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BB2015
: The Pubs With No Beer
Wednesday
13th May 2020
Having
served milady her breakfast in bed,
it was time for the first leg of today's relay.
I raced from home to the Force
Falls bridge to meet Stephen who was being
dropped off for his rather long stage
through Levens Park and up to Levens.
Then
I strode home. If
you were in the sun and out of the wind, it was a lovely warm day. When the
reverse applied, it was decidedly chilly.
Fortunately there was more of the
former than the latter.
Stephen arrived at the Hare & Hounds
on time to hand over to Mike B. No chance
of a swifty of course. Like all the
other licensed premises, it is in lockdown.
Mike sped off
on his e-bike, past the pigs.....,
..... past
the closed Wheatsheaf at Brigsteer then
across the valley to meet Martin.
Now
the route changed significantly from previous rounds.
As Chris was participating, Martin's
stage was to walk to the closed Brown Horse. He
later told me:
Starting
and finishing my walk to The Brown Horse, Winster on the A5074, it was
noticeable that there was more traffic today, following the lifting of travel
restrictions for exercise.
Most of the vehicles were not recognisably local –
let’s see what this might lead to.
Off
the main road, the well-trodden path over Hubbersty Head was a delight and the
sudden opening up of the view towards the Coniston Hills and the Langdales near
Greenbank Farm was quite spectacular in the sunshine despite the biting wind.
After
a swift, but congenial, handover to Chris and a partial retracing of steps
along the A5074 I branched off over the tops via Foxhole Bank to the quiet lane
past Starnthwaite into Crosthwaite and home via the path across the fields to
the Mill and Watery Lane. A grand couple of hours walking.
Chris'
e-bike took him out of the valley and on
to the closed Wild Boar on the Crook road where
Bryan was waiting on his pedal powered machine.
His route to Kendal Green was quite
imaginative.
Having
cycled to the Wild Boar to meet Chris, I carried on to Bowness and
took the road to Troutbeck from near the [closed] Low Wood, a road I’ve never ridden
before. Although
a steep climb it was worth the effort for the views.
Meanwhile, I was processing
the pictures that the boys were WhatsApping
at handover points and starting to prepare the
report. However, at one p.m.
I had to cede my computer so that Margaret
could join her ZOOM pals.
I
lost track a bit of what was happening until
the news arrived about Stan's
stint from Kendal Green to the closed Cricket Club,
then Tony's to Asda where he posted what
was voted the best picture of the day.
Tony
handed over to Mike T who shot off
up to the Helm summit, arriving so early
that a telephone call forced me into action sooner than
anticipated.
Under
the new regulations, today is the first
day that we oldies are let out of our cages
twice for exercise and so, in order to simplify
the circuit logistics, I had opted to undertake
a second stint.
Mike
would meet John H at the top of Helm.....
Click
on the picture to see the full panorama
..... who
would
drop down to the bottom to meet John PL.
Both had had a problem parking. For
months, the layby at the bottom of Helm
has been open. Today, the first day
that people were being encouraged to travel
further, it was coned off.
Why? I will give the authorities
the benefit of the doubt that the roadworks
further to the north would moving south.
Maybe.
Anyway,
the handovers duly took place early and
I met the second John at the closed Punch Bowl at
Barrows Green to bring the virtual baton
home.
Later
on, in the ZOOMbar,
we were
telling James about how no-one had been
able to stop for a drink anywhere. All
of a sudden, he burst into song in his fine
baritone:
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It's lonesome away,
from your kindred and all
By the campfire at night,
where the wild dingoes call
But there's nothing so lonesome,
so morbid or drear
Than to stand in a bar,
of a pub with no beer
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We
should have expected it. He was emulating
Slim Dusty, the Aussie Dusty Trail Yodeler.
The Pub with No Beer. Click
on the record sleeve to hear the original.
Fortunately
there is no such problem in the ZOOMbar.
The
beer with no pub!
Don,
Wednesday 13th May 2020
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