Paul and Elaine realised they had reached the point where it was sensible to go back. Brian said he had reached that point too. The three made their way back to the village. Reassured that each would look after the others, the rest of us made our way to the top. Of course GPS Dave forged on ahead in his usual fashion, so much so that he probably spent 15 minutes cooling his heels before the stragglers caught up. For Don, despite 36 years a resident of Lancashire, it was his first time at the summit of Pendle. There were other quiet achievements. Bill, 75 and still going strong. Of course Bill, a modest man, would not see it this way. In his prime he competed in a number of mountain marathons, many with GPS Dave, and attained a level of stamina and fitness the rest of us can barely imagine. Then there was John, who over the past 12 months has suffered from difficult health, so much so that some days he has struggled to put on his 
boots. He was well pleased with himself as he reached the trig point. And then there was Chris recovering from a serious heart condition. On his first walk with us back in September he laboured on the incline from the River Ribble back to Hurst Green. He was as pleased as punch to have made it to the summit, and we were all pleased for him.
boots. He was well pleased with himself as he reached the trig point. And then there was Chris recovering from a serious heart condition. On his first walk with us back in September he laboured on the incline from the River Ribble back to Hurst Green. He was as pleased as punch to have made it to the summit, and we were all pleased for him.So in a mood of mild euphoria, we headed down towards Ogden Clough. I was half expecting to see Elaine, Paul and Brian somewhere along this section of the walk, but rather unsurprisingly they didn't make it past the Pendle Inn.
So Brian didn't climb to the top of Pendle Hill - but all of us know he was perfectly capable. I am sure Elaine and Paul appreciated his cheerful companionship back to Barley. The rest of us appreciated that while climbing a hill can be hard; choosing not to climb it can be even harder.
Friday 05/02/10 I was in W.H. Smith's this morning looking for a poetry anthology to send to a friend in America. "Excuse me," I asked one of the assistants, "where's your poetry section?" This stopped her in her tracks. "Hey Shel," she called to another, "do we have a poetry section?" "Naw," replied Shel. "We use to have two books but we sent those back." If anything this detail seemed to make the situation even more depressing. Part of it reflects on me personally. As a profession had English teachers such a malign influence so as to put off the great British public from ever reading poetry again once outside the confines of school? So not good news for the poets of Preston. Instead of a poetry section a whole new genre has grown up in the past few years which I think is listed as "Tragic True Life Stories". These narratives, no doubt of cathartic value to the writer and the readers they attract, focus on childhoods full of unimaginable misery and abuse. While there is a place for this type of literature, has it become so marketable so as to replace poetry? Somewhat bemused I walked up to Waterstones and found the volume I was looking for.
Wednesday 03/02/10 Yesterday was Candlemass or "Groundhog Day". It's the day that marks the mid-point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. The groundhog element was originally a central European one taken to America deriving from the idea that if the groundhog comes out of its hole on 2nd February and sees a shadow it will deduce that there is still a deal of cold bright weather about and will go back to finish off its sleep. Of course thanks to the Hollywood film with Bill Murray and Andie McDowell "Groundhog Day" has taken an entirely different connotation - meaning a day that seems to endlessly repeat itself. So yesterday was a Tuesday, and it was another walk with the Dotcom Walkers and it was in Lancashire and it was a pub lunch again...but no day spent walking is ever Groundhog Day. Each walk - be it along a route followed many times before - is different; one of the reasons why walkers love walking.
The Dotcoms loved their pub lunch provided by Paul, Hayley and Sue Davis at the New Inn Foulridge. This was the second time we had visted the pub and both times it has made an excellent impression. Typically there are ten or more walkers on a Tuesday so we phone our order ahead. Yesterday, at the New Inn no sooner had we bought our drinks and settled in our seats than Paul served us our meals. Cask ales in superb condition, great food, friendly service - the New Inn received top marks from the Dotcoms. So much so that they burst into spontaneous song as they stepped outside the pub! www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gQb-JW8VrE
Saturday 30/01/10 As I reached the summit of Parlick on Thursday afternoon a little way behind Andy B, Jim and Malcolm, it felt a little bit like completing a hard week at the office. I had been out walking Sunday, (Hebden Bridge;TOP, with GPS Dave and the fellwalking club), Tuesday (Dunsop Bridge; not TOP, with the Dotcom Walkers), Wednesday, (Edale, Derbyshire to visit friends staying there) and Thursday. This amount of walking was exceptional even for me and did not go unnoticed. Indeed it threatened to bring discord into the otherwise harmonious intercourse between self and spouse. "Let me get this straight," said Eileen as I packed my rucksack on Thursday morning, "you're out every other Sunday walking, out Tuesdays walking, out Wednesdays walking and will be out Thursdays walking. Is that right?" Her point, I think, was when could she rely on me being in to deal with tradesmen and the like. As a house husband, by definition, I am expected to spend a modicum of time in the house! But, as I explained, the Wednesday walk was exceptional - indeed it was on so many levels.
Chris, my oldest friend, and his partner Trish had booked an apartment in Edale Mill for last week and I arranged to go over for the day. It was very much a trip down memory lane. I first visited Edale in 1965 when undertaking a Duke of Edinburgh's Award expedition. I loved the place. I thought it was magical that the Peak District National Park should exist between two vast conurbations and retain its integretity. Going to Edale as a 15 year old made me want to walk the wild places of Britain. Since then I have discovered that Edale caused much the same reaction in tens of thousands of working men and women from the mills, mines and foundries of Lancashire and Yorkshire during the 1920s and 30s.Every weekend the railway between Manchester and Sheffield would disgorge crowds of ramblers onto the platform at Edale. However the high moors of the Dark Peak were at that time forbidden territory guarded by gamekeepers and it took an access battle to establish the rights we enjoy today. From that movement came the Ramblers' Association, the National Parks and the Pennine Way which starts in Edale and was established in...1965!
At one point on Wednesday Chris, Trish and I wondered if by accident we had strayed onto the Pennine Way. When I arrived at the Mill it was proposed we do a six mile walk following the edge of the moors. As Trish had a guide I didn't take a great deal of notice of the route 
which appeared perfectly straightforward. It seemed less straightforward two hours later when we were trying to locate the path that would lead us down to Grindsbrook Booth. There was still a deal of snow on the ground and low cloud had reduced visibility to 40-50m. Our map checking conferences increased in frequency. As often happens in these situations we made features we had seen through the mist fit in with our interpretation of the map.We convinced ourselves we had overshot the required path by some considerable distance. After crossing the top of a deep defile which had no obvious exit apart from the precipitious type which my friend Geoff always calls a "one way ticket" we made the decision to drop off by any viable slope. A short time later I felt I had located one. "Ok let's take it easy, stick together and stop if there is any sign of a drop," I advised as we started our descent. After five minutes I was cheered to see a ruined wall. As we lost height we found ourselves out of the cloud and there below across a stream was a clear ribbon of path. "Salvation is at hand - its the Pennine Way!" I called to my companions. After we gained the path and walked into Grindbrook Booth we realised we had not reached the Pennine Way at all but were on the route Trish had intended. We had only overshot the exit by a short distance for all our fretting. It had seemed quite an adventure while it lasted and we were all very pleased to return to the warmth of the apartment and a brew. I reminded Trish that our previous walk together in the Lakes we had over extended ourselves when I was in charge of the route. I cannot be certain but I felt she was rather cheered up by this notion - as if she somehow paid me one back. I can't think she had been talking to Eileen.
which appeared perfectly straightforward. It seemed less straightforward two hours later when we were trying to locate the path that would lead us down to Grindsbrook Booth. There was still a deal of snow on the ground and low cloud had reduced visibility to 40-50m. Our map checking conferences increased in frequency. As often happens in these situations we made features we had seen through the mist fit in with our interpretation of the map.We convinced ourselves we had overshot the required path by some considerable distance. After crossing the top of a deep defile which had no obvious exit apart from the precipitious type which my friend Geoff always calls a "one way ticket" we made the decision to drop off by any viable slope. A short time later I felt I had located one. "Ok let's take it easy, stick together and stop if there is any sign of a drop," I advised as we started our descent. After five minutes I was cheered to see a ruined wall. As we lost height we found ourselves out of the cloud and there below across a stream was a clear ribbon of path. "Salvation is at hand - its the Pennine Way!" I called to my companions. After we gained the path and walked into Grindbrook Booth we realised we had not reached the Pennine Way at all but were on the route Trish had intended. We had only overshot the exit by a short distance for all our fretting. It had seemed quite an adventure while it lasted and we were all very pleased to return to the warmth of the apartment and a brew. I reminded Trish that our previous walk together in the Lakes we had over extended ourselves when I was in charge of the route. I cannot be certain but I felt she was rather cheered up by this notion - as if she somehow paid me one back. I can't think she had been talking to Eileen. Friday 22/01/10 In an editorial written 87 years ago today, the Manchester Guardian celebrated the existence of so many societies included in the Rambler's Federation, a precursor of today's Rambler's Association. "To live submissively in great towns, without ever going out to get an embrace of mother earth and renew one's acquaintance with solitude, is a deprivation, almost a creeping disease. In an appreciable degree one is remade, and made better, every time one spends a long day among the heather or the peat..."
Yesterday Malcolm, Don, Andy L and I went to Bleasdale to renew our acquaintance with solitude though the day wasn't as long as we planned because when we reached the
car park on Delph Lane, Malcolm realised he had forgotten to bring his jacket. It was a hazy day and sunshine did break through; nevertheless by Fiendsdale Head Malcolm felt that he should not risk over long exposure to the biting wind. Since at that point we already had a fine traverse of Hazelhurst Fell the rest of us concurred with Malcolm's decision without demur. As it happened our descent to Bleasdale gave us a magnificent view of Fairsnape. Reaching Fiendsdale Head had not been without incident. There was still a deal of snow about, especially in gullies. For an ectomorph like Don, six feet of nothing and ten stone, this represented no hazard. For an endomorph like me, shorter and wider, it was a different story and several times I had to be extricated from deep banks of snow.
car park on Delph Lane, Malcolm realised he had forgotten to bring his jacket. It was a hazy day and sunshine did break through; nevertheless by Fiendsdale Head Malcolm felt that he should not risk over long exposure to the biting wind. Since at that point we already had a fine traverse of Hazelhurst Fell the rest of us concurred with Malcolm's decision without demur. As it happened our descent to Bleasdale gave us a magnificent view of Fairsnape. Reaching Fiendsdale Head had not been without incident. There was still a deal of snow about, especially in gullies. For an ectomorph like Don, six feet of nothing and ten stone, this represented no hazard. For an endomorph like me, shorter and wider, it was a different story and several times I had to be extricated from deep banks of snow.On our walk back to the car there was further incident. Just beyond Hazelhurst Cottage in the
road a wounded jackdaw lay. The others reached it before I arrived on the scene. I guess it must have been a young bird because at first I did not recognise it as a jackdaw at all. It had the tell tale bright eye of the species but I usually think of jackdaws as rather scraggly whereas this specimen seemed to possess velverty soft feathers. As I approached Malcolm and Donald were discussing what should be done. Don's a born countryman and he was in no doubt. "We'll have to neck it," he explained, "otherwise it will suffer; a fox will get it or it will starve to death. I'd do it myself but I got these mitts on." As I reflect on this now this seems a rather thin excuse. "How do you do that?" asked Malcolm as Don passed the bird to him. The bird patiently waited while its fate was determined. Andy L and I looked on with morbid curiosity. Malcolm took his glove off. "You just pull its neck there," Don pointed with his mitt. Tentatively at first Malcolm attempted to gain some purchase on the bird's neck. The bird rather naturally, wasn't keen on him trying and made valiant attempts to snap at Malcolm's hand. At length a steely determination overcame Malcolm and he pulled hard on the neck, so hard in fact that he yanked off the critter's head. "I don't know how I feel about that," I told him. "I don't know how I feel about it myself," he replied. After platitudes of reassurance, (and here as a retired English teacher I think of the ending of "Of Mice and Men") like "You had to do it, Malcolm" other reactions set in. Soon we were inventing epithets for our friend - Don's was "the Butcher of Bleasdale" which was a bit rich since it was his idea in the first place. Then there was "Mac the Murderer" and "Mac the Knife". And so in this spirit we made our way back to the car. Of course Don, Andy and I all know Malcolm as a gentle soul who under normal circumstances wouldn't hurt a cockroach - but of course we now have a dilemma. Is this a warning sign? And just what should we say to Malcolm's wife?
Wednesday 13/01/10 Yesterday the Dotcom walkers were able to make a start on their new year programme with a superb walk from the Derby Arms, Thornley, near Longridge.
GPS Dave has a long association with the Derby as it has been the venue of the fellwalkers AGM for a number of years. Recently Dave has been asked to devise a number of walks from the inn to add an extra dimension to an already impressive programme of events. Hopefully John and I will be able to make our contribution to the process of describing routes. So indirectly this is what led our steps to the Derby. It has to be said that for many Dotcoms it was their first opportunity to get out into the countryside since the snows came before Christmas and there was a wonderful sense of release as we made our way across the pastures with fine views of Longridge Fell to our right and Parlick to our left. Thus already in a good mood, we returned to the Derby for a fine lunch.
And then two slices of magic. As we were finishing a lady at the next table asked me to take a photo of her and her great aunt. Alice Hesketh was celebrating that day her 80th birthday. I was happy to perform this service and we all sang "Happy Birthday". It happened that Alice was a retired music teacher but she didn't take our raucous rendition amiss.Then a
lmost immediately after one of our party, Chris, spotted Barry McQueen in the next bar. Barry who? you maybe prompted to ask. Well Barry had been on BBC2 the previous evening and nearly all of us had seen him. As Blackpool's Town Crier he had featured in Michael Portillo's excellent "Great British Railway Journeys" based on Bradshaw's Guide. Indeed Barry sang a musical hall song about the guide during the programme. With little encouragement he sang it to us. Also he
did a very kind thing - he declaimed a special birthday greeting to Alice. The photo above shows Barry with William, the proprietor of the Derby, and myself. He also posed with the rest of the Dotcom Walkers, which most people might regard as above and beyond. It was entirely a chance encounter since Barry was at the Derby to provide entertainment for a group of retired post office employees. So Alice's birthday was magic and having Barry sing to us was magic also. As reported in the Blackpool Gazette
lmost immediately after one of our party, Chris, spotted Barry McQueen in the next bar. Barry who? you maybe prompted to ask. Well Barry had been on BBC2 the previous evening and nearly all of us had seen him. As Blackpool's Town Crier he had featured in Michael Portillo's excellent "Great British Railway Journeys" based on Bradshaw's Guide. Indeed Barry sang a musical hall song about the guide during the programme. With little encouragement he sang it to us. Also he did a very kind thing - he declaimed a special birthday greeting to Alice. The photo above shows Barry with William, the proprietor of the Derby, and myself. He also posed with the rest of the Dotcom Walkers, which most people might regard as above and beyond. It was entirely a chance encounter since Barry was at the Derby to provide entertainment for a group of retired post office employees. So Alice's birthday was magic and having Barry sing to us was magic also. As reported in the Blackpool GazetteOn Sunday Dave, Andy (he who was once verbally abused by a Howgill dairy farmer) and I were treated to another piece of magic.
Though there was still a great deal of snow around the Fellwalking club's outing to Ambleside went ahead. (We know that a number of other clubs cancelled on that day.) We chose to climb over Loughrigg a fell of modest height that sprawls along the west side of Rydal Water. We descended past Lily Tarn and here we came across a delightful scene. A group of parents and children had set up station to create a sledge run and ice rink - a winter adventure playground. It was a zone of pure fun; despite the biting wind you couldn't help be lifted by the peels of laughter and the sense of enjoyment that emanated from the gathering. It was such an antidote to all the miserable coverage the weather has had in the news producing a similiar affect to enduring two episodes of "Eastenders" back to back. Witnessing that scene reminded us that we should never forsake the opportunity to "lighten up" when it comes along.
Though there was still a great deal of snow around the Fellwalking club's outing to Ambleside went ahead. (We know that a number of other clubs cancelled on that day.) We chose to climb over Loughrigg a fell of modest height that sprawls along the west side of Rydal Water. We descended past Lily Tarn and here we came across a delightful scene. A group of parents and children had set up station to create a sledge run and ice rink - a winter adventure playground. It was a zone of pure fun; despite the biting wind you couldn't help be lifted by the peels of laughter and the sense of enjoyment that emanated from the gathering. It was such an antidote to all the miserable coverage the weather has had in the news producing a similiar affect to enduring two episodes of "Eastenders" back to back. Witnessing that scene reminded us that we should never forsake the opportunity to "lighten up" when it comes along.Tuesday 05/01/10 For the first time we have had to cancel a Dotcom walk because of the weather. This new year is starting as the old one finished - with snow. We were due to go to Barley and scale Pendle but at eight this morning the flakes were coming down thick and fast. We may have made our way through to the M65 and onto the Padiham by-pass, but it would have been plain silly to attempt those small roads from Fence through to Newchurch. So Pendle will be left for another day.
Still it has allowed me to undertake what I call "the Big Tidy" when I make a serious attempt to declutter the house. This can be a dispiriting exercise on way we have fallen prey to rampant consumerism. For example in the course of emptying drawers in the lounge and dining room I undercovered 8 mobile phone chargers. These were all extra to the ones we actively use. In addition I came across six headsets for personal stereos or ipods. As yet I have to ascertain whether these still function; in the meantime I'd be pleased to take offers. Some areas of the house were real hotspots for stuff - not used or misplaced. Containers with curtain hooks, clothes pegs, ubiquitous hair grips (not for mine I hasten to add), an odd glove, small keys, pencils, rolls of cellotape, packets of tissues, adaptor plugs, scissors (from Ikea), receipts dated December 2006 and memory sticks. On top of this is our propensity to save the packaging in which new stuff comes in, just in case we have the need to take the new stuff back should it fail to function at some point in the future. So I spent the morning trawling through drawers and making a start on "the Big Tidy" but you know what - I would have rather been on Pendle!
Friday 01/01/10 So we enter a new decade. Today's Guardian the leader stated: "On historical precedent nothing big should happen next year. Big things rarely do in the 10th year of the century. 2010, like 1410 or 1810, will be an interim year." Well I certainly hope so - I have had it up to here with turbulence - though I suspect some of the recent turmoil we've had has yet to fully unwind - maybe 2010 will be the year when coyote finally hits the floor of the canyon.
So let's be positive - 2010 will see the 75th Anniversary of the Ramblers Association - one of the truly great British Institutions and we at Lancashire Walks look forward to marking that in some suitable way. As well as vigorously campaigning for the access to the countryside we now enjoy, the RA was a leading pressure group for the creation of national parks and long distance footpaths. The type of lobbyists that gave lobbying a good name.
Finally something from Anne Frank who was murdered 65 years ago this year in Bergen-Belsen. She wrote; "The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and God wishes to see people happy amidst the simple beauty of nature." Quite apart from the fact she wrote this in the confined and claustrophobic atmosphere of a secret attic, it is a testament to the way the human spirit can transcend dreadful situations. Of course I sincerely hope that none of you are "afraid, lonely or unhappy" and indeed wish you all a most Happy New Year; but should you feel low at anytime go and seek solace in the countryside; advice that Anne Frank herself was not able to follow.
Thursday 24/12/09 Despite my best efforts the ACR (Annual Christmas Row) arrived exactly on time to plunge the already cold weather a few degrees frostier between spouse and myself. Last year the casus belli had been my habit of playing on my Nintendo DS at the tea table. This year I thought I had led a blameless life. On Sunday morning I avoided the ACR by the skin of my teeth. It was the day of the fell walking club's Christmas outing.
I set out through the estate to pick up the club bus a little under a mile away. The ground was treacherous underfoot as a thin layer of snow covered sheets of black ice. In making my way to the pick up point I tumbled four times - luckily without injury. I arrived just before the bus and boarded it with the other club members assembled at that point. Checking through my pockets I realised my camera was missing. I knew immediately it had spilled out of my fleece pocket on one of my falls but I wasted a few minutes of phoning my daughter to check I hadn't left it in the lounge. She confirmed my worse fears. By this time the bus was in Preston centre. I got off having made arrangements with Andy (he who was once abused by a Howgill dairy farmer) to take my kit to the venue where I would catch up with the outing later. I then arranged for my son to pick me up to retrace my route. Again this took a little more time to set this up thus diminishing the chances of success. We turned down the last street before the pick up point and there 200m along in the middle of the road was the camera in its case unmolested and undamaged. "Seek and ye shall find" as the good book says and while I was not keen to lose a £150 digital I was driven by the much stronger motivation of not provoking the ACR. I really am glad I found the camera because Bill was sporting a particularly festive hat he had picked up from Thailand.
The club members quickly dubbed this the "Viagra Hat"! Those fellwalkers - worse than the Dotcom Walkers.
Speaking of which we had a plan to venture into that other place on Tuesday. However the weather intervened with further snow. This led to a great deliberation conducted over the phone, with a fair amount of imput from our spouses, about the wisdom of venturing out. We knew it would be relatively clear on the main roads but couldn't predict conditions on minor roads. In the end the South Ribble contingent managed to find its way to Farrington and from there managed a ten mile walk across to Much Hoole and back.
Apart from the time we spent in the Smithy Arms we were out in snow all day and in the evening were treated to the type of sunset that Scottish painter Farquharson celebrated in his studies of sheep and snow.
So the weather returns as a perennial theme. As Brian pointed out on Tuesday this is the first time in many years that our area of Lancashire has had successive nights of snow - all this at the end of the week which saw the Climate Change talks end in Copenhagen. So one cannot help but feel that something is going on.
It is now a certainty that we'll have a white Christmas though as pretty as it looks, its not quite the rose tinted version that old Bing use to croon about. I cannot recall a verse referring to "traffic gridlock" or "transport chaos."
Now as for this year's ACR it seems from Eileen's side I am spending too much time on the computer. Now while I had a few grievances myself, I must admit it has absorbed me of late. So after wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year I will sign off now until January - I have a few fences to mend.
Thursday 17/12/09 On Tuesday the Dotcom Walkers held their second annual awards ceremony at the pub they had voted their Pub of the Year. It came as no surprise this turned out to be the Ram Inn at Cliviger, though it has to be said that there was no sign of attractive female staff in school uniform - they were far too busy for that. Indeed we were lucky to make the booking at all and it was only after I pointed out to the manager that we would be there to present a certificate in recognition of the Ram Inn winning such a prestigious honour that he squeezed us in. On top of having to accommodate a record number of us - 17 - I had also arranged for a photographer from the Burnley Express to come along at probably the busiest part of lunch. So all in all, inadvertently and from the best possible motives, we were a pretty disruptive influence on the Ram Inn on Tuesday even before the awards ceremony. This was carried out with typical good humoured boisterousness, boos, whistles, cheers and heckles like "Where's mine?" Little wonder then that as we were leaving I overheard one local talking to another about "the walkers" meaning us. I didn't quite catch what he said but the tone was unmistakable - it was as if he was discussing an infestation of rats. Given all this the pub lived up to its deserved status and we enjoyed excellent service once again. So a big THANK YOU to manager and staff of the Ram Inn, Cliviger for hosting our second awards ceremony. Below is a picture of the usual suspects as they set out on the pre-lunch walk near Coal Clough Wind Farm. [GPS Dave is only wearing the Santa's hat to match Don's red gaiters.]
Friday 11/12/09 This website is very sensitive to the weather. The weeks of wet have had a depressing affect on our hit count. After a record November which was mainly due to the newspaper coverage we received at the beginning of the month, the first days of December have been very slow - just limping over the 22,000 mark. Of course many potential users will have been distracted by Christmas shopping but in my view that's all the more reason to escape. Escape I did this morning which dawned cold and clear and with quiz team Mike's lift I was in Burnley Centre before 9.00. Just after 9.00 I was on the Gorple Road which in my opinion is one of the finest moorland tracks in the north of England. There is something about the confidence in which it leaves Worsthorne - for over a mile dead straight east climbing past the last vestiges of settlement up to the barren, treeless moors. I dropped down to Widdop Reservoir which I'm afraid to say is in that other place. There the mist persisted creating lovely effects on the still water.
It was as if I had stumbled on some Scottish loch.
Last week I was away in London. The Dotcom walkers have made many observations about the timing of this trip which (as it seemed to them) conveniently coincided with an event that I had roped them into - and that is most definitely another story. In London I took the opportunity to indulge in one of my interests - browsing about in cemeteries. One day I went to Kensal Green in the morning and Highgate in the afternoon. Between them they contain a pretty good cross section of the great and the good of the last 200 years. I suppose it is a macabre form of celebrity spotting with the difference the celebrity cannot run away. At Kensal Green I found Anthony Trollop, Wilkie Collins, Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Sir John Rennie, the engineer who surveyed the Lancaster Canal. At Highgate I found Sir Ralph Richardson, George Eliot and of course Karl Marx.
It seems to me that old Karl is due for a little bit of re-appraisal in the light of market meltdown. Perhaps he had a point after all. Sobering thoughts on a sobering monument.
No such sobriety when the Dotcoms went to Morecambe on Tuesday. Before setting out to Heysham we viewed Eric Morecambe's statue. Sculptor Graham Ibbeson has captured the spirit of the man so well that we were all lifted as we gathered round to pose for the obligatory photograph. All of us had so many happy memories of a man who made us laugh.
Sunday 29/11/09 We're back! It was a great weekend and we were there in Cumbria the very same time as Prince Charles who praised the "Cumbrian spirit" in the aftermath of the floods. He was way over west of course. Even so where we were - Appleby-in-Westmoreland seemed fully prepared for apocalyptic wet weather if the sandbags were anything to go by.
Although I have travelled widely in the north of England, the area where we stayed was not over familiar to me. I doubt if it tops the list of any "must see places before I die" and yet it was delightful. Yesterday we were even endowed with a spell of dry weather. This allowed the ornithological set in our party to spend a happy hour observing the happenings at a nearby feeding table where not only a spotted woodpecker was spotted but (unornithologically) a red squirrel too. Given the weather we have had in recent weeks Saturday was most certainly a bonus and we were particularly blessed by the view from the back porch of the cottage at breakfast time.
On Saturday afternoon John and I found ourselves walking towards the sound of gunfire! We were a short distance north of an army firing range. For much of our walk from Appleby centre back to the cottage we were in earshot of some heavy duty ordnance - automatic weapons and artillery; sounds completely at odds with the quiet charms of the countryside we traversed. It seemed to us that there was an earnestness in these happenings - a preparation for somewhere a good deal warmer than Cumbria on the first weekend of Advent. Talking to our landlady this morning the exercises seemed in no way unusual - just the territorial army doing their thing.
Friday 27/11/09 Today John and I together with our spouses are off to Cumbria for a weekend with friends in a cottage. Luckily we will be in east Cumbria; west Cumbria is a place of devastation after the "biblical" amounts of rainfall it has had in the past week. When you see footage of stone bridges collapsing it seems incredible that there was not a greater loss of life - that said the police officer who did die was in the act of preventing others putting themselves in mortal danger; so in doing his duty he saved others. A few years ago weather events on this scale would have been put down to "freakishness" - just the capricious weather doing what it does from time to time. But of course these days we are prone to wonder if such events are linked to the dark theme of our times - Global Warming. One of the problems with meeting the threat (and consequences) of climate change is that we no longer possess the financial resources to meet the challenge. Besides the fact NATO is involved in a costly war in Afghanistan, we have had to spend trillions propping up the financial system after it went into meltdown last year. There is nothing left in the locker. Just how Cumbria County Council will be able to repair its battered infrastructure against a background of cuts in public expenditure time will tell; my worry is that "the once in a thousand year" event will become far more frequent and our civilisation will not have the means to cope.
Thinking of "freakish" weather conditions Geoff, Andy and I witnessed a stunning sight in the Dales of that other place two weeks ago. We caught a perfect sunny morning, lifting mist and cloud everywhere except on Pen-y-ghent, which was encased in its own layer of cloud.
It still is a beautiful world for all our worries!
Wednesday 18/11/09 Yesterday we held the Dot Com Walkers annual Christmas Quiz which this year was at the Grapes Hotel Croston. The service, food and beer were all excellent - well done the staff at the Grapes; I wish I could say the same for the Dot Com Walkers! What a sorry tale. Not only did they make little impression on this year's quiz, but only managed to score one extra point on the one they did last year. So in Ofsted terms they would have to be declared a "failing" walking group.
To be fair to them some were still a little distracted from the previous week's walk which saw us on Thieveley Pike, Cliviger. We had been accompanied one again by Xioayan Lin or Emma our 25 year old translator, who once again was completely unfazed by being the only woman in a group of blokes. Indeed since there were seven of us, this had the potential to be played out as a modern version of a pantomime fairy tale - "Xioayan Lin and the 7 old geezers". Here we are on the summit. (The other geezer is taking the photo!)
But as attractive as Xioayan Lin is as a walking companion she was not the source of the distraction. It was another Emma, the manageress of the Ram Inn, Holme Chapel, who having served us a splendid meal exchanged banter with us old geezers. It had been noticed she was sporting a tie, doubtless some statement of corporate image promoted by the brewery. As an ex-teacher, Brian told her to do it up. To which she quipped perhaps he would like her to dress in school uniform. There was universal acclaim for this offer and that is the reason for the lack of concentration that produced the abysmal performance at yesterday's quiz.
After lunch we had a browse around St.John's churchyard opposite. It is the last resting place of Burnley and England goalkeeper Jerry Dawson, who in the course of a record breaking career for most appearances for his town's club, was awarded a winners' medal for the 1914 FA cup final; a match he didn't actually play. The story is that he picked up an injury in the days leading up to the match and realised he wouldn't last 90 minutes. In an era long before substitutes were allowed he sportingly declared himself unfit. In recognition for his selflessness the FA awarded him a medal. He never got the chance to play in another final.
Not far away lies General Sir James Scarlett who led the Charge of the Heavy Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava.
This action is almost totally forgotten when compared to the Charge of the Light Brigade and yet took place in the same battle and was successful. Perhaps so called "failing" institutions (schools, hospitals, Dot Com Walkers) should take heart from this lesson of history - do not fret about your failure, just employ someone like Alfred Lord Tennyson to celebrate it : "Half a league table downward/into Ofsted we all floundered/Clipboards to the left of us/Clipboards to the right/Inspectors scribbled and wondered..."
Saturday 07/11/09 This has been a record breaking week for us as measured by the number of visitors to the website. On Monday evening Matthew from the Lancashire Evening Post left a message on the contact page explaining he had seen the press release I had put out on last week's record - not being one to hide our light under a bushel. When I phoned him at his office I found he had also picked up on the fact we have a page of walks translated into Chinese. He was intrigued with this and decided to run a piece. He arranged for a photographer to come out the next morning to take a picture of John and me to go with his article. "It would be fun if you could be shown eating with chop-sticks," he added. I must admit I was rather perturbed by this notion. In the event Neil the photographer who appeared with pleasing promptness on Tuesday did not mention chop sticks and completed the shoot with brisk but thorough professionalism. There were a good number of indoor shots taken in my study and then he asked if I had a laptop handy so we could go outside. This was the photo that went in Wednesday's Evening Post. Read LEP article here They say a photo is worth a thousand words and that one that went in the Post gave us 250 hits. I hope the Lancashire Evening Post find some kind of affirmation in this; not only people read the paper, but they act upon its contents too.
Unusually John wasn't able to join us on Tuesday as he had a meeting. Seven of us linked up in Woodplumpton and completed a circuit using the Lancaster Canal. It was good to welcome Bill back from injury. Away from the canal and across fields the route was excessively muddy.
This was hardly surprising given all the rain we have had in recent weeks. Remarkably no one complained to my face about the muddiness of the route chosen and Bill even said the softness of the ground gave his heel some relief. Don was under the weather nursing a bad cough. Not only did he fail to eat all his chips at the Hand and Dagger, but, even more tellingly, he did not wear his red gaiters.
Sunday 01/11/09 On Tuesday we passed the 20,000 hit mark. This came a few days before the clocks went back so during the course of BST the site has doubled its visitors. Small beer against Stephen Fry on Twitter but heading in the right direction.
Returning to last weekend's walk when we left the village we headed up to Gaping Gill which is Britain's largest cave with sufficient room to house York Minster. Of course from the top there is not a great deal to see - just the peaty waters of Fell Beck sluicing into a large hole.
At Spring and August Bank Holidays local caving groups set up a winch to give the non-potholing fraternity a chance to see this hidden wonder. I have yet to avail myself of this opportunity though a long time ago I was led into the bottom of the cavern by potholing friends. It was an unforgettable experience.
There is a noticeboard close by explaining Gaping Gill and ending with this warning, "The approaches to the shaft can be slippery and dangers lurk in seemingly innocent entrances." I just love the language of this sign and wish it could be more widely used; "Caution is required when entering this meadow as it contains a bull whose temperament is such that the presence of walkers may induce it to act aggressively." Or; "In our view wandering on to the pristine lawn before you would spoil the aesthetic look we are striving to achieve."
As an aside it was drawn to my attention that recently Peter Mandelson described students as "consumers of the Higher Educational experience." This demonstrates just how deeply rooted the free market ideology has become in Britain. We are now "consumers" before we are students, patients, travellers, citizens and even people. It seems to me that we need a new word to describe people who try not to consume so that a counter identity can be developed. I suggest "sustainers". I am not sure how good a sustainer I am, but as walking has a minimal impact on the planet's resources, then hopefully that is enough to offset the energy needed to run my computer and provide light and heat to the room in which I work.
Monday 26/10/09 Yesterday I was out with the fellwalking club on an outing to the Yorkshire Dales. The weather was not good and in fact deterred some of the club's most experienced members from walking to Ingleborough's summit. The winds were fierce up there. Earlier, after alighting the coach in Clapham, much the same type of weather discouraged a prompt start on the route GPS Dave had planned for us. We browsed about the outdoor shop and some of us made purchases. As the transaction concluded I asked the proprietor if Café Anne was still open. "No it's not," came the reply, "Anne's dead. She died earlier this year of lung cancer. She was diagnosed last year but lived long enough to see her first grandchild." Whoa! That was a lot of information to take in and I have been digesting it ever since.
Café Anne was a piece of Hampstead transported to the Yorkshire Dales - a place where Bohemians and struggling artists would feel at home. The walls were a collage of posters, paintings and postcards - a colourful mix of art great and small, serious and comic. No order was placed on this collection - it was arrangement by whim. Light in Café Anne seemed always subdued. It had trouble getting in - past the posters on the door and the clutter on the window sill - and wasn't much enhanced when it arrived. I doubt if there was a matching set of anything in the place - plates, cups, mugs, cultery. The house style was that there was no house style. There must have been a menu with the bill of fare but prices did not seem to follow the cold logic of more efficient establishments. So in all these aspects Café Anne was quite unlike any tea room I have ever been to - but it wasn't in any of these things that made it more memorable than any other tea room. Of course the food always seemed delicious especially if I had been caught out in foul weather - what could be more welcoming than a bowl of homemade soup with a chunk of freshly made bread? But that wasn't it either - nor the cakes. It must have been Anne Davies herself who earlier this year died at the age of 57.
Yet of Anne I have only one clear recollection. It was as if she and the café were an organic whole. My vague recollections of Anne consist of warmth and friendliness the ingredient that made her establishment the popular haven it became. My clearest memory is of the last time I saw her in September 2004. I had taken my Australian cousin over Ingleborough. After we lunched outside the tearoom on bacon barms and a mug of tea. Unusually we were the only two customers. Anne, small, pretty, barefooted and dressed in black drifted out to have a smoke. I must have commented on the lack of custom. "Oh I prefer it like this. I like the peace," she replied. I guess Anne was not overly concerned with the material world and wherever she is now - I hope she's at peace.
Friday 23/10/09 Earlier this week a few of us went up to Northumberland to walk a section of Hadrian's Wall between Brocolitia Fort and Greenhead. It was a good trip. The weather forecast had been dire but we managed to evade the showers over the two days we walked. I think the highlight was our visit to Vindolanda and its museum.
The site, not far from the quaintly named Twice Brewed, was established almost 40 years before Hadrian ordered the wall to be built. To the casual visitor it may not seem all that spectacular yet it was here that the most exciting finds of Roman-British archaeology were made in the 1970s. Preserved in mud for over1600 years were writing tablets recording the everyday concerns of people living on the frontier of the Roman Empire.
At first the language of the tablets looked strange and indecipherable; Robin Birley in charge of the excavation wondered if it might be ancient Syrian, but on closer analysis by experts at Oxford University, it was found to be everyday Latin. Not the polished high brow Latin of Tacitus or Livy, but the jottings of soldiers, merchants and traders as they went about their business. In an odd way they are almost analogous to text messages - quick, often misspelt and not always grammatical. So through the tablets historians are able to develop a detailed picture of the life of the common people living in the empire.
The most well known of the tablets is 291 leaf No. 1 which was written by Claudia Severa (the earliest known example of writing in Latin by a woman). "On 11 September, for the day of the celebration of my birthday, I give you a warm invitation...to make the day more enjoyable for me..." The immediacy of this text makes me feel very close to Claudia, and I do hope she had a happy birthday. (For more information check out www.vindolanda.com and http://vindolanda.csad.ox.ac.uk )
Speaking of birthdays Andy (fellow St Cuthbert's pilgrim) and I have a project in 2011. We intend to walk the Pennine Way between his birthday in May and my birthday in June - a block of 19 days. For one of us it will be a special birthday. So it was that on the first day of our Hadrian's Wall walk we crossed the Pennine Way. Perhaps next time we will be at this spot will be early June 2011 if all goes well.
A few weeks ago the Dot Com walkers were joined by Lin Xiaoyan a 25 year old graduate who is assisting us with translations. I arranged a lift for her but then wondered whether she would feel intimidated by getting into a car with three old blokes who were strangers to her. Not a bit of it. Quite unconcerned and without any display of nervousness she took her seat and chatted happily all the way to Hurst Green. I mentioned this to our friend Chen in an e mail and his take on it was very interesting. "I cannot help mentioning the one child policy here. Young men and young women turn to be a little neutral now because there is only one child in every family, so they have to play roles used to be played by both sexes in those days. As a result, girls turn to be more aggressive and boys milky. When you meet a brave Chinese girl you don't have to be shocked!" Whatever the reason it was very agreeable to have an attractive companion like Xiaoyan join us and she wasn't at all aggressive in the slightest.
Friday 16/10/09 On Tuesday a record number of Dotcom Walkers came out with John and me when we checked out a route from Spring Wood Picnic Area, near Whalley. Ten walked while Bill and Marlene once again joined us for lunch - this time at the White Hart Inn, Sabden. Dotcom walkers came into existence when I published the first programme of walks covering the half term to Christmas this time last year. (As retired teachers old habits die hard so John and I still divide the year up into terms.) Since then a group of six regulars has grown incrementally. As John once said, "We just can't get rid of them!" and nor would we want to. As if to make up for last week we were treated to a perfect autumn day - "mists and mellow fruitfulness". Here's the gathering in a photo taken by yours truly.
That was the second excellent walk I had this week. On Sunday I was out with the fellwalking club. It happened to be Andy's (he who was recently seriously verbally abused by a Howgill dairy farmer) birthday. GPS Dave, Val and another friend Alison were determined to make the day memorable. Now once again the weather played its part and this combined perfectly with the route Dave planned. We started in Ambleside and crossed to Elterwater via Loughrigg Terrace and finished the walk in the grandeur of Great Langdale. Here's a view of Grasmere which was on the superlative route.
We lunched at the exceptionally busy Britannia Inn, Elterwater and were back in good time for the coach at the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. It was a day that was not just memorable for Andy, (who when you know him is the least likeliest person you would think would ever deserve serious verbal abuse), but all of us who shared it with him.
And today I had a third outstanding walk with I-don't-know-I-found-time-to-work Geoff. This was an expedition of my conception. For a long time I have wanted to show him the terraced gardens of Lord Leverhulme's estate at Rivington. It turned out to be a perfect autumn's walk on a perfect autumn's day. In a very relaxed way we meandered through the grounds up past the ravine to the Japanese garden, and then onto the Great Lawn, and up to the site of the bunglalow, and then to the pigeon tower and then finally to the Jubilee Tower on Rivington Pike itself.
It was on our way down that we enjoyed a magical encounter. On their way up were a young couple with their ten day old baby. She, Hannah Elizabeth, was asleep in a sling across her father's chest. The couple could not conceal their happiness; that they were three instead of two and that they were taking their lovely daughter out on her first proper walk on the most perfect morning. So this is what I fervently wish; that 60 years from now that Hannah Elizabeth will be able to enjoy an autumn day as I enjoyed it on Andy's birthday, or with the Dotcom walkers, or in the happy communion with a friend like Geoff.
Monday 12/10/09 Last week I needed to check out the walk from Pilling (Coastal Walk No.2 on the website). This entailed me using public transport. I had looked at the timetable for the Knott End Ferry and had interpreted it to be on its winter schedule - sailing on the hour from Fleetwood. Eileen dropped me off near the station in good time and I caught the 8.15 to Blackpool North. I aimed to get the 10 o'clock ferry so felt I had a good margin for the rest of the journey.
At Blackpool I was directed across the road to the bus station and was delighted that the first bus I came across had Fleetwood as its destination. The engine was running and the driver was in his cab. Now my first exchange with the driver should have alerted me that my desire to go to Fleetwood might be less than straightforward. "This bus goes to Fleetwood(?)" I said with a statement turned into a question. "Does it?" replied the driver in a vague sort of way. He then checked the scroll above his cab. He confirmed that Fleetwood was indeed the destination and explained the route also took in Blackpool Victoria Hospital. "How much?" He looked at his fare table. "£3.45" Now there - right there - my second warning. Seeing me hesitate he offered me a dayrider ticket for an extra 5p. By this time my brief encounter with this individual had rather befuddled me because I accepted the offer. (As I am partially sighted I carry a concessionary pass in my wallet which I would have been able to use after 9.30 anyway.Doh.)
So at about 8.55 the bus set out to Fleetwood; six miles up the prom. Except this bus route didn't go anywhere near the prom. In fact it went just about everywhere else but the prom. At 9.30 I found myself in Poulton which I had passed through an hour earlier on the train. I went to Carleton, Thornton, Cleveleys, Rossall on a convoluted route that not only took in those places but seemed to trundle down every street, avenue and crescent. An hour and 20 minutes after setting off the bus reached the North Euston Hotel and I was able to escape. As I reached the door I said to the driver, "Please don't tell me that is the quickest route between Blackpool and Fleetwood." He did two things. In answer he equivocated, muttering that there may be other routes. But before he did that he did what that b*stard of a customs officer did at Charles De Gaulle airport when he confiscated our bottle of Cuban rum, - he smirked. Now I am not prone to violence but I own that violent thoughts passed through my mind at that moment. I felt like dragging him from his cab, frog marching him across the prom and kicking his sorry a*se into the murky waters of the Wyre estuary. Instead I retained my composure and explaining that I was late for work, stepped off the bus.
Luckily the ferry service was more frequent than I had been led to believe so I wasn't too far behind my self imposed timetable. Later, having walked over the route, I took a different bus and got back to Blackpool in half the time of my outward journey.
In contrast to the sense of frustration of being taken all around the houses the next day's outing was entirely pleasurable. My friend ("when-did-i-find-time-to-work") Geoff arranged for us to see a concert at BBC Radio Lancashire on Friday afternoon. This turned out to be a real treat. Billed as "An Intimate Afternoon with tenor Roberto García Lopez" and presented by John Gillmore we were entertained and educated too, with a programme that not only included Pucinni and Strauss, but also music from Roberto's birthplace Argentina. Accompanied by his wife Joanna Porter, Roberto enthralled his audience (a packed house) on an occasion that was in the finest traditions of the BBC. After both Geoff and I were convinced that we had seen a star of the future. The photo shows Roberto and Joanna being interviewed by John Gillmore.
Tuesday 06/10/09 This week Lancashire Walks Dot Com celebrated its second birthday. On the 2nd October 2007 John Griffiths and I went to Cinderbarrow picnic area and from there reconnoitred the route "Around the Yealands." After, John gave me a tutorial on e mailing documents and photographs; instruction I soon put to use. A day or two later I received a text from John telling me the walk was published. It is difficult to convey the excitement I felt when I first clicked onto our website - perhaps "electrifying" gets closest to it. It was not just the realisation of a long held ambition to write about walking, but to see the words and photographs elevated by the professionalism of John's website design. From that beginning the website has made impressive progress. In the first year 5,000 hits. In the second year 13,600 hits. Through it we now contribute to the Blackpool Gazette and the Lancashire Evening Post. And of course it has led to the informal walking group who now accompany us on our Tuesday walks - the Dot Com walkers...
Speaking of which we were out today. 9 of us met at the Visitors Centre on Beacon Fell which given the forecast and weather was quite remarkable, demonstrating just how ingrained is the habit of walking on a Tuesday. It rained with varying degrees of intensity the whole of the morning. GPS Dave gamely led us around the fell and we gamely followed. Then we made our way to Inglewhite where once again Bill and Marlene joined us for lunch. Outside it was still persisting it down and so we arrived at consensus - Bill would ferry the drivers back to Beacon Fell and for the first time since this venture began a walk was curtailed. SHOCK! HORROR!
Here is a picture of the Dot Com walkers soon after we set out. (Don is wearing red gaiters but it was so wet he has covered them up with two layers of over trousers!)
Tuesday 29/09/09 This has been a week of miracles! But it didn't seem that way as Andy and I dropped off the Howgills on Sunday. This was when we were subjected to serious verbal abuse by an irate dairy farmer. "WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU DOING DOWN THERE?" he bellowed at us, just as we were about to consult the map. "CAN'T YOU READ A F**KING MAP? THE F**KING PATH'S OVER THERE YOU STUPID BUGGERS!" "No need for that kind of abuse," I said rather primly. Now our error was an easy one to make. We had been on a good track and deep in conversation and hadn't picked up the waymark pointing to the right. As it happened we were talking about the farmer who we had encountered a few minutes earlier on his quad driving his herd to the milking shed. He had warned us that one of his cows had taken a tumble and he was dealing with it. Indeed we passed the unfortunate beast and could see it was in a distressed state; on its side with legs straight out at an angle. So naturally Andy and I were pondering on the implications this would have on a hard pressed farmer. I suppose indirectly we got our answer - it just added to his stress. So our straying had given him the chance to vent his anger and frustration - so maybe that's a miracle, because he might have taken it out on a wife, a child or even himself.
Andy and I were out on a fellwalking club outing, the secretary of which is Dave of the GPS. Dave and his wife, Val, had not long come back from holiday in Bavaria where they had had a wonderful time. However their journey there suffered major calamity in Paris. In making their connection for the overnight sleeper to Munich "someone" misread the train time. Result - the train left without them, and they were stranded at the station late at night and in need of a hotel. Now I have interpreted this incident as a miraculous sign because I'm pretty certain that had this had happened to me and my spouse, (or indeed 89% of couples) there would have been blood on the tracks and one of us would have been in police custody ready to plea justifiable homocide. Certainly there would have been an exchange of opinion that would have been expressed in such terms to put a Howgill dairy farmer in the shade! Returning to Dave and Val, late evening in Paris; they found a hotel, made a phone call to a (very good) friend who through neat work on the internet was able to find a train the next morning and so with a little more inconvenience and a fair bit of expense they were able to make their way to Bavaria.
But the real miracle occured yesterday! Now I am not someone who would describe himself as devout, but I have friends who are and one of them, Mary, invited me, along with two of her other friends to visit the Carmelite convent on St Vincent's Road, Preston to view the relics of St Teresa of Lisieux which are on a UK tour, so to speak. I found myself assisting Martin, as we joined the queue leading into the chapel. In his 70s and somewhat frail, two nasty accidents had left him uncertain on his feet. Having processed past the casket we made our way once again onto St Vincent's Road which was very busy with traffic. At this point I saw my wife, not entirely surprised since she teaches at a nearby catholic school. Then several things seemed to happen at once. As Eileen and I waved in recognition, Martin kind of swerved towards me making me step back into the road just as a car swerved towards the kerb and braking on the heel of my left shoe. This turn of events distressed those that witnessed it more than me. I was immobilised not by injury but because the shoe was trapped. Eileen quickly comprehended my predicament and exhorted the driver to reverse an inch or two after which I was free. The driver drove away and I walked away - a rather different outcome from the one that might have been. So that's the miracle that happened to me. Now the fact that I had been in the presence of the relics of St Teresa moments before may be just a coincidence but...
Thursday 24/09/09 On Tuesday the Dotcom Walkers reached the top of Lancashire, or at least the four of us who made up the summit party. John and Brian had ruled themselves unfit to tackle the long ridge walk and so it was arranged to rendezvous with them at Leck Fell House. Given our recent form on meeting up at prearranged locations this may appear to have been a high risk strategy, but it worked out well. However I must now confess that as the rest of us approached the summit of Gragareth the route necessitated a 100 metre deviation into that other place. The question being is this still a Lancashire Walk? A question that provoked a raging debate for the remainder of the walk and is still unresolved. Dropping down to Leck Fell House we encountered the Three Men of Gragareth, large cairns that seem to exude a difficult to define quality but let's say "brooding presence". They are of such antiquity that they are marked on the OS maps whereas other similar features are "Pile of stones" of which there are quite a few thereabouts. Wainwright's "Walks in Limestone Country" has an illustration of them on the cover. Brooding presence or not they made a great photo opp and here we have Three More Men of Gragareth - Jim, Andy and Don. Only one of them is a Lancastrian by birth - which one? (Don is wearing red gaiters to celebrate his 60th birthday this week. Many happy returns Don!)
On Wednesday I enjoyed an away day with my friend Geoff recently retired and still enjoying every minute of it. ("When did I find time to work."etc) Geoff, who cannot pass a ruin without examining it, conceived a plan to visit Shap Abbey. We met at Oxenholme and then travelled up the A6, which allowed us to stop by the memorial at the top of the pass. Now there maybe other memorials dedicated to truck drivers but I am unaware of them, so the possible uniqueness of this one delights me. THIS MEMORIAL it intones, PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE DRIVERS AND CREWS OF VEHICLES THAT MADE POSSIBLE THE SOCIAL AND COMMERCIAL LINKS BETWEEN NORTH AND SOUTH ON THIS OLD AND DIFFICULT ROUTE OVER SHAP FELL BEFORE THE OPENING OF THE M6 It would be easy to mock the epic resonance of the sentiment here which recasts Hector and Lysander as lorry drivers, and the siege of Troy as a hard winter in Westmoreland, but that said better to be reminded of everyday heroism than the dubious achievements of vacuous celebrity.
The rest of the day was dedicated to visiting ruins. 13th century Shap Abbey in the morning.
And 17th/18th (?) century Sleddale Hall in the afternoon.
Oddly enough through its association with the film "Withnail and I", Sleddale Hall has become a place that attracts more devotees than the abbey. Even Geoff and I felt it had a significance far greater than just being a derelict set of farm buildings, and neither of us could claim to have watched the film. So what's that all about? Have we fallen prey to the dubious achievements of vacuous celebrity?
Sunday 20/09/09 How perverse of the weather! When the summer holidays come to an end and everyone returns to work, with children and spouses back at school; what happens? We have a heat wave! Well perhaps that's overstating it, but certainly a period of dry, settled weather. On Tuesday the Dotcoms gathered near Cockersands Abbey for a walk that took us agreeably to the Dalton Arms, at Glasson Dock. The weather was glorious - blue skies and fabulous views. We even managed to find a hill - not a very high one at 23m - but still a hill, and could see the Lakeland fells distinctly. Bill and his wife Marlene joined us for lunch, so it was a good turn out.
And a good turn out too on the previous Saturday to help my daughter Katherine celebrate her 21st birthday. It was a great occasion and a real pleasure to be joined by so many members of the family and so many friends. At the end of the night my friend Geoff who had acted as official photographer suggested a couple of group shots, thus allowing the greatest concentration of feminine beauty ever assembled under one roof to be recorded for posterity. Of course the resolution necessary to post the photo below does not do the subject matter justice - so you'll just have to take my word for it!
Thursday 10/09/09 Tuesday did not start well. Eight of us at the Sunnyhurst Woods car park having followed detail instructions on the e mail to the RV point, one of us, no names - no packdrill, armed with a GPS, waiting in a different part of the woods. It took 35 minutes to sort out this misunderstanding. To be fair to Dave I had sent him a map different from the route I had finally planned which rather compounded the débacle. I couldn't understand why he couldn't come up to the car park as instructed in the e-mail, and he couldn't understand why we were reluctant to join him at the start of the walk as indicated on his map. When eventually we linked up his explanations were greeted with a degree of autumnal coolness by the other Dotcom walkers. I made a mental note to label my documents a little more carefully before sending them into cyber space. Yet despite this awkward start we had an excellent walk across to Roddlesworth Woods and then back into Sunnyhurst Park and this will become October's walk of the month once I have sorted out the route. Lunch was taken at the Rock Inn, Tockholes, where we found the service friendly and efficient, and the fare wholesome and tasty. By the time we finished the walk we were in good spirits.
Unusually Bill wasn't able to join us on Tuesday. Bill was the first of the Dotcom walkers to accompany John and I on a regular basis, and since May 2008 has rarely missed an outing. In one way I wasn't surprised about his absence in that he had not long returned from Thailand where he had been on a family visit with his wife, Marlene. But it wasn't this that prevented him from coming. For the last few walks he had been troubled with a sore heel, and this hadn't improved over the summer break. So regretfully he bowed out. This did give us the opportunity of signing his birthday card though. Yesterday Bill celebrated his 75th birthday. Many happy returns Bill! And let's hope its not too long before you can join us again.
Monday 31/08/09 "Back to school"! Well at least for our spouses who are now wondering where the six week holiday went. For Eileen and me there was a cruise which took us to Croatia, Venice, Istanbul and Athens; so that wasn't bad. Lots of memories - sailing in and out of Venice, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul and the National Archaeological Museum in Athens.
Now as wonderful as these sites were the highlight of the holiday came on the last afternoon when with the invaluable assistance of Damian, an Englishman now living in Scotland, I won the lounge bar quiz. This was a feat that I had been trying to achieve for the previous three cruises; and even though the prize of luxury ice cream seemed rather incidental, I must admit I derived (worryingly for my wife) a great deal of satisfaction from this victory. Below Damian and I celebrate our success on the last evening of the cruise.
I began to feel homesick when I received a text from the Dot Com walkers enjoying an away day on Pen-y-Ghent. I missed the unpredicability of an English summer. Now since my return I have had rather too much of that - well in fact, no, - what we've have had has been predictably awful.
August has been a good month for the website. In fact our second best month since we started and hits passing the 17,000 mark. September will see a new aspect to our work. We have been invited by the Lancashire Evening Post to contribute to its weekly walks column. In readiness for this venture which commences on Saturday, the Post needed a photograph and arranged for a staff photographer to come out and take a few pictures of John and me "in a rural location." For convenience I chose the Dolphin, on Marsh Lane, near Longton as the rendezvous point since its not far from where John lives. At 11 this morning we linked up with David (I think) from the LEP who set up the shot, took his photos and then shot off to his next shoot. I doubt if we were ten minutes on the job. Still it allowed John and I to get a walk in before lunch. On a perfect morning we strolled back to Penwortham along the Ribble Way.
Tuesday 04/08/09 Today Malcolm, Don and I went over Ward's Stone to check over the route before it is submitted to the Blackpool Gazette. For Don it was his first time so he was extremely fortunate that he traversed the ridge in typical August conditions - very low cloud and frequent squally showers. All the same it was a great walk across one of Lancashire's finest moorlands. We put up a lot of grouse no doubt in final preparations for "the Glorious 12th" and enjoyed our lunch in the shelter close to the Tarnbrook Wyre, at the top of Gables Clough. Here's a photograph of Don and Malcolm by the (1st) trig. point on Ward's Stone. As you can see Don has thoughtfully put on gaiters to match Malcolm's jacket.
Quite a deal of our conversation was devoted to travellers' tales. Since our return from the St.Cuthbert's Way Don has been to Greece and Malcolm to southern Africa. Malcolm's was a big trip taking in the Victoria Falls, the Okavango Delta, Johannesburg and Soweto. Here's one of his photos which I would like to caption; "Wildlife crossing the River Darwen close to Hoghton Bottoms" but know I wouldn't be believed.
What a wonderful sight!
Wednesday 29/07/09 When is this "wonderful" summer going to get started. At the moment it looks too much like a variation of 2007 & 2008. It seems to be following a similar pattern - good in spring and early summer with a spell of two weeks of acceptably warm weather, and then the grey starts. Meanwhile the Mediterranean is burned to a frizzle. Our weather no longer possesses moderate tendencies - everything is done in extremes so we have "wettest", "coldest", "driest" (not so much of this lately), "hottest" months/years "since records began". And just how often do we hear the expression, "the Met Office has just issued a severe weather warning"? Now of course for people who enjoy the outdoors poor weather does not act as a deterrent. All the same it would be nice to think that once the school holidays begin we could reasonably expect a few weeks of warm, settled weather just by way of a change. I think my disappointment with the summer is due to the way it was trailed. We were promised a gloriously hot one where every evening the entire population would gather around their barbeques and no doubt complain about the heat. For the forseeable future that ain't about to happen. I feel sorry for those people who were suckered into booking a camping holiday...
Speaking of which my wife Eileen and I went across to Hayfield yesterday to see John and Diane on their campsite. John and I went for a walk around the approaches to Kinder Scout and ascended a moderate hill, South Head which gave us fine views across to Kinder Scout itself. And then, as we returned to the campsite, it began to rain...hard. For me though there was another highlight close to the campsite. In the quarry car park there is the memorial stone dedicated to the Kinder Trespass, which I referred to last week. Here it is.
Tuesday 21/07/09 Recently we have entered a lively correspondence with Allan Friswell, a retired teacher and author of walking guides. (Does this sound familiar?) Kindly he has checked out a few of our walks and fed through comments, corrections and clarifications which we have been pleased to incorporate into our route descriptions. Most recently he looked at our walk from Foulridge but added an interesting adaptation following the east shore of Slipper Hill Reservoir. This is a path we have yet to follow but will do soon given that Allan sent us a photo that just makes you want to go there.
Hopefully we will link up with Allan in the near future. Already it is clear we have a great deal in common.
Today was the last day of the Dot Com walking programme. Seven of us were out in the wilds of Brindle. John, my partner in this enterprise, (not my partner in that other way - we're both married men, don't you know!), is away with his wife, in that Holy of Holies as far as walkers are concerned - Hayfield, Derbyshire. It was from Hayfield that the Kinder Trespass set out in 1932 to challenge the laws that prevented access to the high moorland between Manchester and Sheffield. It is thanks to people like Benny Rothman and his like, prepared to go to prison, that people like me are able to enjoy the uplands of northern England. From that spark came National Parks, the Pennine Way and the (un)exceptional notion that walking is the panacea of all ills. If there is not a statue to those "access martyrs" then there ought to be! The campaign starts here!!!
Tuesday 14/07/09 Our attempt to go "global" has so far been rather feeble. Our usual good coverage by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph but little interest elsewhere. Stuart Flinders of BBC North West Tonight was polite but didn't think a walks website with chinese translations was very newsworthy. Of course it may not be on a par with dinner lady from Oswaldtwistle climbs Mount Everest, but it does contain a bit of interest, more say than brown paper bag seen flying around in Bury centre. Clearly we are up against wily editors who see through our facade and spot us for what we really are - blokes who have a bit of a walk before and after a pub lunch. Speaking of which...
A good walk and a good lunch today. Eight of us met at Anglezarke to check out the route before publication in the Blackpool Gazette. We lunched at the Yew Tree on Nick Hilton's Lane, a short distance off route. The service was excellent. It was welcoming, friendly and efficient. Two of us plumbed for soup and sandwich combo, while the rest opted for the Traditional Fish Lunch Special. And this was declared excellent too. So thank you to the staff of the Yew Tree.
Monday 06/07/09
"Preparing to go global" - this accounts for our new feature; a page dedicated to walks translated into Chinese. Of course it would be nice to think we will have the potential to appeal to an audience of one billion readers yearning to find out what the countryside is like in this part of the world. However we remain a walking website of moderate ambitions and our aim is slightly lower than the entire population of the People's Republic. Somewhere between 2,000
to 3,000 Chinese students come to Lancashire to study at the University of Central Lancashire. Since nearly all are continuing their education at an advanced level all possess very good English. Our Chinese page is not for them, but for their families showing what a wonderful part of the world their son or daughter has come to study in.
We have been generously assisted by three people in particular. Sheng Hou is a 27 year old business management graduate from Suzhou, a city not too far away from Shanghai. Somehow he fitted in the work of translation in between his full time job. As did 26 year old Xiajun Ni who is from Shanghai itself. She is a graduate in Human Resources. (Both pictured below)
Our friend "Chen" - Gychen Guangwai, has already been introduced on these pages. A teacher at the School of Translation in Guangdong University, he has accompanied John and myself on a number of walks since he linked up with us in May. As a specialist translator (whose Masters thesis was a study of James Joyce - ye Gods!) Chen has been able to proofread the walk descriptions as well as translate walks himself. Sadly Chen is returning to China in the next few days, but John and I know we have made a firm friend. Hopefully at some point in the future we'll walk together again - who knows - www.guangdongwalks.com - will become a future project. (For the time being please don't waste your time clicking on this link!)
Wednesday 17/06/09
We now call it "Annual Camp" and it is now in its third year. At some suitable point in the summer John and I travel up to Hawkshead and set up camp. The next few days are spent seriously walking. Then on Friday we set up the second tent in readiness for our wives who join us for the weekend. A pretty good arrangement but first there is a trick to be managed. My wife, Eileen, unlike the rest of us is temperamentally unsuited to camping - in fact she HATES it! So sometime in January we wait for a suitable moment to broach the subject - usually after the third glass of red wine at a dinner party. Then John's wife, Diane, will extract from her a grudging acknowledgement that some aspect of the previous camp was quite enjoyable. Assent is taken as a binding contract to go on the next one. Diane was probably a press gang officer in a previous life. All the same Eileen had a good weekend with us and even managed to reach the top of Latterbarrow. Here is the photo to prove it.
This year our stay at Hawkshead was made particularly special in that we were joined by our friend from China, Gychen Guangwai, who has linked up with us through UCLan and is helping to translate a few of our routes into Chinese. It was "Chen's" first experience of camping. I have admit he does seem temperamentally suited to camping; though for a real test he needs to try it under normal conditions i.e. unrelenting wind with persistent rain. Other Dotcom walkers declined our invitation to camp with various (suspicious) excuses but did come up one day for a walk into Little Langdale from Tilberthwaite. This gave us the chance to bag another packhorse bridge!
We have returned from camping to discover the dismantling of a well known Lancashire landmark in our absence - the gasometer at Southport. I had heard a rumour that it was due to demolition, but it was sad to see it in a part dismembered state while I was checking out July's walk of the month. Perhaps it wasn't the most attractive landmark in the world, but the fact was it served as an instant point of recognition and was more easily picked out than Blackpool Tower from Lancashire's westerly hills.
Monday 25/05/09
Last week a group of us walked St Cuthbert's Way between Melrose in the Scottish Borders and Holy Island, Northumberland. It was a week of competing highlights - impressive abbeys at Melrose, Jedburgh and Lindisfarne, the stately River Tweed, great views from the Eildon Hills, reaching Kirk Yetholm the end of the Pennine Way (the walking of which is slated in as a project in 2011), crossing the border and just after St Cuthbert's Cave our first clear view of the coast. When we reached the causeway linking Lindisfarne to the mainland, two of us, wearing shorts, elected to cross by way of the Pilgrims' route, following a line of tall marker poles. At first, with the receding tide, we wondered at the wisdom of this choice; it was difficult to work out the safest line. After a bit of trial and error, we made our way across a tricky section and the rest was easy. In the end a wonderful way to complete a long distance footpath.
By unanimous decision Tilldale House, Wooler, was voted "Digs of the Week" and Don, Malcolm, Andy and I would like to thank Mrs Devenport for making our stay such a comfortable, nay, luxurious one. Without doubt she provided the best bed and breakfast accommodation we have ever stayed at.
Tuesdays are sacrosant. We never make any other plans for Tuesday - Tuesday is and always has been, (at least since we started walking out together in June 2006,) walking day. At first we were on our own. Then after a while we were joined by an agreeable third party on occasion. Now it is not unusual to arrange a walk for five or six others - old friends for the most part who have reached the blessed isles of retirement. Today we broke a new record and reached double figures. We walked from Downham down to Sawley by way of Rimington - and the day was perfect; blue sky, bright sunshine.
Today we had a guest from China - Gychen Guangwai, a 37 year old university teacher on an extended visit to UCLan, Preston. Kindly "Chen" has agreed to assist us with translating some of our walks into Chinese. While it would be nice to think this would give us the potential to reach an audience of one billion readers, our sights are more modestly aimed; to appeal to Chinese students at Lancaster, Preston and Ormskirk. We wouldn't want them to go home without sampling the beauty of the English countryside. We would like to wish Guangwai a most enjoyable time in the UK and hope his visit is a successful one.
Thursday 30/04/09
April has been a record breaking month on the website - almost 1,800 hits. Of course this is small beer compared with Nightjack or even Gordon Brown on You Tube, but for a walking website with moderate ambitions, let's say it impresses us.
Preparing for a walk in a couple of weeks in the Ribble Valley we were saddened to discover that another favourite pub has recently closed its doors for the last time - the Black Bull in Rimington. Not only was this a pleasant place for a lunch time stop with good food and ale, but it had the added interest of being an informal museum with its fascinating display of railway memorabilia. Like many country pubs the Black Bull was an integral part of village life, and Rimington will be a poorer place without it. A tax regime that is meant to dissuade anti-social drinking appears to be killing the places that are licensed to control it, while the real culprits, the supermarkets, continue to promote alcohol at heavily discounted prices. The trouble with supermarkets is that they want it all and will not rest until they have it all. The demise of the English village pub is a mere footnote in the march of progress. Make the most of your local - it may not be there for much longer if things continue as they are.
Wednesday 8/04/09
As retired teachers we find it impossible to not to divide the year up into terms. Of course this is reinforced by the fact that our wives are both still practising teachers. And so we have now reached the Easter holidays. Last week as an end of term event it was arranged for a two day jaunt between Lancashire and that other place. This was seen as a training walk for when we do the St.Cuthbert's Way in seven weeks. The route was worked between two friends' houses both called Andy who live about 15 miles apart with a good chunk of the South Pennines in between. We started at Andy M's in Cliviger a little after 9.00am last Tuesday and walked across to Cowling where we spent the night at Andy B's. The following day we came back by way of Wycoller and Lad Law. A particular highlight among many was spotting a deer in the woods close to Hurstwood. I did not manage to photograph that but I caught one of this new born lamb near Knarrs Hill Farm on the Pendle Way.
Many thanks to Andy B for his superb organisation and hospitality, and Andy M and Margaret for the best cup of tea ever at the end of the walk. Oh and Elaine too for taxiing us to and from the Dog and Gun on Tuesday evening.
Yesterday Don and I went for a walk from Brindle. (John is away camping) This will be May's Walk of the Month. Now Brindle is a place easily overlooked since it lies close to the intersection of the M65 and M61 motorways. I had been to Brindle before and indeed walked from there, but needed to be reminded what a lovely place it is. I was reminded by the pub landlord, not Al Murray, but Robin Tillbrook of the Cavendish Arms. A walker himself he invited John and me for lunch so he could show off the potential of the area and of course his excellent establishment. Now you may think me easily corruptible but I cannot praise the Cavendish Arms highly enough. It manages the trick of being proudly at the centre of a thriving village community, while at the same time appealing to visitors attracted by its deserved reputation - and not a pool table or slot machine in sight! So thank you Robin for lunch but had we arrived there by chance, the Cavendish Arms would have still received high praise - and we would have paid for our lunch! (I'm only sorry John was away and could not share this with Don and me.) Below a photo of Robin Tillbrook.
Another red letter day for this website - into 5 figures with the 10,000 hit milestone passed around ten o'clock this morming, auspiciously on the first morning of British Summer Time. Back in January the Dotcom walkers were asked make their predictions as to when this day would arrive. [As it happens we were in the Waggoners at the time - see last entry.] My own forecast was for the second week in June which seemed a realistic projection based on the stats at that time. It's Andy who turned out to be closest - his prediction was for 30th March. I'm afraid he doesn't win a pound for each hit but I daresay we can manage a free pint of cask ale. Any predictions for the 100,000 hit mark?
Friday 27/03/09
Sad news from Burnley. The Waggoners on Manchester Road, close to Clowbridge Reservoir has gone the way of many a pub - it is now shut. We thought highly of this establishment - it had good beer, good food and was a warm and welcoming place. If pubs like the Waggoners are finding it difficult then the crisis has just become a catastrophe. I recently read that almost 40 pubs a week are closing.
If pubs were people what's happening would be called a plague.
Wednesday 18/03/09
A date for your diaries - Saturday 30th May is National Get Walking Day organised by the Ramblers Association. (See www.ramblers.org.uk for further details of events organised locally). So if we haven't persuaded you so far to step out into the wonderful diversity of Lancashire's countryside, make a resolution to do so on the last Saturday of May.
Sunday 15/03/09
This year is beginning to race away. At the end of January it took off its hob-nail boots and put on its spikes and is now dashing towards Christmas! On Tuesday last the Dotcom Walkers went up to the top of Parbold Hill. Now at 157m 515ft Parbold is not what you call high - even by Lancashire standards yet the views we had on Tuesday held our party rapt for 15 - 20 minutes. Conditions were near perfect. A pair of binoculars were produced and then animated discussions followed; "That's Avenham." "Is it really?" "No it's not." "So it is!"
Over the past few weeks we have enjoyed a varied programme - Sunderland Point, Waddington Fell and then Parbold, although some Dotcoms found issue with the mud on Tuesday. What has been particularly noteworthy has been the willingness of the inns we have visited to accommodate our requirements. Now that we regularly go out with groups of eight plus it has been helpful to order in advance. Each time we have phoned in our order it has been taken entirely on trust and where we have had to adjust our timings we found the establishments could not have been more obliging. So thank you the Globe at Overton, the Moorcock near Waddington and the Rigbye Arms, at High Moor - your good service has been very much appreciated.
Saturday 21/02/09
Checking out the Hoghton Tower walk during the week, my nephew, Matthew, and I came across a public notice indicating that the path alongside the River Darwen on the far side from Hoghton Bottoms was to be closed indefinitely due to erosion making one section of the walk unsafe. Since we had just come that way we were well aware of the hazard. Indeed it was depicted in the original route description. Violent disturbance, perhaps a flash flood, had mangled the path necessitating an awkward clamber in and out of the gully.In the Lakes this would be a commonplace scramble, but perhaps unexpected on a sedate reach of the river Darwen. When I returned home I was able to quickly amend the webpage re-routing the walk. Had the walk been in a guide book such a change would have to await the next edition. This incident has reinforced my feeling that the internet is an ideal medium for publishing self guided walks. If you, our readers, encounter anything that needs amendment, please get in touch through the contacts page and we will act upon it.
Friday 13/02/09
This has been a busy week. Regular visitors to the site will note that there is a new development. A dozen walks now have a printer friendly version thanks to our association with the Blackpool Gazette. Since 29th November our walks have been published in the Blackpool Gazette and these versions are now available in pdf format. This will make life easier when users print off route descriptions. For the first time in two and a half years John had to pull out of a walk because of a heavy chest cold. This meant I had to go out and do the really arduous work of checking over a route. It was tough going leading the Dot Com walkers, an unruly bunch at the best of times, around Stonyhurst and along the Ribble Way. Then to cap it all - lunch in the Shireburn Arms Hotel washed down by a pint of Hen Harrier! Well someone had to ensure the show goes on. Meanwhile in his garret, John had the cushy number of sorting out the website. Still I have to grudgingly admit the result is pretty good. A big week for John in another way - with the arrival of a grand-daughter, Faye, yesterday. Congratulations to Rick and Emma.
Thursday 5/02/09
This week we checked out March's "Walk of the Month". When it goes on our regular readers may think it is a wind up. The photos show a world of snow! It's a bit like those episodes of Emmerdale where you can work out when it was filmed by the weather.
Friday 29/01/09
This week John and I went for a most enjoyable walk with BBC Radio Lancashire reporter/producer Steve Becker; a walk featured in Brett Davison's Wednesday's drive time programme between 4.00 pm and 6.00 pm.
We started with an interview at the bottom of Howick Cross Lane, Penwortham and then, following the Ribble Way, ended up at the Dolphin Inn, Longton. At various points we linked to Brett back in the studio by mobile phone. Not surprisingly Steve turned out to be an experienced walker himself - indeed more experienced than John and I put together - but he welcomed the chance to do a piece on the hoof so to speak. It turned out to be a perfect winter's evening - cool, still and with a hazy mist lending a little atmosphere to the scene. Our five mile walk quickly passed and we were able to do the last link from the Dolphin just as we were about to sup our self rewarding pints of Bowland Brewery's Oak bitter. All in all a most pleasant few hours with an agreeable companion.
Thursday 8/01/09
Our year has started on a high - well 399m above sea level. On Tuesday we checked out the route for Hameldon Hill. It may be one of the coldest winters for 30 years but for walkers it has been wonderful. We had a thin layer of snow and brilliant sunshine with clear views. Though not one of the most attractive summits in Lancashire with its paraphernalia of masts and aerials that panorama we had on Tuesday afternoon made us all pause at the wonder of it all.
Monday 4/01/09
Regular visitors to this site will have noticed the appearance of maps on some of the pages. From the outset we have been aware that the mapping arrangements have not been as helpful as we would like. Without paying a license to the OS (beyond our meagre pensions) the best we could do was to provide a link to the Lancashire County Council's Mario site. This would at least give readers a general sense of the area of a walk, but could not show the route in detail. All this is changing. Since the end of November our walks are being published in Life!- the Saturday supplement of the Blackpool Gazette. Each walk is illustrated by the newspaper's art department and it is these maps that are finding their way onto the site. We are sure they will help readers explore the corners of the county we describe. We will take this opportunity to wish all our readers, friends, family and supporters a happy and prosperous 2009.
Sunday 9/11/08
It is a year since this web site started and during that time we have been to every corner of Lancashire. Now we're in the process of revising and modifying the routes we've published, giving us the opportunity to revisit every corner of Lancashire. This could be regarded as a rather mundane exercise but those who love walking will understand there is always something new to observe even on the most frequented paths. Season, light and weather mix and match to create scenes afresh. There has been another dimension this second time around in that we're now more regularly joined by friends and family members. On one occasion in September there were seven of us out together. We have even been prompted to print a programme of future walks. We're becoming an industry!
Wednesday 17/09/08
There are many places in Lancashire to see autumn in. On these pages we particularly commend Nicky Nook, White Coppice and Silverdale. Indeed in the next few weeks we shall be returning to these locations to check, revise and modify the routes. As walk of the month though we opted for Beacon Fell and the Upper Brock Valley. In high autumn the river stretch is particularly lovely. We checked it out yesterday with our friend Bill, who, incidentally, was celebrating his 74th birthday. For Bill our excursion turned out to be a trip down memory lane. As a child he had camped in Nissan Huts close by Higher Brock Mill. Passing by there brought back a flood of happy memories.
Quite a few times we use the phrase "may be muddy underfoot after prolonged spells of wet weather." Well given the summer we have just had which seemed to be one long prolonged monsoon our recent walks have been marked by tramping through saturated fields and across sodden moors. The best advice is be prepared for mud for next few weeks at least.
Thursday 17/07/08
Now that all 52 walks are complete we are free to go off on 'away days'. Today we drove up to the lake district and tackled Helvellyn. We started from Patterdale and made a detour on the way up to 'bag' another of Wainwright's 214 Lakeland Fells, Birkhouse Moor (718m/2356ft). Next came Helvellyn itself via Striding Edge. By now the weather was atrocious with driving rain, low cloud and a rising wind. Luckily Striding Edge was sheltered from the wind otherwise we would have been forced to be sensible and turn back. Lunch on top of Helvellyn, the third highest peak in the Lake District (and indeed in England) at 950m/3117ft.
We proceeded to 'bag' another couple of Wainwright's namely Nethermost Pike (891m/2923 ft and Dollywagon Pike (858m/2815ft). Down via Grisedale Tarn (which itself is at approx 540m/1770ft).
A difficult walk in good weather, tough in bad weather but perversely enjoyable and leaving one with a sense of righteous tiredness.
Wednesday 16/07/08
A red letter day. Yesterday we completed our 52nd and therefore (for now) last walk of this project. Today that walk has been posted on the website. For Bob this has been an ambition realised - to publish a series of walks of his making. For John a voyage of discovery rekindling an earlier love of walking and discovering Lancashire's hidden secrets. For both of us part of our rehabilitation after serious illness curtailed our careers as teachers.
Thursday 10/07/08
Almost there - 51 walks completed and just one to go. Of course there is much to do once we have all 52 walks in place. They will all need checking which is a job akin to painting the Forth Bridge - once completed we will have to start again. We have many ideas for enhancing the website but would welcome suggestions from our readers. Please feel free to contact us via the contact page.
Last week we went camping to Hawkshead in the lakes and managed some (for us) quite strenuous walks. Much as we love walking in Lancashire the Lake District always comes as a delight.