Thursday walk with Pete - Borwick, Lancaster Canal

 Thursday 7th July 2022 - Lancaster Canal, Borwick

My regular Thursday walks with Pete were interrupted during Lockdown but have been resumed since, although I have not usually posted about them.

Back in the late 50s and early 60s a group of us from the Bradford area made our way to the Lake District most weekends to climb and Pete was amongst that crowd. He and I both had a walking trip in Norway in 1960 crossing various glaciers and climbing Galdhopiggen by its backdoor. As with most of those bonds of friendship developed in one's youth that you think are going to last forever, one by one we married and had families and drifted apart. The last time I saw Pete was around 1973 when he was  married and visited me and my family at our home in Bradford.

After I lost my wife to Motor Neurone Disease on Boxing Day 1997 I moved to Arnside in 1999. In 2002 I was going to the gym at Holgates leisure complex in Silverdale to get fit for my GR10 Pyrenean traverse in 2003. As I worked on a rowing machine I chatted with a chap sat on the next one. I discovered he was from Bradford, then I asked him if he was in the Yorkshire Mountaineering Club, then he said,

"What's your name?"

 "Conrad" I replied.

"Stop rowing! Put your hand there! It's Pete!"

We had met up again after 30 years and at first had not recognised each other, It turned out Pete and Liz (Elizabeth) had a superb static caravan on the site and visited from their home in Bradford for long weekends. Pete had retired and Liz had extended weekends having reduced her primary-school headship hours by job sharing. Subsequently Pete and Liz bought a house in Arnside and we have socialised and I have walked regularly with Pete ever since, even to the extent of Pete accompanying me on thirty or so of my Munros.

Pete is now 88 compared with my spritely 82 and a few years ago he was afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis but miracle drugs corrected that over a twelve month period and for the last couple of years Pete has been able to walk a modest two miles or so with me every Thursday (more or less.) In consideration of Pete we stick to fairly level ground with tarmac or benign footpaths. The walking is of course incidental to the value of continuing a long held friendship and a regular get together. Our walks end up with tea and cake at Café Ambio attached to the prestigious newly built livestock auction mart just off Jct. 30 of the M6.

I have recently acquired an Olympus TG6 camera. It is waterproof and designated "tough" and after some faffing I have now got the correct colour and picture quality settings sorted and with s bright sunny day I was keen to put it to the test.

We walked a mile there and a mile back down the canal gossiping of current happenings and some reminiscing. 

Approaching Capernwray we encountered drama across the canal. The static caravan people there had a problem bringing a caravan onto site with a tractor and the caravan was almost on the point of falling into the canal. On our return leg we saw them eventually manage to manoeuvre back on track.

Suggest click photos to enlarge

See comment from Bowland cCimber below. This is his photo at the same location from February 2018