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BB1811
: Do
You Do This For Fun?
Wednesday
11th April 2018
That’s
what the young lass asked us as she struggled up the
hill with her huge Duke of Edinburgh rucksack on her
back. "Do you do this for fun?" Well,
yes, I suppose we do although, like for her, there are
times when it doesn’t very much feel like it.
She
was not on her own. We met several groups of youths
climbing up from Coniston with varying degrees of enthusiasm
and heading for respite in Langdale. Some were enjoying
it more than others. Some had been out in yesterday’s
atrocious weather. Others had had the good fortune
of only starting today, a far better one than forecast
earlier in the week. All, it must be said in defence
of modern youth, were polite and happy to chat with
three old duffers making their way down.
We,
Mike, Terry and I, had started from High Tilberthwaite,
near the Andy Goldsworthy Touchstone Fold, and headed
up the track above the Tilberthwaite Gill chasm, passing
various mine shafts and quarries on the way. One
deep quarry was populated on the rim by many school
children awaiting their turn to abseil down to the quarry
floor. We didn’t get the opportunity to ask them
whether they did it for fun. I hope they did.
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There
was another mining relic on the Crook Beck plateau which
we could not understand. There were several poles
that obviously had had purpose but no hints of what
they had been doing, either in relation to ground above
or below.
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On
the descent, we looked across to Coniston Old Man, its
top shrouded. Lower down is the quarry and we
could hear the occasional boom then, on one occasions,
smoke emerging from the cavern.
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We
reached Coniston about noon and selected the The Green
Housekeeper for lunch then, for fun, tormented Tony
by sending him a photo of the delights delivered. To
his credit, his response was a restrained: Very civilised - love the
tea cozy!!
For
the return we had several options but elected to take
a somewhat unusual route to Tarn Hows (deliberately,
not by error) and then a very usual route down by the
beck to the A593.
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From
there, fields and track led us back to High Tilberthwaite
and the car.
Had
we all had fun? Well, yes. I think we had.
What
do you think we then did for fun? You might be
surprised at the answer!
Don,
Wednesday 11th April 2018
COMMENTS:
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Chris
P:
I am
intrigued by the “mystery “poles on the fell side on Coniston. I started
walking in that area in April 1964 and continued on a regular basis for over 30
years. I recall many derelict and open mine shafts fenced off with
wooden poles. I think many of these have since been filled in but maybe
the posts were left there!
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DUKWS
Tony's
tale of the Amphicar brought back memories of another
amphibious vehicle- the DUKW, generally known as Ducks.
I remember them on the treacherous beaches at
Southport. They were the only safe way to venture
out onto the seemingly golden sands that go out for
miles. I have a memory from my youth that still
makes me shudder. Together with two pals, I caught the
train to Southport. We headed out towards the sea. After
a mile or so over the soggily wet sands we decided it was time
to return. Halfway back to the shore we passed
a sign, facing inland of course. Danger. Do
not pass this point. Sinking Sands. Fortunately
(and obviously) we survived to tell the tale. From
then on, I decided the only way I would go out on Southport's
sands was on a DUKW, though sadly I never managed it.
DUKWs
were ex-US amphibious vehicles. Each letter is a designation for a specific identity component. "D" stands for 1942, "U" stands for utility (amphibian), "K" stands for front wheel drive, and "W" indicates two rear-driving axles.
The
last memory I have of a DUKW was not that long ago,
in the Albert Dock in Liverpool where I was amazed to
see The Yellow Duckmarine in active service. However
that didn't last very long. After two sinkings
involving 33 passengers the Wacker Quackers were withdrawn
from service in 2013.
What
I particularly like about this picture, apart from the
DUKW, is that I can see the windows of the Albert Dock
flat in which I used to stay whilst working in Liverpool,
many years before the DUKW appeared.
Click
on the photos to see the original articles.
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