Archive for May 2010

Northern Fells Wildcamping – Part 1 – The walk-in

Posted by on May 19th 2010 in Annual Wildie, Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping

After the long drag up the M6 we nipped into The Mill Inn at Mungrisdale for a swift beer before parking the car at the road-side overlooking Bowscale Moss (my thanks go to Karl Holden for suggesting this parking-place). After escaping from the marauding locals that insisted on trying to bite chunks out of our kit, we hoisted our packs and set off along the pleasant country road, passing through Bowscale and on towards Mosedale.

 

Chris fends off the pack-munching livestock

On the approach to Mosedale we got our first decent view of one of our objectives - Carrock Fell:

Carrock Fell above Mosedale

After looking at the fell and considering the weather forecast, we decided to change the plan of attack - instead of tackling Carrock Fell head-on and overnighting somewhere between there and High Pike, we opted for the longer walk-in along the valley of the Caldew and up Grainsgill Beck towards Great Lingy Hill. We knew that this would add considerably to our mileage and would mean that there would be much ground to be travelled twice, but we wanted to be near to running water all the way, and we knew that the ridge from Carrock Fell onwards would be dry. As it turned out the walk-in was a pleasant affair with much to see:

The view up the Caldew valley...

where the gorse was in full bloom...

and the trees lean away from the prevailing wind.

We saw plenty of butterflies (Green-veined White (Pieris napi), female, first brood?)...

and a Red Squirrel that ran the full length of the wall from Swineside to Roundhouse.
Mouseover the pic for an edited version.

Remember what you were told about checking for dead sheep when drinking from streams?

We did 🙂

There are many interesting rocks in the bed of the river, here's one that appealed to my geological side:

Fold 1

Fold 2

A while later we reached the bend in the road where it heads off westwards to Skiddaw House, and we ascended alongside Grainsgill Beck until we reached the ridge. After much searching we found a patch of dry level ground and pitched there for the night, within sight of the bothy-shed (formerly a shooting-box) on Great Lingy Hill, within 10 yards of the Cumbria Way and 10 yards west of the beck (so as not to be breaking the law which prohibits camping on the Caldbeck Fells). Shortly after getting set up the weather took a turn for the worse as the wind got up and the rain set in, but we were warm and snug in our "room with a view". During one odd clear spell we thought that we could make out two people at the bothy-hut, but we couldn't be sure. Anyway, here's a couple of pics taken a few minutes before the clag came down:

 

 

To be continued.

Your starter for ten

Posted by on May 16th 2010 in Annual Wildie, Great Escapes, Lakes Escapes, Wildcamping

Just got back from our annual wildie in the Lake District. There'll be a report to follow as usual.

Here's a pic from the start of our weekend. Would anyone care to hazard a guess as to where we were heading?

As usual there are no prizes for correct answers, so don't get too excited.

Reasons to be cheerful

Posted by on May 14th 2010 in In the garden, Just for fun, Pics

Sky Art


Cherry Blossom


Pear Blossom


Hyphen Fail


Apple Blossom


Weeds


Tasty


Post Fail AND Apostrophe Fail


Result!

Politics

Posted by on May 12th 2010 in Just for fun

One evening a little boy goes to his dad and asks, "What is Politics?"

Dad says, "Well son, let me try to explain it this way:  I am the head of the family, so call me the Prime Minister. Your mother is the administrator of the money and organises the family, so we'll call her The Government. We are here to take care of your needs, so we'll call you The People. The nanny does the housework and childcare, so we'll consider her The Working Class. And your baby brother, we'll call him The Future. Now think about that and see if it makes sense.

So the little boy goes off to bed thinking about what Dad has said.

Later that night, he hears his baby brother crying, so he gets up to check on him. He finds that the baby has severely soiled his nappy, so the little boy goes to his parents' room and finds his mother sound asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he goes to the nanny's room. Finding the door locked, he peeks in the keyhole and sees his dad in bed with the nanny. He gives up and goes back to bed.

The next morning, the little boy says to his dad, "Dad, I think I understand politics now."

The father says, "Great son! Tell me in your own words what you think politics is all about."

The little boy replies, "The Prime Minister is screwing The Working Class while The Government is sound asleep. The People are being ignored and The Future is in deep shit".

Con-Dem Nation?

Posted by on May 7th 2010 in In the News
Tags:

It's got a sinister ring to it, no?

Here's the would-be gaffer:

Mr. Clameron.

Looks familiar, no?

🙂

Oh no! FFS, not again!

Posted by on May 7th 2010 in A bit of a rant, In the News
Tags:

For 23 years we've had the same MP, and in all that time we've never actually seen him. Hardly surprising, really, as he lives 140 miles away in Billingshurst, which is even further away from here than Westminster is. He's tried to claim expenses for astrology software and for an intimate relationships course, and was guilty of accepting cash-for-questions. He's never responded directly to any of the questions that I've put to him, preferring to "sub out" the job to somebody else. We had high hopes that he'd be ousted, but he's back for another term.

I didn't much care which party ended up in government, but I really did want to see the back of this fool. Actually, seeing ANY part of this fool is unlikely. He's like the absentee landlord, happy to accept the rent-money but never there when you need him to fix the property. It's not what's expected of a public servant, and certainly not what I expect of my representative in Parliament.

We're screwed.