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The Nine Standards 270411

I can remember hearing about these years ago and then was reminded more recently whilst watching Julia Bradbury on the C2C.

I hadn’t even taken in that they were so near to where I’m staying.
I woke at 7 and made a cup of tea. At 8.30 went down for a big breakfast of muesli and yoghurt followed by 2 very nice poached eggs on toast and grilled tomatoes and beans. Yelly gave me espresso so full marks for that. And a big packed lunch in case of danger of going more than an hour without food.
So I went into Kirkby Stephen and pootled for quite a surprising amount of time. I bought eye drops and batteries and went for a great ristretto in the Post Office which is the old Catholic church and has nice deli type food for sale.  Also put my head in the church which is jointly used by Catholics and Anglicans and just shows ecumenical ideas can work and have done so here for over 20 years.
I parked near the quarry and then walked for a good way along the road which wasn’t entirely necessary but did include passing a farm with 2 llamas. They did look odd with their long necks.
Just after the path to the Standards starts I had my lunch but could not eat it all so gave the birds some bread.
Carried on and before long got to the stones. They are very strange and are in good nick. I stopped for a bit but quite cold and windy so kept on to the trig point. Then I decided to cut across the dried out bog to Jack’s Standard. This was ok and then I did some serious nav and aimed at returning to the 9 Standards path. I met an old man with dog who suggested I go to the fell wall and down so I went with Frank aged nearly 80 who is ex farmer, milkman, climber, Mountain Rescue volunteer and all round mine of information. He showed me all sorts of things including a badger sett. We went to the end of the track where he had parked his car and where I should have. He then gave me a lift back to my car!
I drove back to Ravenstonedale for cake and tea followed by most powerful shower I’ve ever had.
Out and back to Kirkby Stephen to the Old Forge for much better dinner. I had beef carbonnade and it was also lots better than the one I made on Monday. It came with chips, new potatoes, swede mash, broccoli. And was cheaper than last night.
10km
440m ascent
 
Heading up to Nine Standards Rigg, peat erosion
Nine
Four/five
Four
 

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Cautley Spout and the Calf 260411

A leisurely start to my 4 day trip to the Howgills and Dales. I parked at the Cross Keys Temperance Inn (more on this later). I was feeling tired despite the regular exercise and a good sleep so looked at the Spout which seemed to be spouting about half way up the cliff and decided just to go up and see it close to and then return. The Spout actually starts at the top of the cliff. It was a situation where I thought I would just go a little bit further and then a bit more. Once I was at the top about 600m I continued along the path of Red Gill Beck. When I checked the map it seemed pointless to come all this way and not go to the Calf. So I carried on up the side of Force Gill Beck. At the top of the beck I saw the only people on the walk. They had passed me as I ate my lunch and come up widdershins to my clockwise route. I trotted up to the Calf. Still fine but very cold in the wind. I was glad of my new Millet, not Millets jacket and also new Smartwool merino socks. Excellent. Jacket light as feather and kept me warm. I rang my B&B with ETA from the Calf as good signal. On the map to get down you have to go over a kilometre and then turn back on yourself. I could see the path I wanted so did a short cut by the side of a beck. Then it was a short descent to the plain where there are remains of an Iron Age settlement.

I drove up to High Chapel House in Ravenstonedale pronounced Rissendall of course. Yelly very welcoming. Nice comfy billet.
Walked down to Black Swan and had olives and feta cheese then Tuscan chicken which was ok not madly brilliant and enormous portion so I could not eat it all.
500m ascent
8km
 
Evil sheep blocking my path
The Spout
From the Calf, pillows of Howgills
Lovely horses
 

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=cautley+spout,+Sedbergh,+United+Kingdom&aq=0&oq=cautley+spout&sll=54.404744,-2.787781&sspn=0.125895,0.41851&t=p&ie=UTF8&hq=cautley+spout,&hnear=Sedbergh,+Cumbria,+United+Kingdom&ll=54.404744,-2.787781&spn=0.05995,0.102997&z=12&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

Lakes March/April 2011

Saturday 26th March
Arrived in Longsleddale in the early afternoon. We are staying in the Coach House at Capplebarrow which is near the middle of the dale, just a few yards from the church and the village hall which are the only things in the dale apart from farms and houses. The River Sprint runs along the side of the single track road and we can see it from the Coach House. The Coach House is small and compact. There is the most enormous bed meaning we will have to send semaphore signals to each other. Very neat Morso wood burner that kicks out huge amount of heat, it compensates for the fan heater that only gives us 3 minutes in the shower room. After getting settled in we went for a short circuit along towards the head of the valley and then back along the far side of the river.
[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Longsleddale,+South+Lakeland+District,+United+Kingdom&aq=1&oq=longsleddale&sll=53.976128,-1.702121&sspn=0.015901,0.052314&t=p&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Longsleddale,+Cumbria,+United+Kingdom&ll=54.440399,-2.790184&spn=0.029949,0.051498&z=13&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Sunday 27th March
Green Quarter
First day of forward clocks. We drove the first 3.5 km from our lodgings to Sadgill. Parked up. Lots of cars where before when I’ve been here there were none. Up a lovely stony track with burbling streams. Came across a vintage Land Rover mini rally. About 6 of them all trying to come down very steep bouldery part of path. Bloody bonkers but they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Seemed a risky thing to do to such beautifully preserved vehicles. Short stop where junction to Shipman Knotts and Kentmere Pike turns off.  Then away across the fell to Green Quarter. This is tiny hamlet next to Kentmere village. Out the other side and back onto the fell. Stopped for lunch looking over to Kentmere Tarn in the vale. On up to Green Quarter Fell. Passed Skeggles Water. This bit was quite bleak. Then on up Cocklaw Fell now overlooking our Longsleddale valley which is nice and green. On the homeward stretch with car in sight. Flapjack made by me v. good for keeping up energy levels as v. delicious.

[googlemaps https://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Green+Quarter,+United+Kingdom&aq=2&oq=green+quarter&sll=54.424922,-2.784004&sspn=0.062916,0.209255&t=p&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Kentmere,+Cumbria,+United+Kingdom&ll=54.430165,-2.840137&spn=0.014978,0.025749&z=14&iwloc=A&output=embed&w=300&h=300]

Monday 28th March

Harter Fell
It’s about an hour and a bit to drive a mere handful of miles because we are not crows. Parked up at Mardale Head. Free car park. Set off up Gatescarth Pass. After 20 mins I realised I’d left my iPhone on full view in the car. I left Mr B and raced down and back in 22 mins!   We plodded on and eventually arrived at the head of the pass. I also realised half way up that I’d left my lunch in the kitchen at the cottage. I considered pretending I’d only just found out when we sat to eat but instead fessed up feeling now very very stupid. Mr B kindly agreed to share his lunch with me and I gratefully accepted. We found a little hollow out of the wind and I ate half his lunch. After a bit more climbing we reached the summit of Harter Fell. Much colder on the tops. Headed off west to find the Nan Bield Pass. Some fairly challenging sections for Mr B height and exposure wise. It all went fine and we easily found the head of the pass. Mr B shared his Twix with me to give us a boost for the descent. It took a while but we got back down without further incident. Mr Bs first Wainwright and a jolly good one in perfect weather.

 

Towards High Street
Haweswater
On top of Harter Fell
Me too
Smallwater
Smallwater from the Nan Bield Pass
On the Nan Bield Pass

 

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Tuesday 29th March

Not a very good day for walking so we went to Kendal and wandered round a lot, then went on to Sedbergh and looked at second hand bookshops
Kendal
Wednesday 30th March
Hugill Fell
This is an “outlying fell” according to Wainwright. Very wet so kept it short. Managed to stay dry with all the gear. Annoyingly it seems to be drier in afternoon which is not what forecast said. We didn’t bother looking at Williamson’s monument as it was too hard to get over wall plus high fence.
Wet
Very wet
Mafioso sheep
Thursday 31st March
It was so wet the Sprint had burst its banks in several places. Neither of us feeling like walking in the downpour so we went to Ambleside and Windermere for the day. It had finally brightened up in the evening enabling us to do a longer circuit in Longsleddale going further towards the head of the valley, looking up at Harter Fell.
The Coach House (the small building)
Cute now but may well turn into EVIL sheep
Longsleddale
Longsleddale
Longsleddale
Longsleddale church, sorry but this made me roar with laughing

Friday 1st April

More rain in the morning so we went to the Abbot Hall Gallery in Kendal which was good. Too early for the Sheila Fell exhibition though.
Eating Out

The Wheatsheaf at Brigsteer

The food was quite good but we had to wait oh so long for it I was nearly climbing the wall.
Both had braised beef, why this has to come in a little round I don’t know. Horseradish mash was good. Not enough gravy as meat a bit dry. Mushrooms and shallots tasty. Braised red cabbage so vinegary I coughed on every mouthful. But cauli and broccoli cheese yummy.
Deja Vue in Kendal
My meal was fine, I had celeriac for a starter and then a filo pastry and beetroot mille feuille. Mr B ordered tuna and it came and just was not right so he sent it back. He ate some chips and then we went home and he had a nice sandwich with ham. So a mixed bag, suspect it’s best not to bother with this one again.
Eating In
We cheated on the first evening and had pots of risotto which were fine and did the job.
I made Green Thai chicken curry with basmati rice. Fab!
Also an omelette with various bits and pieces, this was a bit dry as I had not quite got the measure of the electric cooker.
We had pasta bolognese twice, slightly different each time, but very nice.
Oh and I made more flapjack this time with apple and it didn’t really stick together so more like sticky granola. I will continue to experiment with the flapjack recipe as it’s so much nicer than buying an energy bar and a lot cheaper.
Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

Swinsty Reservoir and Timble

March 14th, 2011
I took the day off for my birthday (13th). Mr B and I drove to Harrogate in the motor. Had a pootle around the shops and then went to nice Italian for lunch called Sasso.
We then went a short distance to Swinsty and parked up in the water board car park. The whole area is overlooked by the sinister golf balls on Menwith Hill.
We did this walk and managed to make it take forever, but the weather was good and although not madly hilly, a good walk to get my eye back into navigation and for Mr B to test out the new boots and his knees. The walk goes along one of the reservoirs, then a beck (lots of mud), up to a farm and up to village of Timble which is very des res.

Building contains some ancient water machinery

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Bath: 17th to 22nd February

Thursday
We arrived in Bath a bit later than planned (detour to Halifax, detour to find picnic spot for lunch, detour to Sainsburys!) and collected the keys from Jo and Wolfie who refreshed us with tea and a tour of the new conservatory at Athole House. It was very dark by the time we arrived in Hungerford Road but we quickly unloaded the car and then I spent the next 15 minutes trying to park it.
After we’d set ourselves up I cooked an omelette and then it was pretty much time for bed. Tired!

Friday
After a good sleep on the lovely John Lewis mattresses, we set off for the Mayor’s guides’ tour of the city. We assembled outside the Pump Rooms and a nice lady called Sue took us off on a circuit showing us lots of interesting things and no Jane Austen.

Bath Abbey
Old and new

It was quite cold and the walk went slowly as we had to keep stopping for her to tell us things so we were pretty frozen by the end of it. We went and had a nice cup of coffee near Sally Lunn’s tea house. Very reasonable too! We went and had a picnic lunch in Henrietta Park. Then it was back home to get warm before our next adventure.
A short walk from the house is the Hop Pole pub where we had good hot filling food and very pleasant staff. Then it was back into town for the Ghost Walk. A nice chap took about 30+ of us around the town, walking slowly and stopping frequently, around the SAME ROUTE that the Mayor’s guide had taken us on except in reverse! And it was still quite cold.
To my surprise we did not see any ghosts. After a whole day of being very cold, we walked back part of the way with our guide, it started to rain and I was relieved to be home, totally knackered.

Saturday
A slow, lazy start and then it was back into the town for the shops. I was starting to be a bit weary and did not hold up very well but Mr B manfully attacked Marks and Spencer among many others. After a bit, I protested and we went back home, had some lunch and then set off to find the car. We drove out southwards into the country and turned off towards Wellow, this road was fantastically filthy with litter which must be a real shame as the village itself is quite nice. From there we parked up near Stoney Littleton Long Barrow but didn’t get out as we had not brought suitable footwear for muddy walks. Looking at it now, I wish we had gone, still we will be back in May. Then we did a round trip through Faulkland, Hardington, Mells, Vobster, Coleford, Holcombe and Stratton-on-the-Fosse with a detour to Downside Abbey which was shut and then home.
I cooked a Thai green chicken curry which seemed to go down well. We spent the evening relaxing.

Tracey and Jason’s magnificent fireplace
Detail from the fireplace

Sunday
Up early again and into town via the scenic route through the park to No. 1 Royal Crescent. This was very good and we just wandered round at our own pace. We had an early picnic lunch back in Victoria Park in the Botanical bit where you are not allowed to picnic, why ever not? Then back in again to the Victoria Art Gallery which is free and has a very helpful and informed member of staff who looked things up for me. I liked the Walter Sickert view of London Street. They have other Sickerts in their store. Sounds a bit like the University of Bradford – we only bring out our Hockneys occasionally. The entrance had a Sophie Ryder hare so I took its picture for Chris.
Back home to tidy up and then we went out in the car to Athole House where we were happily entertained by Jo and Wolfie. We met Phil which was nice, well it was for us!! Yummy beef and bean dish, followed by the Curate’s Omelette, have I got that right, an appley pudding, also yummy.

Royal Crescent
One of Sophie Ryder’s hares
Cliff’s shop!

Monday
A later start and then into the town for the second hand bookshops. This was the only day it rained it to any extent. We had a picnic lunch in Sydney Street Gardens and watched the trains shooting through which was quite strange really. Then we poked our noses in Bath Abbey and poked them out again as Mr. B objected to the forcibly requested donations and the display screens which he referred to as “televisions”. Unfortunately for me, the weather precluded the climb of the tower but not sure I would have got Mr up there anyway. We then inspected Paxton and Whitfield‘s cheese shop which was just fab. A quick trot home and I produced a sausage casserole some time later.

Gents in Sydney Street gardens
Mending the downpipe, Alpine style
Who the heck?

Tuesday
A nice leisurely end to the holiday, lovely not having to clear out by 10.00! We did the efficient thing with packing the car and then posted the keys through the door. We decided to avoid the motorways but this proved a slow way to go. I also failed to find Waitrose in Cheltenham as my iPhone stopped being helpful, so we went to Waitrose in Malvern instead. This took forever, especially the bit afterwards trying to find somewhere to have our picnic lunch. We got home about 7.30 a bit tired to say the least.
A great holiday with special thanks to Tracey and Jason for making it possible.

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Please visit Map and Compass and learn how to interpret a map with me and my navigation partner, Cath.

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