Short Skirt Weather

We are off for a short break in the Lakes this evening. L has the whole day off and uses the time to get a haircut, which is always a sad occasion, before finishing packing the car which I had started earlier.

Then after checking whether I have any last requests on the packing front, I do but apparently it’s not short skirt weather, she heads off to pick me up from work. She may not have packed for the eventuality of  short skirt weather but I think she’s covered every other possible eventuality as the car is practically listing to one side. I joke, of course. It's just the book pile.

We are staying in a cottage in Chapel Stile for the first time in quite a while. Yes, we not camping.Quite a few people are struggling to get their heads round this such is our reputation.

We get there in enough time to have a few beers in the Wainwrights Inn and I finally get to add Jennings' Sneck Lifter to my list.

(Friday 13^th January)

Rough Out There

As is now becoming the norm Doggo hoovers up all the deer poo on the park and then declines his breakfast.

It's really rough out this morning, very windy and foggy, so I’m more or less glad that I didn't cycle and got the bus instead.

Dogging tonight and then afterwards a pint in the Masons with L. Wainwrights is back, rather appropriately as we’re off to the Lakes this weekend where I’ll be hoping to avoid it of course.

(Wednesday 11^th January)

New Year

We head up to the Lakes today and leave the snow behind as we do. There’s none of the white stuff beyond Stoke and in the Lakes it’s raining.

We have booked a cottage for three nights in the same settlement of Garnett Bridge in Longsleddale just a few miles north of Kendal.

In the evening we head to nearby Staveley although it still involves using the car along some great narrow roads. We have a drink the Duke William, which isn’t the most upmarket of pubs although they do allow the dogs in before moving to much more plush Eagle and Child. They would also have the dogs in but it’s a bit too busy to unleash our two tonight.

There’s no chance of getting food in the Eagle and Child, so we have another drink which is luckily Snecklifter before heading off with a four pint take out of said Snecklifter to find a takeaway to take back to the cottage. That isn’t an easy job either. We fancied a curry but could only find restaurants and no actual takeaways. The first restaurant we try is too busy to do us a take away but the second one, the Eastern Balti, does do us one.

We have a not so wild night at the cottage as we can’t get much reception on the TV so can’t even tune into our usual Jools Holland’s Hootenanny show. We end up in bed before midnight.

(Wednesday 31^st December)

Recently Reacquired Mojo

We had contemplated a Lakes trip this weekend but decide to skip it as we might be going at New Year. L wants to decorate and do the Holme Pierrepont Dirty Dash. Her recently reacquired mojo keeps dragging her to these things. 

I suggest that, as the Dirty Dash starts at noon, she could do a 9am Parkrun first? She doesn’t seem struck on the idea, only a psycho would do both. Actually, I'm sure a psycho would run from one to the other.

The Dirty Dash turns out to be far dirtier than imagined but more fun than I thought. At least from a spectators point of view, I'd hate to have been running it.

Derby lose at Leeds but still stay top. This ends a run of twelve games unbeaten against them but then it had to end at some point.

We again spend the evening in the Horse and Jockey.

(Saturday 29^th November)

Lakeland Essentials

Today is my fourth day in the car this week. Yikes. Today though I have a good reason, we’re off to the Lakes tonight where I might, or might not, run in Saturday’s traditional pre-Christmas 10k race.

After squash last night I can barely walk this morning and no, it’s not the injury, it’s just stiff legs that haven’t been used enough recently.

After work I head home to collect L and the dogs, pack up the Lakeland essentials e.g. mulled wine and we head off up the M6, which is blissfully quiet for once. Well, as quiet as it gets outside of 3am in the morning.

We arrive at Langdale and at first we think the campsite is closed. We appear to be the only tent on it. Yes it’s December but usually there’s still around thirty tents pitched. The curse of Friday the 13^th perhaps?

Then we see the weather forecast which predicts extreme gales but they’re due tomorrow, so we’ll worry about them tomorrow then and anyway everything will look a lot rosier after a few Old Peculiars. We head off to the bar at Old Dungeon Ghyll. 

(Friday 13^th December)

A Bit Of A W'ruff Night

I'm off work today. I have booked a boiler service for this morning and then this afternoon we’re off to the Lakes to fulfil a 15 year old ambition to stay in the Watermill Inn in Ings.

The original reason to stay there has long gone, that being Lees' Moonraker on draught. That disappeared when they started their own brewery and reduced the number of guest ale they have.

Still, with around 16 beers on at any one time it should be a good weekend. Oh and we intend to do some walking as well.

The day starts very productively. By 11am the gasman has been and gone, we’ve done the park and I've paid the tax return. Time now for a late breakfast.

The gasman has replaced a part that was dripping. Whether this will solve the pressure problem we're having (again), who knows. I guess we’ll see if it’s still working by the time we get back on Sunday evening.

Then after lunch, I collect L from work and we head up to Ings. We check in to our room, then after making ourselves and the dogs comfortable for a while, hit the bar.

Oddly we largely ignore the fact that there’s Old Peculiar on the bar. It’s a bit two-a-penny now it’s on in Nottingham as well as at the Old Dungeon Ghyll just down the road of course.

We settle in for a W'ruff Night instead.

(Friday 11th January)

Soft And Sticky

I quote...

“Winter has now arrived in the Lakes, with deep snow on the tops, and some cold days with blue skies. We're keeping fingers crossed that our new Sticky Chocolate Trail Run at Cartmel will have a light dusting of snow to keep with the festive spirit of the event.”

Sadly it doesn’t. The recent rise in temperatures and rain has made the going officially ‘soft’ at Cartmel Racecourse, which we again struggle to find a way into but we get there eventually.

It’s a leisurely 2pm start and even we are there in enough time to walk around the village first and visit the pudding shop.

Entries are still open, as they keep reminding us. Do they think I might be tempted? Nope.

I’m sitting this one out, so the boys and I settle down to watch the football match going on nearby, as assorted Santas, elves and even a couple of Christmas Crackers head off on a wade through 10k of sticky mud. L has unforgivably, not that either of us gave it a thought, left every possibility of festive fancy dress at home and we had quite a few options.

I do feel slightly miffed to be missing on the mulled wine and mince pies that are being served at the drinks stations out on the course, that is until I have a beer from the local Unsworth's Yard Brewery in my hand and then all is forgotten.

When the runners re-emerge and cross the finish to be handed their locally produced Sticky Chocolate Puddings, they’re not actually even that muddy... Not that I’m saying I’d like to have done it. I have enough to contend with tomorrow with the Grand Langdale 10k and that’s on terra firma.

First though back to the Old Dungeon Ghyll for refuelling.

(Saturday 15th December)

Who Stole The Snecklifter?

After being early yesterday and thereby causing me to miss it, the bus is well late this morning. No consistency.

The plan is for L to collect me from work at 5pm and then we’ll head straight up to the Lakes. Where I plan to re-rupture my knee in the Grizedale night race. I’ve packed most of our kit in the car already, so all L needs to remember really is to being the dogs. Luckily even if she tries to forget to pack MD, he's unlikely to let her get away with it.

The M6 is no better for us being that bit earlier but then we didn’t expect it to be; at least it’s no worse.

We roll up at a very busy Great Langdale campsite and pitch up, as usual, in the dark. Then because it’s so busy, we forgo the usual pilgrimage to the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hikers bar and head to the Sticklebarn instead, hoping it will be quieter. It is, much quieter. It’s usually much busier than this in October...

Turns out the Sticklebarn is now owned and run by the National Trust. They took over in June. First impressions aren’t great. There’s a new food menu, which we didn’t try but gone are the hot toddies and the regular local real ales: - Tag Lag, Cumberland and most importantly Snecklifter. No Snecklifter, no wonder it’s quiet. 90% of their beer trade must have been either Cumberland or Snecklifter. True, there’s an impressive array of lagers that no one’s touching and there’s the dreaded Doom Bar from Cornwall... There are other beers too, to be fair, but it’s no wonder everyone else has gone elsewhere. Probably sitting in the ODG emptying the cellar of Old Peculiar.

I think the National Trust are going to have to learn quite quickly that there’s a world of difference between catering for the summer tourists and the winter walkers.

So not a great beer night, at least back in the tent we have the cake that L has baked specially for the trip. She says it’s a disaster but the boys and I love it.

(Friday 26th October)

The Cost of Camping

This morning Son is despatched back to Leamington by coach. Far cheaper than the train and it doesn’t involve again changes. We would have taken him but we’re heading to the Lakes and Leamington would have added a 100 miles to the route, so... no. He’s working New Year’s Eve for double time and a free bar, although apparently this may not be until 5am! Unbeknown to him and us, his boss is about to cancel his shift and not even open the nightclub, where Son works, on New Year’s Eve and 24 hours later Son will be heading back to Nottingham to see in the New Year. Oh dear.

Meanwhile though we leave Daughter in charge of the house. Oh dear.

We book into our usual campsite at Great Langdale. Yes, we’re camping and we just about get the tent up in the light, despite having all day to get up here. It’s actually unseasonably warm, although very wet. There are rumours about the beck flooding... Oh dear. It looks fine to me...

It isn’t actually raining as we pitch camp but the ground is so wet I don’t reckon it’s stopped much since we were here three weeks ago. The campsite owner confirms this as he charges us £3900 for 3 nights. Excuse me? I know prices often go up for the holiday periods but even so. We could almost have got a B&B for that. The most expensive camping trip ever.

We haven’t been here for a few years at New Year. Actually when we think about it, it’s been quite a few years. We were last up here at New Year in 2001 and 2002. So nine years ago. How time flies.

In 2001 when the place was snow bound I reckoned there were around 50 tents on the campsite, it's probably down to around 40 this year. Probably due to the wet and a not very promising forecast.

We spend the night in the Sticklebarn, supping Snecklifter. What could be better?

(Friday 30th December)

Rewriting The Pre-Race Manual

I finish work at lunchtime so that we can get an early start to get up to the Lakes. We wouldn’t normally bother leaving before 6pm but they’ve installed barriers at the camp site to keep the late arriving riff raff out. So I thought we best get there before 9pm. Which is the time when the razor wire is rolled out and the watch towers become manned.

I head home via Sainsburys for some pre-race bananas. Then I pack. As I check my emails at the same time one pops into my inbox from L asking whether I’ve been out training for the April Madness 10k with Motor Mouth yet, it was formerly the Wiggle 10k but we’ve renamed it. Erm, not yet. I had mentioned I might start training with him today. I can see that L doesn’t think I’ll do it, does she?

I have the usual problems getting him started. E.g. a lot of lead biting but then we’re off. His nose in the air looking for trouble as we head onto the park. I choose to go on the park, purely to maximise distractions. Which was ok, until we met a distraction. He had a quick lurch at the first dog we met but that was all. The second one warranted a bark and a lurch, at which point we momentarily lost focus and went back to the lead biting. We stopped, had a team meeting, discussed strategy, decided who was boss (I think) and then carried on with focus returned. So it went well. We only ran about 2k but it’s a start.

Then I load all the gear (and the dogs) in the car and head off to collect L. We arrive at Great Langdale to discover the barriers are still not in operation, so we needn’t have rushed. This also, unfortunately, gives us extra time in the Hikers Bar of The Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. Where L insists on following her usual three halves of beer pre-race strategy. Unfortunately they appear to be serving the beer in out-sized half pint glasses tonight, which to the untrained eye might look like pints and it's doubly unfortunate that the beer is 5.6% Old Peculiar.



After the three, there’s the one for the road, which is the narrow lane we have to walk down to the camp site, it’s a long way, 200 yards perhaps. So three and a half out-sized halves of Old Peculiar then. L's rewriting the pre-race manual here.

I like her style but I’m far more sensible and water down my Old Peculiar down with a Cumberland Ale. Which is cunning of the highest order I believe but we’ll see who has had the best strategy tomorrow.

(Friday 15th April)