BB1619 : I'm Looking For The Sun

Wednesday 18th May 2016

As I was waiting at the traffic lights in Kendal, a taxi pulled up alongside me and the driver wound his window down.  “I wonder if you can help me please?” said the Cabbie. “I’m looking for the Sun; can you tell me where it is?”

At first I was flummoxed, there wasn't one in Kendal. “Do you mean the Sun Inn at Kirkby Lonsdale or the Sun Inn at Crook?”  I asked.

“No," he replied.  “The thing that is supposed to be in the sky”.  At that point, he chortled, wound his window up and drove off before the cars behind started hooting.

I laughed, but he was right.  Where was it?

We still hadn’t seen it when we all gathered at John’s house in Killington. The tops of the Howgills were shrouded.

John had planned a stroll for us that would take us north across the Alpaca fields, through woods with stunning bluebells and eventually up to Fox's Pulpit- a first for Terry so we let him preach to us.

A new route was pioneered across Master Knott to pick up the track on the opposite side which would lead us to Goodies and the bridge over the River Lune.    

Alternatively, should we head south and find a much gentler route back to Killington?  

The absence of that round object in the sky led inevitably to sun songs and I was able to pull out a couple of pieces of useless information.  

Which songwriter has the most mentions of the word sun in his catalogue?

Erstwhile rail over Lune

Answer, perhaps surprisingly but then he has written an awful lot of songs (but not a lot of awful songs)- Bob Dylan.  Quite appropriate given that it was the 50th anniversary of the Judas incident.  However, I can't now find the webpage reference to prove it.

This led on to me asking which was the song that Dylan had performed the greatest number of times?

Mike said:  Like a Rolling Stone.  
No. That is #2.

Stan insisted that the answer, my friend, must be: Blowing in the Wind.
It isn't. #5 .

John proposed:  It Ain't Me, Babe.  
No, no, no, it ain't that, babe, either. #9.

Terry suggested: Mr Tambourine Man.  
Not even in the top ten.

The combined Dylan afficianados eventually reached the right conclusion but not until I gave them the clue that there was an equally famous version by a very different artist. I will leave you to ponder that for the moment but the result might surprise you- it did me. The answer, my friend, is later in this report.

Such ponderings helped lead us across the very pleasant countryside by the River Lune.  The sun still wasn’t shining but at least the showers had stopped. It did seem to be getting brighter.  

Eventually John’s route led us back to his house where he kindly entertained us with copious bottles of Black Sheep and then guess what happened?  

We didn’t need to look for the sun any longer.  It found us.

 Don, Wednesday 18th May 2016

Extensions 

David W, who has been following our adventures for some while, contacted me about last week's outing BB1618 with a suggestion that would avoid the foot slog along Swindale and at the same time encompass some of the AW Outlying Fells.  I must admit, it is a route that never curried to me.  He suggests:

If you were to go again and would like a variant that avoids the road, you can go straight up the bridleway from where you park, and either find your way over Harper Hills and Hare Shaw, or follow a very nice track to the east of the ridge.  Either way brings you out at the point where the path up Selside Pike leaves the Corpse Road.  I've also tried to avoid the road on the way back by bagging a few of the Outlying Fells to the east.  Rough going in places.

Thanks, David, we'll give it a go next time (although it might be a while before we venture that way again).

The Answer, My Friend, is:

The clue to the Dylan question is Jimi Hendrix.

The answer to the Dylan question is that the song he has played most is: All Along the Watchtower with 2,257 performances.

If you want the proof, see Songs Archive . 

To compare versions click on Bob Dylan then Jimi Hendrix .

BOOTboys routes are put online in gpx format which should work with most mapping software. You can follow our route in detail by downloading bb1619 .

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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