Lake District Camping Trip August 2012

The camping weekend started on Friday the 17th of August. we arrived at a damp campsite (after all it was the middle of the British Summer. After pitching our tent we drove to the end f the valley to Wasdale Head  and sheltered from the weather in the Ritson Bar with some lovely food and a few local cumbrian ales. Although not the cheapest food that we have ever had it was definitely filling and warming. I had the stake pie which lacked a bit of gravy but appart from that no real complaints about the meal.

It was still quite wet and the cloud was quite low on the Saturday morning and therefore a high level walk wasnt really the best of options. We had planned to walk to the top of Lingmell (just across from Scafell Pike) however it was well and truely hidden in the cloud. Therefore we decided that we would take a low level walk long Wast Water along the south side of the water from the campsite to Nether Wasdale. This took us accros the Scree fields below Illgill Head and Winn Rigg. Although quite a wet walk and a little slippy underfoot it was a reaonably pleasent walk. It would of course have been much nicer if it had been dry as footing would have been much easier. Its not a route that we planned for the day and its not one that we will rush to do again as it was slightly slow going and parts of te "path" were not that obvious so you had to pick your way steadily over the large pieces of scree. The route however did finish at the Screes Inn in Netherwasdale where I had a lovely Ale and a beautiful stake sandwich. The staff in the pub were very friendly and I would recomend this pub to anyone in the area for somewhere to go either for food or for a drink.

It dried out that afternoon as did our tent and our wet clothing. We one again visited Ritson Bar for more food and drink having eaten inside we ventured outside to enjoy teh evening sunshine. Ritsons bar like the Screes Inn is very nice I dont think that the staff members where quite so warming as the one in the the Screes however the Ritsons is much buisier than the Screes so I cant hold that against them. The food this evening was lovely and I cant complain about the quality or quantity.

Our second night in the campsite was a bit drier and the tents were packed away fairly dry but still needed hanging on the line when we got home. The campsite wasnt very busy I believe that although they have plenty of room for tents they never fill it so much that you are all squashed together. The facilities are nice with a large toilet, shower and washing area. The campsite by far is not the cheapest I think that we were about £25 per tent per night (4 man tent with 2 adults) plus you still had to pay for the hot water in teh showers. I appreciate that the payment for the showers is because they are trying to be environmentally friendly however I think that having a token system and getting so many free tokens per person per night would be much more sensible.

Two days Walking

We have walked the past two days nothing too adventerious but atleast knocking two wainwrights off the to do list.

On Monday we did Glenridding Dodd. Our pace was very slow under 2 KM an hour but it wasnt a long walk so it didnt really matter. We started and finished at the Travellers rest which was a lovely pub up a narrow lane. we started the wlk from the pub down the footpath back towards the lake (not the planned route but we couldnt find the marked path so I reversed the route). The walk along the lake was lovely aloth the lake was quite high so coldnt get on any of the beaches there. The climb up to the top of the hill was coated in fallen trees that littered the path but the view from the top was work the walk. We had lunch on the top before making our descent back towards the pub. We found a way off but not the one that IO had planned to use but it got us to the pub I suspect that the path on the map has been moved by the locals as there were a few signs saying to footpath. We stopped at the Traelers rest for a lovely a drink. The place was fairly busy with quite a few of the outside tables in use. The pub looked nice and the Ale was nice, will go back.

Yesterday we walked up Hallin Fell on the opposite side on the Lake. Again the weather was nice and we enjoyed some food at the top over looking Ullswater. Near to the plinth on the top there was a fake Olympic torch that was part of a competition being run by the Ullswater Steamers.

The car was fixed, a bit expensive but we have it back and its running much better.

Weather is rather crap today the cloud is low and it quite wet so we have put off walking today in the hope that it clears tomorrow.

Lakes Great Swim

Well despite all the bad weather for teh past few days today wasnt too bad we both managed to complete our swim in under an hour which we were both over the moon about. I completed in 45 mins 48 secs and Andrea in 59 mins 23 secs.

Went to the Brackenrigg Inn for Lunch. I had a beautiful Burger and Andrea a minute steak cibatta. Once again I enjoyed a lovely Ale this time it was Cunbrian Ale (Jennings)

Not too much to report about today both ready for a smallish walk tomorrow.

2012 -Lakes Day in Penrith

Rather a quiet day spent all morning in Penrith waiting for the car to be fixed. Sensor was changed but now needs a new cat. thats going to be expensive and will take most of a dauy to fit. They dont have one and as it was afternoon before that was established the part cant be ordered until Monday morning so wont be available until Tuesday.

As we were told not to drive to far we stayed local for the afternoon but bored of Penrith (well Morrisons, Mountain Warehouse and Booths to be precise) we headed to Windermere to the Great Swim location to see what we were letting ourselves in for the next day. The conditions were choppy and a bit misrable. The place was almost deserted apart from a few members of the Great Swim staff that were happy to chat away. even helped by confirming that Octopush was a real sport, they were had been having a comp to name a sport from each letter of the alphabet and they were struggling with "O".

We left them there to go for a drink at the Low Wood Bay Hotel. very nice and not too expensive.

Another damp evening so after food we are sat watching more How I met your Mother (we have the first 5 seasons to watch before going home).

2012 - Lakes Day1

Today started early with the car going to the garage to get an O2 sensor fitted before we headed off to the Lakes for our yearly week long trip to take in some Wainwrights and this year we have the added bonus of both taking part in the Great Swim Series in Lake Windermere.

Having had the car fixed we headed North fully packed and ready for a week off work. Not too long into the journey the engine warning light came back on. After phoning the garage I decided not to go back after all I wanted my holiday instead I would phne teh RAC in later to see what the problem was this time. It turns out the car has two )2 sensors and the other one has now gone. Got to go to local garage to get that changed in  the morning. Thanks to the RAC man that has all been arranged

The weather on the journey up was awful which lead to the early postponement of Fridays 2 mile swims followed a few hours later by the Saturdays events, due to strong winds and choppy water in addition to rising water levels. Hope that the Sunday ones wont be cancelled.

We had a lovely late lunch in the Pooley Bridge Inn. The starter was to die for (baked brie). My Cumbrian Way was good but Andrea wasnt too keen on the wine she had. 

Anyway weather is crap so night in front of TV watching How I met your Mother Season 3 on DVD

Walking and swimming challenges

The time of challenges starts now on saturday I am doing the #3peaksofsurrey a 13 mile hike across the 3 highest peaks in Surrey. Box hill, Leith Hill and Holmbury Hill. Following that on the 24th of June I will be taking part in a 1 mile open water swim in the lake district. The mile swim will be a huge challenge as I havent really swum for a number of years let alone ever done a mile open water swim. Both events are for Surrey Search and Rescue (www.sursar.org.uk) a specialist Search and Rescue unit that is staff completely by 100% volunteers. The unit's primary role is to assist the police in finding vulnerable adults and missing children.

Bald Eagles Live

Was sent this link the other day, looks like the Bald Eagles have started their families a bit earlier than the Ospreys here in the UK which are only now returning to their summer breeding grounds.


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holidays

The holidays are coming and so is the SNOW. Hopefully it will hold off before I drive to Scotland but think not!!!!

DIY done

Well the 2nd phase of the DIY is now more or less done. I have completed the tiling and grouting of the bathroom and must admit that it is quite good. I still have a little bit of masticing to do but only in a couple of corners really.
+The next phase is to get a pump and a screen for the shower as the hot water pressure isnt strong enough to give a hot shower at the moment and the screen is needed to protect the floor. The 4th phase is to paint and put new florring down.

After that its into the kitchen to put in a new one of those. Think I need to win the lottery!!!

DIY Continued

The tiling is going gquite well. The best part of this morning was spwnt cutting tiles and trying not to break them. Every time I thought I had the perfiect nack to keeping the thin strip I was cutting hole it descided to break again.

Anyway here are the progress pictutes until Lunch today.

DIY

Over the past few weeks I have after many requests from my girlfriend to do some work on the bathroom and therefore I have.

During an evening last week I replaced the taps on the basin to lovely silver and gold ones along with puting in service valves on the pipes underneith. Then yesterday I spend the day fitting new taps in the bath so that there will be a shower in there too. The taps are in they need tightening as they move slightly however there isnt enough pressure in the hot water to provide a shower as yet but Im sure I will find a way of sorting that.


Totay I have spent the day tiling the bathroom above the bath I am about half way through the main wall that runs the length of the bath and have done sections of the other two walls that encompass the bath. As yet I havent grouted but I will do that when I have completed all of the tiling. However I am pleased with my first efforts of both plumbing and tiling. As we said in the pub last night "It ain't leaking so the plumbing is good" so I guess tonights comment should be "the tiles are staying on the wall so the tiling is good too".

Six Nations Week 3

After a week off the 6 nations got back having a go at each other. For the first time in history (both 5 and 6 nations) there was a game on Friday night which saw the French host the Welsh. Must admit I didnt see the fixture as I was in Manchester at Andreas's Scout Troups Race Night (I broke just under even for the evening) however back to the rugby despite an equally shared first half the French beat the Welsh by 21-16 making life difficult for the french to retain the championship and negating their chances of a grand slam.

Scotland took on the Italians in th eearly KO on Friday and took the spoils quite happily with a 20 point victory winning 26-6. The game was quite good and I was glad to see the Scots win their first game of the 6 Nations, I dont expect another win but atleast we have reduced the chance of the wooden spoon this year.

Ireland managed to have a very luckey victory over the English beating them by just a single point. I only saw the first half and it wasn't anything special. The second half for me was spent travelling to a dinner that I went to with Andrea and her brother and sister.

All change

The weather in the UK is slowly springing into spring. Having faced the lowest temperature for a long time in January and then tons of snow just two weeks ago the weather has changed drastically and the temperature is starting to hit double figures. The weather is also matching with the sun beating down all of today, even the flat is celebrating and Ive managed to open the window in the kitchen to allow some form of air flow.

As you will remember from my early posts about my flat and how awful the bathroom looked the day I moved in I am finally starting some more DIY and plan to make a few changes in there. Im not getting rid of the existing suite as that would be too much work I would think, however I have bought some lovely new taps this week and hope to get them fitted one night this week without too much hassle. After that the area around the bath is to be tiled with plain white tiles with a black strip of tiles through it to break up the colour. After that the walls are being repainted with a grey colour (I wanted to keep the blue but the boss has other ideas) probably a light grey but that still has to be determined. After that tile laminate will go down as the flooring which should add a bit of temperature to the floor in the room as well as a contrast in colour (plan to put a grey/black colour in there).

Once that is done it will be the turn of the kitchen to have new worktops, cupboards, tiles and flooring. When that will be Ive not quite worked out but hopefully in the next month or so.

Basketball the Questions

OK Im a bit of a fan of most sports and this evening have been watching the Duke - UNC game from last Wednesday night and would like to ask a few questions about the game. Firstly appologies on how stupid the questions maybe but I need to get some answers to assist me.

1) What exactly is a Field Goal?
2) What are the rules on players in Collage basketball?
3) How long do players get to stay playing for collage teams?
4) Where do they go after Collage basketball, surely they all dont go to the NBA?
5) Are all home supports like the Duke support? by that I mean colourful and loud.
6) I know why shot fouls go to the free throw line but why do other fouls go there too?

Im sure that I will think of some more in due course however I would like to make the following opservations about the game.

1) The crowd were exceedingly loud and colourful.
2) Although used to ice hockey (my #1 American sport) I found this game exceedingly fast and frantic.
3) Duke seemed to be slow off the staring blocks in the two halfs going down 11 early on in the first and then loosing wha appeared a good in the second and then failing to recover from going down.
4) Dukes #3 Paulus seemed to be everywhere early on making some great plays. I presume he is one tio watch in the future to hit the NBA

6 Nations Rugby - Week 2

Ok firstly you will have noticed that I didnt update the results last Sunday, it wasnt anything to do with the fact that Scotland lost 26-13 against Wales but more the fact that I forgot. However Wales deserved their 13 point win and infact should have won it by some more points after Wales missed quite a few kicks. The Scots were never really in it to be honest.

This weekend saw the Scots travel to Paris for the first game of the weekend. The scots had a slightly better result Scoring their second try of the competition however giving away too many penalties which led to the Scots 8 point loss. In the second game of the weekend the Welsh showed that the win of last years chamionship by beating a stuggling English side by 8 points with penalties again winning them the tie. In the Sunday game Ireland struggled early on to go into the half time interval down a point but took over in the second half to run home in excess of 30 points to no reply in the second half.

6 Nations Rugby - Week 1 - Day 1

Well the 6 nations rugby has officially started today with England hosting Italy in the first of todays games at 3 this afternoon. England won their opening encounter of the championship however their performance was quite poor. Errors in selection left the Italians in trouble as their scrum-half for the day had his hand in gifting the English with their first 3 tries in the first half of the game. The Italians eventually lost the game by 36-11 however they had the higher percentage of both possetion and territory in the game however lost the game due to their first half errors with England running in 2 further tries in the second half to seal a fortunate win for the English.

This evening the French have travelled to Dublin with the game fairly close. The French scored the first try of the match and both teams playing reasonably well to entertain the Croke Park crowd. Ireland took a 3 point lead into the interval at half time. During a closely fought second half they extended their lead to come out on top with a 30-21 victory over the French

Tomorrow sees the Scots host the Welsh in the Sunday afternoon game.

The snow continues

Its now Friday, went back to work on Wednesday although due to the car being stuck still I managed to grab a lift off my friend. Thursday I managed to get the car out and they finally salted the estate so driving away from home is a bit easier.

It snowed again today not so much as there had been but still a little to turn the roads white for a bit atleast. Not sure what it will do this weekend snow wise maybe a bit more we will see.

On a sporting note the 6 nations championship starts this weekend with Scotland facing Wales on Sunday at Murrayfield. Hopefully we can score a few tries as the main kicker is not believed to be starting not sure why he isnt starting as I dont think there is a better kicker in world rugby at the moment let alone in Scotland. Maybe I will be proved wrong but here hopes that they win anyways.

Snow Day 2

Ive got a second day off work today I tried to get the car out, having removed the 20cm (8in) of snow off the car I then reversed out of the spot into the snow. where the car got stuck on some ice. Thankfully some guys gave me a push back into the spot with the wheels just spining and I got back into the flat. The snow is melting (slowly) but it is now a bit icy so dont think the car is going too far too soon. Wonder if work will be open tomorrow?View out the window yesterday

Icicles on the lamp-posts

My car with all the snow on it

Ground to a halt

Well I think I might just post once a month unless anything really exciting happens. This way I will have a bit more to say and I will manage to update things with a bit more regularity, who knows I might even get into it a bit more.

Well January has now departed and Rabbie Burns was born over 250 years ago, not that I went to a Burns Supper, not a huge fan for Haggis or whisky so dont see the point really. Anyway January was its usual busy self. With New year out of the way it was back to work and the fun that that brought with burst water pipes due to the freezing temps (see earlier post). January for the past few years brings the Bentley Copse Frost Camp, as yet we havent had a frosty one and this year was no exception as the temperature had heated up quite a bit from the previous week. This year Andrea was down for the weekend too so that was good we spent the weekend together working on the campsite. I managed to do my ankle in when I fell over and two weeks later Im still getting some pain in it but for the most part it is healing quite nicely.

Today I have managed to get another Monday off work, it wasnt planned that way it just happened. Last night about 7-10 inches of snow feel, now to many that isnt much however to us here in the UK that is a disasterous amount of snow as the country just colapses. You see we are not geared up for snow regardless of how much warning we get. Im not critisising anyone as that would be unfair but sections of the Motorway were quite bad last night at 9pm only a few hours after the snow had started and sections of roads were closed. Now had these been country roads I could understand but they are the major trunk routes about the countryt that should get priority. Anyway less of the moaning after all I am sat at home watching snowflakes continue to fall out of the sky whilst laughing at people digging their cars out and reving their engines hard so that they can go out somewhere as they have the day off work. As for the outlook its to snow off and on all week with the risk of some rain at some point, Ill be back at work tomorrow Im sure, dont think that I could stand too many days watching day-time TV.

Last nights view when I got home

Had I know that I was going to have the day off I would have stayed up and watched the whole of the Superbowl incidently apparently the steelers won the game.

Off to apply for some jobs and look at somewhere to go on holiday. Might arrange some DIY and watch a movie. Have a good day.

Cold Cold Temps

Well the UK is currently suffering an exceedingly cold snap the outside temperature has failed to get above zero for most of the week with very little thawing out. The trees look fantastic with layers of snow-like frost on them. As yet there hasnt been much snow in the SE (apparently there was some on Sunday night but I was still up north) so didnt see it, although it has tried to snow a few days this week, without much luck.

View from the car window when stopped at lights

At the moment it is a case of keeping the cold out and and keeping the heat in. therefore with this in mind Im off to the DIY store in the morning to purchase some draft excluders for the windows and under the kitchen door to see if I can reduce the heat loss from the flat as I appear to be loosing about 5C from the flat during the day, damn storage heaters.