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BB2505
: Did Donny Fall Into A Pond?
Thursday
7th February 2025
Everyone
grumbled. The sky was grey.
We had nothing
to do and nothing to say.
We were nearing
the end of a dismal day,
And there seemed
to be nothing beyond,
THEN
Daddy fell
into the pond!
And
everyone's face grew merry and bright,
And
Timothy danced for sheer delight.
"Give
me the camera, quick, oh quick!
He's
crawling out of the duckweed!"
Click!
Then
the gardener suddenly slapped his knee,
And
doubled up, shaking silently,
And the
ducks all quacked as if they were daft,
And
it sounded as if the old drake laughed.
Oh,
there wasn't a thing that didn't respond
WHEN
Daddy
fell into the pond!
I
was sat pondering how to begin this report
when, paradoxically, this poem by Alfred
Noyes came to mind. Totally inappropriate,
as you will discover.
Nobody
grumbled. The sky was totally clear,
bright blue. We had things do though
we had been somewhat undecided. We
were parked at the National Trust Car Park
(free for members) near the Stickle Barn
of the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel in Langdale,
debating how adventurous to be. In
the end, we decided: not very.
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The
day was far from dismal and there was certainly
much beyond. Harrison Stickle loomed
above us, demanding why we weren’t visiting
him. That old rake Jack was taunting
us, calling “climb me if you dare”. Stan
and Martin were quite dismissive. “Conquered
you previously. Several times. No
need to visit you today.” Tony and
I looked a little sheepish. When we
climbed Pavey Arc we bottled out and went
up the much safer North Rake. Terry
looked somewhat bewildered by the conversation
but was relieved that this expedition was
to be low level down the valley.
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Then
someone fell into the pond. Well actually
that wasn’t today. In fact it might
not have happened at all. As I said,
that poem had come to mind but I was sure
I had quoted it in a previous report so
didn’t want to boor you with its repetition.
What
does one do in such circumstance? Obvious
or at least it would have been at one time.
Consult Uncle Google. However,
he could not find any reference to me using
it. But there again, he found very
few references to anything to do with our
BOOTboys,
though plenty of that urban youth culture
that has nothing to do with our origins.
I think he is getting dementia. He
seems to remember far less than used to
be the case. Maybe I was dreaming
and I hadn’t quoted it. So, on we
go with “Daddy fell into the pond”. I
am sure it was Donny in the original BB
version but never mind.
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We
ambled down the valley. And everyone's
face grew merry and bright, And Tony danced
for sheer delight. "Give me the
camera, quick, oh quick! He’s crawling out
of the …..” No, he wasn’t crawling
of any duckweed but the rest of that stanza
is pretty accurate. He happily snapped
away.
At
Elterwater we turned round, pioneered a
new route up to the bridle path and pressed
on to join the Cumbria Way. We were
now in the shade so it was a bit chilly.
Then Stan (BOOTboys
will recognise the pun) slapped his knee
and doubled up, shaking silently. In
the distance, Bowfell had come into view.
He was remembering the day that he
and I had climbed Bowfell in mid-winter
and had the most fabulous run galloping
down a virgin snowfield, as I described
it at the time. Unfortunately memory
plays tricks. I later discovered it
was actually Great End we had climbed that
day, not Bowfell! Well, it was 15 years
ago. BB1010.
All
Tony remembered was that we had left him
behind at Angle Tarn where he managed to
lose a crampon.
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Crossing
back over the valley bottom, Terry didn't
exactly quack as if he were daft but remarked.
"Look at that guy," pointing to
a hang glider that was just about to land.
By the time we reached the..... well,
I’m not sure what the right term is. Pilot?
Rider? Hangman? Whichever,
he was folding his chute.
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He
told us of his exploits over the Alps and
Himalayas, including the time that he had
a serious accident by falling into a… ?
No it wasn’t a pond but I forget what
it was but it was bad enough to break his
back.
Later,
inevitably at the Eagle and Child where
we met Mike, it certainly sounded as if
the old boys laughed, not at the hangman
but at many jolly tales. Oh there
wasn’t a one that didn’t respond….
WHEN?
Well, you’ll have to complete that
last line yourself. Donny hadn’t fallen
into a pond.
Donny,
Thursday 7th February 2025
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