The missing trig

 Saturday 26th September 2025

All trigs on OS sheets 97, 98, and 103 have been visited over the years. It is not easy locating them on Memory Map on my Mac, and so it was that I came across one I'd missed on Sheet 97 as I fed my map browsing addiction the other day.

The location is on private land. After only a twenty minute car journey from home I drove up the track to Faraway Farm, Here was the original farmhouse and two modern residences built next door. I went to the farm and was informed that the trig was not on his land, it belonged to the Wild Life Trust. The farmer said he has been up there and gave me directions. He also warned me that it was all very overgrown and I might have a problem finding the trig. I then went to one of the other houses and obtained permission to leave my car on their posh gravel drive.

After a couple of hundred yards the second gate encountered was leaning at an angle away from me and fixed so as to be un-openable. I climbed over with some difficulty. A short walk up the grassy hillside brought me to a wall surroundung the trig's wood. I found a place where a tree had fallen over the wall giving easy access. From thereon the wood was very nearly impenetrable. There were many fallen trees, low growing holly bushes, deep bracken and brambles all the way thwarting navigation by forcing one to take a wandering route to take any advantage of relief in this dense jungle terrain.  I made good use of the compass there and back. There were no views and I only sighted the trig when I'd got to about twenty yards from it. Surprisingly, and I suppose the raison d'être for the trig's location I had a pleasantly framed view through the trees across the Leven estuary to my home and Arnside Knott.

On the return that second difficult gate on the ascent now posed a whole different problem because it was leaning sharply towards me. At my age I am past climbing overhangs, not that I was so accomplished in my climbing days anyway. I just could not get back over that gate, or perhaps I could have done, but my imagination painted a picture of twisting, falling, ripping, or breaking, and I let common sense prevail.. I had noticed a stile further back going into the rear garden of the house where I had obtained parking permission. I climbed over and tripped warily through their garden without being noticed and back to my car.

Quite a little adventure and perhaps the toughest trig I have visted on these camapigns.

Faraway Farm. The cottages owning this garden/parking are ff photo to right

The trig is in the middle of the wood on horizon

Distant Arnside Knott across the bay

In context. The route is the little blue squiggle top centre next to Town Head

Shannon

 22nd September 2025

It seems a long time ago that I made a model of the  Severn Class RNLI lifeboat, the largest in their fleet.

Recently Airfix introduced a new kit of the Shannon Class All Weather Lifeboat introduced by the RNLI in 2013. The boat was designed in-house by the RNLI and its most revolutionary feature is its self righting ability. It has a crew of six, and is powered by two Scania DI13M, 650 hp turbo charged engines giving a top speed of 25/27 knots and a range of  250 nautical miles. Propulsion is by a water jet system making the boat more maneuverable and eliminating the danger for conventional propellors fowling on debris, a constant hazard when in the vicinity of damaged vessels with floating rigging and the like. 

Much work on the design included built in shock resistance for the crew. There are six seats designed with that as a priority and each seat includes its own dedicated data screen so that all members can see navigation, weather, and other features at the same time.

The kit is well designed by Airfix and goes together well. It is promoted as a "Starter Kit" but I think it is really more difficult than that. It has been a long build for me, partly because of other personal distractions, but it is now complete and set up in a diorama which is not included in the kit. That was all scratch built by me. The lifeboat crew were not included in the kit and had to be outsourced as was the 1/72nd scale inflatable dinghy. The lifeboat is speeding to the rescue of an unfortunate casualty, and having just got "eyes-on" are about to turn and save another life.. 

Please click photos to enlarge

I put an LED light inside the cabin but it idoesn't look right somehow

Put-put-put

 Sunday 21st September 2025

Bowland Climber on his latest post praised the rare silence he experienced on his latest local walk. That is something precious and rare.

I still walk on Thursdays with my old friend Pete from way-back-when, although at ninety and suffering from rheumatoid arthritis the walking is much restricted, but we still enjoy an hour at Café Ambio.

We walked together in Norway back in 1960 crossing glaciers and climbing Mt. Galdhopiggen. On our last evening we walked from our accommodation to a viewpoint several hundred feet above a fiord. The sun was setting at this conclusion of some of the best trekking either of us had ever experienced, enhanced by discovering that stunning scenery and environment new to us. Silence and peace was in charge.  except for...

...the “put-put-put” of a motor boat far far below in the fiord masquerading as a toy and for some mystical reason with its respectfully muffled tones seeming to contribute to one of the most cherished moments in my eighty five years.

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A tale from an erstwhile criminal

 Monday 15th September 2025

Just browsing back I came across this in the comments of an old post:

From Gayle - 20th May 2021

https://conradwalks.blogspot.com/2021/05/trigs-os-103-from-hoddlesden.html

Gayle:

"I was done back in 1959 for Obstructing a Public Footpath." (Me quoted from the post)

"Now there's a statement that demands more context!"

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Not much of an anecdote, and at the time it was one of those requested explanations that was more enticing left in suspense, but "now it can be told."

At the time I was employed as a representative for North Central Finance Ltd., the finance company subsidiary of Nat. West Bank. We mainly provided a service to motor dealers to provide finance terms for their customers buying cars. My job was to persuade the dealers in our area to use us rather than several other bank subsidiaries providing the same service. I also had to do door to door chasing of defaulting customers, and if required actually repossess the cars. If a dealer proposed a customer with dubious credit history, but not too serious we sometimes agreed to provide the finance backed by the dealer's Repurchase Agreement. In the event of repossession the car would be returned to the dealer and he would pay off the remaining balance on our finance agreement.

Taking a repossession back to a certain dealer he was not happy and uncooperative and there was no space to leave the car on his forecourt. I left the car slightly up on the kerb outside his premises but it was mot a no parking location.

Later I received a summons and a fine for Obstructing a Public Footpath. My manager refused to sanction any help in paying the fine. That was back around 1960 and it all still rankles with me.

Brigsteer, Scout Scar

 Monday 8th September 2025

Forecast said sunny with showers. I had to believe it because I couldn't see another weather window for a while. But at 9:00 am it was pouring with rain. That persisted with a vengeance non-stop as I drove the half an hour to park at Heslington church. I have recorded the history perviously and there is plenty on-line if you want to look it up. As I sat in the car looking out at the  rain I wondered if I should just turn round and go back home. I had a coffee from my flask and dithered, but then bevcme  intrtigued by a group of cows sheletring under the trees of the churchyard. A  sort of cowboy film fantasy came to mind - see the first two photos below (click to enlarge to read the dialogue boxes.) The second photo was taken just after the rain seemed to have ceased. So I was out and off, in the opposite direction from the cows.

Back at the main road a path leads off running below the summit ridge of Scout Scar providing excellent grassy limestone walking on a wide undulating track with impressive views across the Lythe valley far below and Whitbarrow crag beyond, and even further the Lake District Coniston range. That view is seen to great advantage from my parking at Heslington church but photos just don't show the dramatic steep drop off just a few yards from the parking, falling away 450ft or so to the wide flat plain spread of the Lythe Valley.

Evntually a narrow, steep rocky path drops away down to Barrowfiled farm. Care was needed on that track with the limesdtone still slippery wet from the earlier rain.

At the farm a Massey Ferguson tractor appeared to have been basnished to doing dirty work in the slurry pit, but round the corner a shiny blue, more modern New Holland tractor was rejoicing in more agreeable duty. See photos below.

 A pleasant track through the woods took me back to the Brigsteer road and then  another  track conquering that previuouly mentioned steep loss of height to regain Heslington church from the Lythe Valley bottom.

A splendid little walk of only three miles not far from home and snatched from doubtful weather - once that rain stopped it had been continuously sunny.

PLEASE CLICK TO ENLARGE

From the church to the distant Lake district hills. Photos cannot do justice to this, one of the best views in Cumbria - see pano below

Just beyond the middflegound row of trees the land drops away steeply for about 450ft to the Lythe Valley floor which is flat for sbout three kilometres before the land rises to form Whitbarrow Scar.

From the road onto the friendly Scout Scar track

The track down to Barrowfield farm goes off just before the steep crags

Zoom to clouds clearing on the Coniston range

The slippery narrow path down to the farm

Perhaps the Massey Ferguson had been naughty whilst...

...goody New Holland was laping it up in the dry fields

Zoom to Arnside and the Knott

Start and finish at the red flag - anti-clockwise

Red Bridge and Leighton Moss

 Sunday 7th September 2025

Just a quick walk from home was the intention but I also fancied a café halfway.  It is only ten minutes drive to the National Trust  car park at The Row on the edge of Silverdale. A short walk up ther road to Red Bridge leads to Moss Lane. From here I knew of a short footpath descending to cross the railway. Sure enough the old footpath gate was located and I descended the hundred yards or so on an overgrown path only to find there is now no access to cross the railway. I backtracked to Moss Lane which now  bridges the railway and offers an alternative path immediately afterwards. So much for local knowledge. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I used that little shortcut.

The path now crosses Silverdale Golf Course and it was quite busy this Sunday morning but I managed to avoid being cannon fodder and even had a few cheery greetings from wannabe McJKilroys.

At Leightom Moss visitor centre I climbed the stairs to the café and ordered an Americano coffee and a slice of caramel shortbread and was a bit taken aback at £7.15. I know one is supporting a worthy charity but this seemed top weight. Even though the coffee came from one of those pukka machines with freshly ground I only rated it at seven out of ten. The shortbread  though got a nine. At least this wasn't in the category of worst product at high cost. 

Further up the road I crossed the golf course again to climb up to The Row, and then took a shortcut footpath pleasingly new to me before cutting back to The Row and my starting point.

The short stretch of road to Moss Lane

Moss Lane

The now cul-de-sac footpath no longer providing a crossing of the railway

Onto Silverdale golf course

Boardwalk taking me to RSPB visitor centre

A house for BC here with its own bouldering facility, and further down its garden...

... this garage, and note the sign above the door, then...

Odd because there was no way whastsoever any member of public could be walking in that garden. I reckon this must have been uplifted as a trophy during a visit to Scotland and so placed by the oswner with his quirky semse of hunour

Well as marked on the map. This and the sign etc on the  previous pics were on the shortcut path I had not prerviuosly walked, so multii bounses for this walk

Start/finish at car park, top left - clockwise