Tuesday & Wednesday 21/22 July - Lytham St Annes
Where was Bertie? He spent two nights at the motorhome parking area on the N side of Fairhaven Lake, in Lytham St Annes, at a cost of £7.50 per night.
Weather: Varying cloud, but warm and almost entirely dry.
The vague plan had been to head up to the Lakes a few weeks before the Lakeland 100/50 weekend, taking both Bertie (to live in) and Erica (to travel around in), staying on a Temporary Holiday Site (THS) in Kendal, but that plan didn't come to fruition. The big holding factor was waiting for the sale of a rental house to complete, then there were just a couple of other commitments dotted across the following week. Finally on Monday 20th we declared that we were free to leave, Bertie was hastily packed and we left home late Tuesday morning.
By then the THS in Kendal had closed, but I found one in Lytham St Annes. Even though we'd only been in Lytham last month, we were happy to go again, although we didn't end up staying at the THS, having realised that it was right next door to the motorhome Aire we'd stayed on in June, with the Aire being half the price for a 2-night stay.
Not long after arrival, friends came around for tea and cake, and after a couple of hours of chatting, we adjourned to a local pub, The Fairhaven, for food. It was well after bedtime by the time we got back to Bertie.
That didn't stop us getting up bright and early on Wednesday morning (just double checked that fact and 'early' is something of an exaggeration) to gently run/walk three laps of Fairhaven Lake. This was Mick's final little jogette before the Lakeland 50. I'm pleased to say that he didn't trip over a manhole cover and do himself some significant harm 3 days out, as he did in 2023, but he wasn't going into the race injured, but more about that in my next post.
Another quarter lap of the lake followed once we were changed out of our Lycra, as we headed to the lakeside cafe for coffee, cake and crossword. Another quarter lap followed again in the afternoon when we returned to said cafe with AlaNicky for more tea and cake. More chatting back in Bertie finished off the day.
Thursday 23rd
Where was Bertie? At Church House Inn campsite in Torver, at a cost of £20 excluding electricity.
A week later, I have absolutely no recollection as to how we filled our morning, but I do recall that we visited a big Tesco Extra at the Blackpool end of the M55 as we headed off towards Torver. I had the need for another 1-pint mug, and for a pair of short pyjamas, but failed on both counts (they'd sold out of the former, and I didn't like the choice of the latter). That left me then trawling a huge supermarket for the few groceries we needed. Give me an Aldi or a Lidl any day for ease of finding the things you need without having to walk a mile in the process.
An easy journey up to the Lakes was had, and we arrived exactly when we said we would, mid-afternoon. I'm pretty sure that we then spent the rest of the day watching The Hundred cricket, although there was a burst of activity from me as I put 40 litres of water into Bertie via 2x 5 litre carriers and a funnel.
Friday 24th
Where was Bertie? He spent the weekend on a field off Lake Road in Coniston for the Lakeland 100/50 race weekend.
In previous years, we've aimed to arrive in Coniston on the dot of the earliest arrival time of 9am, to get sited and through registration and kit check as early as possible, before queues built - it has worked well and Mick has never had to queue. However, the kit check process was changed last year such that the mega-queues of recent years were eradicated. That, combined with the desire not to block up the main road through Coniston, as there will always be people who arrive before 9am and are already queuing, meant that we didn't leave Torver until 0915. Our timing worked nicely for us to be able to drive straight onto the field, but by the time we headed over to the school for registration, there was a surprisingly long queue, out of the marquee and down the school driveway, almost to the road. I reckon it took Mick about an hour to get into the marquee and through all the processes, but he said that it was all really efficient - we could only surmise that a surprising number of people arrived early in the day this year.
A chat with our neighbour in the field, and lots of people-watching as the field gradually filled up. By 4pm, the field was surprisingly full.
Just before 6pm we headed into Coniston to see the Lakeland 100 runners head off, less than a quarter of a mile into their 105-mile adventures, then it didn't seem worth going back to Bertie as Mick was going to the race briefing at 7.30pm, so we watched the Lakeland 1 (kids' race), browsed the gear stalls and generally just loitered around until Mick joined another surprisingly large queue to get into the hall for the briefing.
This was the scene in front of us as we made our way back to the school having seen the Lakeland 100 runners head off. There must have been as many people behind us as in front. Everything just seemed busier this year.
I don't know whether the number of entries had been intentionally increased this year, or whether it was just a freak year of more people turning up. There isn't a standby list for these races, so I know that the organiser oversubscribes, on the basis that they know that on average X% will drop out in advance or not show up on race day - but there's always the danger that fewer people will drop out than expected. It turned out this year did see a bumper turnout both races. But, I'm getting ahead of myself...
I was about to hit 'Publish' when I fell down a small rabbit hole looking at figures over the years:
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