Millstone Edge, Hathersage

Millstone Edge is a bit of a climbing mecca but as I couldn't persuade Storm to belay me we had to settle for a walk instead!!!

Climbing at Rope Race

Ian and I seem to be collecting climbing wall memberships at the moment - Ingleton, Kendal, Notts and now Rope Race at Marple.

Ian used to be a member here but I've only ever been a visitor, with some climbing walls like Nottingham you have to be a member to climb, both Rope Race and Kendal have visitors passes but as we climb a lot at Kendal we are members (cheaper entry) and as we are living near Rope Race at the moment it seemed a good idea for Ian to renew his and me to join.

Whether you have to be a member to climb at Ingleton Climbing Wall I don't know because I always have been a member as it's my local climbing wall and I've been climbing there since it opened.

We took pics of the bouldering wall.....

but couldn't really take any of the climbing wall as we were climbing and it didn't seem like a good idea to let go of the rope to take pictures!!!!

Rope Race, like Nottingham Climbing Wall, uses English grading for the routes - both Kendal and Ingleton use French grading.

Marple is all roped, Notts is part roped, Ingleton and Kendal have some ropes but you really need to bring your own to make the most of the walls there.

Broad Clough, Near Kinder

Storm, Siula and I went for a walk over Broad Clough today - there was sunshine but the wind was bitterly cold.

Fun at Melton Mowbry Show

Lois and I went to Melton Mowbry Show with Lois' sister Naomi, Jeff and Nathan

The Rockwood Dog Display Team were also there.....

BBQ at Braunstone

First we lit the BBQ.....
then drank and ate lots......

and finished with a bonfire to keep warm!

Climbing at Nottingham Wall

This is a climbing rack used for outdoor climbing. We didn't use all of it today as we went climbing with Liz and Adam at Notingham Climbing Wall.




Ian on the bouldering wall....

Liz and I climbing......











and afterwards we went for a meal at The Victoria Hotel in Beeston

Kinder Reservoir Walk & a BBQ

After dropping Jackie off at the Station I decided to take Storm and Siula for a walk along Kinder Reservoir to Williams Clough, it was a gorgeously warm sunny afternoon! (as opposed to the snow of the day before!!!)



The day was finished off nicely with a BBQ in the back yard - Siula thinks she's going to get some steak!!

..... and got a piece in the end!

The Lakes Camping Trip - Ambleside & Windermere

We woke up this morning to snow on the fells and decided that toast & marmite in bed sounded good.

After packing up camp we drove to Derwent Water.....

before heading off on a scenic tour through the fells

ending up at Pippins for tea, chocolate & toasted teacakes in Ambleside.

We visited Rock & Run & The Climber's Shop to look at yet even more shiny metal things, Jackie bought 2 Karabiners & a sling & then we went into Field & Trek and spotted a different type of shiny metal thing - an Od-ities stand - I love purple Od-ities and ended up with a ying/yang Karabiner & a lizard bottle opener to add to my magpie collection!

after leaving Ambleside we popped in to say hi to my buddy John who runs the Boat Hire Centre at Shepherds Marina on Windermere

and went to Fell Foot at the south of the Lake where Ian & I moor Kareela (our National 12 Dinghy) to give the dogs a swim and a run........

........and generally tiring them out!

And after a shower & brush up we went to The Sycamore at Birch Vale with Ian for an excellent bar meal.

See what happens when you let them have a couple of pints.....

The Lakes Camping Trip - Borrowdale

Another bright sunny start to the day complete with sausage sarnies for breakfast - even the dogs got sausages!!
Our first trip of the day was to the Bowder Stone - a huge rock balanced on it's corner.
There are lots of bouldering routes on it and a scramble up the front or you can be the 'tourist' and use the wooden ladder at the side!!

You can also walk under the boulder near the point it touches the ground!

From there we went slightly further up the valley to the famous Ashness Bridge and Watendlath.

and then we took a walk along Shepherds Crag where there are lots of really excellent climbing routes and we treated ourselves to lunch in the barn cafe at the bottom of the crags.

We drove up to Honister Pass after lunch for a walk

followed by a walk down Seathwaite before retiring to the tent for beer & nibbles just in time too as it started to rain!

As it was raining we decided to cook corn beef hash with cauliflowers & cheese in the tent tonight - this meant we had to do a bit of rearranging & put the dogs beds between our sleeping bags so we could use all of the porch to cook & eat in.

Me thinks Jackie got a bit cold!!!

The Lakes Camping Trip - Buttermere & Crummock Water, Newlands & Keswick

Bacon butties again for breakfast & then we packed up the tent and headed over to Buttermere and Crummock Water via Loweswater.

We stopped at Moss Force, Newlands for a walk
had lunch on the fells behind Braithwaite

and then spent the afternoon looking at bright shiny objects (better known as climbing gear!) in Keswick.

I bought a couple of Karabiners and some walking socks (most of mine having ended up in storage during our move) and Jackie bought a ground sheet and a survival bag - yes we did bring one with us but we wedged it under the car wheel last night & this morning it was gone!

We drove down Borrowdale to Seatoller Farm Camp site

and in case anyone's wondering where we all sleep, the dogs have the porch....



and we have the tunnel with our kit bags at the end.

We had a merry evening of crisps, wine & dips with sausage casserole and 2 very tired dogs!

The Lakes Camping Trip - Wasdale

We woke up to bacon butties (cooked by Jackie) in the sunshine
& then went for a drive down Wastwater where the dogs had great fun swimming in the lake

before going for a walk up Nether Beck

We got back for a late lunch just in time for the rain & made a shelter at the back of the car to sit & cook cheesy pasta in with a brew of tea.

We took a drive to Eskdale in the afternoon and set up a shelter to cook tea in back at camp
Then ate curry in luxury on a picnic table (amazing what you can get in the back of an estate these days!) with a few beers for added flavour!
& then retired to the tent (it's a dogs life really!)

The Lakes Camping Trip - Silecroft

I've decided that when you go camping for 5 days you have just as much stuff as for 2 weeks!!!

The box on the left contains everything to survive with for camping, the middle box contains the 2 ring gas stove & gas bottle - which is a bit of a luxury, the box on the right is 5 days food, then there's the thermarest, sleeping bags & a tent! We also took 2 camp chairs (another luxury!)

Our aim was a nice drive round the coast to Silecroft for lunch cooked expertly by Jackie on the trangier....

followed by a walk down the beach.....




before we drove into Church Stile Camp site at Nether Wasdale for the night - The weather was cold & sunny on the coast but we had a rainy evening at the camp site.

Wooden Spoon Triathlon

The Wooden Spoon supports a whole range of projects designed to improve life for disadvantaged children and young people throughout the UK and Ireland. Over the years, its social and sporting events across the country have raised millions of pounds that have changed thousands of lives.

One of the events is the Ford Ranger Great Lakeland Challenge Canoe, Cycle and Run event in The Lake District

The guys from Ian's work enter 1 or 2 teams every year - it's fun to spectate as long as you don't mind getting wet & cold (how unusual for the Lakes!!)

paddling a canoe up Lake Windermere (12 miles)

then cycling up Wrynose and Hardknott passes (steepest in England, 25 miles) and finally running up Scafell (highest fell in England, 10 miles) before finishing at Stool End, Langdale.

On The Wirral

After a lazy start to the morning we finally stirred ourselves to go for a walk along the coast near Andrea & Mark's house.

We learnt that it used to be used a lot by smugglers and that there are still caves under the cliffs where we walked which the smugglers used.

We also had a great view of the Liverpool sites and then had lunch in their local - The Nelson.

And finally Andrea & I managed to capture a picture of the Lesser Spotted Markandian

Liverpool Won The FA Cup - The Homecoming Parade

We were there....... it was fantastic!!!

Mark's Birthday At The Manor

Andrea and Mark have a house in Wallasey on the Wirral and Ian and myself went over there for the weekend to celebrate Mark's birthday.

We went to The Manor at Greasby for a meal with John, Janet, Jamie and Mark & Andrea's son Dave

and then back to Mark and Andrea's for a bit of a 'do'......

opps... I think Andrea got the candles the wrong way.....

and went to bed just as the birds were waking - although some of us prefered to fall sleep on the sofas........

Holme & District First Responders

What are First Responders???

A First Responder is a person who has basic First Aid skills and is trained in CPR and a difibrilator (called an AED).

They are a group of people based mainly in rural locations who answer 999 calls and can respond to the call quicker than the ambulance can get to the scene.

I belong to the Holme & District First Response Team and we are part of Cumbria Community First Responders - we are 20 mins from the nearest Ambulance Service - further if an ambulance from a different area has to attend. Our response time is normally about 4 minutes.

First Responders are re-trained and assessed every 6 months, however there have recently been some changes to the way CPR and AED are done and we have all been re-trained today with the new CPR/AED procedures as per the new European 2005 Resuscitation Guidelines.

Our re-training was done at Lane Farm (pic) near the Westmorland County Show Ground.

After the re-training there was an assessment by a paramedic to ensure that we all up to the standard of CPR required.

There are 18 people on our team, we each have a pager which is activated on a 999 call with the patients location and condition. We all carry resusitation masks with us and the key to an emergency box containing First Aid Equipment, Oxygen and the AED. We also have ID and jackets which we have to carry to the incident to identify us as a First Responder.

Of Dogs & Frizbees

There's a field behind the house and on hot sunny afteroons (& some not so hot) we go up there and spend the whole afternoon playing frizbee or ball.......



and afterwards I have a very tired doggy!!

Lantern Pike

Lantern Pike is the fell directly behind the cottage in The Peaks, usually when I go up there it's wet and windy - today proved to be no exception - call this May!!!! What ever happened to sunshine and heat?

A Spot of Gardening

Today I turned the bare stone flagged yard at Birch Vale into a patio garden full of flowers......

whilst Ian turned Siula into his cyclying mascot!!!!!

From Lakes to Peaks

Today we left Iluka and the Lakes..........

and set up home temporarily at Ian's old cottage in the Peaks.........

until we can complete on our new house in the Lakes.