|
BB1940
: A Debt Repaid
Wednesday
4th December 2019
"Hello
Gareth," said Mike when his phone rang
whilst on the approach to the fell. Chat,
chat, chat……chat..chat..chat…. "Will
you pass the message on to Greg?"
End of call. I couldn’t believe my
ears. No, I wasn’t really earwigging
but you know how it is when someone is on
their mobile- you can’t help but hear bits
of one side of the conversation. The
reason for my surprise was the remarkable
co-incidence. Gareth and Greg? Greg,
Gareth? How did they know? Was
it a set-up? I don’t think so. Believe
it or not, this happened whilst we were
on our way to….. Gragareth. Honest.
It
had also surprised me how long it was since
we were last there- over 6 years, BB1323.
A different route this time, partly
because I had a debt to pay. First,
though, I had a letter to post. I
popped in to the Post Office at Cowan Bridge.
"I’m pleased you are still a
Post Office," I said, "as I want
to send this to France." "Sorry
Pal," he said. "We
stopped being a post office 18 years ago."
Oops. Just because a shop has
a pillarbox outside, it don’t mean it’s
still a Post Office!
Onwards
to pay the debt. The last time we
(Margaret and I) parked at St Peter's Church,
Leck, I didn’t have any money to put in
the honesty box. I promised the verger
that the next time I was there, I would
put in a fiver. That was in June 2013.
|
It
was time to repay. With
interest. They should
have a nice surprise when they
open the box.
Why
does that remind me of Michael
Miles (younger readers- check
Google to understand the question)?
Take
Your Pick.
Open
the Box? Or Take the Money?
Both,
actually, in this case.
|
|
Enough
rabbiting (though I doubt if Robin’s lovely
dog, Holly, would agree).
.jpg)
Off
we set up the long narrow road that leads
to increasingly bleak moorland where the
strange figures can be seen on the skyline
long before then you reach Leck Fell House.
.jpg)
At
last we could put our feet on softer ground
and head up the steep hill searching for
the Three Men of Gragareth.
.jpg)
We
found their three consorts first and five
BOOTboys
tried to chat them up whilst Holly looked
on, unimpressed.
.jpg)
It’s
a good job they failed as just a hundred
yards or so further on stood the Three Men
of Gragareth. Such was the friendship
that then abounded, this was converted into
the Nine Men of Gragareth as they insisted
in having their picture taken with us. And
Holly.
.jpg)
We
then had to make a decision although the
conclusion was pretty obvious. Should we
climb to the summit? Of course we
did and there was Ingleborough
.jpg)
Why
did we had we even asked the question? Well,
the day was going off and there was some
distance to go before we could allow Tony
to take his lunch. I had promised
him that we should stop at the Shooters
Hut. If open, we could shelter inside
from the cold wind. If not, we could
eat in the lee of the hut.
It
was open but the state of it was disgusting
so outside was much to be preferred.
The
plan now was to take the track back to Leck
Fell House then yomp across the field down
to Leck Beck and follow the river (with
its caverns) back to Leck and the car. However
three drops of water fell on us. Tony
put the question to a democratic vote. Should
we head back down the road, the way we had
come, or should we cross the boggy fields
for a longer way back to the car? The
result was one in favour of retreat down
the hard, tarmacadammed road, none in favour
of the soft trail to the river. I
should perhaps add that Tony also decreed
that he was the only one eligible to vote.
To be fair, it did look as if the
rain was heading our way.
And
that was that. Nothing much more to
report apart from a large flock of crows
or rooks murmurating which led on to an
inconclusive discussion as to whether the
term "murmuration" applied only
to starlings or should be used for other
types of birds exhibiting the same wheeling
and whirling mass aerial behaviour.
Back
at the car park, Tony and I tried to visit
the Church but it was locked. I was
under orders to be home early so I left
the others. Last seen, they were heading
for the Brewery in Kirkby Lonsdale. They
might still be there for all I know. Not
running up more debt, I hope- we might get
a bad reputation!
Don,
Wednesday 4th December 2019
|
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
