BB1914 : The Relevance of Thirty Nine

Wednesday 17th April 2019

“Well boys,” I said as we set off from where we had parked at High Row.  Do you know the relevance of thirty nine to today?”

They looked puzzled.  All except Stan.

Tony had his step counter turned on.  “Well,” he said. “It can’t be anything to do with John Buchan.  I think we are going to do a bit more than Thirty Nine Steps today!  Not Thirty Nine Thousand ?  It can't be.”

He was, of course, right though I did cause him and the others to take a few more steps than strictly necessary due to trying to navigate at the same time as dealing with an estate agent on the telephone.  The direction we took was not quite that intended.  

Actually I think it was better as it led us up to the small peak appropriately, given the nature of the discussion, called High Brow rather than across a potentially boggy area.  On the other hand, the bog probably would have been quite dry, given this run of fine weather.

As we were approaching Randerside, Martin, who has a connection on the French Riviera, shared with us his knowledge of a private sports club in Monte Carlo.  "That’s called Thirty Nine," he explained.  Maybe but it’s not my thirty nine.

Unfortunately it was hazy and the early photos are not wonderful.  It was also chilly as we approached Great Dodd, the zenith of the walk.

We stopped in the lea of the shelter to eat.  Mike- a retired hotelier- had inspiration.  He remembered that there are at least a couple of restaurants called Thirty Nine Desserts.  Had I brought some of their tarts along for lunch to celebrate my birthday?  No.

At Calfhow Pike,  Brian, who also is well travelled, suddenly recalled his Japanese and explained that the clue to remembering two of their numbers is to say Thank You.  He informed us that 3 is San and 9 is Kyo. 39.  Interesting but not relevant.

When we reached our second main objective, Clough Head, Brian had another go, displaying a hitherto unbeknown to us grasp of historical religious knowledge. He wondered if it had anything to do with the 1591 Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England?  No.

At White Peak, there were no more suggestions.  The view was too good.  Stan just smiled.  He knew.

We returned to the car by the Old Coach Road.  The Long Old Coach Road.  The Long and Winding Old Coach Road. The Long, Winding and Undulatin..… you get my drift!  It was a long way back.

En-route, Mike displayed his knowledge of yoof culture in which, according to the Urban Dictionary, 39 means a person of Hebrew descent though I can’t think why. Not relevant.

Martin observed that as 42 was the meaning of life, the universe and everything (according to the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy), maybe 39 represented quite a lot of knowledge?  Sorry, no.

A shepherd was rounding up his sheep, or to be more precise two of his dogs were. They were romping up near vertical slopes to bring them under control whilst a third limped along gamely.  How many sheep?  Dunno.  Didn't count them.

We finished up at the Royal Hotel at Dockray.  Tony had a last try.  "Well I know it’s your birthday tomorrow but you are a bit older than that.  I think it’s a wind up. You're going to say it is one more than 38."

"No" said Stan. "It’s obvious when you look at our Wainwright charts. With today's Great Dodd and Clough Head, Don’s caught me up.  We both now have exactly 39 left to do.  That's the relevance."

The others looked exasperated with me and no surprise.  They forgave me, however, when I bought them all a beer so they could toast me a happy birthday.

Cheers!

Don, Thursday 17th April 2019

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STATISTICS

BB1914 : The Relevance of Thirty Nine

Date:

Wednesday 17th April 2019

Features:

Great Dodd, Clough Head

Comitibus:

Brian, Don, Martin, Mike, Stan, Tony

Distance in miles (Garmin):

9.5

Height climbed in feet (OMN):

2,186

GPX track

BB1914.gpx

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