For newcomers

At the bottom of each post there is the word "comments". If you click on it you will see comments made by followers, and if you follow the instructions you may also comment and I always welcome that. I have found many people overlook this part of the blog which is often more interesting than the original post!

My blog nick-name is SIR HUGH. I'm not from the aristocracy - my middle name is Hugh which relates to the list of 282 hills in Scotland compiled by Sir Hugh Munro in 1891. I climbed my last one (Sgurr Mor) on 28th June 2009

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Thursday 13 December 2018

Longridge to Arnside - 5

Wednesday 12th December 2018 - South  Quernmore Estate to Halton

I would find it difficult to remember the wide range of topics of nonstop conversation  that take place on these walks, but we often get round to our respective planned evening meals. Today I was encouraged by BC's apparent endorsement of an experiment I had in mind. I had a portion of smoked haddock taken from the freezer this morning. I usually cook it in foil in the oven, perhaps with some tomatoes on top. The new idea was to make a better nest with the foil and break in a couple of eggs.

On a whim, and partly because of the dull day I decided to set the camera on monotone for a change.

Cheered by our granting of permission to walk through the Quernmore Estate we were off to an easy start up the tarmac road - I saw that word for the black stuff spelled with a capital somewhere and have done the same ever since, but with some doubt. I have now consulted Chambers 11th Edition where it is not so; if you were referring to the company Tarmac it should undoubtedly have a capital,

I think we both had slight disappointment at not having a trespass through the thick woods above and finding our way through field boundaries further on.

We passed the hall which was difficult to photograph, and enclosed by walls and a security gate. Further on at one of several farms on the estate a gent appeared from the doorway with a large labrador and a lab pup, all three very friendly. He turned out to be Mr. J who as far as I understand is the owner of the estate along with his wife, and he was the guy I obtained permission from on the phone. We had an affable chat and the young lab tried to eat my glove until Mr. J. prised its jaws apart.

Further on a car approached from the other direction and we were briefly but politely interrogated until we mentioned the magic name of Mr. J. Our interrogator was the farmer from Old Hall Farm that we had just walked by.

As we had driven from parking a car at our finish at Halton we had noticed a gate on the other side of the main road just beyond where we would emerge from the estate, and it promised access to the footpath alongside the river Lune to Halton. After climbing an easy broken fence further down the field that proved to be successful.

Back at the car park a number of vehicles  were arriving from the Lancaster University Rowing Club and we chatted with their coach. He was complaining about the lack of funding in the north for such clubs compared with the universities in the south.

Back home after my customary hot bath the haddock experiment was launched. The result was eight out of ten for the eating experience but minus eight for presentation - the eggs looked as though they had been fired from a shotgun.

CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE FOR SLIDESHOW

Entrance to Quernmore estate




Quernmore Hall - difficult to photograph



Typical English country estate parkland.
The walk through the estate was pleasant and peaceful 


Old Hall Farm.
We were interrogated by the farmer a bit further on,
but politely and only briefly after we had mentioned the magic name of Mr. J


Looking back to the gate from the road that we climbed to get access to
the riverside path back to Halton

The broken fence that gave us easy access to the riverside path

Camera (or me) focused on foreground, 
but interesting because the entire roof of this new housing
development across the River Lune was covered with solar panels.
Surely, that should be made law for all new house building?




The tent symbol marks the trig point that I visited some years ago by trespassing
from the lodge where the red arrow shows our emergence onto the road


9 comments:

  1. The day wasn't as dull as that monochrome version.

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  2. Well done Conrad. Is your camera suffering from colour fatigue?

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  3. BC - your photos prove that I was mistaken about the day. It was a bit dull at the start but brightened up as we walked.

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    Phreerunner - anything to ring the changes from time to time. The photos look much better when seen at full screen on my big iMac

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  4. Are there missing photos of those eggs?

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  5. BC = Sorry, had to be eaten before they went cold.

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  6. B&W photographs can often capture an atmosphere which colour doesn't. Hamish Brown's re-published 'Hamish's Mountain Walk' with its new colour photographs completely fails to capture the period when the walk was done.

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  7. Phreerunner- I agree up to a point. It is up to oneself to make that decision. These days any colour photo can be converted to B and W so you can have a look and see what you think. Hamish's book was inspirational for me when I discovered it way back just before I realised I was on a serious campaign to try to complete the Munros. That is something that creeps up on you when you suddenly realise you have done more than 100 and the thing begins to look like a possibility.

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  8. I assume you’re replying to me Conrad. (Gibson)

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  9. I'm sure he was, Gibson. We discussed this at chez Conrad yesterday, after I'd re-read bits of Hamish's 1978 book and admired the B&W photos. Memories of those days when Hamish used newspapers before the days of Karrimats. We used to stuff heather under the groundsheet of our Good Companion, and lie in our Palomine sleeping bags on our clothes, contorting ourselves around the tent pole.

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