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: Favourites Old and New
Wednesday
22nd July 2020
Look
at the smile on her cute little
face! She's my new favourite.
Suzi dropped me off at
the Brewery in Staveley to meet up with this week’s Blue Team: Mike T, Stan,
Stephen and Tony.
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Of course they were
all armed with keys offering their services to scratch the car so that I
needn't worry about it getting her first marks any more. They were too late. A tractor had already played that trick,
forcing me to push Suzi into a hedge to avoid worse damage.
Unlike yesterday, the weather
was expected to deteriorate so no major expedition was contemplated, just an
old favourite of climbing to Gurnal Dubbs then making a decision on what
next.
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We thought that Tony would be so
familiar with the route that he would be able to make his second foray as
leader ( BB1218
). Then he
confessed that the only time he had been forced to notice where he was going
was in our BB2016
: Not So Close Encounters Lockdown exercise in
which he had to make his own way to the reservoir. The trouble was that he had started from a
different brewery (Bowston).
It was a bit murky but at least
dry.
Perhaps the most interesting parts
of the climb were the Thirlmere Pipeline gates, of which one was actually open-
a rare occurrence, and then passing through the remarkable small garden of the lady who
lives at Frost Hole.
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Of course, the views of
and from Potter
Tarn and Gurnal Dubbs were worth the effort.
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We toyed with the idea of lunching at the
Boat House but it was too early even for Tony.
He and Stephen hadn’t the time to extend their adventure so returned to
base whilst Stan, Mike and I crossed over Potter Fell, putting on waterproofs
before visiting its eastern summit as it had started to rain.
Next was the debate as to best way to climb Brunt Knott. The
issue wasn’t serious. It was just that
there was a footpath marker pointing up the hill but the path on the ground was
leading higher than where I knew the stile to be. Mike and I dropped down to that stile whilst
Stan carried on up the hill. He did find
a spot where the barbed wire had been covered; he wasn’t sure how big a hand
the farmer had had in it. Anyway we were
reunited and soon reached the top. It
was no longer raining but the wind was strong.
Returning
to the valley road, we passed a field with
hay bales artistically arranged.
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Lunch was
taken above
Littlewood farm and then the rain really set in.
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As we neared Staveley my phone played a trick
that it seems to do quite often. With no
conscious effort on my part, it phoned Tony.
Tony thought I was calling him. I
heard noises and thought that Tony was calling me. Perhaps it was the Beer Hall in Staveley
calling us both? Tony had discovered it
was open for business so that is where he and Stephen were. Where do you think we met them? There was
a separated queue to the masked man who
required signature and telephone number.
A one way system. Distanced
queue for the bar and large gaps between
chairs and tables. They were taking
things seriously which was good to see in
this, another old favourite.
Don, Wednesday 22nd July
2020
Bryan's
Night Out
Earlier
this week Bryan too advantage of the clear
skies to go stargazing. He reports:
Nice
night bivvying with two friends from the
Fellwalkers last night just below the summit
of Place Fell.
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Starry night with the twinkling lights of
Penrith on view, but didn't see the comet.
Lovely sunrise.
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