Geocaching - not for the faint hearted

My Geocache counter has increased to 93 recently. Some say this is an infantile pursuit. Since it serves to give me a good walk twice a week I reckon it’s worthwhile, but...

...it became more serious a few days ago. A local guy has located three Geocaches on our shoreline crags, “...with the more adventurous cacher in mind.” I found the first one, but only after perilously ascending twenty feet erroneously, with even more peril on the descent. The correct location was still interesting.

The second was in an overhanging crack well above my head. I needed to rest in between attempts before grabbing it, fully extended, hanging on with one arm and grappling with the other hand.

The last was supposedly approachable from the cliff top, but I couldn’t find the way and ran out of time. Next time I retreated in a hailstorm, and thunder and lightning, long before I was anywhere near.

On the third attempt I found the cache. It was fifteen feet up an overhanging wall. I managed to get bridging footholds on the walls and one good handhold and could just reach to remove a stone. I could feel inside but couldn’t feel the container. I was two inches short of examining thoroughly. After several attempts I gave in.

I have corresponded with the originator, and perhaps the cache has disappeared. He is going to check - I guess he is probably forty years younger than me!

I sold all my climbing gear on Ebay thinking I would not need it again, so I don’t have the option of using a couple of large friends and slings, and I don’t think I can persuade anybody else to join me for “combined tactics.”

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My Thursday walk with Pete took us on a circuit of Newton Fell from Lindale.

Cartmel Priory. Cartmel village distinguished twice - the original sticky toffee pudding and the multi Michelin star L'Enclume

World War 2 machine gun post. It does grip the mind when you see these and think what might have been

I thought I'd found a new crag but...

...seen from a different angle you could walk up it.
 The colours, texture and ambiance of this pic sum up much of what I find attractive about The Lake District 

Interesting development of this water environment afoot here. Anybody know anything about it? Location SD 420 821, Sunny Green Farm - see map above, midway down eastern leg of walk

Monument to John Wilkinson in Lindale - an eccentric ironmaster. His history is worth a read. Here is a bit from Wikipedia:
By 1796, when he was 68, he was producing about one-eighth of Britain's cast iron.^[9] He became "a titan" - very wealthy, and somewhat eccentric. His "iron madness" reached a peak in the 1790s, when he had almost everything around him made of iron, even several coffins and a massive obelisk to mark his grave, which still stands in the village of Lindale-in-Cartmel in Lancashire (now part of Cumbria). He was appointed Sheriff of Denbighshire for 1799.^[10]

Extreme posting

Googling names on the map back home after an outing doubles the interest.

Last Sunday Gimmer and I walked up Littledale, on the northern edges of the Bowland hills.

Google revealed a twitcher who had visited recently recording this list:

Red Grouse 3

Pheasant 8

Red-legged Partridge 3

Grey Heron 1

Buzzard 1

Kestrel 1

Merlin 1

Common Gull 1

Lesser Black-backed Gull 2

Wood pigeon 10

Great Spotted Woodpecker 1

Jay 2

Magpie 5

Jackdaw 33

Rook 23

Carrion Crow 9

Goldcrest 11

Blue Tit 14

Great Tit 12

Coal Tit 17

Skylark 8

Long-tailed Tit 14

Nuthatch 1

Treecreeper 1

Wren 9

Ring Ouzel 1

Blackbird 4

Fieldfare 20

Song Thrush 2

Redwing 97+

Mistle Thrush 9

Robin 13

Dunnock 4

Pied Wagtail 3

Meadow Pipit 4

Chaffinch 42

Greenfinch 1

Goldfinch 10

     Siskin 18

     Lesser Redpoll 7

     Common Crossbill 1

Now, who’s kidding who? I think he must have spent a year up there.

Littledale Hall (1849 - Grade 11 listed), an interesting example of gothic Victorian architecture, evoked images of comfortable genteel farming. It turns out to be:

“...a 31 bed residential addiction treatment centre for people over the age of 18 whose lives have been adversely affected by their addiction.”

Strangely the website is silent on the status of this enterprise CLICK HERE as a charity or profit making organisation, nor does it name any of the personnel, or give any hint of fees charged.

At the end of our walk Gimmer was introduced to Geocaching at Baines Cragg close to where we had parked the car. There are varied reactions to Geocaching by newcomers and I wasn’t sure about Gimmer, but I was well pleased when he located the Tupperware box and not me, especially as it was not an easy find - I had given up on it when I heard the triumphant shout - perhaps Gimmer may be motivated to continue, employing more science considering his background.

Littledale Hall (and below)

Strange repair to gate merited  a mysterious award (see next pic)

For more info go to CLICK HERE 

This gate has a de-luxe construction with stainless steel bolts, but let down by...

...this

Moi - very close to the Geocache at Baines Crag

The view from Baines Crag - our route up Littledale extends behind the clump of trees
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This post was achieved under difficult conditions whilst childminding granddaughter Katie (chickenpox - BUT NOT POORLY WITH IT - in fact very active!)

Hall 

Photos furnish a blog

Thursday 31st October

Today we bowed to previous wet weather and devised an all Tarmac route.

Heavy rain arrived after fifteen minutes, and we consulted the map for a shortcut. Fortunately weather improved, but rain threatened for the rest of the walk, and that was not conducive to prolific photography, but three opportunities arose.

A combination of light, composition and subject impressed me for picture one. 

An  addition for my folder “Relics” appeared which was a contrast to broken-down farm machinery, and sparked inspiration for a possible Photoshop painting.

Bendrigg Trust minibuses are often seen in our locale, but I  never bothered to enquire further. Today we came across their headquarters in the middle of nowhere (see Bendrigg Lodge halfway down the eastern side of our walk on the map). A nosey round their website
http://www.bendrigg.org.uk  was interesting. A strong sense of dedication and altruism comes across. 

“The Bendrigg Trust is a residential activity centre specialising in high quality courses for disabled and disadvantaged people, of any age or ability”.

The rest of their website is worth a look, particularly their history and funding details. It is a charity, and not a fortune making enterprise - it relies on donations to counteract its operating deficit. They have been established since 1977 and seem to be a hearteningly good organisation.

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A sample of routes drawn with different colours/opaqueness/line format.
If lines are made opaque they obliterate detail on the map.
Suggest click to enlarge if interested - any suggestions on best format welcome.

Flirting with an old favourite

We have many named long distance paths appearing like the scribbling of infants on our OS maps. For me the best have been those I devised for myself. In particular the Welsh Border and Lowestoft to The Lakes - the coastal part of the former has since been formalized to become the Wales Coast Path and I reckon that has scenery as good as anywhere else in the UK spread consistently over more than 800 miles.

The worst are those devised by local authorities, presumably to enhance the status of their region, often with names like The Ruckmanshire Centenary Trail or the Oroxford Jubilee Way (fict.), where a number of existing public footpaths have been thoughtlessly strung together with no apparent theme, traipsing round cropfield boundaries and through endless featureless countryside, rarely walked and often overgrown.

Yesterday our walk coincided with one of the best LDPs in England.

The 80 mile Dalesway from IIkley to Bowness-on-Windermere follows the River Wharfe to Buckden then swings west to  traverse some of the very best of the Yorkshire Dales. The route is well thought out, has plenty of accommodation and camping, but above all it follows stunning territory through its whole length. For a long time I wouldn’t walk parts of The Dalesway to avoid spoiling my intention of tackling its entirety someday, but I have now covered so many small sections I feel qualified to express these opinions. Our section yesterday following the River Lune was a delightful sample.

The last part of our walk on the footpath from the A road to the finish was marred by a series of five or so gates which had been fastened by the farmer with that awful, ubiquitous orange, hairy string tied tightly with several knots, one on top of the other making it almost impossible to undo.

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Competition:
Any other opinions about the best LDP in England? Please give reasons.

The Howgills

Farmer rounding up sheep on a quad bike, bottom right - click to enlarge

Crossing the R. Lune

The bridge over the Lune at Beck Foot

Bits and pieces

At a 12 month, (actually 17 months) knee follow, a new surgeon ordered a blood test, scan and x-ray.

Results demanded a fluid sample from the knee. A quick appointment was promised.

After two weeks I telephoned about the appointment. After an hour I had used eleven telephone numbers. The appointment system had blundered.

The new surgeon had re-referred me to my original surgeon, Mr P, who said last week that the scan and the fluid sample were pointless, and surgeon number two didn’t know what he was doing - his actual words!

Mr P ordered an x-ray because he did not have the previous test results, only surgeon number two’s letter.

After the x-ray I was outspoken, which prompted Mr. P to spend half an hour analysing the x-ray and detailing his reasoning, concluding: the joint placement is sound, my pain and discomfort is not unusual, there is no infection present, and as I am able to walk six miles* the operation has been a reasonable success. He saw no point in further investigations. Mr P assured me that if anything needed doing it would be done and I could come back anytime if I had further concerns, and he put me on another twelve month follow up.

I was worrying about further surgery, but I’m now prepared to make the best of it, and already I believe I am benefiting psychologically.

* I was walking fifteen miles backpacking during the summer, albeit with continual discomfort.
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Three recent outings:

Great Mell Fell and Little Mell Fell ten days ago (two Marilyns west of Ullswater). The weather was so bad no photos were taken.

Thursday 17th October - a walk in the Lune valley with Pete and another Pete.

Friday 18th October - Hallin Fell, (one Marilyn, eastern shore of Ullswater).

One for my "signs" collection. All that work in stone before checking the spelling, unless of course there is a sight on the site

Clay being transported from the hillside to Claughton Manor Brickworks in the valley

Quarry House Farm - under renovation -a remote and windswept place to live

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Ullswater north from Hallin Fell

Ullswater south from Hallin Fell

Boredale and Boredale Hause from Hallin Fell

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Katie update:

from a visit to Wray Castle at the north west end of Winderemere. National Trust have opened all the rooms to include very informal activities for kids - well worth a visit if you are stuck for something to do with the offspring.

With Uncle Will

Moi - Katie was allowed free range with the camera - this is arguably a better effort than the ones of ceilings and floors

K. showing signs of following Mum's footsteps as a teacher

Walking and talking

What possessed the Neolithics (4500 to 2000 BC) to build a stone circle in this desolate location?

What decided farmhouse builders on the location of the slate quarry we explored?

Isn’t it late in the year to find thriving butterfly caterpillars?

Can we remember ever having driven on this remote stretch of single track, unfenced tarmac?

Why don’t farmers put footpath signs through their property?

These and other questions we pose and try to answer as Gimmer and I take a leisurely six mile footpath walk round the lower flanks of Black Coombe.

Other topics:

Defining differences between, concoctions, decoctions and tinctures.

The writings of Thomas Hardie, Elmore Leonard, and Joseph Conrad.

American gun culture and violence portrayed in old Walt Disney cartoons, leading to Gimmer’s chilling account of The Collector by John Fowles. We anticipated defenders of sadistic material saying that it only influenced  "a very small minority" to perpetrate copy-cat actions; well, in a city of say 300,000 one in a thousand that would be 300!

The ability to walk across previously impossible marshy ground now drier through chemical pollution and climate change.

Post war milk deliveries and purchasing of groceries.

Duck and turkey breeding at a remote farm.

The various definitions of the word dike or dyke.

Gimmer’s comparison of planning convoluted circular country walks with our erstwhile pursuit of mountain climbing which only involved deciding which mountain to climb.

Our good fortune at still being able to do even these walks at our advanced years - speculation of a tabloid story of two 70 odd year old men lost on the hills - conclusion:  silly old buffers.

Such is the substance of  walks with a companion interspersed with frequent stops to appreciate views, identify  peaks, take photos, and convivially munch sandwiches and drink hot coffee warding off the now seasonally colder weather.

Stickle Pike, Caw, Old Man of Coniston, Dow Crag and Grey Friar

Traditional sheepfold and the Duddon estuary

Neolithic circle - Swinside - (SD 172 882)

Gimmer christened this The Leaning Lean-to