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BB1601
: The Mauve Welly BOOTboy
Tuesday
4th January 2016
Who
was the Mauve Welly BOOTboy?
There's
a clue in the pictures that accompany Mike's report:
Don
had unfortunately to pull out of the walk at short notice.
Truth be told, this generally means that the walk doesn't
happen. Some were heard muttering the night before “Let's
not bother” but it was decided, mostly because the largest
in the proposed party, and your reluctant writer of
this report, hadn't been out much lately. We all needed
a walk, let's face it. Someone suggested that instead
of the slated Old Man of Coniston expedition, postponed
due to the poor weather forecast, we should go from
a certain country house hotel south of Bowness, and
that there may be sausages available.
It
was agreed then. No photos taken this time of the sausages,
because as we got out of the cars to put our boots on,
one poor chap (no names no pack-drill, but the clue
IS in the pictures) found he had brought his wife's
walking boots instead of his own. Sadly he wasn't able
to fill her boots. With his feet. Unlike Don's cat ............
but that's another story which will no doubt will be
embellished by our leader.
What
to do? Said hotel must have some size 9s knocking around,
surely? Sadly no. The hotel does have a lot of phone
chargers but it's rare that people leave their boots
behind. But it does have wellies, and not just any old
wellies; Hunters to be precise. But no size 9s. The
10s were too big, so the 8s had to be squeezed into.
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Now
we weren't going out on a treacherous walk
today, but conditions were very wet underfoot.
So
would it transpire that the welly-boot-boy
be better off than the rest, or would the
wellies prove to not be up to the task?
There
was some debate as to the colour of them
wellies.
I
have an app which I.D.s colours. It says
with an annoying American accent, “Biloba
Flower, or Periwinkle, or Melrose” depending
where you point it.
We
went for mauve; much simpler.
Any
other offers?
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The
plan was the 'done before' 9+ mile Bowness/Windermere
3 peaks i.e. Brantfell, which includes Post Knott; School
Knott, and Orrest Head. It would be wet under foot,
but when you're wearing wellies who cares? The weather
was, after a short initial shower, great. Brantfell
gave up some fabulous views and the sun was even teasing
us. Tony wanted to know what the ironmongery was doing
in the stone on top. Bit low for a fence. Any suggestions?
Post
Knott followed, an easy peak downgraded by the writer
to only half a peak.
As
you make your way North off Post Knott, the Dome, a
Grand
Design house,
now a B&B, is on the left. You can buy it through
Strutt&Parker
for just £1.85M.
As
we walked nearer to the path leading up to School Knott,
one BOOTboy
seemed not too keen to get to the top, said he'd done
it before and there was no need to do it again. Others
followed too quickly perhaps, so, this meant we'd only
done 1½ peaks so far. Onwards and upwards then,
nearing 12 noon, lunch was becoming more frequently
mentioned in conversation as in "it's time I had
me effing lunch".
The
BOOTboys
hadn't hit the buffers yet as they intrepidly crossed
the railway twixt Windermere & Kendal.
Eventually
we made it to the top of Orrest Head where it was a
real pleasure to sit, eat, drink and enjoy the view.
From
there it was a quick yomp down to Bowness to the famous
Hole In t' Wall - "not another b***** Robinsons
pub" someone was heard to mention. Most of the
pubs in Bowness are Robinsons, but we enjoyed a tasty
pint with a Dizzy Blonde. (N.B. There was no evidence
of any of the BOOTboys
giving up beer in January!)
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The
subject of motorcycles came up as it often
does.
Stan
reported that some rare Broughs had been
found in a barn somewhere.
What's
a Brough you might well ask?
Just
click on the picture to find some staggering
amounts paid for old bikes, especially Broughs
and even bits of Broughs.
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Finally,
after the soothing ale, it was a relatively short uphill
walk to the hotel car park. On the way Martin noticed
what he thought must be a very confused bush; with beautiful
flowers. Not quite matching the wellies though.
As
to the welly wearer, it was tricky getting them off,
but eventually they succumbed. The steam rose out of
the boots and the wearer was heard to mutter "I'll
have black toenails in the morning". Well done
him though. The first BOOTboy
to wear wellies on a walk perhaps?
Mike,
Tuesday 4th January 2016
Editor's
afternote: Wellies
I
don't recall any BOOTboys
previously wearing wellies, mauve or otherwise, although
I do remember several outings on which it would have
been a good idea. Also there was one (BB0812)
where A A Milne's wellie-boot poem about John was plagiarised
and another (BB1526)
where we observed a remarkable display of such items.
Regarding
the episode with the cat hinted at earlier, the poor
thing was trapped in our kitchen. Rather than
upsetting Margaret by making a mess on the carpet, she
found a most thoughtful alternative into which to perform.
My walking footwear. She (the cat) now has a new
pantomimish name.
P#ss
in Boots.
| STATISTICS
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BB1601
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| Date:
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Tuesday
4th January 2016
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| Distance
in miles:
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9.4
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| Height
climbed in feet:
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1,351
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| Features:
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Brant
Fell, Orrest Head
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| Comitibus:
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John Hn, Martin
Cn, Mike, Stan, Terry, Tony
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BOOTboys
routes are put online in gpx format which
should work with most mapping software. You can follow
our route in detail by downloading bb1601 .
To
discover which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
- although it may not be that up to date - or for the totals of the mileages and heights (ditto) see the Excel
file: BB Log.
You
can navigate to the required report via the Home
Page
Photos
have been gleaned from many sources
although mostly
from me and other BOOTboys. Likewise written comment.
I apologise if I have
failed to acknowledge properly the source or infringed
copyright. Please let me
know and I will do my best to put things right.
Unless stated
otherwise, please feel free to download the material
if you wish.
A reference back to this website
would be appreciated.
Wainwrights
To
see which Wainwright top was visited on which BB outing
see Which
Wainwright When?
This
may or may not be up to date!
For the latest totals
of the mileages, heights and Lakeland Fells Books Wainwrights see: Wainwrights.
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BOOTboys
2016
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