tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48431750623626945342024-03-28T20:29:54.733-07:00M&G's BlogGaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.comBlogger911125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-61782496633350292872023-12-30T11:43:00.000-08:002023-12-30T11:44:38.684-08:00Wednesday 27 December - Perth<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where was Erica?</b>
To her surprise, and ours, she spent the night in the Park & Ride car park
at Perth, where parking is free.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather: </b>Bit
rainy and a bit blowy. </div>
<p class="MsoNormal">After Christmas with Ma-in-Law in Halifax, it was an early
start yesterday morning to drive up to Newtonmore in one go. Aware of a yellow
weather warning for Storm Gerrit, I’d been keeping an eye on the forecast for
Newtonmore and there was nothing that suggested our journey was ill-advised. The A9 is a major route that receives a lot of winter
weather, and it is generally kept clear and open, but in any case, we were scheduled to arrive at our destination some hours before the forecast said it was going to snow. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first part of the journey was unremarkable, and we
arrived at Hamilton services right at lunch time. Making lunch was something of
an endeavour; as we weren’t going to be spending a night during our transit
north or south this time, we didn’t pack light, so Erica’s rear was well loaded
(in hindsight, making some sandwiches before we left and packing a flask would
have been a good plan).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was as we lunched that I received a message from Ali in
Newtonmore containing a screenshot of the Drumochter webcam:</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkdKuY3UA1LLc_t9QUvYP90d_62SGfogjCu9drLKrtsHl7ffB-mTe0QMg7SKni-eQKrOGDR6rAfe66X88cpbNRFyiAHmnJmlla2g77C899r540tZGdaGkt2oUGusPqX1VUlli079qYig/s1600/20231230_171742.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="762" data-original-width="985" height="247" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkdKuY3UA1LLc_t9QUvYP90d_62SGfogjCu9drLKrtsHl7ffB-mTe0QMg7SKni-eQKrOGDR6rAfe66X88cpbNRFyiAHmnJmlla2g77C899r540tZGdaGkt2oUGusPqX1VUlli079qYig/s1600/20231230_171742.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span><i>This didn’t look promising, but we were going to be stopping
in Perth for some groceries, so we would review the situation when we got
there.</i></span><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A short while after arriving at the Park & Ride in Perth
(no point going to the supermarket and adding more to Erica’s load if we were
going to be spending the night) the A9’s woes increased when the section
between Dunkeld and Ballinluig was closed due to flooding. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ignoring the flood issue for the time being, we refreshed
the Drumochter webcam page obsessively, even though it only updates every half
an hour, and for a while we were convinced the feed wasn’t working, until we
realised that the variances in each half hour snap were so subtle that it was
like a tricky game of spot the difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Those vehicles first appeared in front of the webcam in the image at 1029.
They were all finally gone at 1654 (at 1629 all bar one had gone), by which
time a major incident had been declared (I have no idea what that actually
entails, but it sounds like resources have been allocated and attention is
being focussed!). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><i></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcuFJnpKv4VDijBRrjZ8e0Bu3xuxpxkmNH2n2iQPIsIJNdTpW134K0w0YC_ca1PUAdFe7C70VNvCNzxFCmhf_eNFZVVHU8Tb5qxlpJr3AbCcU1EsT13DnPR2i_gOQSf62qixJDavJFTA/s1600/20231230_171652.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1733" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNcuFJnpKv4VDijBRrjZ8e0Bu3xuxpxkmNH2n2iQPIsIJNdTpW134K0w0YC_ca1PUAdFe7C70VNvCNzxFCmhf_eNFZVVHU8Tb5qxlpJr3AbCcU1EsT13DnPR2i_gOQSf62qixJDavJFTA/s1600/20231230_171652.jpg" width="199" /></a></i></div><i>The webcam images are approximately 30 minutes apart, but looked liked a game of Spot the Difference for most of the day.</i> <br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It didn’t take that long for us to decide that we were
spending the night in Perth, and thanks to having a bedroom, kitchen, living
room and toilet with us, the fact that there were more thwarted motorists than
hotel rooms available didn’t affect us. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s amazing how much stuff you can cram into Erica’s cab
when you need to – it swallowed five crates, one massive food chiller bag,
three bags of shoes, a carrier bag of snacks and my knitting bag. That left the
back clear for us to move around and to get the bed out.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXlQ5dx-p1vfUdSibzjxWEFJTtKohvATtpEzSKuhIZJgolsmCFup1a8K8vYOx2YtSq6W6zR0UYLtKQHYwBfEqWSIxZu1LW4Lj6AwwWsoi3WkWmQz5RzB7H_zPDWGVWo7iLfl4rBGnynY/s1600/IMG-20231227-WA0003.jpeg.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3840" data-original-width="2160" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXlQ5dx-p1vfUdSibzjxWEFJTtKohvATtpEzSKuhIZJgolsmCFup1a8K8vYOx2YtSq6W6zR0UYLtKQHYwBfEqWSIxZu1LW4Lj6AwwWsoi3WkWmQz5RzB7H_zPDWGVWo7iLfl4rBGnynY/s1600/IMG-20231227-WA0003.jpeg.jpg" width="180" /></a></i></div><i>Looking back from the passenger seat mid-journey. Had I known this photo would come in useful for the blog, I might have made more of an effort to make sure it was sufficiently illustrative.</i> <br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The bed was out not long after 8. 'Lights out' was just after
nine. The only disturbance was at eleven when I peered out to see a truck with
orange lights flashing but I couldn’t see what they were doing to create the
banging. We woke up just before 6am, when the temperature inside had dropped to
a not-quite-comfortable-without-a-hat level, and soon had Erica’s heater making
us comfortable again (don’t know how cold it got inside, other than it was low
enough to kill the batteries in Erica’s room thermometer). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we drove away just before 7am, we saw we’d been joined by
7 motorhomes at some point. I wonder if any of them had intended to spend the
night there? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">McDonalds provided us with a quick breakfast (we had
breakfast makings with us, it was just too much effort to retrieve them from
the back of a cupboard), over which we established firmly that the A9 was still
open. Police Scotland had announced it to be passable at 2030 last night, but
Google was still showing it to be closed at Drumochter. Thankfully, the A9
Traffic Info Facebook Group had recent confirmations from real people, and even
better, the chaps on the next table had just driven down from Inverness. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The rest of the journey was uneventful. Half the carriageway
was underwater just before Ballinluig, but traffic lights had been set up and
at that hour of morning there was no queue.We arrived in Newtonmore 25 hours after leaving Halifax. <br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GDp5uzJGuIspGMqezreyw-gaQBvkv6YRaTOWGjca0egbjLrK2yXXkJLaJRl0BpHzgWZ9OyEzUgUKq-PdX9bW0iHy203aQusjOzCyPsV7H0UvTChI6irHdP8qeiIlxPsFXIyriyIzlYA/s1600/IMG-20231230-WA0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2GDp5uzJGuIspGMqezreyw-gaQBvkv6YRaTOWGjca0egbjLrK2yXXkJLaJRl0BpHzgWZ9OyEzUgUKq-PdX9bW0iHy203aQusjOzCyPsV7H0UvTChI6irHdP8qeiIlxPsFXIyriyIzlYA/s1600/IMG-20231230-WA0001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Snowy and grey but road completely clear. </i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, an unplanned night in Erica. No hardship to have broken
the journey in Perth, but had it been planned we wouldn’t have troubled
ourselves to leave Halifax until noon, giving us less time to sit around,
listening to the rain drum down, in Perth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-31031024365260874452023-12-15T11:19:00.001-08:002023-12-15T11:20:54.108-08:00Friday 15 December - Downham Market<p><b>Weather: </b>light cloud and dry</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyajLbCDg8uujfdomfgye5TXY8YErz1mH5oRalZmEuGlpTt4vXrpq-VX-0sCkuYNqr-XA29uTxYz5XMYfxQ_KYgNNLb3BUp1JKoT3syDIJzES8JAgbyXYEYcirQNkpH3cpUp-DsyjXQE/s1600/20231214_205549.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVyajLbCDg8uujfdomfgye5TXY8YErz1mH5oRalZmEuGlpTt4vXrpq-VX-0sCkuYNqr-XA29uTxYz5XMYfxQ_KYgNNLb3BUp1JKoT3syDIJzES8JAgbyXYEYcirQNkpH3cpUp-DsyjXQE/w400-h225/20231214_205549.jpg" width="400" /></a></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Last evening's entertainment - a Sherlock Holmes game. It got abandoned without conclusion at bedtime, so we still don't know whodunnit.</i></span></div><p></p><p>Another relatively early alarm this morning, as we needed to do our touristing early today, so as to get home in daylight (more on which at the end of this post). </p><p>A few minutes before 9 we left the campsite and headed 10 miles down the road to Downham Market where, after a false start with the town car park being full, we found Bertie a slot at Tesco, giving us a maximum of 3 hours in the town. </p><p>Whilst poking around the internet deciding whether Downham was worth a visit, I came across the Downham Market & District Heritage Society, which has published 6 leaflets on different themes of self-guided walking tours giving some of the history of the town. I made the random selection of the 'Gingerbread Town Trail' - the town being referred to as the gingerbread town in reference to the colour of the carstone out of which buildings were traditionally built. </p><p><i><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-TB5VRX0pBDNfGO3znSehyGW63vigC6TYkDo0mpYqfmF-rLp9SL49qfy5cyQU1gKGJnqzjS4FFHziScgfxgGXGGl3NA3itzo8SVfcL9xh28Tz9jTKzCEdPYBiqlEANCHztiJDCcbBvM/s1600/20231215_094325.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-TB5VRX0pBDNfGO3znSehyGW63vigC6TYkDo0mpYqfmF-rLp9SL49qfy5cyQU1gKGJnqzjS4FFHziScgfxgGXGGl3NA3itzo8SVfcL9xh28Tz9jTKzCEdPYBiqlEANCHztiJDCcbBvM/s1600/20231215_094325.jpg" width="180" /></a></i></div><i>The Priory House - probably the oldest house in the town - but there's no evidence that there has ever been a priory (according to the leaflet and a plaque on the wall; a different information sign outside referred to the priory with more confidence)</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58kfVlO5hN12VfKfbxImdoIDAgyHTchh4cKI1ZUn31q2kZ1JsNLzTKDiPpixM8S2eQVIf93DsJzbp3cYhAdRPW3WYCvxGIy8gdmuduhWRep7PxaELzn98cfzWx9NLdxw9c-4DxDP3JIE/s1600/20231215_095634.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi58kfVlO5hN12VfKfbxImdoIDAgyHTchh4cKI1ZUn31q2kZ1JsNLzTKDiPpixM8S2eQVIf93DsJzbp3cYhAdRPW3WYCvxGIy8gdmuduhWRep7PxaELzn98cfzWx9NLdxw9c-4DxDP3JIE/w400-h300/20231215_095634.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i>Two chapels and the Sexton's House, in the old cemetery</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRc78hLBCQtaAGtisE9qceDekHYHdpTtre1z8zpf3NDM2jaaQI1EcrGEpEKVh8u8vdEwJ7B1Mx-QRIW1G6I0YlSBy5_X9mUVuxHqGFpNNZkZ80oH1Xzzp8WZsXk50xYQnxPwDKhYtFwHQ/s1600/20231215_100034.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRc78hLBCQtaAGtisE9qceDekHYHdpTtre1z8zpf3NDM2jaaQI1EcrGEpEKVh8u8vdEwJ7B1Mx-QRIW1G6I0YlSBy5_X9mUVuxHqGFpNNZkZ80oH1Xzzp8WZsXk50xYQnxPwDKhYtFwHQ/w400-h300/20231215_100034.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i>A high point! We were standing on top of contour lines! Looking down on the flatness beyond the rooftops of the town. </i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglckcvPw-glIzy3EuCiEpx7lo36ERMSx0BZS4oyR7geA22SKuxSTqU8Kch2GJw267EAY7S2dv9XQioDGX08XPwP3pxjpijdw8kKvAYNgcPKYuXr5eipQIyjiPHqhRlROnY7FFSlwx7mgw/s1600/20231215_100235.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglckcvPw-glIzy3EuCiEpx7lo36ERMSx0BZS4oyR7geA22SKuxSTqU8Kch2GJw267EAY7S2dv9XQioDGX08XPwP3pxjpijdw8kKvAYNgcPKYuXr5eipQIyjiPHqhRlROnY7FFSlwx7mgw/w400-h300/20231215_100235.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i>The leaflet brought out attention to the oddity that this retaining was built using flint, whereas carstone is the traditional stone of this town. It wasn't the out-of-placeness of the flint that stood out to us, but the ugliness of the concrete into which the flint is set.</i><p></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcrGsDE15TKPZKEkNOh6QrPHvsheaoCo26PVHIa7qyH5yPc7USv6X82IFDaohfJ9Rh-5vrdmyjGz2mp-sub6Svrj1sizDRfJmbTmD3dME0pA357Pu-B_6fP2MM7nI1FoH4CrbjgMiQaQ/s1600/20231215_100919.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGcrGsDE15TKPZKEkNOh6QrPHvsheaoCo26PVHIa7qyH5yPc7USv6X82IFDaohfJ9Rh-5vrdmyjGz2mp-sub6Svrj1sizDRfJmbTmD3dME0pA357Pu-B_6fP2MM7nI1FoH4CrbjgMiQaQ/w400-h300/20231215_100919.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i>Market square, with town hall beyond. Today was market day, but the market is now held on the other side of the town hall.</i><p></p><p>With two sizeable supermarkets, I'd expected Downham to be quite a big town with a standard commercial High Street, but instead it mainly has independent shops, and is quite small. Having completed the heritage trail and feeling that we'd done a reasonable job of exploring the place (only as I type this have I remembered that I intended to go and take a look at the waterways), we adjourned for tea and brunch. </p><p>Incidentally, the cafe visits of this trip have effectively been free. We have a rule about 'magic money' which is money that you don't expect to have (so a ten pound note found in a patch of heather on a hillside, or a refund that you didn't expect to receive), and thus can be spent frivolously without being considered an expenditure against the budget. I stretched the definition for this trip, but I'd had some cash sitting in my wallet for, quite literally, years. I almost never spend cash, so when someone gives me some (usually Ma-in-Law when I've bought something on her behalf), it doesn't get spent. This money had hung around for so long that I decided that it had become magic money and I opted to spend it on tea and cake/brunches.</p><p>And then we came home. Given how short the trip was, we would have made slightly more of it, and spent another couple of hours doing something, except that when we performed a check of Bertie's lights before we set out on Tuesday, we discovered that he had a tail light out. I didn't feel inclined to delay our departure, so my solution to this was that we would only drive in daylight and sort it out when we got home. The problem with this solution is that there aren't too many hours of daylight at this time of year!</p><p>In the repairs department I also need to confirm that the non-return valve on Bertie's relatively-new water pump (the one that pumps water out of Bertie's taps, not the one in his engine) is faulty and, assuming it's not a leak above the valve, sort out a return and replacement. </p>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-9130954099700219412023-12-15T09:29:00.000-08:002023-12-15T09:29:31.298-08:00Thursday 14 December – Sandringham and Hunstanton<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where’s Bertie? </b>He’s
at King’s Lynn Caravan and Camping Park at a cost of £22.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather:</b> Just a
couple of periods of light mizzly rain. Cold when walking into the wind
(unsurprising, really, in mid-December. </div>
<p class="MsoNormal">An early start, partly to put right the previous two days’
failures to use the showers, and secondly because I wanted a walk before we left. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the latest departure time from the campsite being 11am
(a bit strict at this time of year when all bar three of the pitches sat empty,
and why do campsites need a 2-hour empty window on their pitches anyway? It’s not like
they have to clean them and change linen as you would in a hotel.), we weren’t
at leisure for the longer ‘to the beach’ route, so opted to wander through the Sandringham
Estate, lying just across the road.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3qk1GV5tKpQW9CoIRIAlBjaf7C7iuJfhXXrWgaD73OJVcS4AHVVuKJhnj5Af-cRR_coZm_rzkCjbltTJYtaFChOBu9dDSVLOXtWc7gYS71m6PiKrkhrLcQ-VTEyxVpQ_vO2Haj8dOLi7c_706uD3f6uu7fJkITBHeyZwww36Rnu4ukV42Q8Ewk3NOIw/s4032/20231214_091242.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl3qk1GV5tKpQW9CoIRIAlBjaf7C7iuJfhXXrWgaD73OJVcS4AHVVuKJhnj5Af-cRR_coZm_rzkCjbltTJYtaFChOBu9dDSVLOXtWc7gYS71m6PiKrkhrLcQ-VTEyxVpQ_vO2Haj8dOLi7c_706uD3f6uu7fJkITBHeyZwww36Rnu4ukV42Q8Ewk3NOIw/w400-h225/20231214_091242.jpg" width="400"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFUMM7X18gUh-2KlFqu5kuymlIxckL60nFjMdVun5QYhIxGpxxOhMI3q7jyzl5v7OMoXCH7obHnbvbviHFMd_zIxKunk9q5HtzLvzrjqAuvm7-mBQVKtW2DbXdA1CzaAK-udgcbUBvaCl6nr0O89pgxd1Wz8Lv4U45G0XCVGxLZk9TKhE2V-hwC6dirE/s4032/20231214_092421.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitFUMM7X18gUh-2KlFqu5kuymlIxckL60nFjMdVun5QYhIxGpxxOhMI3q7jyzl5v7OMoXCH7obHnbvbviHFMd_zIxKunk9q5HtzLvzrjqAuvm7-mBQVKtW2DbXdA1CzaAK-udgcbUBvaCl6nr0O89pgxd1Wz8Lv4U45G0XCVGxLZk9TKhE2V-hwC6dirE/w400-h225/20231214_092421.jpg" width="400"></a></div><i>Pleasant woodland</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back at Bertie, we soon had the departure chores done and
off to Hunstanton we went. Our first walk was to the scant remains of St
Edmund’s Chapel, following the Wolf Trail, and completely forgetting that I’d intended to take us to a different, but nearby, point of interest. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkCjSyHrjSPYJgfryGiPUqSnvkvaZ_3HBwYnlU_qFwUL7lP1AMP0Tyh1xTCxHdrehWCb-l-DdFHSEmE27EugonGIh_0s1qpBy3kSy4Bl28G8puxItKvkQ6sFfKVnyTrd7bj_8Jbzq_hXK0h8bTTHDf9ZBkTA6TSkmQPDZQ4KRsZLddVNeOqg7OJ0TxQA/s4032/20231214_131702.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBkCjSyHrjSPYJgfryGiPUqSnvkvaZ_3HBwYnlU_qFwUL7lP1AMP0Tyh1xTCxHdrehWCb-l-DdFHSEmE27EugonGIh_0s1qpBy3kSy4Bl28G8puxItKvkQ6sFfKVnyTrd7bj_8Jbzq_hXK0h8bTTHDf9ZBkTA6TSkmQPDZQ4KRsZLddVNeOqg7OJ0TxQA/w400-h300/20231214_131702.jpg" width="400"></a></div><i>Lighthouse, minus light, viewed through the doorway of the chapel
remains.</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjddGAr7v2pW-gT0R4ZEYHyPMvoTcVazsYu42oFR61MA_zvbjeZsivFiponXIUn_3Uk3Pn_VUJNqL_EFs7gCX-X9tUltwd10Gmluov7pYqoslP3ZAIdzmPkxfEg7i0AD5xYBo30YAAY39pM2cBAWkypIS8SHuw2mws3L66rmHluL4863rDlE9js2VZWHk/s4032/20231214_131729.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjddGAr7v2pW-gT0R4ZEYHyPMvoTcVazsYu42oFR61MA_zvbjeZsivFiponXIUn_3Uk3Pn_VUJNqL_EFs7gCX-X9tUltwd10Gmluov7pYqoslP3ZAIdzmPkxfEg7i0AD5xYBo30YAAY39pM2cBAWkypIS8SHuw2mws3L66rmHluL4863rDlE9js2VZWHk/w400-h300/20231214_131729.jpg" width="400"></a></i></div><i>Same snap, but taken in 1895 when less remained of the chapel than there is today (hmmmm).</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">None of the cafes along the seafront was open (and all of
the car parks were empty, making it obvious why it’s not worth them opening),
so it was clear that we needed to go into town to find refreshment. We stopped
at the first open place we found and had it to ourselves. Even as we sat there,
we suspected that if we had walked just around the corner we would have found the
bustling place where all the locals go. It turned out that there were several,
but no matter – we shared a tasty XL pork and chilli sausage roll, and the most
ridiculously large slab of rocky road ever seen. I’m no stranger to cake
eating, but have no idea how one person could get through a whole serving; I
ate a quarter and took another quarter away with me to eat later. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWMbwSkvR6A9aSGhU5WbXRBLNgMmp0W41m9nwuO-knSuAeB4Y39yPdrjClKoMbKPytZ03gLfDRp3IQGQDujYqJBI5iSvKPv3F7C5jP_EY605wXAQAq0eSLlsdTBxSonx9V_bNfd4XTRQ/s1600/20231214_112111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCWMbwSkvR6A9aSGhU5WbXRBLNgMmp0W41m9nwuO-knSuAeB4Y39yPdrjClKoMbKPytZ03gLfDRp3IQGQDujYqJBI5iSvKPv3F7C5jP_EY605wXAQAq0eSLlsdTBxSonx9V_bNfd4XTRQ/s1600/20231214_112111.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3024" data-original-height="4032" width="240" height="320"></a></div>Back at Bertie, after a bit of shopping in Tesco having used
their (also largely empty) car park, we considered where to go next, and opted
simply to move Bertie to some roadside parking we’d spied on the cliffs, have a
cup of tea, then take a walk through Old Hunstanton.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was as we drank tea and did a crossword that I remembered
that I’d failed to deliver on the shipwreck that was supposed to be the objective of our first outing. As it turned out,
it’s not visible from the cliffs, so we walked beyond them, down onto the
beach, then back along it, nearly overshooting our objective, with it being so
well camouflaged into its surroundings.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0N2fjPYZqMfWJ5dUq-OVQfAsyCCAlbbw5aE2hcH7SSaTZIzh2atV7SRTTwEW5qXGJIVwDpizeImbnwoRQzW_otv0w4y2Cp1A-d7jxTXPWCjZBJO-VXsC8da66Iqbw0feuBynaXElwlimUCmgxMs8HQsRFUyQSEpyo60eoL1QFJXhOctDBp6356-lGtc/s4032/20231214_133355.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG0N2fjPYZqMfWJ5dUq-OVQfAsyCCAlbbw5aE2hcH7SSaTZIzh2atV7SRTTwEW5qXGJIVwDpizeImbnwoRQzW_otv0w4y2Cp1A-d7jxTXPWCjZBJO-VXsC8da66Iqbw0feuBynaXElwlimUCmgxMs8HQsRFUyQSEpyo60eoL1QFJXhOctDBp6356-lGtc/w400-h225/20231214_133355.jpg" width="400"></a></div><br>The Steam Trawler Sheraton, built in 1907, and commandeered by
the Royal Navy for use in the first world war, then used again the second world
war. It was then painted yellow and moored for target practice, but it broke
its moorings in a storm and washed up here in 1947. Mick was disappointed at
how little remains (when I said ‘ship wreck’ he anticipated something more
substantial). I was impressed at how much remains after knocking on for 80
years of being battered by the tide and both getting saltily wet and drying out on a
daily basis. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back at Bertie having walked a total, including the
Sandringham walk, of 10.5km, we declared that was enough activity for one day
and drove over to this campsite, a few miles S of King’s Lynn. As tempting as
it was to have another night at Pinecones, this site is £6 per night cheaper,
is nearer to where we’re going tomorrow, and has everything we need.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s not as nice to look at (it looks to me
as if most of the motorhomes and caravans around us are here on a seasonal
basis and being used for residential purposes), but as it was soon dark,
appearances don’t matter.</p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-72006540828634962752023-12-15T09:10:00.000-08:002023-12-15T09:10:28.016-08:00Wednesday 13 December – Dersingham<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where’s Bertie?</b>
He’s still at the campsite in Dersingham.
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather</b>: wetter
than forecast!</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I gave Mick the choice of which of the three recommended
walks we did, and he opted for a circuit through the village of Dersingham. He
may have been swayed that way by the promise of a tea room, although the same
held true of the option to walk to the Sandringham Estate visitor centre
(although, somehow, a village tea room sounds nicer in my mind than a visitor
centre one). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first part of the route was running along the back of
garden fences, so wasn’t great, but the middle third was on a perfectly
pleasant disused railway line. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-aVC5BRujR02CmHMjdmjjQ0YCiqQjpVMv7HhgNc3UXMgyCgU85nAacICfUnKaAJsim5pEVcwYVtMHbZfbnpc-44FtR6c3efD4m4KNwtYXoR5nOSZOuH_BOIWMqyomOp3lWdv8980kdaBbPCJWwfB3zLwYQ0u3ceKbupazPc8HnMQpPheoGP2vmepZp_g/s4032/20231213_100232.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-aVC5BRujR02CmHMjdmjjQ0YCiqQjpVMv7HhgNc3UXMgyCgU85nAacICfUnKaAJsim5pEVcwYVtMHbZfbnpc-44FtR6c3efD4m4KNwtYXoR5nOSZOuH_BOIWMqyomOp3lWdv8980kdaBbPCJWwfB3zLwYQ0u3ceKbupazPc8HnMQpPheoGP2vmepZp_g/w400-h225/20231213_100232.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Then we got into the village which wasn’t of the
‘oh isn’t this lovely!’ variety, but still had enough interesting properties
(both new builds and old) to allow us to keep up a running commentary on our
surroundings.<p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As promised the tea room appeared before us as we got the
village proper, and a popular place it was. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn8AdDr-eRGoLFGrM2LSVcy2tYqgXftO78_nL5NcI7Lv9CCPq9IT7VyLw6fvTLJMv_EnRPp7ig7-xJgGd_OduY_iglS2TjBSZ-PkIqSHVH8xsfw4jLM8acVswfhoYuJgUgUVf-eMdGra1bv5o5jt89lsSlDaVBY_33a6ISCoFH1SYAV0unGDP8p8RlPM/s4032/20231213_105249.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn8AdDr-eRGoLFGrM2LSVcy2tYqgXftO78_nL5NcI7Lv9CCPq9IT7VyLw6fvTLJMv_EnRPp7ig7-xJgGd_OduY_iglS2TjBSZ-PkIqSHVH8xsfw4jLM8acVswfhoYuJgUgUVf-eMdGra1bv5o5jt89lsSlDaVBY_33a6ISCoFH1SYAV0unGDP8p8RlPM/s320/20231213_105249.jpg" width="240" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">My scone was huge.
This snap doesn’t do it justice. </i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClxRtcHSESvNgNZRPezS5MR0b8YeunQIeMh5Ybph026u6sEvRF0vfWe_weeLs-hXleTFt7yOCW1qQe7aPwG6NbPK-s4NxResQ15cjBSJkN3M_EOSn9pjI3S72hS3kgbEJ-mfMuJ5vwDozJS9TlUHSmk7uoQqS5hIeL9E-xeGQR9vmLGIV1EW1pmjGNjw/s4032/20231213_112749.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhClxRtcHSESvNgNZRPezS5MR0b8YeunQIeMh5Ybph026u6sEvRF0vfWe_weeLs-hXleTFt7yOCW1qQe7aPwG6NbPK-s4NxResQ15cjBSJkN3M_EOSn9pjI3S72hS3kgbEJ-mfMuJ5vwDozJS9TlUHSmk7uoQqS5hIeL9E-xeGQR9vmLGIV1EW1pmjGNjw/w400-h300/20231213_112749.jpg" width="400" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just one of the two
cake/scone cabinets</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our visit was only marred by an incredibly smelly chap
coming and sitting on the next table. Made our eyes water, he did. Fortunately,
he didn’t take as long over his coffee as we did over our elevenses, so relief
came before we left.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The radiator next to our table dried our jackets and gloves
as we sat there, but we soon got them wet again as the rain returned in the
final 1km back to Bertie.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At 6.5km, it’s the longest single walk I’ve done post-op,
although I suppose that with the prolonged café stop I could reasonable call it
two walks. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We didn’t stir out of doors for the rest of the day. Some
work was done, books read, ‘things to do’ researched for the last couple of the
days of the trip, and knitting knitted, completely forgetting that, having paid
the high-for-us price of £28 per night for this campsite, we intended to make
use of the excellent facilities by using the showers. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCqPWqqAARmCGTyKE_K4-Hi5jZN6EJkbgIbxcX8_HlSsU36fwmm2Gk7wp0vOue60V7hPDP7tPFLJfY1BLQAZH4J_iRroW6E0Sdccfz7QzZ-vSjE03M53sMeK7eesRrGeSFF8AnHlSHqM/s1600/20231213_100229.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYCqPWqqAARmCGTyKE_K4-Hi5jZN6EJkbgIbxcX8_HlSsU36fwmm2Gk7wp0vOue60V7hPDP7tPFLJfY1BLQAZH4J_iRroW6E0Sdccfz7QzZ-vSjE03M53sMeK7eesRrGeSFF8AnHlSHqM/s1600/20231213_100229.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-27282259241518582442023-12-14T08:03:00.000-08:002023-12-14T08:05:13.183-08:00Tuesday 12 December - King's Lynn & Dersingham<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where’s Bertie? </b>He’s
spending two nights at Pinecones Caravan and Camping, on the edge of the village
of Dersingham, Norfolk, at a cost of £28 per night.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather: </b>Showers,
some particularly heavy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<p class="MsoNormal">After sitting abandoned, untaxed and unwashed since the end
of July, it was high time that Bertie got a little trip. Shorter than intended,
thanks to a failure of memory causing me to commit us to be at home on
Saturday, but four days is better than no days, so Bertie was packed, put back
on the road and on Tuesday morning off we jolly well went.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Arriving in King’s Lynn just before noon, a quick lunch was
had, over which I Googled to find things to see in the town, as a result of
which we started by walking over to the Minster (it was just a plain church
when we passed by, but didn’t visit, in 2011, but has since been upgraded). The
building is reasonably impressive, and distinctly old looking, from the outside,
but unremarkable (save for the racket coming from the organ which presumably
was being tuned or otherwise fixed) on the inside.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9q30amwbOMgplV6IcC9a_5L9fHyMxSpIIFx1YbSfCnuaWuyWMxNiPO7K0vi6pA7QrJCkKrhrxtVnyWBGHNqaxM3aGm0q5e1nWGt7KyY31s6qvaf7kxLPyDS0IcPokD2e8RUiLvzyt-4/s1600/20231212_125105.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK9q30amwbOMgplV6IcC9a_5L9fHyMxSpIIFx1YbSfCnuaWuyWMxNiPO7K0vi6pA7QrJCkKrhrxtVnyWBGHNqaxM3aGm0q5e1nWGt7KyY31s6qvaf7kxLPyDS0IcPokD2e8RUiLvzyt-4/s1600/20231212_125105.jpg" width="180" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A poor illustration of
the minster. It was raining and I trouble myself to find a better vantage
point.</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was raining as we came out of the church, which was
unfortunate (and contrary to the weather forecast probabilities) as neither of
us had any waterproof clothing with us, but it didn’t stop us from walking down
some clearly historic lanes…</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMiuyXM-TwvLw-l5SOo1snscbfTjuUa8ICaDnwGcMks8iGTi6WZRLAPDbh_xeGJHsne04XX0yUJhupX44kaZ-qlz-rEjC6eQ0B9ucTg4WaTxQ_VO0v7ZdZ6lH7VHf5Pk-BW_zGfDSzFw/s1600/20231212_125056.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMiuyXM-TwvLw-l5SOo1snscbfTjuUa8ICaDnwGcMks8iGTi6WZRLAPDbh_xeGJHsne04XX0yUJhupX44kaZ-qlz-rEjC6eQ0B9ucTg4WaTxQ_VO0v7ZdZ6lH7VHf5Pk-BW_zGfDSzFw/s1600/20231212_125056.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYY1UtTOedYvfme1hWqyqLAL91uv1viZWuQxdZW4dDMeSjPYFRI1mC9qc0gu3vRI13FNbsupL05sKoyGe6ocir3uDUiFbxJ7TV9SgznyHKyBuERPdjdsvuWO5CINU4Z-FhWcXRLUinBA4/s1600/20231212_125245.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYY1UtTOedYvfme1hWqyqLAL91uv1viZWuQxdZW4dDMeSjPYFRI1mC9qc0gu3vRI13FNbsupL05sKoyGe6ocir3uDUiFbxJ7TV9SgznyHKyBuERPdjdsvuWO5CINU4Z-FhWcXRLUinBA4/s1600/20231212_125245.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>…to the riverside. That we recognised from walking along
both banks on our way from Lowestoft to Ardnamurchan in 2011 – a sizeable
detour necessitated to get to the nearest bridge.<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBgA9AIQ8MY0H4cvUAQ2Lnayuc8eJE0Vk8fkeWivlyrgWiVJy3SYdyrd426Q-NXDquBIaaG3lIwIYnSKtwrcA61n5RtQe97SkKw4lT09devBOyZwLxsVdTYilTNoq6UMSaroj1kSBt3E/s1600/20231212_125428.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="2268" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEBgA9AIQ8MY0H4cvUAQ2Lnayuc8eJE0Vk8fkeWivlyrgWiVJy3SYdyrd426Q-NXDquBIaaG3lIwIYnSKtwrcA61n5RtQe97SkKw4lT09devBOyZwLxsVdTYilTNoq6UMSaroj1kSBt3E/s1600/20231212_125428.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>Having walked along the riverside, we might have visited the
Fisherfolk Museum, except that the town museum had equally good reviews and the
latter is free in winter. A meandering walk through the town and at the museum
we arrived, to find it closed to the public until 3pm due to a school group (it’s
a small museum, not an over-zealous safeguarding measure). Not feeling inclined
to hang around that long, we proved once again how bad we are at towns and were
back at Bertie just over an hour after leaving him. <p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two ill-timed downpours then struck as I made two trips into
Morrisons. The first involved buying screen wash, the second a funnel to get
the screenwash into Bertie’s vertically-mounted washer bottle neck (his usual
funnel having been called into use in Erica a couple of weeks ago and not
having been returned to its rightful place). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A visit to the ruins and quaint village at Castle Rising was
next on my hastily researched agenda, but it wasn’t our day for being cultural
as we arrived to find the castle and its car park closed, and no other suitable
parking to allow us a look around. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">An earlier-than-planned arrival at the campsite it was then!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The chap on reception was the most suited to his job that I’ve
ever come across. A friendly and incredibly informative ten minutes was passed
with him, and I returned to Bertie clutching three laminated sheets detailing
local walks, complete with maps, text descriptions and photos of all the
navigational landmarks along the way. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I perhaps wasn’t as grateful as expected about being upgraded
from a Super Pitch to a Super Pitch with picnic pod, as even though the picnic
pod provided us with a covered picnic table, with it being mid-December and
with heavy shower coming through every few minutes, it would have been madness
to abandon the comfort of Bertie to sit outside.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpLWdyFeZQyj1rjpwycdyODIooU2AZ7ONoJDvd1g2aL7kHtCWIW9ar_I3_JcAt9oRzDqe56Ev4vUQt-tEChz1-Y7Pu7en165-o6B3nrpl-LCPIyJoDggrymnX3ojwX2yda1npvlRtSz0/s1600/20231214_083014.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEpLWdyFeZQyj1rjpwycdyODIooU2AZ7ONoJDvd1g2aL7kHtCWIW9ar_I3_JcAt9oRzDqe56Ev4vUQt-tEChz1-Y7Pu7en165-o6B3nrpl-LCPIyJoDggrymnX3ojwX2yda1npvlRtSz0/s1600/20231214_083014.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Not sure whether you
can make out the picnic pod – I can’t on my phone’s screen. In the next row,
behind the hedge, large shelters have just been erected over the standard
picnic benches, with those shelters cunningly doubling up as solar panel array
holders. </span></i></div></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the rain coming down with only the briefest of pauses,
I postponed my second walk of the day until, with ten minutes until sunset, I
decided that I couldn’t put it off any longer. For the first 800m it stayed
dry; for the last 1200m it lashed it down. I felt fully justified in staying in
for the rest of the day!</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNzz2bio4PkRDdo024rlNOKneGxyt5fqfiKfwAL7ng-JwMPTwedcQR52tn2rNORim5bDsnBwliP6Or4OLNvCFg869MKJvapIjbkyRN5IeUYHjwn6XQyTFqHnw7lywdxMeZ2LQeRA6dBw/s1600/20231212_153955.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpNzz2bio4PkRDdo024rlNOKneGxyt5fqfiKfwAL7ng-JwMPTwedcQR52tn2rNORim5bDsnBwliP6Or4OLNvCFg869MKJvapIjbkyRN5IeUYHjwn6XQyTFqHnw7lywdxMeZ2LQeRA6dBw/s1600/20231212_153955.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i>Sunset walk – an out-and-back along a soggy path.</i> <p></p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-48551397908686242122023-12-13T05:01:00.000-08:002023-12-13T05:01:49.615-08:00The Fibroid Diaries, Part 3My surgery was seven weeks ago. As of last
Wednesday (six weeks) I’m allowed to do most things again (vacuuming the house,
driving the car, carrying shopping – all the fun things…), but it’s still
another week until I can contemplate running.<p class="MsoNormal">At the end of my last post, which was 2 weeks post-op, my greatest activity in a single day was walking 2x500m (14:45/km pace) to go out for brunch, which exhausted me
and caused me to spend the afternoon asleep. It wasn’t much longer (start of Week
3, I think) before the afternoon naps were no longer required. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I continued to build up the walking, only finding my limit
on one occasion. On Day 18 I walked 1km (I’m claiming it even though my
recording was 40m shy) in the morning, then went out for another walk late in the
afternoon. At the end of an alley I contemplated: turn back, turn left or turn
right. The correct answer, with hindsight, was to turn back. I turned right,
and 100m later gave serious consideration to calling Mick to come and pick me
up. But I battled on, taking micro-steps, and made it home having covered
another 900m. I hadn’t done anything that wasn’t recommended, but the abdominal
discomfort was, well, uncomfortable. The following day I was fine and my pace
had increased to just slower than 13 minutes per kilometre. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Day 22 we went out for cake (or a sausage butty in Mick’s
case)…</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhgM9rlgXjQJHniCaziAxQzHY1v5JewiNwhCQYgOdOsGMf8N0R-X9zgEDWVH0lM2vUSP-EdYNIrvMJ6Le6u42-h3z62GAZVNYRetTfRGaQcNt3_8gwzkWCKu_whZ1F_PbZMvKgSYNCKk/s1600/20231116_111258.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEhgM9rlgXjQJHniCaziAxQzHY1v5JewiNwhCQYgOdOsGMf8N0R-X9zgEDWVH0lM2vUSP-EdYNIrvMJ6Le6u42-h3z62GAZVNYRetTfRGaQcNt3_8gwzkWCKu_whZ1F_PbZMvKgSYNCKk/s1600/20231116_111258.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="3024" width="320" height="240"></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Day 24 Strava assessed (quite rightly) my 1.4km walk
(still at 13 min/km pace), as ‘harder than your usual effort’. How quickly
things can change! The following day I broke through the mile, and three days
later through 2km. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Incidentally, it wasn’t all walking. I was also knitting…</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgllU2p6C-TuqYtIvVm5WeFsfRf9BrVwZ8e6XARsSHJ5QfYTYgvnRB2-HNG9i5i5wmUVtmj0JwZkUh6G6H-EBvY2BBZG_7MSDNicAVZuzltH4rheovTq2HNZWTJySIXQ49DlSnDyoKR2M/s1600/20231119_083332.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgllU2p6C-TuqYtIvVm5WeFsfRf9BrVwZ8e6XARsSHJ5QfYTYgvnRB2-HNG9i5i5wmUVtmj0JwZkUh6G6H-EBvY2BBZG_7MSDNicAVZuzltH4rheovTq2HNZWTJySIXQ49DlSnDyoKR2M/s1600/20231119_083332.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="2259" width="320" height="179"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Using up left over yarn from the bottom of the wardrobe </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMQi8pElUms8bTDxsEIs1Dh4iAOao6-1o8DQH4uYUZu8b0vkdHhyey4XB3xfdlO-0XkcwgUIVVqtxxY_zywuDCDFFhNbguEobRya1Yu1A0PxTF1y0tINUh1i0PxDCAND3XL4N-grNlTc/s1600/20231120_161912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiMQi8pElUms8bTDxsEIs1Dh4iAOao6-1o8DQH4uYUZu8b0vkdHhyey4XB3xfdlO-0XkcwgUIVVqtxxY_zywuDCDFFhNbguEobRya1Yu1A0PxTF1y0tINUh1i0PxDCAND3XL4N-grNlTc/s1600/20231120_161912.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3024" data-original-height="4032" width="240" height="320"></a></div><i>Tension swatch for a hoody I've just started, which will be the most ambitious item I've tackled yet*. </i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">…vetting TGO Challenge Route Sheets, and making TGO
Challenge videos.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Day 31 was the next big thing. Mick drove me to a local
nature reserve where we left the car and set out to walk 1.5km up the hilliest
road around. With the car then being 1.5km away, we then walked back. Whilst
90m of ascent doesn’t sound like much, some of those inclines are steep. The
uphills also proved to be tuggy on the scar, but I’m told that tugging at the
scar is good.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8R8lJ2SzfnAfXsrApakbO2R5Inlk6im-jFY0uRMeq1pZ5_drwKUsOe7X4lsqE0qG0LSNpWR1goEkiR_ZJHp4FlSdQfX2GNxpViJ1jzRG9yrHBFiI29UIUDRGBS3xDQJeLJrPkGC4P7aY/s1600/20231213_124427.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8R8lJ2SzfnAfXsrApakbO2R5Inlk6im-jFY0uRMeq1pZ5_drwKUsOe7X4lsqE0qG0LSNpWR1goEkiR_ZJHp4FlSdQfX2GNxpViJ1jzRG9yrHBFiI29UIUDRGBS3xDQJeLJrPkGC4P7aY/s1600/20231213_124427.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1080" data-original-height="922" width="320" height="273"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Little hills but quite steep</i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Day 35 we took a day-trip to Halifax, hitting traffic
both ways and I learnt that sitting in a passenger seat of a moving vehicle
requires the use of one’s core muscles for stabilisation. My core muscles, as a
result of having been severed and needing to heal, hadn’t been used for five
weeks and perhaps five hours in the car was a bit much for the first big outing.
Goodness, how my abs ached the following day; it was like I’d done an inadvisable
number of sit-ups. I was also surprisingly exhausted, which is quite probably what
triggered the migraine of the following day, which in turn cancelled our next
intended trip: an overnight outing to Lincoln in Bertie, to allow Mick to
attend a RAF reunion do.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mdmKAkWekqJK36MkAeSewsM-HoTXGBXtepnNups1Z863zPQqdnrhXkNIm_qwBIJSs2Pz88cEQFBlwtioNwVoQjl_JV_EKRykByDSDGaZVL8J4eeamgpgpJ2YFArKoOR9u7UgY-pfnQI/s1600/20231201_093215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2mdmKAkWekqJK36MkAeSewsM-HoTXGBXtepnNups1Z863zPQqdnrhXkNIm_qwBIJSs2Pz88cEQFBlwtioNwVoQjl_JV_EKRykByDSDGaZVL8J4eeamgpgpJ2YFArKoOR9u7UgY-pfnQI/s1600/20231201_093215.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="2268" width="320" height="180"></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">On Day 37 we took
advantage of the frozen ground to walk off-road</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fortunately, once I recovered from the Halifax trip, things
seemed to improve in leaps and bounds. By Day 42 (six weeks post-op) I was
feeling much more healed. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was just a few days ago, on 8 December, that I finally
hit 5km in a single walk and declared that I am now suitably mended to walk
however far I want, at a reasonable pace (I averaged 9:30/km on this one). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The only real ongoing niggle is that the lymphatic drainage
pathways on my stomach have been interrupted by the surgery, and as each day
goes on, the tissue above the scar becomes swollen. It’s worse the more I do
(to my mind, if I move around it should encourage the fluid to move, but it seems
it doesn’t work like that when the drainage routes have been cut off). It’s
doing me no harm, but it’s not comfortable. Compression
knickers and leggings are my friends.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4rOEGDMO932Qhy3_1rlWAHvhwIm_GSC-3kPozPSWkR7sLe1LtQo1fKc8JWt2m6rgiYAdQ490tk2ZmhMSykxfcUth44nQjS0DDsPucS0NMon0x-akIZ8V5c7VGeRHT6vVDqpt79lAsZs/s1600/20231210_200956.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia4rOEGDMO932Qhy3_1rlWAHvhwIm_GSC-3kPozPSWkR7sLe1LtQo1fKc8JWt2m6rgiYAdQ490tk2ZmhMSykxfcUth44nQjS0DDsPucS0NMon0x-akIZ8V5c7VGeRHT6vVDqpt79lAsZs/s1600/20231210_200956.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="2268" width="320" height="180"></a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">His n hers<br><div class="separator" style="font-style: italic; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SulkLxCqYd-XcgWj5SbGcUMZmrFCalE-q8mFjRE5CNq-mlQar8VAdz-pDQCEWiteW_UliIl8OexDMjJk7f8eXyBVv59K7LEYnaIzLd4z5j41wTeODI_SJZZ001YGEN9rExQZqRJWPzY/s1600/20231210_201718.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-SulkLxCqYd-XcgWj5SbGcUMZmrFCalE-q8mFjRE5CNq-mlQar8VAdz-pDQCEWiteW_UliIl8OexDMjJk7f8eXyBVv59K7LEYnaIzLd4z5j41wTeODI_SJZZ001YGEN9rExQZqRJWPzY/s1600/20231210_201718.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="2268" width="320" height="180"></a></div><br></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mick’s never expressed
an interest in me knitting him a jumper before, so when he suggested I could do
him a Christmas jumper I wasted no time.</i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(*'steeking' is where you cut a knitted garment, for example you may knit a cardigan effectively as a jumper then cut up the front to make it into a cardi - it means that you can do colour work without troubling with purl stitches and also allows you to knit the garment it in one piece, thus not needing to sew panels together. My hoody involves steeking, and so did this swatch, but I've opted to show it in its pre-cut state so you can't see the hash I made of the colour work pattern on the other side!)</i></p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-52452255947536143002023-11-07T09:29:00.000-08:002023-11-07T09:29:50.471-08:00The Fibroid Diaries, Part 2<span style="font-size:17px" ;="">It's two weeks ago tomorrow that I was operated on and, as one would hope, my body is healing more by the day.</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">I would have been off the painkillers for a week, if it hadn't been for a two-day migraine last Wednesday/Thursday that knocked me for six (and against which the painkillers did very little, but I took them in hope). I've also now finished my course of blood thinning injections and Mick had a thoroughly frustrating time trying to dispose of the sharps box and left-over injections in the proper manner (why leftovers? Because apparently it's not possible for the hospital pharmacy to take three fully packaged injections out of a box of ten and give them to someone else, or deploy them within the hospital, so I had to take a box of ten, with instructions to only use seven).</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">My scope and range of physical activity has also expanded greatly, although still cautiously and in accordance with guidelines. I found a leaflet from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (who surely know what they're talking about in these matters) that said that I should build up my walking and that '30 minutes after 2-3 weeks should be achievable for many women'. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">So my forays to the nearest lamppost got pushed to one driveway beyond the lamppost, then two driveways, then another, then the big leap - all the way to the corner (a 200m round trip). The next day I rounded the corner and went to the next corner, then on Monday I crossed that road and went half way to the next corner (400m total).</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">I thought that stood me in good stead for a Big Outing today. Mick drove me into town and we walked to Wetherspoon, where we had breakfast for lunch (followed by pudding, because why not?)...</span>
<br><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCZBbbhhYf4BY0auOO693FRUVcU7xpnIoU3jsZhub28cOuxckIhoXLDYu9_tJ51r7I7MSltPo7xn6riHBEWFrImYOthOnaRUITRukdhcfLzXTQfGmrXMtei8jsmvn36CY9sqNOc5f8Dg/s1600/20231107_113404.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTCZBbbhhYf4BY0auOO693FRUVcU7xpnIoU3jsZhub28cOuxckIhoXLDYu9_tJ51r7I7MSltPo7xn6riHBEWFrImYOthOnaRUITRukdhcfLzXTQfGmrXMtei8jsmvn36CY9sqNOc5f8Dg/s1600/20231107_113404.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="3024" width="320" height="240"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The crossword, visible on the left, explains why we were sitting side by side, rather than the more normal arrangement of opposite each other. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRaiH6jzJSjxyUEdI6DyiVBY7czbJojIikxxDo-o2A24HmKjFHpaMSsWak_DyCd7Msvh4VSQm2pkqRZoXuZM_ekdcf2mVb1MAPANBUjoF2QMYbAWcYmK1NrqB99OStXnNTWYSDdSGaTg/s1600/20231107_120550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvRaiH6jzJSjxyUEdI6DyiVBY7czbJojIikxxDo-o2A24HmKjFHpaMSsWak_DyCd7Msvh4VSQm2pkqRZoXuZM_ekdcf2mVb1MAPANBUjoF2QMYbAWcYmK1NrqB99OStXnNTWYSDdSGaTg/s1600/20231107_120550.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="3024" width="320" height="240"></a></div><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">...then as Mick went off to buy me some sexy lingerie, I strolled back to the car. Two sets of 500m walks, with an hour or so of rest/eating in between, at a pace of around 14.45 per kilometre.</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">(As for the lingerie, I may be stretching the definition given the reality of big granny knickers (although they do have lace on the waistband, if that helps?), but I've been finding my usual pants are just the wrong height of rise and irritate my scar, so I now have underwear that comes all the way up to my navel. It's surprisingly comfy. Is it reasonable to start wearing granny pants as a general rule before the age of 50?)</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">By the time we got to the supermarket, where I was never going to do anything more than sit in the car, I was tired. The moment we got home I took myself off to bed to sleep the afternoon away. It really is surprising how exhausting it can be to walk a distance that, a couple of weeks ago, would have felt so trivial. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">The other big milestone is that I made my own lunch yesterday (smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on toast, if you were wondering). I'm still letting Mick make most of my cups of tea, but he has now accepted that tea-making is within my range of permitted activities. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">The only other thing to report is that I've knitted four socks in the last two weeks and have just embarked on a jumper. My brain is often too fuzzy to concentrate on anything significant (like reading) so watching YouTube and knitting fills the time.</span><div><span style="font-size:17px" ;=""><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt16DGwhR3GWFkcMRpfVYttYhZ6AvFB9HVkykt3YA8KUmVtA9-SnWixCRiWOXeGcpmbODP3Ffa7_nA6pmWs2gGb-OyDnZ4hnufrAum2af7URqt9Rh46yZTqSeqbo76cLNUqsqRZwZQhs/s1600/IMG-20231106-WA0000.jpeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJt16DGwhR3GWFkcMRpfVYttYhZ6AvFB9HVkykt3YA8KUmVtA9-SnWixCRiWOXeGcpmbODP3Ffa7_nA6pmWs2gGb-OyDnZ4hnufrAum2af7URqt9Rh46yZTqSeqbo76cLNUqsqRZwZQhs/s1600/IMG-20231106-WA0000.jpeg.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3840" data-original-height="2160" width="320" height="180"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>I didn't trouble myself to move to take a decent snap of them. This is pair #2, with slightly mismatched toes due to not having quite enough yarn to achieve a full match. </i></div><br></span></div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-47304820782748776462023-11-02T00:52:00.000-07:002023-11-02T00:52:52.345-07:00Schroedinger's Fibroid <span style="font-size:17px" ;="">Last Thursday morning I saw that a new record had been set at Big's Backyard Ultra. A chap called Harvey Lewis won after 108 hours, which equates to 450 miles. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">I took comfort from this as I was sure that I felt better at that moment than Harvey was feeling, but it also made me wonder</span><span style="font-size:17px" ;=""> why, in the name of fun, one would put one's self through something that's more painful and sleep depriving than having a handful of organs removed.</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">My 'activity' (not that it involved any movement at all on my part) on Wednesday had been the removal of organs. An abdominal hysterectomy (i.e. sliced across the middle). Working from the top down, they took my ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and cervix. Most importantly, given than none of those items had any inherent problem that necessitated their removal, they also took the large (and rather inconvenient) mass that was hanging off the back of my uterus. I've not seen any report as to its size on removal, but at the last scan, back in April, it was 10x9x8cm, still growing, and pressing agaisnt my bladder and bowel.</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">I'm now refering to this mass as Schroedinger's Fibroid. When the cause for my symptoms was being investigated (which involved a lot of scans) all reports said that the mass was benign and that it was just a fibroid (essentially an overproduction of new cells by the uterus causing a growth). So certain were they of their identification that not only was I told categorically that "you do not have cancer" but had the mass not been causing me any issues they would have simply left it. Yet, now that it has been removed (with no other evidence of its status having come to light during the surgery) the risk that the fibroid is hiding a malignant growth is so great that they will not now treat me for my sudden and complete lack of hormones until the histology results have come back. So, whilst in-situ it was definitely benign, but once outside of the body there's a significant risk that it's not benign. Surely the definition of Schroedinger's fibroid. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">For the avoidance of doubt, I'm not worried. I've read all the scan reports and talked to the surgeon about what he saw, based on which I would assess the likelihood of this being cancer as tiny.</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">The hospital experience was mixed. One major low point was 'cathetergate' involving a three hour argument with a healthcare assistant (who, at the time, I didn't know wasn't a nurse) who was entirely unhelpful (and downright wrong and rude) about the fact that my catheter wasn't draining. The debacle started at midnight, 12hours post-op, and went on until 3am, by which time I was in significant discomfort. She only finally went and fetched someone more senior after I'd resorted to the internet and managed to resolve the airlock myself. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">The second major low point was asking for pain relief at 1230 on Thursday and finally receiving it (having progressed from discomfort to severe discomfort and into full-on pain) at 8pm on the sixth time of asking. This after being told quite clearly on arrival on the ward about how important it was to stay on top of pain and not wait until it got too bad to take painkillers. In hindsight, I should have sent Mick out to just buy me some liquid ibuprofen (which is all is asked for. I reckon I would have got it quicker if I had been requesting an opioid) - they wouldn't have approved, but I was fully alert and thus at no risk of being overdosed and, most importantly, I wouldn't have spent hours in pain. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">The most trivial low point was the brocolli. It's not a vegetable that can withstand overcooking, so why do they choose to serve it with every meal?</span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">At noon on Friday news came that I could be released, provided that that day's blood results came back okay. As no blood had even been taken at that point, I didn't forsee an early release. Sure enough, it was gone 6pm by the time someone came along with paperwork, a box of injections, a couple of dressings and scant instructions. Good timing, as I'd just eaten my evening meal and taken a dose of ibuprofen, so I was in a fit state to walk around three wings of the hospital so as to reach the main entrance. As the crow flies, the car was parked pretty close to my room, but there's no way out of the hospital from that wing. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size:17px" ;="">After the ridiculous lack of sleep whilst in hospital (I swear they had me under surveillance so that the moment I fell asleep someone would come to wake me), I did quite a bit of catching up on Saturday and nowhere near enough moving. </span>
<br><br><span style="font-size: 17px;">Since then I've been up and about. For 'up' read 'sitting in an armchair' and for 'about' read '4x 60m walks per day'. Contrary to promises made pre-op, no physio came to see me and I didn't receive any advice or information as to what I can and cannot do. Fortunately other NHS trusts are more forward thinking and caring, and have published some excellent guidance online. Thus I know that 60m walks are my current level and that I'm not to even think about running a step until Christmas. </span><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;">As for the comfort I took last Thursday in the knowledge that the winner of the Back Yard Ultra felt worse than I did, it turns out my 'knowledge' was nothing of the sort. I've since read that he returned to work on Friday, and he ran his commute. Madness!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4pJLb4WlD7R0zu471KQUgBbWvXX4OYe9WjcXoWtzKWccMqfcHRBdW3t613LbOykKU-PMyPgU1zEHMi-mwSn2NY9ldpHnFySMwdPlaROt_wMcT6W1P-49Mt1UIEfLzuJ0XyitZ6cnuik/s1600/20231025_142550.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4pJLb4WlD7R0zu471KQUgBbWvXX4OYe9WjcXoWtzKWccMqfcHRBdW3t613LbOykKU-PMyPgU1zEHMi-mwSn2NY9ldpHnFySMwdPlaROt_wMcT6W1P-49Mt1UIEfLzuJ0XyitZ6cnuik/s1600/20231025_142550.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="2268" data-original-height="4032" width="180" height="320"></a></div>View from my hospital bed. Not bad! The following morning the weather was so poor that I couldn't see those fields. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03pLRW6d1uEjNbaY7UPd9M7KeZi6bj22U26mlOH_swUsPoKHS1KE6KUfKnEytjFAx8AAxmJXaUexAXVvvqAGcTG-3Dv31117z2pYIYX-IOOJ6WoDlEg8_o6hq_kAXH4gQoEBh602xl-8/s1600/20231025_174525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi03pLRW6d1uEjNbaY7UPd9M7KeZi6bj22U26mlOH_swUsPoKHS1KE6KUfKnEytjFAx8AAxmJXaUexAXVvvqAGcTG-3Dv31117z2pYIYX-IOOJ6WoDlEg8_o6hq_kAXH4gQoEBh602xl-8/s1600/20231025_174525.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4032" data-original-height="2268" width="320" height="180"></a></div>That classic combination of lasagne and mashed potato. Also the only main meal that didn't involve grey, soggy brocolli. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8CR28WDDn-T5yshHVT4cwOhx6RFrgv4a0KTjqdjESOthZ7ydzf6x1XeERiRaZkJuCasdDzJVmOlf4gWO1QM6lPjSNu4HcGE2z84ZfjKqgR1URb4i15mHuGtDyR3TuUeD7W-OYBObkdDs/s1600/20231026_063254.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8CR28WDDn-T5yshHVT4cwOhx6RFrgv4a0KTjqdjESOthZ7ydzf6x1XeERiRaZkJuCasdDzJVmOlf4gWO1QM6lPjSNu4HcGE2z84ZfjKqgR1URb4i15mHuGtDyR3TuUeD7W-OYBObkdDs/s1600/20231026_063254.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1980" data-original-height="2640" width="240" height="320"></a></div><br></div></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;">Out of bed 21 hours post-op. Had anyone walked through that door behind me whilst I was taking this they would have got an eyeful. I was happy to change out of the gown and into a more modest nightie. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span><!--/data/user/0/com.samsung.android.app.notes/files/clipdata/clipdata_bodytext_231101_080146_786.sdocx--><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 17px;"><br></span></div></div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-55404705311454428392023-09-23T07:48:00.001-07:002023-09-24T01:07:41.132-07:00Friday&Saturday 22&23 September - Hartington<p><b style="font-size: 1.25em;">Where was Erica?</b>
She spent Friday night at Peak View campsite, a basic place (sloping & unmown field with
a tap) right by where the High Peak Trail meets the Tissington Trail in the
Peak District, at a cost of £15.<br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather</b>: Friday
showers; Saturday sunshine</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After my 12-hour race in mid-July, I had a decision to make:
was I going to spend August training for a 24-hour race (18 September) or for a
half marathon (today)? I entered the half marathon in question in 2019,
for the September 2020 event. As with most events in 2020, it got
cancelled, and I couldn’t make the dates for 2021 or 2022. This year was the
last chance I had to use that place.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After much dithering between the two options, I got to
Scotland and quickly decided that I didn’t want to train for either; instead I wanted to have unstructured fun on the hills
– and that’s exactly what I did.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Knowing I was capable of covering the half marathon distance
(even if not of meeting the objective I had in mind when submitted my entry 4
years ago), without doing any specific training for it, it seemed silly not to
use my place. So, on the way back from Scotland I did my only real bit of preparation
for today: we stopped off and I ran the route. I’m not sure
that there’s any coach who would recommend doing this as one’s one and only
training effort – and in reality it was solely a psychological exercise and a confidence boost when I ran the course just 2 minutes slower than my PB. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The only other bit of preparation was that I booked us onto
Peak View campsite for the night before. The race is a linear one, with buses
laid on to get you to the start with a good half an hour to spare, so you
can queue for the Portaloos and get jolly cold, as you have to arrive ‘ready to
run’ with no baggage transfer (I used the bus in 2018 and it was 2 degrees and foggy on
arrival). The campsite I’d booked was 800m from the start line, so I was able
to leave Erica at 0940 and arrive in plenty of time for the 10am start, completely omitting the
Portaloo experience.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ovUAQZ1_0LQ/ZQ8bL65InXI/AAAAAAAAaDA/DhPefXOdXr8-KX9gjbDf6UW_5LNeS1PCgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_083030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ovUAQZ1_0LQ/ZQ8bL65InXI/AAAAAAAAaDA/DhPefXOdXr8-KX9gjbDf6UW_5LNeS1PCgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_083030.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After yesterday’s
showers, we woke up to a fine sky this morning. There was an excellent 360
degree view from Erica; this snap was taken from her rear bumper. </i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was a bonus that the campsite had direct access onto the
Tissington Trail; it was a downside that it was through unmown wet grass. I
found a solution:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_t6wbL7HQvs/ZQ8bMox6CGI/AAAAAAAAaDI/qLgkqrrvfRUKSPRAd8K9Hqf1uW7NJGBUgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_092712.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_t6wbL7HQvs/ZQ8bMox6CGI/AAAAAAAAaDI/qLgkqrrvfRUKSPRAd8K9Hqf1uW7NJGBUgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_092712.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1616" data-original-height="3264" width="158" height="320"></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A rummage in Erica’s
collection of bin bags netted two of suitable size – one of which was a bread
bag. </i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As soon as we got onto the grit trail, I removed the bags
and switched into my runners, putting my sopping shoes into a bag for Mick to
take back for me. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ten minutes after I arrived at the start line, we were off. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All started well: my splits for the first 4k were all within
2 seconds of each other, and whilst slightly faster than target, not so much as
to make me think I’d gone off too keenly. My pace dropped on the next 3k, but only
because they’re gently uphill. At 8.5km, without breaking stride, I executed a
faultless bottle-swap with Mick who was standing at the edge of the trail (I
was carrying my own water, to sip as and when, rather than needing to slow down
to drink out of cups at the three water stations on the route).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XFoTRyqOVwo/ZQ8bNkMylEI/AAAAAAAAaDQ/Puk3IWxnRVogovBALlR9Edu0Mz3hePTyACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_180328.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XFoTRyqOVwo/ZQ8bNkMylEI/AAAAAAAAaDQ/Puk3IWxnRVogovBALlR9Edu0Mz3hePTyACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_180328.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1115" data-original-height="1931" width="184" height="320"></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mick took a photo of
me …except it wasn’t me. Granted, it does look like me and I do often wear a blue t-shirt. </i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZwCXpGSoJok/ZQ8bOt9KyjI/AAAAAAAAaDY/jGC_aKnXGkE1ecT2BWt7oBSIKCTJwwoywCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_161614.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZwCXpGSoJok/ZQ8bOt9KyjI/AAAAAAAAaDY/jGC_aKnXGkE1ecT2BWt7oBSIKCTJwwoywCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230923_161614.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1316" data-original-height="1701" width="247" height="320"></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Me - not wearing my blue top today. </i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From around 13km things started to go less smoothly, with cramp threatening in both feet and my right
calf. Entirely my own fault for neglecting strength work (not to mention
failing to train to do this pace over this distance). Given how good I felt
otherwise, I asked them nicely, and repeatedly, to please just let me get
through the rest of the distance without impediment.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This race route has a sting in the tail. About 200m before
the end, one of the old railway bridges wasn’t reinstated when the leisure
route was made, so the trail descends steeply down then immediately steeply back up. A surprise to some of those around me, but I knew it was
coming and that the finish line was just ahead. Further ahead than expected –
they’ve finally moved it so that the route doesn’t measure short (as it did in
both 2018 and 2019).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My time was 1:55:53 - three minutes faster
than my PB, set in 2018. I’m rather chuffed with that, and it seems to
establish that hill bagging in Scotland is excellent half marathon training*.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(*<span style="font-size: x-small;">Makes sense really. I ascended most of those hills without
pause, at a pace at the top of end comfortable, then jogged back down, so I was
generally putting in sustained 1.5-2 hour efforts on the uphills, before
conditioning my quads on the downs</span>.) </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-62563754144865225872023-09-10T12:43:00.000-07:002023-09-22T11:49:52.370-07:007 August to 10 September: Scotland<p><i>Another forgotten post that I'm belatedly publishing:</i></p><p>Erica's first trip to Scotland: she got to sample twice a kipping spot that her big brother
Bertie has used a number of times, enjoyed a spot unique to her, and travelled further north than Bertie has ever been in the UK. Whilst she only provided overnight accommodation on three nights of our five
week trip, she was (as always) mightily handy for lots of day trips.<br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the records:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Monday 7 August and Friday 8 September – both nights were
spent in the same pull-in not far off the M6 near Shap. I don’t recall what the
weather was on our way north, but on our way south it was hot (up to 29 degrees
whilst driving), with an overnight low of 15 degrees. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Friday 25 August – spent in the pouring rain in a little
(3-car) car park near Mount Eagle on the Black Isle. With a trip to Inverness
on the Friday afternoon, I figured it made sense to take advantage of being so
far north by continuing on another half an hour to do Alness parkrun. Happily,
I remembered having seen this parking area when we bagged Mount Eagle a couple
of years ago, so we spent a peaceful night (save for the rain drumming on the
roof), on our lonesome, just slightly off the beaten track.</p><p class="MsoNormal">-------------</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Incidentally, the only reason we didn’t go straight up to
Scotland after the Lakeland 100 weekend was because we had tickets for The Hundred
cricket on 5 August, hence we travelled south to then travel back north a few
days later. In the event, the weather was so wet on 5 August that we decided it
wasn’t even worth leaving the house, so sure were we that both matches we were
due to watch would be rained off (which they were; not a single ball was
bowled). At least we got a full refund on our tickets, and instead I bought a
Sky Sports pass for the month, which meant that we got to watch cricket every
day for the month long tournament. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cBJC1_MRTlA/ZQ3hzvnGLGI/AAAAAAAAaCo/Pu6PycCThGMSAPod8KUqdHJx_SmNoBF1QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230910_144558.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cBJC1_MRTlA/ZQ3hzvnGLGI/AAAAAAAAaCo/Pu6PycCThGMSAPod8KUqdHJx_SmNoBF1QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230910_144558.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="2408" data-original-height="1583" width="320" height="210"></a></div></i><i style="font-size: 1.25em;">What happens if you forget to specifically ask someone to search in the wilderness of the garden for courgettes whilst you're gone. The largest is a few grammes shy of 3kg. </i> (I've since made 23 jars of marrow chutney, of 4 different flavours) <i><br></i></p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-58771106763594209962023-08-11T08:52:00.002-07:002023-09-22T11:30:11.260-07:00Monday & Tuesday 7 & 8 August – Home to Newtonmore<div style="text-align: left;"><i>Here we are nearing the end of September, and Erica is having a night out. In thinking about the blog post I'll be writing, I realised I'd not posted this one from early August, nor the counterpart from early September. For the purposes of backing up my own memory, here, belatedly, is the former. </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Where was Erica?</b>
She spent Monday night in a pull-in on a B road near Shap, a location that has
been used by Bertie quite a few times before. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Weather:</b> Sunny
intervals. </div>
<p class="MsoNormal">To the best of our knowledge and belief, Erica has never
been to Scotland before. She spent the first 6 years of her life as a little-used
NHS patient transport vehicle based in Sheffield, during which period it’s
difficult to envision a reason that she would have ventured anywhere near the
Scottish border, and in our ownership the nearest she’s been is Penrith. We
decided she was the most appropriate vehicle for this trip, so she’s on an
adventure visiting some of the places that Big Brother Bertie has been (and others
that he hasn’t).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Monday 7 August</u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Leaving home on schedule at 0900, things looked good for a
timely arrival for our lunch date with friends near Preston. Then we passed a ‘Road
Ahead Closed’ sign, soon after which we belatedly remembered our conversation
of a week and a half ago on this very road, when we’d seen the ‘advance notice
of road closure’, noted that it started on the day we would be travelling to
Scotland, and agreed that we would need to take a completely different route.
Add in an accident on the motorway and our journey was significantly longer
than it should have been. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A good catch-up with Al & Nicky, then on to Arnside for
a quick cup of tea with Conrad, before we headed further north. We’d been
unsure as to whether to spend the night at Shap or at Gretna, but opted for
Shap. I’d say they’re both equally good kipping spots, but Shap is free, versus
£5 at Gretna, for the same facilities (i.e. none).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Getting Erica sorted for the evening took a bit of effort,
as we were by no means travelling light on this trip (Erica is only our
accommodation for the trip north and south; we’re in a house whilst here), but
all was fine once we’d rearranged our load such that everything that wouldn’t
fit in cupboards was shoved into every nook and cranny of the cab. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G8NX8CQECqc/ZQ3dDEWbCsI/AAAAAAAAaCE/VscX7Ni2o_8etRmUmA3yUuugYZhlYvnjQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230807_205149.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G8NX8CQECqc/ZQ3dDEWbCsI/AAAAAAAAaCE/VscX7Ni2o_8etRmUmA3yUuugYZhlYvnjQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230807_205149.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Three crates of stuff stacked nicely on the driver's seat, and the two bags of shoes plus other odds and ends fitted in the foot wells. The big screen, however, was more of an inconvenience. </i></div></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Tuesday 8 August</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We were on the road at 0730, but only for an initial half-hour
hop to the next services, where we breakfasted in the car park and availed ourselves
of their toilet facilities and bins*. Our next stop of any significance was
Perth, for fuel and a bit of shopping at Tesco, followed by a bigger shop at
Aldi. From there it wasn’t too much further to Newtonmore, but I decided on a
little diversion en-route. There were a few places we'd wanted to visit on our way to TGO Challenge Control in April/early May, but circumstances prevented us from executing that part of the trip. Some of those side trips are on the agenda for this trip, and this was the first: at Dalwhinnie we turned left and made our way via
Laggan to Garva Bridge, where Mick dropped me off so that I could run a route on
the north side of the Spey down to Spey Dam. We'd mentioned this off-road alternative to various Challengers based on the map; we can now recommend it based on experience. <br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's only a short hop from Spey Dam to Newtonmore, where we intend to stay for a wee while. <br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jV0wj27tMas/ZQ3dG11NTMI/AAAAAAAAaCM/D5MEwkE3yVM1k-sSuZZkNzsJqZ-KjZtFQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230808_144957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jV0wj27tMas/ZQ3dG11NTMI/AAAAAAAAaCM/D5MEwkE3yVM1k-sSuZZkNzsJqZ-KjZtFQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230808_144957.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4hvoumfJrEw/ZQ3dLivKcgI/AAAAAAAAaCU/BSGElyS9hSUTasjuCWgtM01eJoxB571agCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230808_145746.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4hvoumfJrEw/ZQ3dLivKcgI/AAAAAAAAaCU/BSGElyS9hSUTasjuCWgtM01eJoxB571agCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230808_145746.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div><br></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(*the previous night
I’d opened a cupboard and thought we’d accidentally packed two bags of protein
powder. Then I discovered that no, one of those bags, empty of its original
contents, had been used for kitchen waste, then had erroneously made its way
into Erica’s cupboard.</p><p class="MsoNormal">(post blog note: five weeks later, as we repacked Erica to come home, we discovered that the bag of nuts sitting at the back of our food cupboard in Newtonmore was in fact a bag of mouldy rubbish (used tea bags, mainly) from our journey north, so our outward error was not an isolated event!)) </p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-80975986276207791262023-07-31T13:45:00.000-07:002023-08-01T02:26:46.404-07:00Thursday 28 – Monday 31 July – Lakeland 100 Weekend, Coniston<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b>Where was Bertie?</b> Thursday & Sunday: Church House
Inn, a 5-van campsite in Torver, £20 without electricity. Friday &
Saturday: in a field on Lake Road in Coniston (included in Lakeland 100 entry
fee). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b>Weather: </b>Sunshine and showers. Hot in the sunshine, warm
enough in the showers. Windy from Saturday afternoon on.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Thursday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two years ago we spent the night before the Lakeland weekend
by Lancaster Services. Last year we stayed near Milnthorpe. This year, even
though we didn’t get around to phoning a campsite until the night before, we
got ourselves a pitch at Torver, just a couple of miles along the road from
Coniston. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We weren’t the only people to have the same idea, and of the
12 units on the 5-pitch site, at least five contained Lakeland competitors –
including the two vans immediately next to us. More were inside the Inn.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Due to our late booking, we were in the car park, rather
than in the field, and there wasn’t an electric hook up available, which was
fine by us, especially when they knocked a fiver off the quoted price. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We chatted to our neighbours, poured a few containers of
water into Bertie’s tank, then had a quiet night.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Friday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By a few minutes past nine, Bertie had driven the five
minutes up the road and was settled on the ‘overflow and large vehicles’
camping field. Soon after, Mick went off to registration and kit check. It
didn’t take long at that time of day, giving him plenty of time to repack his
bag, have lunch, have a little kip, and get ready for the race briefing at
4.30pm.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y4oB23A9cRU/ZMjOdr6cpTI/AAAAAAAAZqc/GH3VNeWH-r8i67GT27PKpXHibT8BSEgngCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230801_101946.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1539" data-original-width="2116" height="232" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y4oB23A9cRU/ZMjOdr6cpTI/AAAAAAAAZqc/GH3VNeWH-r8i67GT27PKpXHibT8BSEgngCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230801_101946.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>Relieved at having sailed through kit check and hiding any pre-race nerves well. </i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A period of loitering and chatting followed, before he took
himself off to the starting pen. Per tradition, and rather appropriately,
Nessun Dorma was sung and at 6pm on the dot off they went, all hoping to
complete the 105-mile course (6000m of ascent) within the 40-hour time limit.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My period of intense dot-watching then commenced and I soon
learnt that, for me, dot watching 105 miles is much more involved than watching
the 50. I was a woman obsessed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5e9RIBrTiEA/ZMjKBG_GNQI/AAAAAAAAZpg/OJqFFbNmLH0sn21e5_ZFHvJrtlIrFxOUACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230728_194916_com.android.chrome.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5e9RIBrTiEA/ZMjKBG_GNQI/AAAAAAAAZpg/OJqFFbNmLH0sn21e5_ZFHvJrtlIrFxOUACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230728_194916_com.android.chrome.jpg" width="151" /></a></i></div><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mick entering the
first checkpoint. I would have got a better screenshot from the live feed webcam if I’d pressed the right
buttons the first time I tried.</span></i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Saturday</u></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-luu-gTgQgOg/ZMjKCZYRTQI/AAAAAAAAZpo/E8mnKj2s_f4py6e24YDXkj_QH12aErYjgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230729_061536.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-luu-gTgQgOg/ZMjKCZYRTQI/AAAAAAAAZpo/E8mnKj2s_f4py6e24YDXkj_QH12aErYjgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230729_061536.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>View from Bertie's roof early on Saturday morning. It seems that a lot of runners own vans. </i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Not the best night’s sleep ever, but I managed 3 hours more
than the runners out on the course, so I figured that was good enough to put
into practice my distraction plan: I was going up a hill. In hindsight, it
wasn’t a good plan, as 3km in I decided that I couldn’t bear being out of
mobile phone signal at the time when Mick was most likely to phone me, so I
hotfooted it back to Coniston, just about making it back into a signal area
before he called. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I won’t disclose how much of the day I then spent staring at
screens as it’s an embarrassing and obscene statistic. All the things I’d taken
with me to do whilst I was waiting went completely untouched. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Alas, Mick’s day didn’t go to plan, and at Dalemain (59
miles and 3600m of ascent through the route) he called it a day*. A two hour
minibus ride got him back to Coniston. I’m sorry
to say, but watching the honed athletes climb down off that bus was the
funniest thing I saw all weekend (remember a time that you’ve finished a long
day walk, got in the car then driven an hour or more home, and how stiff you
felt getting out the car. These chaps had been moving for 20+ hours, were
mainly injured in some way, and had just spent two hours setting into the shape
of a minibus seat (they took a scenic route back)). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From my selfish point of view, at least my eyes could have a
rest from my phones screens and I was going to get a good night’s sleep. I
could even nip up my hill on Sunday morning.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GMQ09Shp1X8/ZMjKDUcLH7I/AAAAAAAAZpw/ywEe2eVHjY4bbzSI_cDYgV28O4WPeBMeACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/collagemaker_20238195838962.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2025" data-original-width="1620" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GMQ09Shp1X8/ZMjKDUcLH7I/AAAAAAAAZpw/ywEe2eVHjY4bbzSI_cDYgV28O4WPeBMeACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/collagemaker_20238195838962.jpg" width="256" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Weather forecast for
Sunday morning. The hill isn’t even of a classification that I’m collecting, so
I decided it can wait</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A small glitch with Bertie’s hot water system**, delayed Mick’s
shower, but he was still in bed at a reasonable hour. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Sunday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wasn’t done with dot-watching yet. We had a friend doing
the L50, and the moment I woke up at 5am I needed to know how she’d fared
overnight. As delighted as I was to see that she was still going, I didn’t
think Mick would appreciate me sharing the news quite that early. I snuggled
back down and slept some more. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Having decided against my hill, I opted for a simple circuit
up to the car park on the Walna Scar Road, before looping around back to
Coniston. Thanks to racing five young chaps up the (incredibly steep!) road up to the car park (I won, albeit I accept they didn’t know they were in a race), I
managed to arrive at the Miners’ Bridge at almost the exact moment that Vicky
(the very person who we can blame for egging us on to enter the Lakeland 50 in
2019) got there, 49 miles into her 50-mile race. I stayed with her down to the
road end, before going on ahead. There’s no support allowed in either the 50 or
the 100, and I wasn’t going to risk her being disqualified for me ‘supporting’
her with my company (although, in all honesty, if it had been a random stranger
50 runner that I’d met, I’d have still chatted with them down to the road
purely because we were going the same way and I was interested in what they’d
been doing). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With Bertie packed away, we tried to attend the awards
presentations at noon, but there were just too many people to fit in the
Marquee, with crowds outside too. So, we gave it up as a bad job, returned to
Bertie, and ten minutes later we were back at the campsite in Torver.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7Wo6_p5zb6c/ZMjKFNwNkUI/AAAAAAAAZp4/E5bYJhIhTUwlDhRmrsmE3_H0LGdN0hn9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230730_175418.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7Wo6_p5zb6c/ZMjKFNwNkUI/AAAAAAAAZp4/E5bYJhIhTUwlDhRmrsmE3_H0LGdN0hn9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230730_175418.jpg" width="320" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Evening meal at the Wilson
Arms, Torver, where almost every table was taken by people wearing Lakeland
50/100 items (myself included; I proudly wore my 2022 Finsisher[sic] t-shirt***) </i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Monday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With Mick’s protesting thighs no longer protesting so much,
his body decided it was time to let him know that he’d been bitten to pieces by
midges on Friday night – a fact about which he had previously been completely
unaware. His first request this morning wasn’t painkillers (as yesterday
morning), but anti-itch cream. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not much to report from the rest of the day. Our journey
home was first via a roadside café where Mick had an excellent breakfast and I
had something a bit more modest (although, oddly, bits from Mick’s plate kept
landing on mine; I didn’t object), then via Halifax.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R16CCK24Lds/ZMjKGe0clxI/AAAAAAAAZqA/_XNGgGk6EH8n058-AW9ec-su57hHmhtPACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230731_101328.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R16CCK24Lds/ZMjKGe0clxI/AAAAAAAAZqA/_XNGgGk6EH8n058-AW9ec-su57hHmhtPACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230731_101328.jpg" width="240" /></a></i></div><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Breakfast. The
generous teapot was just out of shot.</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A slow journey home from Halifax (road works, breakdowns and
just too much traffic), but we got here in the end, although the complete
emptying of Bertie will wait for tomorrow. It had been a long day and other
things took priority – like having tea and SORNing Bertie, who won’t be going
back on a public road until at least September. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">(<span style="font-size: x-small;">*One of his problems was his right knee, about which he was
concerned before he set off. His training went really well, without any
significant injury, this year. Then last Wednesday he did his final run
pre-race – just a little 8k, for which he decided to not risk anything by
tackling the mud and roots on his usual routes, but to stay on tarmac around
the village. He was 8.1km through his 8k, and a couple of hundred metres from
home, when he tripped on a manhole cover. He came home with a bloody elbow and
a bloody, bashed knee. It could have been a whole lot worse (in that he didn’t
do anything that would prevent him from starting the race), but it wasn’t ideal
and he was mightily cross with himself. Incidentally, it was the only time he
fell over in just shy of 1000 miles of training this year.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">**I did the Virtual Lakeland 100 in 2022, most of which I
achieved in my 24-hour race. The
Virtual t-shirts had a typo on them, so whereas people who did the real event
were ‘Finishers’, the virtual runners were ‘Finsishers’. I love the t-shirt for
that feature.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">***The hot water glitch was related to me changing Bertie's failing pump a few weeks ago to
one of a different design, not having a suitable jubilee clip and hoping that
the barbed fitting would be adequate to hold pipe onto pump. It became detached on Friday morning, was soon reseated, but I’d not twigged that disconnection from the non-return
valve had allowed the whole contents of the hot water tank (cold at that time)
to drain back into the main tank. I thus heated an empty tank, and Mick turned
on the shower to find no water coming out.)</span></p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-60339971790455124652023-07-23T12:00:00.000-07:002023-07-23T13:33:30.975-07:00If You Go Down To The Woods Today...<div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_QhG3gQJX0s/ZL2C58cL68I/AAAAAAAAZoc/2gD0vPlxGywqEdf5QM12i9nkRi7gMQwowCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_213713.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_QhG3gQJX0s/ZL2C58cL68I/AAAAAAAAZoc/2gD0vPlxGywqEdf5QM12i9nkRi7gMQwowCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_213713.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-size: x-small;">It felt like we were doing something illicit, walking through the local woods </span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">in the dark, flashing torches on and off</span></i></div><p>The last two laps of my race last weekend (see previous post)
required a torch, whereupon we discovered that the mount of one of our headtorches
had broken. Not a problem in the context of last weekend’s race (using it as a
hand torch was fine), but very much a problem if Mick had found himself needing
to use his back-up torch in his race next weekend.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was Wednesday before I thought to look up whether Alpkit
offered a 2 year warranty (purchased 16 July 2021 – so just over 2 years ago by
Tuesday, but I would have argued the period between order and receipt). As it
happens, Alpkit offers a 3-year warranty. The offending headtorch was duly sent
back, but its replacement likely wouldn’t arrive in time for Mick. The answer seemed to be to buy a new one, then return the
replacement when it arrived, except that when I read the reviews it seems that the
fault we’d incurred is a common one, and either Alpkit’s design or choice of
materials is not up to the job. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The result, after much browsing, was to bite the bullet and
buy a significant upgrade from a specialist company (from 240 lumen max output
to 1400 lumen max output, and from 5hrs run-time at a meaningful light level to
22 hours at double the light level). The new purchase arrived yesterday and it
seemed like a good idea to nip out in the dark, firstly to see the difference
between old and new, and secondly for Mick to familiarise himself with the
controls.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What a difference! All of our old headtorches (we have
amassed a collection over the years) are perfectly adequate for backpacking and
even the weakest of them has been successfully used for night-hiking, but if we’d
known two years ago what we were going to get up to over the next couple of
years, it definitely would have been worth investing sooner.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CQZeeEdiacQ/ZL2C6UAW5CI/AAAAAAAAZok/qOBm8Uq0SucCo3P4szIUXIeIs_FEzp-1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_213627.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CQZeeEdiacQ/ZL2C6UAW5CI/AAAAAAAAZok/qOBm8Uq0SucCo3P4szIUXIeIs_FEzp-1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_213627.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>on 'low' - only impressive in terms of battery life on this setting</i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MKkf7bS7DvQ/ZL2C7G0VjZI/AAAAAAAAZos/Alpn5kQUOrgebLydfKOJON290NfRIyOowCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_213714.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-MKkf7bS7DvQ/ZL2C7G0VjZI/AAAAAAAAZos/Alpn5kQUOrgebLydfKOJON290NfRIyOowCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_213714.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i>One of the higher settings (but not highest, which uses the
1100 spotlight and the 400 floodlight</i> <i>simultaneously</i>).<p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lgflo4vEPM8/ZL2C7mUODtI/AAAAAAAAZo0/n-7ElVsEALg3athoob4O8BRofNR7a_iEQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_214030.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="1616" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lgflo4vEPM8/ZL2C7mUODtI/AAAAAAAAZo0/n-7ElVsEALg3athoob4O8BRofNR7a_iEQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230722_214030.jpg" width="158" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Me trying it out, Mick trying not to trip over roots or slip
in the mud ahead of me.</span></i></div></i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We didn’t venture far through the woods, but it was enough
to tell me that the tendons in my left foot still haven’t forgiven me for last
weekend. Boo hiss!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mick’s other panic-purchase this week was a new waterproof,
having belatedly discovered delamination on the hood of his old one (a Kit Check failure, if spotted). Having reassured him that this
is not a case of ‘goodness, these races don’t half turn out to be expensive’,
because he would need a new running waterproof whether he was taking part in an
event or not (and his old one hadn’t done badly with >7 years' use), more internet
browsing was done, a selection made and an order placed.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Said jacket was ordered on Wednesday and dispatched ten
minutes later, with delivery promised the following day. I got the usual suite
of progress emails, except for the key: “Your package is ready to collect”. Checking
the tracking info on Friday it said it was out for delivery, but again no “ready
to collect” message arrived. This was a concern, with time running out to sort
out a replacement if it had gone astray, and with the vendor’s FAQ making it
clear that we weren’t to contact them until three working days had passed, but
which time it would have been too late for it to reach us before we leave home. Another buy-again-send-one-back situation? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First, however, I thought it was probably worth a rummage in
the sack of parcels at the pick-up point. We did that on Saturday lunchtime,
and there it was, at the bottom of the pile. I’m pretty sure it had been there
since Thursday after all and they’d just failed to scan it. Panic over!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hopefully that’s all the last minute kit panics. Just a few
days to go now.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-12592246309856265602023-07-17T08:02:00.004-07:002023-07-17T08:02:45.270-07:00Friday & Saturday 14&15 July - St Neots<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><b>Where was Erica?</b> She spent the weekend in a field next to the River Ouse at St Neots, at a cost of £15 per night for a patch of grass with no facilities, save for some portaloos (not even a tap).<br />
<b>Weather:</b> Friday: wet, wet, wet! Saturday: some rain, lots of sun but winds up to 45mph from noon onwards. Sunday: sunny start, afternoon irrelevant.<br />
<br />
A few weeks ago I was offered a place at the inaugural edition of a 12-hour running event, free of charge provided that I ran in a Spider Runners top. The top cost approximately the same as an entry to this (remarkably cheap, in the scheme of running events) race. However, as I was in need of a new vest anyway, the free place seemed like pretty good value. The camping fee was extra, and on the face of it not good value, but we’d never been to St Neots before, so we figured we’d be happy to have a weekend away there, no matter what happened at the event, so we booked it.<br />
<br />
It’s now Sunday evening, and I’ve still not seen St Neots. This is how the weekend went:<br />
<br />
<u>Friday</u><br />
We woke to rain and the forecast said it wasn’t going to cease in St Neots until 7pm. Not feeling inclined to go exploring in that, and not wanting to just sit inside Erica in a rainy field all afternoon, we delayed our departure from home until after lunch. Arriving at the field in question, after a smooth journey, at just after 3pm, having not known in advance what the site/course layout was (i.e. whether we would be able to park a short distance from the running route), we were pleasantly surprised:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QX-U-NRUHwE/ZLVQV4Ktz0I/AAAAAAAAZmo/SSSZ_EwgJ10_phRvD3G8jJcyrVJqXO3AwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230714_152339.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QX-U-NRUHwE/ZLVQV4Ktz0I/AAAAAAAAZmo/SSSZ_EwgJ10_phRvD3G8jJcyrVJqXO3AwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230714_152339.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Through a rain spattered rear window, the running course is two paces behind Erica, and we had a view of the river just across the grass.</i></div></i></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d82WAXZ-rUg/ZLVQWe77BDI/AAAAAAAAZmw/WXQNhL3MNsodT3i-VSM9y6nCTbWB0ez9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0006.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-d82WAXZ-rUg/ZLVQWe77BDI/AAAAAAAAZmw/WXQNhL3MNsodT3i-VSM9y6nCTbWB0ez9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0006.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mick's view, 24 hours later when the weather was much drier. </i></div></i></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>
Our main late afternoon entertainment was watching our neighbour spend over 90 minutes, in the pouring rain, erecting a small drive-away awning on his Erica-sized van. We didn’t have the luxury of outdoor space, but at least we only had to apply the handbrake on arrival, and move three crates from the rear to the driver’s seat, to consider ourselves set up.<br />
<br />
As the rain eased off sometime after tea, I wandered over to the registration desk to pick up my race number. A bit of TV, then early to bed (the running event was happening alongside a full-distance triathlon, which was starting at 6.30am, thus we expected people to be up and moving around from 5am).<br />
<br />
<u>Saturday</u><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wLYBGkN7-Qc/ZLVQXVrw-uI/AAAAAAAAZm4/Va3oV-FHUboOcGTrCFU3w8zocd0BbrEvgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230717_151757_com.memorymap.mm2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2280" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wLYBGkN7-Qc/ZLVQXVrw-uI/AAAAAAAAZm4/Va3oV-FHUboOcGTrCFU3w8zocd0BbrEvgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230717_151757_com.memorymap.mm2.jpg" width="151" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The 7km lap that I was going to repeat as many times as I could within 12 hours. </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
Over breakfast we watched triathletes swimming up and down the river. I have no idea how much wind affects open water swimming, but with the river looking decidedly choppy, it didn’t look as easy as it might have been on a calm day. Everyone was out of the water and on their bikes well before people started gathering for the 12-hour run.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nN2FqRPpPa4/ZLVQYBhm3dI/AAAAAAAAZnA/xukKIWnd13QQYDV1oJLjiPINEpLpQgdDgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230717-WA0000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-nN2FqRPpPa4/ZLVQYBhm3dI/AAAAAAAAZnA/xukKIWnd13QQYDV1oJLjiPINEpLpQgdDgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230717-WA0000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Spider Runners (except those who were in the Portaloos or faffing with kit elsewhere) </i></div></i>
<br />
With ten minutes to go until the off, the heavens opened. “At least with this wind it will pass through quickly” I said, but it was a bigger pocket of rain than I’d thought, and was still going when our starting klaxon sounded. There were two other occasions throughout the day that I put my waterproof jacket back on, but in total I can’t have worn it for more than 20 minutes, so it wasn’t a bad day from a rain point of view. There was certainly more sun than rain, but it was the wind that was the most notable feature – a blessing and a curse, but perhaps the blessing outweighed the curse, as not only were the tailwind sections of the course nice, but it stopped the temperature from feeling too warm.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qmwde18f7s4/ZLVQYoGyaPI/AAAAAAAAZnI/dgwbTVTTtCkdZ_PAEm3XhTOFeRs-puB6wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230717_150654.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1792" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-qmwde18f7s4/ZLVQYoGyaPI/AAAAAAAAZnI/dgwbTVTTtCkdZ_PAEm3XhTOFeRs-puB6wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230717_150654.jpg" width="192" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zhNxxNhTU9Y/ZLVQZDPS7jI/AAAAAAAAZnQ/pgK6AKKPnjs71jcmdN8iRr3DNYkCT2GtwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230717_150740.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1845" data-original-width="1026" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zhNxxNhTU9Y/ZLVQZDPS7jI/AAAAAAAAZnQ/pgK6AKKPnjs71jcmdN8iRr3DNYkCT2GtwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230717_150740.jpg" width="177" /></a></div><i>We were under a Met Office weather warning for strong winds and the course became more littered with tree debris as the day went on.</i><br /></div>
<br />
The whole thing was good fun (maybe less so in Lap 10; lots of aches and pains by then, particularly during the period when my right little toe nail was parting company with my toe), with superb supportive marshals, and good chat with other competitors. A not-quite-unique-but-unusual feature was that we ran through the huge beer tent on every lap, with the excellent announcer announcing every runner each time, whipping up lots of cheers and support. <br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jkwins9fW4E/ZLVQZhP2OKI/AAAAAAAAZnY/TCfUOYfgxacKxMvD4TogDtW3d8SV7OyIQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jkwins9fW4E/ZLVQZhP2OKI/AAAAAAAAZnY/TCfUOYfgxacKxMvD4TogDtW3d8SV7OyIQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0001.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><i><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Start of Lap 1</i></div></i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KtVceITc4Jw/ZLVQaGB32CI/AAAAAAAAZng/aUZ_Kp0WwCst4tktRX73KJWFqhZiXo3sACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-KtVceITc4Jw/ZLVQaGB32CI/AAAAAAAAZng/aUZ_Kp0WwCst4tktRX73KJWFqhZiXo3sACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0002.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><i>Lap 6</i></div><br />
Gradually, from a few laps in, we were joined on the course by the triathletes running 6 laps for the marathon element of their event. Not so much chatting with them, as, by the nature of their event, they were focused on finishing as soon as possible, rather than pacing themselves to go as far as possible, but I managed to spend a couple of hundred metres with a few of them before they pulled ahead. <br />
<br />
Mick, having tended to all my needs and diva-ish wants (“Can you make me a hummus and avocado wrap for the end of the next lap? And can you cut it into quarters for me?”, that sort of thing) throughout the day, came out with me for the final two laps as I wasn’t happy with the thought of making my way around the now almost deserted (most other runners had stopped, and those who remained were well spread out) public paths through the parkland by myself in the dark, with the prospect of gathering yoofs and random drunks* and, who knew, maybe mad axe murderers and rapists. <br />
<br />
After Lap 10 it had felt touch and go as to whether I would complete Lap 11 in time to start Lap 12 (this event had a hard 2230 cut off, not a ‘you’ve started so you can finish' policy for the final lap), but I managed to speed back up almost to the pace of my first laps, and finished with a whole eighteen minutes to spare. I’d covered 84km (52.5 miles) in 11 hours and 42 minutes.<br />
<br />
What I really wanted to do then was to go back to Erica, have a recovery drink, have something to eat and get changed, but then I discovered that I’d either come first or second female, and I really wanted to know which. Plus, I’ve never stood on a podium before and had a great heavy medal put around my neck, so there was that novelty too (I can now report that getting back down from the podium after spending almost 12 hours of running is a challenge!).<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zPRwF3iE-ac/ZLVQa7dg-bI/AAAAAAAAZno/RH_-uqd1aMw0Jg__qMj2kT-XEskx53H5ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-zPRwF3iE-ac/ZLVQa7dg-bI/AAAAAAAAZno/RH_-uqd1aMw0Jg__qMj2kT-XEskx53H5ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230716-WA0000.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
<i>On the podium, in the dark. Third placed woman, also a Spider Runner, had (quite sensibly!) already gone home.</i><br />
<br />
It turned out that I’d come second. First lady did the same number of laps, but 4 minutes faster. Could I have gone 5 minutes faster over the course of 12 hours? Undoubtedly. I didn’t need to walk the majority of laps 3 and 8, but did so because I was chatting with interesting people. I didn’t need to stop to chat to one marshal in particular on every lap (I spoke to all of them in passing, but this one I stopped for a few words each time). And I didn’t need to help by recovering signs that had blown away and re-siting them. But would I have had such a fun day if I’d omitted all of those things? Definitely not. So, I’m delighted with taking second place (quite frankly, just meeting my own goal was enough. The podium place was the icing on an already magnificent cake).<br />
<br />
We finally got to bed at midnight, without me having had any post-race food (not helped by the fact that whilst packing Erica on Friday I said I would check her gas level, I then got distracted in the 10 seconds it took to get from house to vehicle, and didn’t check it. We ran out on Saturday afternoon, so couldn’t heat our evening meals). Initially I lay there with my mind far too active for sleep. Then I just couldn’t find a comfortable position with so many bits of me hurting. Then at 2am the hunger hit, and I couldn’t retrieve any food without disturbing Mick, so I lay there hungry until 5am when I finally fell asleep. At 6.30am we were woken by some noisy machinery nearby (we didn’t investigate, but I now think it was probably the portaloos being serviced and emptied, ready for another, shorter-distance triathlon today).<br />
<br />
<u>Sunday</u><br />
With no gas to make a cup of tea this morning, and having forgotten to soak our porridge last night, and with my left hip screaming at me when I put weight on it, and an angry lumpy tendon in my left foot** (yes, Saturday was fun, honest!), walking into St Neots didn’t greatly appeal. So, we got away early and drove to the first McDonalds on our route home. A McMuffin meal was exactly what I needed, but perhaps I should have got myself two cups of tea.<br />
<br />
We were home by mid-morning, having completely failed to see St Neots during our visit there, but an excellent time was had (more so by me, but Mick enjoyed his day too).</div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> </div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b5R0dLEGXyU/ZLVQbl_n3CI/AAAAAAAAZnw/KVgdNxEJmcIEZFlVtRFsvf3qbUzoqWF4QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230717_145829.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2132" data-original-width="1119" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-b5R0dLEGXyU/ZLVQbl_n3CI/AAAAAAAAZnw/KVgdNxEJmcIEZFlVtRFsvf3qbUzoqWF4QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230717_145829.jpg" width="167" /></a></div></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><i>I could identify with this in other contexts, but in this case, I'd only entered two weeks ago</i><i><br /></i>
<br />
<sup>(</sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">*as it went, the gathering yoofs I encountered on Lap 10 had all gone by dusk, and only one staggering drunk was seen, who went off in a different direction before we caught him up. No idea if we met any murderers and rapists - a minuscule risk but not a category of person you can identify in passing.</span></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sup>
**when I entered this event 2 weeks prior, I knew I wasn't properly trained for it but also thought I was in good enough shape to give it a go. For me, the difference between training and not is the level of pain incurred.)</sup><br />
</div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-24806577420290746932023-06-22T11:09:00.000-07:002023-06-22T11:09:37.923-07:00Off Topic*: Cannock Chase - Long Route Plotting<p>Conrad's comment on my last post sent my mind down a short rabbit hole wondering how long one could make a single 'circuit' route on Cannock Chase, without any repetition of paths.</p><p>I confess that I didn't put much effort into finding out, and having plotted the route shown in the map snippets below, I can immediately see how it could be made longer, although I would hesitate in heading up to Slitting Mill as I'm not familiar with the paths up there and it is home to the Mountain Bike centre.</p><p>I also failed slightly on the 'no repetition' rule as there's about 200m of repeating the same path in the opposite direction. Otherwise, the route just touches itself at several crossroads, before heading off in a different direction. </p><p>It comes in at 75km with 1400m of ascent. I reckon it could be increased by another 5-10km without much difficulty. (I couldn't fit it all on one snippet, and it would have been helpful if I'd given a bit more overlap so you could see more easily how the two snippets line up.)<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxSHyxX-oLuTwP8gG2Yn4CwDyiZPRSnIQ2OI6kbRuIrw2xfQG_0VFT-iy86NE_mMeH_vfHQQcqQ33dx9HOosgik45cUh3mNFZzkAXsh7zuCrZLCLcgbF2rW3FwWp9olmwfW4-lzed-IO0-n5WH6abhXkQOjdqsNljPSIS4a84y4CgldQzocCQuZvzfEM/s884/60k%20route%20north%20side.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="553" data-original-width="884" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxSHyxX-oLuTwP8gG2Yn4CwDyiZPRSnIQ2OI6kbRuIrw2xfQG_0VFT-iy86NE_mMeH_vfHQQcqQ33dx9HOosgik45cUh3mNFZzkAXsh7zuCrZLCLcgbF2rW3FwWp9olmwfW4-lzed-IO0-n5WH6abhXkQOjdqsNljPSIS4a84y4CgldQzocCQuZvzfEM/w640-h400/60k%20route%20north%20side.JPG" width="640" /></a></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKxQ0MceXJQXKb9DWu1tdhpZsLlRgHqbzSDO5IKL0D5vAJUHi0JZkq6TSs-nJO3-0HhVQWZx-YIeHh_8oSZKOh0XB_ubtb5ZCfVJA_9XQXRAdYmCDe1ymW3HWcjt1d9sll11kkZrNVUU98t30HSwWSzVgMHm33J2b5Bta3PgmPEAkRtzNdZuuXbLXIjQ/s1137/60k%20route%20south%20side.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="495" data-original-width="1137" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPKxQ0MceXJQXKb9DWu1tdhpZsLlRgHqbzSDO5IKL0D5vAJUHi0JZkq6TSs-nJO3-0HhVQWZx-YIeHh_8oSZKOh0XB_ubtb5ZCfVJA_9XQXRAdYmCDe1ymW3HWcjt1d9sll11kkZrNVUU98t30HSwWSzVgMHm33J2b5Bta3PgmPEAkRtzNdZuuXbLXIjQ/w640-h278/60k%20route%20south%20side.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />Will one of us be going to try it out? 'Fraid not! We're both happy with circuits on the bits of the Chase we like the most, but it was an interesting (to me, at least) exercise all the same. <p></p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">(*Not sure if it's technically possible to be 'off topic' when it's my blog and has no declared topic!)</span><br /></p><p><br /></p>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-46974223994573331262023-06-21T11:11:00.001-07:002023-06-21T11:45:00.818-07:00Monday to Wednesday 19-21 June – Cannock Chase <b>Where’s Bertie?</b> He’s spending two nights at Tackeroo
Campsite on Cannock Chase, where it costs £20 per night, unless you manage to
get one of the 5-per-day ‘early bird’ pitches, which we did on Tuesday, so our
stay came to £35.
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><b>Weather: </b>Monday – sunny and warm; Tuesday – heavy rain until
about 1030, giving way to drizzle then finally coming sunny in the late
afternoon; Wednesday – Sunny intervals and warm.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><br></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><u>Monday</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">We’re having a little holiday, in a location so close to
home that it’s not just ‘day trip’ territory, but ‘We’ll just nip there for a
10k run’ territory, staying at the campsite opposite the car park we usually use, and through which our usual circuit around the
Chase runs. </div>
<p class="MsoNormal">So close to home are we that even with a need to nip to a
supermarket en-route, we left home at gone noon and arrived two minutes after
the earliest arrival time of 1300. Leaving home we had a brief discussion as to
route, and opted to go the way we would usually travel, even though it involves
a short narrow section of road – no problem unless you meet a lorry or bus
coming the other way. With weight limits on surrounding roads, it’s not often
these days that lorries use that road and I reasoned that with the
bus service only running one per hour, the chances of meeting a bus were,
oooh, around 99% certain.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We duly met the bus at the narrowest bit of road.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With some water put into Bertie’s tank (something we would
have done before leaving home, except that if we were going to pay £20 just to
park somewhere for a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>night, then I was
jolly well going to use their water supply), it only took us a few moments to
choose where to plonk Bertie. There are no marked pitches, and capacity for
around 70 units. With seven units there on Monday and five on Tuesday, there
was no need to consider best use of space; instead we just chose to put
Bertie in the biggest patch of sunshine we could see.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lfGtIohJcPM/ZJM-neM3ilI/AAAAAAAAZjU/j0clR4AqhFsjpxSJXMrUi0TZL_P2FvpcwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230619_155505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-lfGtIohJcPM/ZJM-neM3ilI/AAAAAAAAZjU/j0clR4AqhFsjpxSJXMrUi0TZL_P2FvpcwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230619_155505.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>Bertie in a nice big clearing, allowing the sun to reach his solar panel</i><br><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Not much to report from the rest of the day. Our activity
only extended to a late afternoon circuit via the Visitor Centre.</p>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><u>Tuesday</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">Today was the reason for taking a holiday so close to home.
Last week we travelled to the Lakes for Mick to do a couple of long runs, but
due to the high temperatures/lack of water, we postponed for a week. This week,
rather than driving all the way back to the Lakes, we went for the logistically
easy option of Cannock Chase: even if the temperature had been just as hot as
last week, Mick could run circuits of whatever size seemed appropriate for the
frequency of water refills he wanted. Clearly, we could have driven over just
for the day, as we have uncountable times before, but by staying over we could
call it a holiday <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and </i>have an extra
half an hour in bed whilst still achieving an early start.</div>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’d planned to join Mick for his first lap, but when I heard
the rain drumming down, postponing my run seemed like a much better idea, so it
was just Mick who headed out at 0715.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I then planned to join Mick for his second lap, but the rain
was still drumming down when he popped by for second breakfast, so I postponed
again. It’s not entirely that I’m a fair-weather runner, more the thought of
how much wet stuff we would have lying around if we both got soaked.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the time Mick was an hour through his next lap, my feet
were itchy and the rain had slowed to a drizzle, so I headed out to intercept
him. I only stayed with him for a couple of kilometres, cutting back to Bertie
when we reached the Visitor Centre so that I could have his next set of food
and drink waiting for him.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As he headed out for his final lap, I followed a minute
later, but in a different direction. Figuring that our paces wouldn’t be
well-matched, I opted for a different (and shorter) route. The drizzle finally stopped just
as I was on my way back to Bertie. By the time Mick got back the sun was coming
out.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U1sStQ_-6to/ZJM-oWmIDQI/AAAAAAAAZjc/s8RKJTwUDpEmWXLqoxpiFiIKP3ZpqTNwQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230620_142359.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U1sStQ_-6to/ZJM-oWmIDQI/AAAAAAAAZjc/s8RKJTwUDpEmWXLqoxpiFiIKP3ZpqTNwQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230620_142359.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>Rain has nearly, but not quite, stopped</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8b9aE4-bSQg/ZJM-pkfHnTI/AAAAAAAAZjk/k0Fm9-i9xX4BlLw6J4I19jbknrVfNcWMwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230620_150223.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8b9aE4-bSQg/ZJM-pkfHnTI/AAAAAAAAZjk/k0Fm9-i9xX4BlLw6J4I19jbknrVfNcWMwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230620_150223.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>That's not Bertie, but some of Bertie is visible in the distance. There really is a lot of room on this site when there are only four vehicles there (as was the case when I took this snap)</i> <br><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It had been a successful day, with Mick covering just over
51km. Understandably, after showers, we’ve sat around for the rest of the day.</p>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><u>Wednesday</u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">A gloriously sunny day and a ‘please vacate your pitch by
11am’ request, so we were up and out again by 0730, Mick for a gentle 2 hours,
me for a little longer.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SynSTdktoh0/ZJM-q7ALz_I/AAAAAAAAZjs/nQEjko3WmSQ4lXHnWFl3UEA1tqrpRNUAgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230621_081025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SynSTdktoh0/ZJM-q7ALz_I/AAAAAAAAZjs/nQEjko3WmSQ4lXHnWFl3UEA1tqrpRNUAgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230621_081025.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>We set out together, but soon lost each other</i> <br><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">I managed to take a wrong turn somewhere along the way,
which is quite impressive considering how many times I’ve done this route and
where I went awry (had it been in the area to the north of Penkridge Bank, I
could have used the excuse that the paths currently look completely different
from what we’re used to due to the bracken, but I was on the forest tracks on
the south side, which look exactly as they always do), but other than adding in
a bit of extra ascent, it made no difference to my objectives.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2cQn6rvbwxY/ZJM-sH-E0PI/AAAAAAAAZj0/3tWw7Isfk7kRFzSQXk9jXRoCqfoCEorYQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230621_090831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2cQn6rvbwxY/ZJM-sH-E0PI/AAAAAAAAZj0/3tWw7Isfk7kRFzSQXk9jXRoCqfoCEorYQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230621_090831.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>Sunshine!</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wuScY3xkn_Y/ZJM-tsRjfdI/AAAAAAAAZj8/L6iBFThoWTgzrNlby5wUVjbm9jNc_Cz0QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230621_101323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-wuScY3xkn_Y/ZJM-tsRjfdI/AAAAAAAAZj8/L6iBFThoWTgzrNlby5wUVjbm9jNc_Cz0QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230621_101323.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>Water's low </i> <br><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Back at Bertie, it would have been nice to spend the rest of
the day lazing around in the pleasant forest setting, but we weren’t at liberty
to do that*, so everything got packed away and back home we came. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We clearly mistimed our journey, as this time we met the
once-per-hour bus a couple of hundred metres before the narrow bit of road.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A surprisingly good time was had, not so much with our
circuits of the Chase (which we do quite regularly anyway and are always lovely),
but staying over on site. So, whilst the campsite is undoubtedly well
overpriced for what it is (facilities = tap (not for exclusive use of paying
campsite guests), chemical disposal point and bin; and it’s not at all private
with walkers, runners, mountain bikers and horse riders coming through at all
times), we would go back, provided we could get an ‘early bird’ pitch.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(*I’m beginning to think that the NHS has invested in a ‘they’ve
gone away for a week’ sensor, as it’s becoming uncanny how many times lately we’ve
gone away, intending the trip to last a week, only to receive a phone call from
appointments that requires us to return home. For this trip we’d packed for a
week, albeit without a plan as to where we were going after Cannock Chase.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
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<![endif]-->Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-37046918548090612562023-06-15T11:21:00.003-07:002023-06-16T00:27:44.487-07:00Sunday - Wednesday 11-14 June - Coniston<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Saturday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Everything started per plan. After witnessing the smashing
of a course record at parkrun, we headed off to Halifax to see Ma-in-Law.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Sunday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We continued per plan. Bearing cakes, we travelled via <a href="https://conrqdwalks.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Conrad</a> in Arnside, where we’d intended to just pop by for tea and cake on our
way to Coniston. “Just popping by” turned into four hours of most enjoyable
chatting.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A constant stream of traffic was exiting south from the
Lakes as we headed in, and we arrived in Coniston to find our desired parking
spot to be free. Didn’t end up sleeping in that exact spot, mind, due to a
drunk driver and fear for Erica’s body work. The spot just down the road turned
out to be where we would spend the next three nights.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Monday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This is where we veered off plan, and away from the very reason
for this trip to the Lakes. The plan for Monday had been that Mick was going to
travel from Coniston to Braithwaite on foot, whilst I drove around, meeting him
in Boot and Buttermere on the way. The forecast when we left home had been a
bit on the warm side (24 degrees), but manageable. When I checked the forecasts
again at bedtime on Sunday night the prediction was 30 degrees (with an
overnight low of 20, so even the 5am alarm wasn’t going to give cool
conditions), and whilst heat acclimatisation would be beneficial, getting heat
stroke would not be. We ran through various options before deciding to take
advantage of the fact that Mick has time in hand in his training plan. If he
didn’t need to do silly-long distances in silly-hot heat, then he shouldn’t. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, instead of a long linear route, Mick did two shorter
routes, the first an out-and-back, the second a circuit, broken by a
refreshment break in Erica. As I now didn't need to drive anywhere, I joined Mick for the first outing. During his
second I nipped into Coniston and treated Erica to a new kettle, to replace her
remarkably poor quality, and too small*, Regatta one.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Later there was a successful quest for
ice cream, which was followed by a spell of people-watching from a bench. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Our parking spot proved to be perfect in the weather. Under
heavy tree cover, and with Erica’s sliding door discreetly open against a dry
stone wall (rather than facing the road), it never got unbearably hot inside
her. We even had a view of the river.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4DEbEpZjZpM/ZIth3PDqd4I/AAAAAAAAZc4/Dzt-NHuEs8UN0qq41hO23hvQs2xmh8bhQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_065911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4DEbEpZjZpM/ZIth3PDqd4I/AAAAAAAAZc4/Dzt-NHuEs8UN0qq41hO23hvQs2xmh8bhQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_065911.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="2448" width="320" height="240"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iN_Qx9_UOrY/ZIth46qSlXI/AAAAAAAAZdA/05jOkwRuWRcdN8Z8Q_weQHzXDX5mCNLQACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_080448.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iN_Qx9_UOrY/ZIth46qSlXI/AAAAAAAAZdA/05jOkwRuWRcdN8Z8Q_weQHzXDX5mCNLQACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_080448.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4608" data-original-height="2272" width="320" height="157"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Hot day = not much clothing needed</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2XJPNEScwt0/ZIth6RdcQEI/AAAAAAAAZdI/xNVliLrrLMEJYQROX9ftXDhqYMDx7golQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_182145.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2XJPNEScwt0/ZIth6RdcQEI/AAAAAAAAZdI/xNVliLrrLMEJYQROX9ftXDhqYMDx7golQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_182145.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4608" data-original-height="2272" width="320" height="157"></a></div>View from Erica's sliding door</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D2ndtXIelR8/ZIth8NMyC9I/AAAAAAAAZdQ/FGa_qpUq8-E1wlLu3fj-fUMekpoIc-BeQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_182242.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D2ndtXIelR8/ZIth8NMyC9I/AAAAAAAAZdQ/FGa_qpUq8-E1wlLu3fj-fUMekpoIc-BeQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230612_182242.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4608" data-original-height="3456" width="320" height="240"></a></div>Late afternoon situation. </i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Tuesday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The plan for Tuesday had been for Mick to travel from
Braithwaite to Dockray on foot, and the logistics of that one would have worked
out fine in the weather, save for the fact that we weren’t in Braithwaite and
it made no sense to drive there. Instead we went for a circuit of The Old Man
of Coniston and Dow Crags.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6dLq9hQIDOk/ZIth9q4fHxI/AAAAAAAAZdY/39cSTFylw2oaQEhiMVkMubGsikCQDRwJQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_073552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-6dLq9hQIDOk/ZIth9q4fHxI/AAAAAAAAZdY/39cSTFylw2oaQEhiMVkMubGsikCQDRwJQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_073552.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="2448" width="320" height="240"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iR9csKGwGb8/ZIth-dbc9QI/AAAAAAAAZdg/cKejE__wBgcyX6IF-Olj6vSZ1Vz6OcY9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_083557-1152x568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iR9csKGwGb8/ZIth-dbc9QI/AAAAAAAAZdg/cKejE__wBgcyX6IF-Olj6vSZ1Vz6OcY9ACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_083557-1152x568.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1152" data-original-height="568" width="320" height="157"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LyZdLCgVa_Q/ZIth_DyuIVI/AAAAAAAAZdo/2IXAje7QJN4Dg7G_SYtZDLEhHinmP5rEwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_085406-1152x864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LyZdLCgVa_Q/ZIth_DyuIVI/AAAAAAAAZdo/2IXAje7QJN4Dg7G_SYtZDLEhHinmP5rEwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_085406-1152x864.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1152" data-original-height="864" width="320" height="240"></a></div></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We were back by eleven, and gave momentary contemplation to
moving to a campsite for the benefit of a shower and a service point, but the
place where we were parked was so comfortable in the hot weather that we
decided that the money would be better spent elsewhere. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We started with one of the village’s café’s, where it was
almost unbearably hot, but the food was plentiful and good:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CFQw7M3brY4/ZItiBCGNkMI/AAAAAAAAZdw/QE2aPfNqOkUro9XF-x-EtYMjY5g8gOtQgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_112913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CFQw7M3brY4/ZItiBCGNkMI/AAAAAAAAZdw/QE2aPfNqOkUro9XF-x-EtYMjY5g8gOtQgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_112913.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="2448" width="320" height="240"></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Look at those ridiculous doorsteps of toast in the back right corner. The teapot supplied three mugs apiece too. </i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for our evening meal, we’d left home with Erica’s cool box full to the brim, and it
just about coped with keeping everything cool enough through Sunday and Monday.
I’d planned to buy something in Booths in Keswick for Tuesday night, but in
view of our continued residence in Coniston, their little shops had to provide
instead. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cEWQ73cDYQ8/ZItiCeqRzhI/AAAAAAAAZd4/-lHqRaCO9fYJT41I3dUQplGkXuRgbC1lACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_172912.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-cEWQ73cDYQ8/ZItiCeqRzhI/AAAAAAAAZd4/-lHqRaCO9fYJT41I3dUQplGkXuRgbC1lACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230613_172912.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="2448" width="320" height="240"></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><i>The quiche was disappointing. The rest was simple but
good. The accompanying alcohol-free Doom Bar and Thatcher’s cider were ice
cold.</i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Wednesday</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mick almost got a lie-in. I’d tried to be really organised on
Tuesday evening and get out everything that I’d need before going out on
Wednesday morning, only to realise once the bed was out that I’d not got the
teabags. To access the teabag cupboard, the bed needed to be moved. If we were
to rebuild Erica there are definitely practical improvements (albeit aesthetic
degradations) that we could make to her kitchen unit. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I did, however, leave Mick resting on the sofa as I headed
out nice and early for a circuit of Wetherlam and Swirl How (plus a couple of
little out-and-back add-ons, as it was such a fabulous day to be up there). I
sent Mick a summit snap:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x7iChjRaabM/ZItiDdJoBPI/AAAAAAAAZeA/CtwXlOaGYFITvABqvZDge29b58TUf-1GgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_083737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x7iChjRaabM/ZItiDdJoBPI/AAAAAAAAZeA/CtwXlOaGYFITvABqvZDge29b58TUf-1GgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_083737.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In return, Mick sent me a café snap:</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CpLTq68CpZU/ZItiEAsUnxI/AAAAAAAAZeI/zUj9A50pHKI4-wAexrReeMlaDE6spKa8wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230614-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CpLTq68CpZU/ZItiEAsUnxI/AAAAAAAAZeI/zUj9A50pHKI4-wAexrReeMlaDE6spKa8wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230614-WA0004.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="899" data-original-height="1599" width="179" height="320"></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>His bacon sandwich had been much bigger some time before he took the snap. </i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I got back to Erica to find that Mick had ended his café
visit by buying me a piece of cake, that I failed to photograph until I’d taken
my first bite:</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gMBvhEZ9mSs/ZItiFJteEiI/AAAAAAAAZeQ/DdIfxf9Ry6U7UKKbI8ZsTPLDrUtT2X8iACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_111433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gMBvhEZ9mSs/ZItiFJteEiI/AAAAAAAAZeQ/DdIfxf9Ry6U7UKKbI8ZsTPLDrUtT2X8iACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_111433.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1616" data-original-height="3264" width="158" height="320"></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With cake consumed, a quick body wash and delightful hair
wash in Erica’s sink preceded our final foray into Coniston, this time to
sample the Yewdale Inn’s pizza offerings. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1PKacNcJUo0/ZItiGac34PI/AAAAAAAAZeY/uijss1kSg3MsT7EgHgZPYTrKipdCzPqKgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_122506.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1PKacNcJUo0/ZItiGac34PI/AAAAAAAAZeY/uijss1kSg3MsT7EgHgZPYTrKipdCzPqKgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230614_122506.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="2448" width="320" height="240"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>It was a bit too hot on the heels of Mick’s brunch, but
between us we managed to polish it off. </i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then it was home time. Such a shame to have to drive away
from the hills in such fantastic weather conditions, but an appointment called.
</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>Conclusion</u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Whilst we didn’t fulfil the original objective of the trip,
we had a far nicer and much more relaxed time with how things panned out.
Surprising how enjoyable it can be to park in a side road and kip in your car
for three days straight! </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(*Can a kettle reasonably be advertised as having a volume
of 1 litre when that volume is only achieved by filling it to the lid, which is
an impossibility due to the position of the spout? The new kettle advertises
itself as 1.4 litres and I’m confident that we’ll be able to fit two mugs of
water in it. It’s not been tried yet, as it needed water boiling and discarding
prior to first use, and we didn’t have the water to spare for that.)</span></p>
<p></p>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-82548672775689730152023-05-30T11:18:00.001-07:002023-05-30T12:03:44.379-07:00Sunday & Monday 28&29 May: Braithewaite & Shap<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><b>Where was Bertie?</b> Sunday - the same minor road by Braithewaite as was used by Erica on 1 May; Monday - the same pull in on a B-road by Shap we've used a number of times before.<br>
<b>Weather:</b> Glorious! 22 degrees on Monday (Sunday got warmer as we drove south, topping out at about 20)<br>
<br>
On Friday I looked at where we might go on Sunday for Mick's long run. Options included taking a detour between Montrose and home to go via Braemar (for a circuit of the Lochnagar hills) or Dalwhinnie (to do a circuit we'd wanted to do pre-TGOC, if circumstances hadn't kept us at home). <br>
<br>
Then it occurred to me that the detour to the Lakeland 100 route between Braithewaite and Dacre was not only minor* but it's also the only part of the route that is suitable for support to be provided from a vehicle of Bertie's size. Someone then pointed out that it was not only a Bank Holiday weekend, but also school holidays, and thus the Lake District was likely to be a busy place. My concession to this fact was to move Mick's run to Monday; otherwise I decided that the places I wanted to park wouldn't be significantly affected by the holiday. <br>
<br>
Having left Arbroath (after going out for breakfast) late on Sunday morning, and with stops for groceries, fuel and a late lunch (the first two almost together; the latter much later), it was about tea time as we arrived in Braithewaite and settled Bertie into the side road for the night.<br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GnHCcW1rJDk/ZHZFv2q7LZI/AAAAAAAAZXw/RQwooC04esA78JFqQ6LIWXoQSyHm91ACgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_072353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GnHCcW1rJDk/ZHZFv2q7LZI/AAAAAAAAZXw/RQwooC04esA78JFqQ6LIWXoQSyHm91ACgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_072353.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div>
<i>View from Bertie's front bumper this morning</i><br>
<br>
We're both still in need of more sleep, but in the interests of heat avoidance Mick was up at 6 and out the door at quarter past seven. Not many minutes later I set off too, for a remarkably quick and easy drive along the A66 to some parking on a minor road that lay 17km into Mick's route. <br>
<br>
Mick duly came along, ate his sandwich, necked a pint of water, had me top up the food and drink that he was carrying before trotting off again. <br>
<br>
My intention had been to stay in that road until Mick was almost done, whereupon I would tootle a few more miles E along the A66 to wait in a layby. Perusing the map whilst I killed time, I explored intermediate places I could park and calculated that if I drove to a parking area on a minor road near Troutbeck and got the Brompton bike out then I may just be able to intercept Mick as he reached the end of the Old Coach Road. <br>
<br>
As it turned out, by the time I'd parked, faffed, got the bike out and huffed and puffed up to the high point of the A591 between the A66 and Ullswater, I was cutting it too fine. A message from Mick said that he was 500m away from where I'd wanted to meet him and I was too far away. Not all was lost. The downhill involved in going via Dockray wasn't welcome (for the ascent it would involve on the way back), but it did speed me along to reach that point before Mick did. I met him half way up the minor road to the W of Dockray, about 30 seconds after a cyclist had told me that no, they hadn't recently passed a runner.<br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OVz0ZIJ2TU8/ZHZFyCsegzI/AAAAAAAAZX4/xH6ZgIcvdcEYaDUjWPhoLOpdgdcEgccOQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_120844.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OVz0ZIJ2TU8/ZHZFyCsegzI/AAAAAAAAZX4/xH6ZgIcvdcEYaDUjWPhoLOpdgdcEgccOQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_120844.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div>
<i>Mick, water bottles topped up, half a sandwich added to his food, and back off down the road towards Aria Force</i> <br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U4RRTSlmCDo/ZHZF1XwxuHI/AAAAAAAAZYA/hyQMf9n4Xb0c9NreX9ZCLf41OWW27_DZgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_122042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-U4RRTSlmCDo/ZHZF1XwxuHI/AAAAAAAAZYA/hyQMf9n4Xb0c9NreX9ZCLf41OWW27_DZgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_122042.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></div>
<i>My trusty steed for the day. On 2 May Erica was the only vehicle in this car park; rather more popular a place today!</i><br>
<br>
A bit more toiling uphill, then the amount of whooshing downhill by far outweighed the ups. <br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1L8qKATNizQ/ZHZF22x1ghI/AAAAAAAAZYI/QJ_Nfeuse6QmuHAyQIojVKgC7PelI94zACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_135707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1L8qKATNizQ/ZHZF22x1ghI/AAAAAAAAZYI/QJ_Nfeuse6QmuHAyQIojVKgC7PelI94zACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230529_135707.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1383" data-original-height="1958" width="226" height="320"></a></div>
<i>There's Bertie, patiently awaiting my return.</i><br>
<br>
I didn't move to the end-of-day pick-up location until just before I expected Mick to get there. A layby on a dual carriageway section of the A66 was never going to be a pleasant place to sit and wait, but I timed it well and wasn't there for more than 10 minutes.<br>
<br>
Another 15 minutes had us in this pull-in by Shap to while away the rest of the afternoon and spend the night. <br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-92DL9w5Qmss/ZHZF3dzJZDI/AAAAAAAAZYQ/COPiB7tTBU4j6484jQxn_RWzC82IoBr0QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230530_194505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-92DL9w5Qmss/ZHZF3dzJZDI/AAAAAAAAZYQ/COPiB7tTBU4j6484jQxn_RWzC82IoBr0QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230530_194505.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="760" data-original-height="699" width="320" height="294"></a></div>
<i>My route on the bike. 14.5km with 250m ascent.</i><br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i7E7FXfF7vk/ZHZF45GFB7I/AAAAAAAAZYY/Z9S2scO9l70nAC6P9RJKPmc8YVqIdEtigCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230530_194846.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-i7E7FXfF7vk/ZHZF45GFB7I/AAAAAAAAZYY/Z9S2scO9l70nAC6P9RJKPmc8YVqIdEtigCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230530_194846.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1068" data-original-height="783" width="320" height="234"></a></div>
<i>Mick's route on foot, using rather less informative base mapping (I've used a screen grab from Strava for this one). 42.2km, 1200m ascent.</i><br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_MqwRzL_5sk/ZHZF6SH7aUI/AAAAAAAAZYg/61WfgrCwhBg-K-D5aps-FN1jHfcP_MIiwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_MqwRzL_5sk/ZHZF6SH7aUI/AAAAAAAAZYg/61WfgrCwhBg-K-D5aps-FN1jHfcP_MIiwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0004.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="2016" data-original-height="1134" width="320" height="180"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HfO8A8SYAHo/ZHZF7glhNuI/AAAAAAAAZYo/P9mTq0fWrSY1XeueeE4Ab4r-ome9Wps-QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-HfO8A8SYAHo/ZHZF7glhNuI/AAAAAAAAZYo/P9mTq0fWrSY1XeueeE4Ab4r-ome9Wps-QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0003.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="2016" data-original-height="1134" width="320" height="180"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y13xFtSY3VQ/ZHZF9JwQF6I/AAAAAAAAZYw/oM2eifTu23sY_gWewXRlFpBg5Cw_OyEVwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-y13xFtSY3VQ/ZHZF9JwQF6I/AAAAAAAAZYw/oM2eifTu23sY_gWewXRlFpBg5Cw_OyEVwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0006.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1134" data-original-height="2016" width="180" height="320"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jMgooGd4TuU/ZHZF-eAMVhI/AAAAAAAAZY4/Y46NGexJCFoybVBrYyrY5sgJkh7yKSD1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jMgooGd4TuU/ZHZF-eAMVhI/AAAAAAAAZY4/Y46NGexJCFoybVBrYyrY5sgJkh7yKSD1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0002.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1134" data-original-height="2016" width="180" height="320"></a></div>
<i>Snaps from Mick's day</i><br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LthQLqEh5ZY/ZHZF_1s6YDI/AAAAAAAAZZE/JPwKIGDKQTQssmrRFkQ8oBtplH0fS3cZgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LthQLqEh5ZY/ZHZF_1s6YDI/AAAAAAAAZZE/JPwKIGDKQTQssmrRFkQ8oBtplH0fS3cZgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230530-WA0005.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="2016" data-original-height="1134" width="320" height="180"></a></div>
<i>There was a much bigger forest there a month ago!</i><br>
<br>
<br>
(*It would have been a more minor detour if the driver hadn't been so interested in what was being said on the radio as we left the M6 that, rather than joining the A66 they sailed merrily back onto the M6, resulting in a 20-mile round trip to get back to that roundabout. The navigator did exclaim "Where are you going?!" as the wrong exit was taken, but (thinking that the driver knew which exit to take and thus didn't need direction) but not in sufficient time to prevent the error.)</div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-64534689317571397082023-05-27T11:38:00.001-07:002023-05-27T12:39:19.107-07:00TGO Challenge 2023<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><b>Where was Bertie?</b> 9 May: motorhome parking area in Gretna Green where it costs £5 for a night (no facilities; exact location: 55.0024, -3.04971). 10-18 May: Newtonmore Hostel. 19-26 May: Park Hotel, Montrose. 27 May: motorhome parking area, Arbroath (exact location: 56.55293, -2.58721).<br />
<br />
We'd not been free to leave home until mid-afternoon on 9 May, so we made our aiming point for the night somewhere around Carlisle. I'd identified an overnight stop a couple of miles off the M6, but having made and eaten tea there, I was of the opinion that there was too much passing traffic for a good night's sleep. Surveying options, we decided that £5 for a reportedly quiet spot in Gretna was worthwhile. <br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ksvkDha6Y3Q/ZHJUPGfkzGI/AAAAAAAAZVU/abpDdcyaMAwlz7t4Q9iex8GxejJ2R2nHgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230509_195812-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ksvkDha6Y3Q/ZHJUPGfkzGI/AAAAAAAAZVU/abpDdcyaMAwlz7t4Q9iex8GxejJ2R2nHgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230509_195812-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Nightstop in Gretna</i><br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Im9Ca7xrVU0/ZHJUQMrW5UI/AAAAAAAAZVc/rNT2ahQJR5Ug9sXAFMhEOIa_ntAUn3O1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230509_195913-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" class="imageResizeTarget" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Im9Ca7xrVU0/ZHJUQMrW5UI/AAAAAAAAZVc/rNT2ahQJR5Ug9sXAFMhEOIa_ntAUn3O1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230509_195913-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Looking the other way. There were lots of trains, including freight, but I didn't notice them overnight.</i><br />
<br />
Arriving in Newtonmore on 10 May, manoeuvring Bertie through the gates and onto the drive was more straightforward than two years ago, thanks to the obstructive rowan tree being no more. As the rain came down outside, we set up TGO Challenge Control in the dining room, ready for the start of the event on Thursday 11th.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z_MAMwAmzOQ/ZHJURBWmfPI/AAAAAAAAZVk/-_FEhSYzYgc_WkEjcz_UqzbcJIyCKfupwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230513_180311-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Z_MAMwAmzOQ/ZHJURBWmfPI/AAAAAAAAZVk/-_FEhSYzYgc_WkEjcz_UqzbcJIyCKfupwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230513_180311-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>TGO Challenge Control in full swing a couple of days later. That's Ali (joint owner of the event) sitting next to Mick. </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div>
The eight days in Newtonmore passed by swiftly, with long days manning Challenge Control, with me and Mick taking it in turns for early morning runs on the trails between Newtonmore and Loch Gynack, mainly in good weather. Communal meals were shared each evening, hoping that the Challenge Control phone wouldn't ring too much whilst we ate. <br />
<br />
Martin & Sue arrived on the Monday, not only providing welcome help with manning the desk, but also providing meals for us - photos of which can be found on <a href="https://phreerunner.blogspot.com/?m=1" target="_blank">Martin's blog</a>.<br />
<br />
By Friday 19th, the cumulative effect of the late nights and early mornings was catching up on me, so the 0530 alarm wasn't welcome, but was necessary* as Challenge Control was on the move. By 9am we were all set up in the Kinnaird Room at the Park Hotel in Montrose, ready to welcome the first finishers. <br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XmwFkkXuciU/ZHJUSn_JbmI/AAAAAAAAZVs/AzjjSXdcXMIFWgB3YIhKAnGQSfEpZ0H3gCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230519_062518-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XmwFkkXuciU/ZHJUSn_JbmI/AAAAAAAAZVs/AzjjSXdcXMIFWgB3YIhKAnGQSfEpZ0H3gCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230519_062518-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Challenge Control on the move. Note that Bertie is left hand drive, so contrary to initial impressions, this was taken from the passenger seat. </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div>
It's almost unheard of, after the first couple of days of the Challenge (when there are few check-ins), for all Challengers who are scheduled to check in on any given day to remember their obligations, but in a freak incident everyone on the list on that Friday was accounted for by 9.02pm. I don't recall that ever happening on a peak day before! There were no documents to trawl through and no risk assessments to complete. Instead, we counted our blessings and took our weary selves off to bed before 9.30pm.<br />
<br />
Time again passed quickly, interspersed on the Monday with another move, but this time just from the Kinnaird Room (on the first floor) to the Garden Room (on the ground floor; it hadn't been available for the first three days we were in Montrose). The downstairs location is more convenient, as Bertie serves not just as sleeping quarters for me & Mick, but also provides self-catering and refrigeration facilities for the team. My attempts at discretion in carrying a pan of lentil stew through the hotel up to the first floor proved to be messy; being able to go straight from Bertie and in through the fire exit of the Garden Room was easier!<br />
<br />
At 4.30pm on Friday 26th, the final finishing Challenger came through the door, Challenge Control was taken down and stowed in Co-ordinator Ali's car, and to the final celebratory dinner we went (there are four throughout the week; we only attended the final one, after Challenge Control had closed). <br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aaVCyJz5QXs/ZHJUUnXHArI/AAAAAAAAZV0/XwwTF-B8_E4hoGp3zBkKnmVSQk0dKfz-wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_083723.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-aaVCyJz5QXs/ZHJUUnXHArI/AAAAAAAAZV0/XwwTF-B8_E4hoGp3zBkKnmVSQk0dKfz-wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_083723.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Those helping on Challenge Control get given a gift by way of a thank you. I'm awkward to buy for as the usual bottle of alcohol is no good for me. This year, in addition to a stash of dark chocolate, I got a 'cook the perfect egg' device - a thoughtful gift that I was grateful to receive**</i><br />
<br />
This morning (Saturday 27 May, in case I follow my recent trend and fail to post this for another 4 weeks or months!) there was one final social gathering to attend: Montrose parkrun.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-89bRoVS9Fio/ZHJUVUF-AVI/AAAAAAAAZV8/NnAprTWo1CcYJ1s1hNzBUzvNVLM1A4l7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230527-WA0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-89bRoVS9Fio/ZHJUVUF-AVI/AAAAAAAAZV8/NnAprTWo1CcYJ1s1hNzBUzvNVLM1A4l7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230527-WA0002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>A collection of 2023 TGO Challenge baselayers (a bit warm in today's conditions) at Montrose parkrun. The person in this snap who is not me, Mick or Martin, is a first time Challenger who came along to run in her walking shorts and camp sandals. The latter had fallen apart in the first week and were being held together by glue and duct tape.</i><br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gkFh7yp-BJI/ZHJUWNgaq2I/AAAAAAAAZWE/OdXCgzxVn0UmKjg8DAIW5w1gEVCXginQACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230527-WA0003.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1134" data-original-width="2016" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gkFh7yp-BJI/ZHJUWNgaq2I/AAAAAAAAZWE/OdXCgzxVn0UmKjg8DAIW5w1gEVCXginQACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230527-WA0003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>A slightly different collection of TGO Challenge branded clothing</i><br />
<br />
With nothing on the agenda for today, when Martin & Sue asked if we were going to Charleton fruit farm after the run, we thought it an excellent idea. We dragged Neil & Sue along too (Sue O = other joint owner of the TGO Challenge). <br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RMlN1J67stc/ZHJUWzTm3aI/AAAAAAAAZWM/o-52F6cnBBENAzByO7Btx8G2g27TUy5ywCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230527-WA0000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RMlN1J67stc/ZHJUWzTm3aI/AAAAAAAAZWM/o-52F6cnBBENAzByO7Btx8G2g27TUy5ywCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230527-WA0000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>Five strawberry tarts and a breakfast roll for Neil who broke the Montrose parkrun course record in his age category this morning.</i><br />
<br />
Dropping Neil and Sue back off in Montrose, a decision was then needed: where were we going today? I set the SatNav for Perth to give us time to think. In the event, we made it just 11 miles down the road to Arbroath. Lunchtime was upon us, so we thought we'd just pull into the motorhome parking area for lunch.<br />
<br />
Walking back towards town, we spotted the 'no motorhomes beyond this point' sign that we'd missed on our way in. There were probably a dozen vehicles beyond that point, but the sign is there for a reason and we weren't prepared to add to the problem of people ignoring it. A quick check that there was nowhere available within the permitted area, and the decision was made that we would have to drive on. Turning Bertie around was a multi-part manoeuvre in a narrow roadway, with kerbs either side and no turning place, and by the time we got back to the entrance one of the cars parked in the motorhome area had just moved. Score!<br />
<br />
We celebrated with a lunch of Arbroath smokies...<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QEA-VzIU1II/ZHJUXlT6CiI/AAAAAAAAZWU/x01NqdeTctspNRzY0P7x9PojU-SwbTkSwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_132812-1305x1740.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1740" data-original-width="1305" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-QEA-VzIU1II/ZHJUXlT6CiI/AAAAAAAAZWU/x01NqdeTctspNRzY0P7x9PojU-SwbTkSwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_132812-1305x1740.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
...followed by an ice cream on the harbour:<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WfQ69oE57zU/ZHJUYvqUcRI/AAAAAAAAZWc/bzFCEavrk80TqUdC2r-lkPCtEvsPjGjcwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_144336-1305x978.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="978" data-original-width="1305" height="239" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WfQ69oE57zU/ZHJUYvqUcRI/AAAAAAAAZWc/bzFCEavrk80TqUdC2r-lkPCtEvsPjGjcwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_144336-1305x978.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<i>The day has become increasingly clear and sunny, with barely a cloud in the sky as I type this, but it's not been that warm, especially with the wind, hence the insulated jackets.</i><br />
<br />
By the time we got back to Bertie we could see no sense in moving on. We shall spend the night here, literally stone's throw from the North Sea.<br />
<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-unXb5dQ2Eh8/ZHJUZA6QM7I/AAAAAAAAZWk/v9F61otdYaMQHaTUUCelDwZlSkUyIHLUgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_150320-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-unXb5dQ2Eh8/ZHJUZA6QM7I/AAAAAAAAZWk/v9F61otdYaMQHaTUUCelDwZlSkUyIHLUgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230527_150320-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Looking towards the harbour from Bertie's front bumper. </i></div>
<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Overall, a fairly exhausting but fun two weeks spent in good company. <br /></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /></div>A few snaps from runs taken from Newtonmore to Loch Gynack:</div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eIMqj7D3jso/ZHJUZ-GYo9I/AAAAAAAAZWs/Gq6Wg1j9ukgH1Xj8BOd4AOpkS52hCBNzACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230511_084606-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eIMqj7D3jso/ZHJUZ-GYo9I/AAAAAAAAZWs/Gq6Wg1j9ukgH1Xj8BOd4AOpkS52hCBNzACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230511_084606-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R6niAmwjj3Y/ZHJUapf17fI/AAAAAAAAZW0/wmSfrRFwqYE3pMvrSaBG8S-Vm8SILP8uACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230511_094544_001_COVER-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R6niAmwjj3Y/ZHJUapf17fI/AAAAAAAAZW0/wmSfrRFwqYE3pMvrSaBG8S-Vm8SILP8uACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230511_094544_001_COVER-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iInVfFos0ow/ZHJUbHKCrpI/AAAAAAAAZW8/SbLppdkAgF4AWeisPYfqMGuV7LSWPpnagCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230511_091414-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iInVfFos0ow/ZHJUbHKCrpI/AAAAAAAAZW8/SbLppdkAgF4AWeisPYfqMGuV7LSWPpnagCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230511_091414-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C1q7l03bSsQ/ZHJUb6D5uAI/AAAAAAAAZXE/Bjup3xTdSYQIacwdfF0sOIOAqKRqV9s8wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230517_085434-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C1q7l03bSsQ/ZHJUb6D5uAI/AAAAAAAAZXE/Bjup3xTdSYQIacwdfF0sOIOAqKRqV9s8wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230517_085434-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><br /></div><br />
(*Officially, Challenge Control is open from 9am to 9pm, but there's usually at least one person working from 8am. At the end of the day the 'Overdue Challenger' process starts at 8.30pm and usually goes on until gone 10pm; at least one night it was 11pm. We take it in turns to take the phones to bed with us. The move to Montrose had to take place outside of the opening hours, and I did wonder whether we would have been better setting out at 10.30pm, rather than 5.30am, which I think would have netted us half an hour more sleep.<br />**I cooked quite a few successful meals, and prepared a lot of sandwiches, over the course of the two weeks, but the one thing that I seem to have a complete inability to store in my head is the timings for cooking eggs, either soft or hard boiled. This, therefore, was a perfect gift.)</div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-24373206917230464992023-05-04T11:01:00.000-07:002023-05-27T09:21:14.089-07:00Tuesday 2 May - Braithwaite, Dockray and Wreay<p>(<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">typed on 3 May; posted on 27 May when I remembered it was still sitting as a draft</span></span>) </p><p>More flies landed in the ointment over the weekend,
scuppering our plan for a week away, including a few days in the Lakes for Mick
to recce another section of the Lakeland 100 course. However, the circumstances
in question had led us to be in Halifax, and it became apparent on Sunday that
we would be free to be absent on Tuesday. As Halifax is much nearer to the
Lakes than home is, we swiftly hatched a plan that was to span from Monday evening until Tuesday afternoon.<br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The plan wasn’t so advanced as to have identified somewhere
to stay last night, but I had a few ideas, and just before 7pm we settled into a spot on a minor road (a legacy section of the old
A66) that is now effectively an overly long layby, right by Braithwaite. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After an evening spent watching most of the snooker final on a 10" screen, a
surprisingly undisturbed night was had (considering that the A66 is a busy road and we weren’t far away
from it). The end of the snooker was watched over breakfast, then after a little faffing, it was time for me to
wave Mick off down the road. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My job today was incredibly easy, compared to the previous
recce trips, with no circuitous 1.5 hour drives on tiny roads to get to
somewhere ten miles away as the crow flies. This time it was the L100 route
that takes an indirect line, giving me just a 20-minute drive to a little car
park at the end of the Old Coach Road, a mile W of Dockray.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Half an hour of faffing saw sandwiches made and a flask
filled (so I could have Mick’s lunch on the table* within 30 seconds of his
arrival), and me changed into my running gear, ready to head out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’d only just joined the ex-railway line just S of Threlkeld
when I saw Mick trotting towards me. I turned, then trailed in his wake as he
strode up the next hill (in my defence, I did 35km on the Pennine Way on
Sunday, so my legs weren’t entirely fresh). However, come the first downhill,
having offloaded my excess water into Mick’s bottle and established that he
didn’t need more food, I ran away from him, not wanting to interfere with what
he was trying to achieve. I felt like I was going at a reasonable clip, but
over the course of the last 6km back to Erica, I can’t have gained much more
than 60 seconds on him.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A pause in Erica for an early lunch and a cup of tea, then
Mick was off again, for a final 10km to Wreay, via Aira Force (busy, he
reported, with lots of paths trying to lead him astray). My drive was again short
and simple, with just the small detail that I had no idea where I could park
when I got there (we had intended to stay at a campsite near Wreay tonight,
allowing me to go straight there, and Mick to run in later; we now needed to
return to Halifax at the end of the day). I found somewhere just about
acceptable, although Erica did object slightly to needing to snuggle up quite
so closely to a prickly hedgerow. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mick duly strode up the road a while later, having had a
thoroughly enjoyable day, covering just shy of 37km with 1100m of ascent. It
was only as we drove past Dalemain (the next Check Point on the L100 course) a
few minutes later that he contemplated that maybe he should have carried on to
that point. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Hopefully, we'll manage another recce in June, but first there's to be a trip to Scotland. </p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pjeu1RsO1zU/ZFP5VbgZUKI/AAAAAAAAZTA/qbZijPjBQG4WLRG9CgFcGeDt43fbjCl-QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230501_191524-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-pjeu1RsO1zU/ZFP5VbgZUKI/AAAAAAAAZTA/qbZijPjBQG4WLRG9CgFcGeDt43fbjCl-QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230501_191524-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>View from Erica's side window on Monday night</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V9knB-wfMLk/ZFP5WCwRFZI/AAAAAAAAZTI/Wf3EqYAKE8sOUonDYIkgeVfSRgxhOvFpgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230501_191534-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-V9knB-wfMLk/ZFP5WCwRFZI/AAAAAAAAZTI/Wf3EqYAKE8sOUonDYIkgeVfSRgxhOvFpgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230501_191534-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>View inside Erica on Monday night</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-18SSrcQ-xio/ZFP5Wk5_WpI/AAAAAAAAZTQ/pVW5kF1wwJA7VO3izJchbeyE8QCYQ7tvQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230502_103826-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-18SSrcQ-xio/ZFP5Wk5_WpI/AAAAAAAAZTQ/pVW5kF1wwJA7VO3izJchbeyE8QCYQ7tvQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230502_103826-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Tuesday - chasing Mick uphill</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ij37ycI_NU0/ZFP5XQcWcgI/AAAAAAAAZTY/tzr3KjYE9FUprnsnuZ5OhtzpqYNvNmEUwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230502_105633-1305x646.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1305" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ij37ycI_NU0/ZFP5XQcWcgI/AAAAAAAAZTY/tzr3KjYE9FUprnsnuZ5OhtzpqYNvNmEUwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230502_105633-1305x646.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mick chasing me along the Old Coach Road</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r22UEk9hkeg/ZFP5Xy4dKHI/AAAAAAAAZTg/Crsd9baUyfk0kiggaQVlTT3cFLNYcfQJACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230504-WA0000.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r22UEk9hkeg/ZFP5Xy4dKHI/AAAAAAAAZTg/Crsd9baUyfk0kiggaQVlTT3cFLNYcfQJACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230504-WA0000.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Mick's snap taken E of Skiddaw where the route goes up one side of the valley only to turn around and come back down the other side </i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CiShrbOFtZI/ZFP5YdeYytI/AAAAAAAAZTo/XSDfuah3grsI5JGuT1p6mid7OnAlxoLGgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230504-WA0001.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CiShrbOFtZI/ZFP5YdeYytI/AAAAAAAAZTo/XSDfuah3grsI5JGuT1p6mid7OnAlxoLGgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230504-WA0001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Ullswater</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EQnciighNbI/ZFP5YwQfb2I/AAAAAAAAZTw/nNcGlkVijUg4_JD6poLdiefmynJBHib7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230504-WA0002.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EQnciighNbI/ZFP5YwQfb2I/AAAAAAAAZTw/nNcGlkVijUg4_JD6poLdiefmynJBHib7QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230504-WA0002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Helicopter with a suspended bag of something, providing a bit of distraction</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eD77Lp80wSs/ZFP5Zkdk5SI/AAAAAAAAZT4/sowZdfS42Uw2KFvEIazdzxNtDDSqxCK6gCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230504_191712.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1393" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eD77Lp80wSs/ZFP5Zkdk5SI/AAAAAAAAZT4/sowZdfS42Uw2KFvEIazdzxNtDDSqxCK6gCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230504_191712.jpg" width="248" /></a></div></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i style="text-align: start;">Spot the failure to navigate as I merrily continued down the Old Coach Road for 0.5km after I should have left it. Considering I was just doing an out-and-back, and there was no chance that I’d missed Mick during the deviation, it did no harm.</i><i><br /></i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(*Metaphorically. Erica doesn't have a table. She does, perhaps, need one)</span></p>Mickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07724369822378930775noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-70010638650021736602023-04-25T06:44:00.000-07:002023-04-25T10:37:06.272-07:00Sunday 16 to Tuesday 18 April - Coniston & Nether Wasdale<p><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">When Mick entered the Lakeland 100 last year we had good
intentions for recceing the course. We would start in November with a short
trip, then spend a couple of weeks up in the Lakes in April, and another couple
of weeks in June, with perhaps another short trip on our way up to and/or back
from Scotland for the TGO Challenge.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Flies have been landing in the ointment from all over the
place. A micro-trip was tagged onto the end of a trip to see Ma-in-Law in
December, but our extended April trip wasn’t able to happen. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Saturday 15th, however, we concluded that we had a short
window of opportunity. If we left home on Sunday afternoon, Mick
could do Coniston to Wasdale on Monday, Wasdale to Braithwaite on Tuesday, then
we could nip over to see Ma-in-Law Halifax and come home either Wednesday
evening or Thursday morning.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It was around 1730 by the time we arrived in Coniston on
Sunday, but by then most of the cars had departed from the road in which we
intended to spend the night. Only about three van-lengths of the road in
question are flat, and two of them were free, thus Erica got settled in for the
night. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We were up at 0615 on Monday, by which time Sunday’s rain
had abated, leaving behind low cloud and dripping trees, but an otherwise dry
day. Mick trotted off into that cloud at just gone 0730, and not many
minutes later I was on my way to Boot. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Having run 35k on Saturday and 12k on Sunday, I was having a
well-deserved rest on Monday, so there was no trotting out to meet Mick this
time. The extent of my activity was a gentle walk around Boot to see if I would
be better moving to the station car park (on the plus side, it was only 150
double paces off Mick’s route, so he could detour to Erica for food and
resupply, rather than me needing to loiter on the route for an unknown period
of time to hand stuff over to him; on the downsides, it would cost £2.50 to
park there (versus the free car park I was in) and there was no mobile phone
signal, unlike in the free car park). Having managed to get a message through to
Mick, I moved there about half an hour before he was expected.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After his pit stop, it was an easy drive from Boot around to
Wasdale Head, where Mick duly arrived only about 10 minutes after I expected
him.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CDyExbItODo/ZEgMCVW1CuI/AAAAAAAAZRs/CVAN3vtq0zkoU0mP59nwA9STOPqIIMlmgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230417_143039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-CDyExbItODo/ZEgMCVW1CuI/AAAAAAAAZRs/CVAN3vtq0zkoU0mP59nwA9STOPqIIMlmgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230417_143039.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>Wastwater – like a millpond</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TCNEgR_u8cc/ZEgMDLqFLeI/AAAAAAAAZR0/sXXBPEVrxQQWiKVCfn4Ekhq1k2OZ54I2QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230425_182007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-TCNEgR_u8cc/ZEgMDLqFLeI/AAAAAAAAZR0/sXXBPEVrxQQWiKVCfn4Ekhq1k2OZ54I2QCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230425_182007.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="757" data-original-height="756" width="320" height="319"></a></i></div><i>Mick’s route. 31km with 1250m ascent. A lot of waterlogged
ground was encountered on the way, as evidenced not just by his account of the
day, but by the smell of his shoes!</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Church Stile Holiday Park in Nether Wasdale (5 miles/20
minutes away) was our home for the night on Monday. £26 for a small square of
hard-standing without electricity. I can’t call it good value for money, but
the toilet block was immaculate and Mick was greatly in need of that shower (or
maybe I mean that I was greatly in need of Mick having that shower?).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A fantastically quiet night was had, but we
reduced our value for money even further by leaving 4 hours before the 11am
‘you must vacate your pitch by’ time. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Mick was deposited just short of the road-end at Wasdale
Head, to rejoin the route where he’d left it yesterday when he’d detoured to
where I was parked on the green. He soon had second thoughts about the wisdom
of following that bit of route when, within 150m of leaving Erica, a foot shot
out from under him on the sodden ground and he covered himself in mud. I might
have witnessed it if I hadn’t driven off the moment he got out the car. It’s a
long old drive around to Braithwaite and the extent of my research into where I
could park had been about two minutes whilst using the campsite wifi (only
available at the reception building) on Monday evening. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Erica made like Goldilocks once she got to Braithwaite,
after a lovely scenic drive. The first spot she tried was too busy with passing
traffic, so I popped out for a walk around to check out if there was anywhere
better. She then tried two spots in a nearby street (one of them twice), but
not wanting to risk inconveniencing any residents, I wasn’t happy leaving her
there. She eventually settled into the last remaining space by the Orthodox
church.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After a couple of hours of tea-drinking, snacking and
general faffing, I finally gave myself a motivational talking to, got my
running gear on, and headed off to intercept Mick, on this occasion coming
across him earlier than expected, even though he felt like he was moving
slowly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gGQaq5IYmro/ZEgMDpMTDkI/AAAAAAAAZR8/8Kvg9FPJAYoUfUrH5RQXHXBVgHPEoodCwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230425-WA0000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gGQaq5IYmro/ZEgMDpMTDkI/AAAAAAAAZR8/8Kvg9FPJAYoUfUrH5RQXHXBVgHPEoodCwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG-20230425-WA0000.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1600" data-original-height="900" width="320" height="180"></a></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BxBNsDy-0tk/ZEgMEW-ljmI/AAAAAAAAZSE/hnwaDFsARqUGNF9Dm7ZoAVglh1gr7VuIACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230418_121852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-BxBNsDy-0tk/ZEgMEW-ljmI/AAAAAAAAZSE/hnwaDFsARqUGNF9Dm7ZoAVglh1gr7VuIACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230418_121852.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="3264" data-original-height="1616" width="320" height="158"></a></i></div><i>Glorious day. People were out in force.</i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uR-_qAURVfA/ZEgME9DF-gI/AAAAAAAAZSM/KsSq2XkU_aMGpswbaCsIATgaD99f6ZomACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230425_181946.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-uR-_qAURVfA/ZEgME9DF-gI/AAAAAAAAZSM/KsSq2XkU_aMGpswbaCsIATgaD99f6ZomACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230425_181946.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="773" data-original-height="1261" width="196" height="320"></a></i></div><i>Mick’s route. 22km, 1250m ascent. Much more by way of
rocky paths and less bogginess</i><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The wind that had pushed me up the hill was now against as
we headed back down together, but it’s definitely better going downhill against
the wind rather than up. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Walking from the location of the Braithwaite Check Point
back to Erica, I gave Mick the option of extending his day after lunch, by
continuing along the route into Keswick. Then we looked at the map and realised
it was only a few kilometres, and they were along the pavement of the A66 and a
cycle route. No real benefit in recceing that bit, so no point in putting more
effort in on the back of what he’d already done. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Plans then needed to change. There was no extra night in the
Lakes, and no visit to Halifax. Whilst sitting in the Boot car park on Monday
(the one with phone signal!) I’d received a phone call that required us to be
back home by Wednesday morning. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It feels like it was a long way to go for two days, but I
suppose that many a person who works Monday to Friday thinks nothing of going
away from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. It just feels short given the usual
nature of our trips, and due to the inability to tag on other things we would
have liked to have done (calling in on Conrad; seeing Ma-in-Law). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p></p>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-45114683356646053242023-04-25T06:05:00.000-07:002023-04-25T06:05:21.121-07:009 December 2022 - Coniston & Boot<p><span style="color: #2b00fe;">I was typing a post about a 'smash and grab' trip to the Lakes last week, when I felt the need to refer back to my post about our previous such trip, only to find that there was no such post. I duly started writing one, but with a voice in my head getting more and more insistent, with each detail I covered, that I'd written it before. On the third search around my laptop, I finally found it. So, rather belatedly, here's a post that I should have published on 9 December last year: <br /></span></p><p>------------------------ <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</p><p class="MsoNormal">Having had our intended trips in November thwarted*, and with
Mick needing to get in some recces of the Lakeland 100 route, on Wednesday I
suggested to Mick that as we were going to Halifax to see his Mum, it would
make sense to tack on a micro-trip to the Lakes. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“But we haven’t got time!” Mick protested. I set out a
proposed timetable and argued that we did.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“But the weather!” he protested. I reassured him that it
wasn’t going to be any colder than it was when I recce’d Howtown to Troutbeck
on 12 April last year, thus waiting until spring was no guarantee of warmer
weather, and it was unlikely he’d get a better day in terms of sunshine and air
clarity. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I concede it was all a bit of a rush. We had a guest (and a
late night) on Wednesday, weren’t in a position to start packing until 10am on Thursday,
and we were due to leave for Halifax before noon. It transpired that there were
packing omissions. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Friday morning came around and only a few minutes behind
schedule, Erica’s windscreen was scraped clean of frost and north from Halifax
we headed. Here’s a little collage of Erica’s thermometer during our drive:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1l0eDhBlRPw/ZEBUE-1L4lI/AAAAAAAAZPQ/pOzngdyZ4wU23gW7vrfuLWID6x805vo1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/collagemaker_2022121022223439.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1620" data-original-width="1620" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1l0eDhBlRPw/ZEBUE-1L4lI/AAAAAAAAZPQ/pOzngdyZ4wU23gW7vrfuLWID6x805vo1wCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/collagemaker_2022121022223439.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With 25 miles to go it was still reading -7. Yikes! I’d
promised Mick that the coldest it would be was -2 and that it would get up to
+2 whilst he was out.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Then the sun came up. The temperature rose. By the time we
reached Coniston it was a comparatively balmy -2 degrees. Mick was soon out the
door and heading up towards the mines and almost as soon, I was off to drive
around to Boot. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Taking my pick of spaces in the empty car park there, I
could have stuck the diesel heater on in the back of Erica and merrily sat
there knitting for the next few hours, but with conditions so glorious I soon
had my trainers on and set out to reverse the L100 route to intercept Mick.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W6v1Aitvk7o/ZEBUF3CViZI/AAAAAAAAZPY/82hZAQ6tnpMA799QltYM8t9wXly5371dgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20221209_120807.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-W6v1Aitvk7o/ZEBUF3CViZI/AAAAAAAAZPY/82hZAQ6tnpMA799QltYM8t9wXly5371dgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20221209_120807.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Frosty, but glorious day</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eZG4hwMa9FA/ZEBUNSCNLPI/AAAAAAAAZPg/F-cKZG5m1EcExYSAhCnUWVsW4DYXHfDkgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20221209_124905_1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-eZG4hwMa9FA/ZEBUNSCNLPI/AAAAAAAAZPg/F-cKZG5m1EcExYSAhCnUWVsW4DYXHfDkgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20221209_124905_1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Spot the F-15</i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I can’t say that I put on my finest display of navigation…</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dhxCH3rIuhA/ZEBUOAHTwjI/AAAAAAAAZPo/7aghgMnZYNMZTuYds-mHCHI1CSIwALqqwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230419_211540.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dhxCH3rIuhA/ZEBUOAHTwjI/AAAAAAAAZPo/7aghgMnZYNMZTuYds-mHCHI1CSIwALqqwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230419_211540.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>A=Boot; B=Harter Fell</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SGLWYwPNtX8/ZEBUO6KY2QI/AAAAAAAAZPw/wNVsyBii4WU_UWonsbXxLx4-QkMNm6zpQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230419_211137.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1162" data-original-width="1038" height="320" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SGLWYwPNtX8/ZEBUO6KY2QI/AAAAAAAAZPw/wNVsyBii4WU_UWonsbXxLx4-QkMNm6zpQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Screenshot_20230419_211137.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>Zoomed in</i></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">...which could have been a problem if it had persisted, as I
really needed to make sure I was on the same line that Mick would be taking for
fear of us passing like ships in the night.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the Lake District not having much by way of mobile
phone signal, I knew little of Mick’s progress. The only message I received
from him was as he approached the top of the Walna Scar Road. Based on the
timing of that message, I did some calculations as to the earliest, and latest,
possible times that we might meet each other. The earliest possible time
coincided with one of my accidental detours, and whilst I was reasonable
confident that we couldn’t have passed there without seeing each other at a
distance, it still created a niggling doubt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As the ‘latest possible time’ approached my stress levels
rose, as I pictured Mick having slipped past me and reaching Erica whilst I was
still heading in the opposite direction – not a problem had we remembered the
spare car key. Having finally reached a point where I had a good view ahead of
me, and still seeing no sign of Mick, I stopped in the middle of the path,
pored over the map to check my distances and calculations (yep, they all
stacked up) and was just dithering over what to do, when I looked back up and
saw a chap heading towards me, waving. Yay!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What I’d failed to take into account with my calculations
(yet again!) was that, with this being a recce for Mick and with it being
critical that he found the exact path (no “I should be over there so I’ll just
cut across”), he was spending quite a bit of time reading the course
description and checking the map (his watch stats say a quarter of his time was
spent stationary). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For obvious reasons, I knew the correct path back to Erica,
but me leading Mick wasn’t going to be beneficial for his purposes, so he continued
checking the course notes and making mental notes as we went. On the one hand
that slowed us down, but on the other hand whereas my outward leg had been at a
relaxed pace (i.e. I walked), on the way back there was frequent trotting
along. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By the last significant descent, we had lost the sun behind
the hill and the temperature had plummeted again. I went from ‘comfortable’ to
‘I wish I had a fleece’ (another packing omission) and whilst I gave passing
thought to putting on my insulated vest, I didn’t think to put on my spare
baselayer. I did switch from my thin gloves + fingerless mitts, to my Buffalo
Mitts, which soon brought my hands back to life. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--AHSlPpmdqU/ZEBUPygoa3I/AAAAAAAAZP4/g9bk9eXfXaEbtTuweJ1JfUZRp4uOZmOAgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20221209_144636.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1616" data-original-width="3264" height="158" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--AHSlPpmdqU/ZEBUPygoa3I/AAAAAAAAZP4/g9bk9eXfXaEbtTuweJ1JfUZRp4uOZmOAgCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20221209_144636.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sun's gone, temperature's falling back to sub-zero</i></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">It was approaching 3pm by the time we got back to Erica.
Having misjudged how long the outing would take, neither of us had taken lunch
with us, so that was the top priority, together with drinking multiple cups of
tea to remedy my lack of water over the previous 3+ hours (my water bottles were another packing omission). </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The sun was just sinking out of sight by the time we pulled
out of the car park to head home, where we arrived just in time for bed.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">(*Footnote added in April 2023: Off the top of my head, November was ruled out due to the need to do some work on a rental house, but with uncertainty as to the date when we would be given access we were held at home in a constant state of waiting.) <br /></p>
<p></p>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-54180098160716609502023-03-26T11:33:00.002-07:002023-03-26T13:42:08.648-07:00Saturday 25 March - Home<p>After a few lessons learnt about driving around the M25 during the week, these days we usually try to arrive back in the UK early on a Sunday morning. This time we made it a Saturday, so that we could visit younger (step)son and grandchildren on the way, following which we were going to head off to the Ridgeway for a couple of nights. </p><p>The visiting plans suffered a late cancellation due to a positive covid test (not us!), and if we weren't going to Reading then the Ridgeway plan no longer made sense. We would head straight home instead...</p><p>...or not quite straight home, because the late cancellation meant that we were at leisure to make a little detour en-route. Wendover Woods is a Marilyn that I've not been in a tremendous rush to visit, because we usually pass reasonably close to it at least four times a year, but equally it has remained unvisited because when we're passing we're always on our way to or from seeing friends or family, and spending time with them is more important than nipping up a hill. </p><p>Bertie was settled into a convenient car park at Halton and, after a quick lunch, it was a 5.5km route from there. I convinced Mick to join me, even though the weather looked threatening and he'd far rather have sat and read his book, on the basis that he needed some exercise so he may as well achieve that by coming along. His verdict at the end: "It wasn't very interesting!".</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1V4koKH0458/ZCCuGNXc1aI/AAAAAAAAZMc/Y_dGLGHkA6gKujIdanjUZ-1XLeavfHZMwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230325_131608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1V4koKH0458/ZCCuGNXc1aI/AAAAAAAAZMc/Y_dGLGHkA6gKujIdanjUZ-1XLeavfHZMwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230325_131608.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="4608" data-original-height="3456" width="320" height="240"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i style="font-size: 1.25em;">The location believed to be the summit pre-2021, complete with boulders bearing a plaque saying this is the summit</i></div><p></p><p><i><br></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t48pM9AnuCU/ZCCuHVt2y9I/AAAAAAAAZMk/aU5bWCrWT_AR84Y6CSBmH9gsonZCU6biwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230325_132013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t48pM9AnuCU/ZCCuHVt2y9I/AAAAAAAAZMk/aU5bWCrWT_AR84Y6CSBmH9gsonZCU6biwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230325_132013.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1616" data-original-height="3264" width="158" height="320"></a></i></div><i>The current summit, following a survey in 2021, found after thrashing around in the woods for a good while, bloodying my legs on dead undergrowth. You may notice that we could have driven to within metres of the summit, had we so chosen. </i><br><p></p><p>Just a couple of short light showers caught us on the way up. It was dry on the way back, but within two minutes of getting back to Bertie the heavens opened. Excellent timing! </p><p>More driving saw us home. But for how long... </p><p><br></p>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-86188460060851693342023-03-24T08:29:00.001-07:002023-03-24T12:30:18.504-07:00Friday 24 March - Wissant<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><b>Where's Bertie?</b> He's unmoved at the Aire at Wissant.<br>
<b>Weather:</b> Mainly sunny, with just a few light passing showers. Windy.<br>
<br>
The rain that came last evening was heavy and went on into the night. Per the forecast, the wind peaked at around midnight (50mph said the forecast and I certainly got disturbed by a few mighty gusts), and the rain finally gave way to showers. We woke this morning to blue sky above us, at least until the next shower came through. <br>
<br>
Often (although not always) we have used Wissant as just a convenient night stop. With no driving to be done today we were able to do more than just sleep here, so just before 9am we headed out to do a 13.5km circuit that would take us north across country towards Cap Blanc Nez (sibling of Cap Gris Nez, which sits to the south of us), before returning along the cliffs then the beach. <br>
<br>
The outward leg was good, but we'd come to appreciate how strong the wind was and that it was coming from behind. We approached the coast (where we were to turn back south) with trepidation, knowing what was to come.<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EEO6lzSGcwA/ZB3DiwgvLJI/AAAAAAAAZLI/GkV8Zq1y3hgX0BPX5LVZVnqeVHe05ZiDQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_093224-1305x646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EEO6lzSGcwA/ZB3DiwgvLJI/AAAAAAAAZLI/GkV8Zq1y3hgX0BPX5LVZVnqeVHe05ZiDQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_093224-1305x646.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1305" data-original-height="646" width="320" height="158"></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--QhxZ32KttE/ZB3DjoYdQzI/AAAAAAAAZLQ/63PnO6cA5Iw9-lmBQahWb2UrYe3bKxWlwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_093649-1305x646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/--QhxZ32KttE/ZB3DjoYdQzI/AAAAAAAAZLQ/63PnO6cA5Iw9-lmBQahWb2UrYe3bKxWlwCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_093649-1305x646.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1305" data-original-height="646" width="320" height="158"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c7AqhJ12-R4/ZB3DkKqCtqI/AAAAAAAAZLY/sFSJeLcv2XAMv5GXkV-TnzZRepGZEcfiQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_094717-1305x646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-c7AqhJ12-R4/ZB3DkKqCtqI/AAAAAAAAZLY/sFSJeLcv2XAMv5GXkV-TnzZRepGZEcfiQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_094717-1305x646.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1305" data-original-height="646" width="320" height="158"></a></div>
<i>Outward leg</i><br>
<br>
It was brutal! It was an effort even to run the downhills along the top of the cliffs. When we got to the beach* the sand was perfectly firm, but the wind often had us battling forward at a walk. It was a relief to finally reach Wissant and be able to turn away from the wind, and into the shelter of the roads. <br>
<br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iW7-yZ6FbNk/ZB3Dk5LNQcI/AAAAAAAAZLg/AucKv_5d0bYYpWyAnZX2Q_7ArpTf3szBQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_094721-1305x646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-iW7-yZ6FbNk/ZB3Dk5LNQcI/AAAAAAAAZLg/AucKv_5d0bYYpWyAnZX2Q_7ArpTf3szBQCNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_094721-1305x646.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1305" data-original-height="646" width="320" height="158"></a></div><br><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IMQAOioUl5Y/ZB3DlaomDII/AAAAAAAAZLo/lmJdSIdWtsInPxHbmCmzHvb-FK3vRzRaACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_100407-1305x646.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-IMQAOioUl5Y/ZB3DlaomDII/AAAAAAAAZLo/lmJdSIdWtsInPxHbmCmzHvb-FK3vRzRaACNcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_20230324_100407-1305x646.jpg" border="0" data-original-width="1305" data-original-height="646" width="320" height="158"></a></div>
<i>The return leg</i><br>
<br>
Back at Bertie, by the time the water heater had done its job, we'd showered and dried down the shower, it wasn't long before we were heading out again to hit opening time at Chez Nicole Café. It's not a venue with an extensive menu. The choices are: moules frites Oú jambon et frites. That's it. <br>
<br>
We've been there before, and our selection was the same as last time. <br>
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<i>Before (nearly) and after</i><br>
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A minor side trip followed, to buy some bread for teatime (lunch out = excuse not to have a cooked tea), then back to Bertie for the rest of the day. <br>
<br>
I took the opportunity to knit the last few rows, and graft the toes, of another pair of socks for Mick. When I made him the first pair earlier in this trip, I accidentally mismatched them - everywhere with mottled light grey on one sock was mottled dark grey on the other. So, I made a second pair with the exact same 'flaw', giving him two perfectly matching pairs. Of course, when he comes to pick two socks from his sock drawer, he won't notice the subtle difference, and it will be pot luck whether he wears a matching pair or not (and there's not a chance that anyone other than me will look closely enough to notice), but at least I can be happy knowing that I've provided him with two matching pairs. <br>
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Now, do I cast on something else, or wait until we get home, where I have a jumper that is about 98% complete? (Thinking about it, the only reason I didn't bring that with me to finish off was because it seemed a waste of space and weight to carry around a jumper for 2 months that I was going to finish within days and wouldn't need to wear in Spain. As it turned out, it's been so cool, I probably would have got plenty of wear out of it.)<br>
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<sup>(*This route isn't possible at high tide, and we certainly wouldn't have been able to do it when we first arrived yesterday. Fortunately, low tide this morning was at a perfect time for our purposes.) </sup></div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4843175062362694534.post-46250433789686422812023-03-23T09:14:00.001-07:002023-03-23T13:33:10.195-07:00Thursday 23 March - Wissant<div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><b>Where's Bertie?</b> He is, once again, at the Aire at Wissant, just a few miles along the coast from Calais.<br>
<b>Weather:</b> Increasingly sunny as we travelled north and warmer than forecast at 17 degrees, but windy. Rain from 1630.<br>
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I forgot to mention something yesterday. When we planned our journey home from Badajoz ten days ago, the key feature of the plan was to visit Chartres on the way. Every time we've driven past (which is quite a few times now), I've looked at the cathedral that stands so prominently, visible from many miles away, and said that we should stop by for a closer look. However, each time we've been driving south we've been in a rush to get somewhere (usually to the sunshine) and every time we've been heading north we've also either been on our way to an appointment or the weather has not been conducive to sight-seeing. On this trip we only scheduled part of a morning for the excursion, but I'd located somewhere we could stay and, being generally bad at visiting cities, a couple or three of hours would give us time to see the cathedral close-up.<br>
<br>
Yesterday evening we were to arrive in Chartres and this morning we were to do our sightseeing. Tonight we would travel on to Neufchâtel-en-Bray.<br>
<br>
So, what happened? I'm a fair weather tourist! Including Turquant and the troglodyte houses into our journey home had put Chartres a tiny bit out of our way, but not enough to worry about on its own. However, if you combined the extra distance with a poor weather forecast, then it became significant. Did we really want to take a detour to find ourselves walking around Chartres in the rain? No, was the answer. Chartres was thus left on the 'must visit' list.<br>
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Today's plan was also modified due to the weather forecast. Was there any point in doing a 2-hour drive today, to sit indoors whilst it rained, then doing a 2-hour drive to Wissant tomorrow? We may just as well get to Wissant in a day and not have to drive anywhere tomorrow, we thought.<br>
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The drive here was uneventful, save that 35km from our destination I realised that I'd forgotten that we were meant to be filling up with LPG today. LPG is hugely more available in France than in the UK, but even so, I feared that my realisation had come too late, and our Chunnel on Saturday morning is too early to get some at Coquelles en-route. A quick interrogation of the 'mylpg.eu' App showed there were two stations between us and Wissant. I chose one, but our mission was a failure (unmanned petrol station, but LPG pump has no Pay at Pump terminal. Tried to pay at the adjacent pump but got 'Card type not accepted' message even though Mastercard was a listed card type*). The other gas station was a little out of our way, but by far less than a LPG-chase in the UK would involve. No problem filling up there and the only problem with paying was that the drive-through payment kiosk was not designed for a vehicle of Bertie's size!<br>
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Arriving in Wissant a short while later, we wasted no time in going out for a walk. It was difficult to believe, as I took this snap along the beach, that rain was forecast in an hour's time: <br>
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By the time we got back to Bertie, clouds were starting to appear...<br>
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<i>The capacity here must be around 40-50. We've arrived on a Wednesday in low season before and found not a single space to be had. Yet today we brought the number present up to 5.</i><br>
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...and at half past four the rain started. It's now decidedly wet out, with a gusty wind buffetting us. We'll not be venturing out again today. (later: except that Mick had to nip out to take the dish water to the drain. It's not far, he wore a waterproof jacket, and came back dripping. He decided the rubbish can wait until tomorrow to go out.) <br>
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<sup>(*Yes, that's the third time this week our card has been declined, including the two failed payments with the same Autoroute operator. I'm convinced it's not a problem with our card, as we're using it to pay for other things with no problem.)</sup></div>Gaylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08648378503343413924noreply@blogger.com0