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BB2429
: Remembering Messrs
Flanders & Swann
Wednesday
4th September
A
year ago last Thursday I was travelling..……apologies,
wrong song!
The
amount of recent rainfall, despite the relatively
sunnier conditions of the preceding days,
meant I anticipated soggy ground and we
weren’t disappointed. On such occasions
I am always reminded of a Hippopotamus,
not Reggie Perrin’s vision each time his
mother-in-law was mentioned, but the lyrics
of Flanders and Swann’s Hippopotamus Song.
“Mud, mud, glorious mud.” Rather than it
cooling the blood though it tends to make
you a tad hot under the collar trying to
find the drier route.
By
Miller Beck Lane my feet were certainly
soggy. Matters did not improve as we proceeded
towards Halfpenny Lane where the fields
resembled those in SE Asia where rice crops
would have flourished. Inevitably the mention
of paddy fields brought out a comment about
spotting Irishmen, of which I am the guilty
party.
On
reaching the cross at the end of the Stainton
Lane we hadn’t previously detected the inscription
naming the five mills that once had stood
on the banks of St Sunday’s Beck.
We
eventually encountered the maize fields
which had been planted on the route we wished
to follow. It must be near being harvested
as most plants were in excess of 6 feet
tall (I’m still an imperial man) and some
of the crop had been opened by birds.
Luckily
they are planted in lines which are about
one man’ll wide and with Ian being the tallest
he was best placed to orientate our progress.
Here
SE Asia once again entered the conversation
as we wondered how many Japanese soldiers
still lurked within, but Tony was more concerned
about walking through a field with crops
in, rather than being belated casualty of
WWII. The stiles we crossed looked as if
they’d last been maintained in 1945.
We
eventually arrived at a suitably positioned
bench, on a rise, looking north over Sedgwick
towards Kendal, where we could admire the
view and watch the promised showers actually
falling over Burneside and environs, but
there was no Hippopotami Maid.
Our
arrival at said bench was at 11.58 am and
Tony complimented me on my timing in respect
of his dyed in the wool lunchtime; it was
purely accidental.
We
descended to the canal path.....
.....
and walked uneventfully to Hawes Lane and
then back to Church View, where a drink
was offered to Ian and Tony, so we sat in
the garden. The surprising element was that
they chose coffee and tea respectively,
despite a cold beer being offered to “cool
the blood,” although coffee and tea are,
I suppose, a muddy colour.
TV
Mike, Wednesday 4th September
Tony
apologises for the poor quality of some
of his photos which he attributes to mud
on the lens.
Here are some bonus pictures.
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