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BB2421
: Flying the Flag
Thursday
20th June 2024
There are certain things that really
annoy me. For the avoidance of doubt, let me state that I am not talking about children, though I can
think of some that fit in that category.
In fact, on reflection, I will talk.
Why is it that some children, mostly but not exclusively girls, think
that it’s necessary to shriek loud and shrilly at almost anything? Has no-one told them of Aesop’s boy who cried
“Wolf” once too often? Screams should
mean “I am in danger, please help me”, not that “I’m having fun on a slide and
to prove it I’m going to annoy you”.
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Nor am I talking about the
Greengrocers’ apostrophe though that is pretty annoying.
TOMATOE'S
POTATO'S
APOSTROPHE'S
Or, in the same vein, “it’s” used for belonging
to “it” as opposed to “its” proper spelling.
No, it’s something that annoys me even more.
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But
first, let me tell you about our
day. We had two targets which meant two
short walks. The first was to polish off
a couple of Wainwrights for Robert, namely Side Pike & Lingmoor.
The second being a visit to Cathedral Cave
where Robert wanted to compare a particular feature of the cave with a painting
done by his late friend, Libby Edmonson, an artist of some renown. However, at the last minute, he succumbed to
a bug and was unable to join us.
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What to do? It was nice day and too late to undertake a
major review so we decided to complete Part One anyway. We left one car at what I call “Tony’s Pub”
though to be more accurate it should be known as “Tony’s wife’s ancestors’ pub”. I won’t go into the history of The Three
Shires here, it is detailed in BB1132.
As there were now only five of
us, we could comfortably use John’s car to take us up to the Blea Tarn parking
area.
After a pleasant walk around the
tarn (no wedding photography session there today though we suspect there might
have been one later) we started the ascent of Side Pike. It’s a great little mountain with the
emphasis on little. It’s a short, steep
climb with superb views of the Langdales.
A couple of military planes buzzed us.
I don’t find them or their noise annoying. As long as they are flying our flag, of
course. Tony captured a brilliant
picture of the two of them:
What followed was the excitement
of the Big Squeeze, which I found more awkward than previously- not because of
girth but because my foot got stuck.
The subsequent path to the
Lingmoor Fell summit, Brown How, is less dramatic but there a good views en-route
- back to Side Pike with Crinkles, Bowfell
and Langdales behind.....
.....
down to Little Langdale Tarn.....
..... and over to Windermere.
What’s more, it has
a pleasant descent that none of us had previously used.
This took us back to Blea Tarn and John’s car
in which to return to the Three Shires. Tony
had his file to show the landlord the family history but it transpired that the
landlord remembered him having done the same thing the last time we were there! Never mind, Tony, it seems that the pub is
for sale so maybe better luck next time?
Mike spotted a woman in the car
park, clad in a long, flowing white dress and walking boots. It looked very much as if she were off to Blea
Tarn for her wedding photo session. We
didn’t see the groom.
The Three Shires has had its
own apostrophe quandary. It was once
known as The Tourist’s Rest. Or was it
the Tourists’ Rest? An old postcard
grants it no apostrophe at all. My
annoyance today though was rather different.
The Union Jack. It annoyed even
more than children’s screams.
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Why?
Because the flag wasthe wrong way round. The
broad white stripe wasn't at
the top by the pole.
Like a scream, that ought
to be a sign of distress. Or
it might be used by the enemy
as an insult.
You could understand
it if the pub had run out of beer. But it
hadn’t. They, no doubt, thought they
were, being patriotic. But they weren’t. So it annoyed me.
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Why is it that people no longer seem to know
how to fly the flag properly?
Don, Thursday 20th
July 2024
Thanks to Mike and Tony for several of the photos
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