Penrith

Penrith from the Beacon

Saturday we packed our bags and headed the scenic route to Penrith, where Matt had booked a B&B.   We had planned to go into the Lake District again for a walk, but Storm Hannah was above us, meaning it was grey, rainy and windy - we decided walking wouldn't be much fun.  We haven't actually stopped in Penrith - only going through it in the past, but believed it would be a good town to spend a day, it has a population of 15,000 but punches way above its weight as it is the main service town to a massive area of the Lakes.  We found ourselves a free car park and headed to the town.  Lots of nice independent shops including delis and old persons' clothing shops (you know what I mean - big industrial bras, and shapeless nighties etc - you wonder how they manage to keep going) also yarn shop, sewing shop, a HUGE Yorkshire Trading Company which is always good fun to browse, outdoor shops etc etc the high street kept us busy.  We found ourselves in a place called the Narrow Bar Cafe for lunch which was excellent - I had an avocado, chorizo, halloumi, pickled red onion and spicy chilli jam sandwich with sweet potato chips - wow a flavour sensation - every mouthful was amazing!

Long Meg and ....

We then relocated the car, parking near the B&B before heading up to the Beacon - a view point above Penrith.  Suffered a bit of 'Box Hill Syndrome' - ie not great walking uphill when you have a full stomach - but I made it.  Was a good view across the Eden Valley towards the Lake District.    We walked back down and checked into our B&B, lovely host and spotless.  We had some down time and then headed out back into town to a craft bar for some beer.  We then decided to head to a Thai restaurant for tea, but when we got there it was empty so we changed our plans and went to an Indian (set in an old cinema).  There were plenty of people there, so many, that it took over an hour to get any food.  The food was really good, but it took so long that the evening was a little spoiled.  Oh hum, we returned back and enjoyed a lazy evening.

... some of her daughters

Sunday dawned much brighter - we donned our walking clothes, enjoyed smoked salmon and scrambled eggs for breakfast and then headed to Little Salkeld where we started a walk to Long Meg and her daughters (stone circle) and then along the Eden River and back in a circle.  Lovely walk of 5.5 miles - enough to stretch my legs out ready for the 3 peaks next weekend.  Even found some amazing caves half way along the river - very Famous Five, we looked for treasure but couldn't find any!  We even walked alongside the Settle Carlisle railway for a bit and saw a train.  What more could you want?!  

Once back at the car, we headed to Tebay for lunch (a bit of cake each - we weren't that hungry) and then on to Waddecar Scout Activity Centre to pick up Tom.  We had to sit through a St George's Day parade first.  Everyone looked quite tired but happy.  It was chaos, but Tom assured us that he had everything!  He didn't!  Luckily I went into his dorm and claimed loads of items of clothing on the floor that he had left but even having done that he has left his trainers behind (same old problem of not looking after his belongings - I asked him twice if he had packed them and he assured me he had, we got home and they weren't there!  They are his main out of school shoes, so I was cross with him - mainly because I had asked him and had trusted his answer - I hate that I can't trust him!)

Lacy's Caves

We had an interesting trip home too - an old couple in a vintage car decided to hog a narrow road, forcing us into the bank and in a bush!  We didn't clash, but then when they started up again and tried to get past us they scraped the side of our car and the two cars got completely wedged into each other.  In the end about 5 of us had to bounce our car out of the way of the other car so it could reverse and let us pass.  The man driving it was above 70, completely deaf and seemed to have no road sense at all - his wife said that the fact we were pointing into the hedge was proof we weren't driving properly - we were  in the hedge because they forced us into it - otherwise we would have had a head on collision!!!!!  Their car was unscathed!  Not sure he should have been driving at all?!  Oh hum - not a great end to the holidays!

Cubs' parade

Tom fell asleep in the car just as we got to Ingleton!  We had to wake him up, he had a shower and felt much better, then an early tea and then early to bed.

Easter Holidays - Week 2

So the Easter weekend drew to a close and the weather decided to break too.  Tuesday was ok - but not as hot as the bank holiday - needed a jumper today.

Cherry blossoms in Dollar

Matt had arranged himself a mini break on his motorbike up to Dollar for a night at the Blezards, so he headed off mid morning, leaving Tom and me behind.  We had a quiet morning, Sainsburys delivered our food and after lunch Alice, Charlie and Harry turned up for the afternoon.  We were supposed to be doing an Escape Room together - but it didn't work out.

They boys went to play cricket over on the astro turf and then we did the village Easter Egg Hunt - during which the sun came out, in fact we had a very pleasant afternoon hanging out together.  In the evening I went to see what Ingleton Ladies Rounders was all about.  Answer - lots of loud, fit, younger ladies playing rounders.  I managed to get Anne to come along with me for support - very glad I did as I'm not sure I would have done it by myself, loads of ladies I've never met before (mostly in their 20s and 30s) Everyone was a bit rusty as it was the first session of the year - I worked out that it was 30 years since I last played - so think I was probably the rustiest.  So much so that I couldn't remember if I played with my left hand or right hand (still not sure!).  They used plenty of terminology that I didn't understand but on the whole it was good humoured.  As long as Anne keeps going I will too.  Tom had a fab time, Lauren came as well and there were children from others too and they all played together.

Wednesday, not much happened today.  I took Tom to Pat and Bob's in the morning (snooker is on the telly again) and I returned home to make cupcakes for a wake (so much for not working during the holidays, couldn't really say no to these - which is a pain!)  By the time I had finished baking, Matt had returned back on his bike - shattered.  We then had a quiet evening in as Matt was quite tired and not feeling 100%.

Thursday morning was spent putting together our arguments against the proposed development behind us as it has gone to the National Planning Office.  Oh joy!  Not a fun thing to do, but necessary and hopefully we've picked enough holes in his argument to show that he can't be trusted.  We will see...  the rest of the morning was spent putting together toppers for cupcakes before Tom was returned to us by Bob.  The afternoon was spent at Jump Rush and Pizza Hut for Seth's birthday. Then the evening was spent putting the cupcakes together.

Ready for 2 days away!

Friday we had a quiet morning.   Tom was off to cub camp for the weekend and we had a massive kit list to put together.  It took most of the morning to get the kit together and then we had the task of getting it into a bag.  In the end we had to get Matt's old back packing rucksack down for him. and even then it wouldn't all fit in - his pillow and wellies having to be put in bags and attached. He could carry it by himself though.  Oh, he also made a batch of flapjacks - which he did by himself - they got split between a jumble sale and cub camp.  We had lunch at home and then Matt decided to head off early as Barton Grange was just round the corner from where cub camp was, and as it was a horrible day we could easily spend it playing crazy golf and playing pool and table curling which turned out lots of fun.

Tom and Harry in their dorm

At 7.30 we arrived at camp to drop Tom off.  Charlie and Harry were already there and very very excited - off the scale excited (especially Harry!)  Cubs weren't camping but staying in a bunk house - pretty basic - 4 bunk beds crammed into a room - you did wonder how much sleeping would take place.  Tom got a bottom bunk because all the top ones had gone - we arrived on time, the others arrived way earlier than we were told!  Anyway they were all excited to be there and we left him there very happy.  We drove home the scenic route and then went to the OPO for a drink before heading home.

Easter Weekend

Putting up the tent

WOW what an Easter weekend.  It reached over 20 degrees every day with clear blue skies.  Summer wardrobe is out, but the woolly hats and gloves are still in reach just in case...

Friday - we decided a quiet day would be good as we were all aching a little after Thursday's exertions.

Camping

Matt and Tom were on scenery duties for Tom's model railway - Matt had got hold of some images to use as scenery to go around the model railway and a huge piece of plywood.  Today he sawed the wood into the right sizes and pasted them on.  Leaving them in the sun to dry.

We headed to Inglesport for lunch and spent the rest of the day faffing around.  Tom and Matt put up Tom's new tent.  The instructions said it would take 5 minutes - it took them 45!  Oh hum.  I was on laundry duty and did 3 loads as it was so sunny.   We then played some cricket over on the astro turf.  Matt was on the bar at Sheafstock at 5pm - so he headed over there.  Matt and I joined him later on.  We had a burger each over there.  Tom was off playing with the other kids and we chatted to whoever was there, there were loads of people we knew there - this is, I think the biggest event Ingleton has - and the amazing sunshine brought even more people out - so much so that the bbq ran out of food quite early and the bar too - they were on record takings on Friday at 7.30 - the bar didn't close till until 11!  A good time had by all - we only left because the last band of the night were a bit screechy and as they were called Sex Shop Ram Raid we figured it might get a bit fruity!

As Tom had put his tent up, he said we wanted to sleep in it over night.  He gave it a go, but came in twice - once saying he was worried he would get kidnapped and another saying he felt it wasn't quite right - so we tucked him up in bed.  Was a good try though.

Saturday - Matt and Tom had been invited by Pete and the boys for a bike ride up near Ribblehead.  They jumped at the chance.  Pete is very very fit, and has lived around here all his life and therefore knows a lot more routes than us.  He is also an early riser - so we had to get up early to make sure we had enough time to have breakfast and pack up the bikes by 9am - luckily we are punctual as they turned up 10 mins early.  I wasn't invited.

OVER TO MATT...

Tom and Harry on the Cam High Road

Yes, taking up an invitation from a (super fit) friend, we strapped our bikes to the car and parked up near Gearstones on the Ingleton-Hawes road. The first 1.5 miles or so of the bike ride was up the main road, which was less unpleasant than I'd imagined thanks to smooth tarmac, nice weather and very light traffic. Just near Newby Head, we turned east onto the Pennine Bridleway, and headed up up up on a rocky twisty path. Tom and Harry (who have identical bikes) cleared off into the distance (fit as fiddles, both of them), while Pete and I (and Charlie) brought up the rear while having a good chat.

All 5 of us

The weather was just perfect, and the views up up there, at nearly 2000 feet, are just stunning - the Dales at their absolute best. After 3 miles or so, we reached Cam High Road, an ancient drovers' road, which is beautiful smooth tarmac, so we bombed along to Dodd Fell, where we refuelled ourselves and headed back down to Gearstones along a logging trail. All in all, we did about 11 miles, and it was fabulous. As Nik mentioned, Pete knows this area as well as anyone, and that circular route was tremendous. We'll definitely be back. Might even drag Nik up there.

Near the top of the bridleway

I was beginning to get worried about them as they were gone so long, but having heard about their adventure and how many hills were involved, I'm quite glad I didn't go, think I would have got left behind.  Anyway I put the time by myself to good use: I weeded the front and back gardens and driveway, cleared up the back garden and did yet more laundry.

Once they were back they had showers and then we went to Bernies for lunch.  Then back home for a couple of hours to finish up the garden and then we cleared out and vacuumed the garage - yes vacuumed the garage!!!!!!  All of that manual labour worked up a thirst...where could we go....oh, yes Sheafstock!  Off we went and we found lots and lots of people we knew there.

It was another good night.  Tom went off and played Frisbee in the Community Field with some friends, whilst we stayed and listened to the music and chatted with friends.  Alice was singing with the Flaming Noras again so we stayed to watch her, Tom came to us absolutely shattered at 9.30 and basically asked us to go home, so we did.  He wanted to try to sleep in the tent again - and this time he was so tired he was asleep in minutes and stayed outside for the whole night - well done him!

The Flaming Noras

Sunday - another quiet day to recover from yesterday's exertions and late night.  We had a nice long lie in (we were treated to Tom's singing coming from the tent underneath our room - he was singing along to The Lancashire Hot Pots and The Perfect Pint).  He didn't come in until 8.30.

Eye on the ball at Barbondale

After yet more laundry we headed off to Hawes to purchase some cheese (Hawes was surprisingly quiet considering it was Bank Holiday - no problem finding parking at all - Ingleton on the other hand has been absolutely rammed with cars.  We did a quick circuit of the town - I bought some sandals and Matt a cool new shirt, then lunch at the creamery before the boys showed me the Cam High Road where they cycled yesterday.  Very very scenic and quite lumpy - glad I didn't go, especially as superfit Pete was there!

We then went to Barbondale for a dip in the river there before heading back home and one last visit to Sheafstock - well it would have been rude not to!  Lots more friends there again!  This time we came back home for tea - couldn't face another burger as good as they are!  Tom then slept outside in the tent again.

Monday - we had a quiet morning.  Matt and Tom fixed the new railway scenery to the model railway - looks good.  I did some cake admin, then we went out to Goat Gap for a spot of lunch, well I had a spot of lunch, Tom had a massive wedge of sausage roll and chips and Matt a bowl of bean and chorizo stew.

Messing about on the river

Ali and Tom

The afternoon was spent with the lovely Bickerstaffs down at the river in Burton.  Was a lovely afternoon - not been there before.  The river is deep here, meaning you can swim if you wish.  The Bickerstaffs bought a dinghy with them and we took Ali with us.  The boys got on really well and all 3 ended up completely immersed - brave souls!  I had my swimsuit but only my toes got wet - way too cold for me!  Whilst the kids played the adults sat, relaxed and chatted.  All very civilised and super chilled.  We very much enjoyed ourselves.

Got home, made a curry for tea and vegged.  The weather has turned a little bit - windy and therefore a bit cooler.  Tom was insistent that he wanted to sleep outside again.  This the boy who hates the wind?!!!  It was whistling around the garden.  I didn't really want him to sleep outside, but figured it was up to him.  We didn't have to wait for long, within half an hour of tucking him in, he came in saying "I regret going outside".  I was relieved and happily tucked him up in his bed.

Up to his neck in it!

Easter Holidays - Week 1

Group selfie

Monday - it was sunny but cold and windy again.  I couldn't bear being outside and getting cold again so we decided to head to Kendal for lunch and then the cinema to see Missing Link which was a film I hadn't heard of but really enjoyed - very British humour about an explorer that goes looking for 'the missing link' finds him, becomes friends, takes him to his kin in the Himalayas, but he isn't accepted, but they end up life long mates helping each other along.  Have to watch it to understand it - but was a fun children's film to watch - Tom enjoyed it too.

Tuesday - the wind had stopped blowing - yay!  We had arranged a day with Matthew so we went round to pick him up and then went to Stacksteads for some swimming.  Forgot to take my underwater camera which is a shame!  We were there for 2 hours, the kids managed over an hour in the pool by themselves, so snappy came out and they had loads of fun whilst I did some lengths.  Then back to Ingleton, lunch at Inglesport and then we went to the park which was good, until Tom leaped off a piece of apparatus and face planted on the floor - blood in the mouth, nose, chest etc etc.  That was the end of that, so we came home and they played zoo and lego until I took Matt home.

Lucy, very tall Mae and Tom

Wednesday - Tom and I headed to Warrington for the day.  Warrington is half way between Telford and here, so the perfect place to meet up.  Warrington isn't a well known tourist hot spot, but I managed to find a good looking park on-line and we decided to meet there.  It was a glorious day - blue skies and sunny by the end of the day we were all in T-shirts and looking a big rosy!  We met up with Rachel, Mae and Lucy.  We hadn't seen each other for 3 years - but it didn't seem to matter, the kids got on instantly and Lucy is now big enough to join in with most games which is great.  There was a huge adventure park so the kids played there whilst Rachel and I chatted - we had quite a bit to catch up on.  After a while we had a picnic lunch together and then explored the free children's zoo which had lots of randy male Peacocks strutting their stuff, a couple of donkeys and lots of red squirrels, oh and some Herdwick sheep.

Welcome strawberry ice cream half way round

Then a quick change at the car to rid ourselves of some clothes and get scooters out for the kids.  They then whizzed around whilst Rachel and I explored the formal gardens.  It was a very pleasant park and only cost us £3 parking for the whole day - a bargain, shame we had to drive right through Warrington to get to it.  Tom, unfortunately wasn't at his best today - he spent a good hour in a sulk, never got to the bottom of why - not great behaviour and I was disappointed but hey - that's kids for you.  When we parted, Mae said she hoped it wouldn't be so long before we met up again - so I'm guessing they had a good time.  It was lovely to see them all again.

Thursday - Matt had finished his WOSAs so was free of work - yay.  We split into two today - I'm in training for the 3 peaks and was needing to do 2 peaks this week, so we made a picnic for each of us and then Matt and Tom dropped me off at Ribblehead so I could climb Whernside and Ingleborough finishing up at Ingleton and they headed off to the Howgills.  It was another gorgeous day - although very very hazy.  Got up to 19 degrees I believe which was good.  It was MEGA windy on top of Whernside - so much so that I struggled to walk in a straight line!  Anyway, I managed it: 14 miles, 3330ft of ascent in 5.5 hours.  Got tired legs tonight.

Testing the depth

Over to Matt:

Struggling up to the summit

Yes, Tom and I took ourselves off for a 6 mile hike through the Howgill Fells. I'd been meaning to explore this area for ages, so it was nice to finally get round to it. The first half of the walk was a climb up an ever narrowing valley/gully along a stream. The path was very narrow and indistinct, but Tom seemed to love the challenge. If anything, he made it up the gully more easily than I did - a proper little mountain goat. We stopped for lunch at the bottom of a waterfall called The Spout, with me eating while trying to work out how on earth I was going to drag Tom up it. We somehow made it, and once we got to the top of the valley, the landscape opened up into open moorland, which was tough going on very boggy and grassy terrain.

Tom's enthusiasm was starting to seriously wane once we reached the summit, but (luckily) once we got there, we were rewarded with views down to the M6 (Eddie Stobart trucks!) and the West Coast Main Line (Virgin Trains!), meaning that the journey back down to the car was a pleasant one, despite some seriously strong winds (I had to hold on to Tom to stop him blowing off the mountain) and very limited visibility thanks to some thick haze.

Pendolino in the Lune Valley

For "only" 6 miles, it was extremely tiring, and my legs ached the following day, but the views were lovely, and I was very impressed with Tom's stamina. We were worried that he's lost some fitness since he stopped swimming lessons, but it didn't show today.

Nerdy train chat

Saturday morning Tom had football first thing.  We then headed to Wigglesworth, to a pub for lunch, but it was shut - so we went to a nearby garden centre instead, and low and behold who do we bump in to - Grannie and Grandpa so we all had lunch together.

We popped into Lords on the way home as we had been told there were lots of model railway stuff there, but we didn't find much.  In the afternoon, Matt and Tom went to Clapham to watch a steam train.

Steamie in Clapham

At 5 we decided to pop to the OPO for a pre dinner drink.  All was going well until it was home time.  Tom had been playing solitaire and I put it back in the box for him, and then it shot out the other side, all the balls went over the floor, so we chased them around to pick them up.  Matt bent down to pick some up by the bar and managed somehow to spear himself with the 'A' from the BAR sign on the bar - it went through 2 layers of denim, his T-shirt, his knickers and into his bum.  It was such a shock that he very nearly was sick - it was a close call!!!!

Once recovered, we got him home and inspected him - he was ok - but it was a rusty sign that he impaled himself on, so we called 111 for advice.  They said to get a tetanus jab - so we had a rushed tea and then headed to the hospital in Kendal to get one.  Took 3 hours, it wasn't busy - they had a change of shift which I think delayed everything.  We were treated to live moronic Saturday night telly, which was just delightful.  I got despatched to ASDA as everyone got hungry and thirsty and we didn't have enough money for the car park.  All is well though, Matt hasn't had a problem with it - just a freak accident!  A great anecdote for later...

Rebecca and Tom with a Diesel

Sunday was a train day.  Matt had found out about a diesel gala on the Weardale Railway (Stanhope to Bishop Auckland).  All the diesels were the same class - 31s but different colours.  The carriages were quite plush - Premier Class.  There was a problem though it was freezing cold - the diesels were unable to heat the carriages and there was a very frosty wind rushing through the carriages.  By the end of the day I was absolutely frozen and couldn't warm up, even after a hot bath.  I seemed to be the only one affected like that.

Ticket Inspector?

Anyway, we took Rebecca with us and she and Tom just talked trains for the WHOLE day - I didn't realise there was sooooooo much train banter, but yep there is.  They didn't shut up the whole day. When they weren't talking classes, steamies vs diesels etc they were playing train top trumps or testing each other on classes.Proper proper nerds, but it is lovely that they have each other to be nerdy with.  I was completely lost with the conversations.

Another train with two enthusiasts

It was a lovely drive over to Stanhope and back though - across bits of the dales we don't know - really must explore more.

Night Out, Badminton & Whernside

Wednesday 3rd April we woke up to thick snow?!!!  It wasn't even forecasted, took us all by surprise, was about 3 inches deep, Tom took his sledge to school for playtime.  It was all gone by the afternoon - disappeared as quickly as it came.

On Friday Tom had a sleepover at Ellis' and James'.  It was Matt's badminton club end of year meal.  To be honest I wasn't really in the mood for it, but we had arranged a sleep over for Tom at the Perkins so I figured I should go out.  I don't really know that many badminton people, but managed to chat with some.  Our plan was to go to the Bottom Club afterwards as Alice was singing with her new band.  We headed down to find most of the badminton club people were there, also Janine and Fiona and then Sally and Dave arrived.  It turned into a really really good night.  At one point Matt didn't think he would be able to make it as his tummy had a moment, but he got over it, he had a good time chatting to the lads and I had a great time chatting to girlies and dancing to the music.  The Bottom Club is well known for being a bit of a dive and where teenagers learn to drink, and at one point the teenagers arrived en masse, saw us 40 year olds having fun, singing and dancing to old music and left, which meant we could continue believing we were back to being 20 something rather than 40 something and enjoy ourselves.  Didn't get home until around 2am.

Tom and Lucas

Saturday 6th April was a beautiful sunny day, shame we were hung over!  Tom had a football match at home (thankfully) and I had some cakes being collected, so I stayed at home, whilst Matt went down to the match.  In the afternoon Tom had a badminton tournament in Dallam - his first.  He did very well - think he came 3rd from 5 - certainly deserved to be there and he enjoyed it.  He just needs to get a fire in his belly for wanting to win and he will be away.  It was a sort of a shame to miss such a beautiful day, but on the other hand we were tired and hungover, so really it was a bit of a God send.

Ribblehead Viaduct from Whernside

Handsome herdy

Sunday 7th April we had a lazy morning, headed to Goat Gap for lunch and then Tom went to Lynne's for the afternoon - she took him to Pine Lake for a swim and play whilst Matt and I walked up Whernside as part of my 3 peaks training.  It was another lovely day, although a bit hazy (of course once we were down it was lovely and clear but isn't that always the way?!) and very windy at the top.  My blister behaved itself, got some special plasters and didn't feel a thing which was good.  A nice 9 miles - not a difficult one to go up, just long!  At 7 we headed to Lynne's to pick up Tom who had had a good time, then back home and bed ready for a busy last week at school.

Timely refreshments

Run of the mill weekend

Bit of a run of the mill weekend.  Saturday 30th March Tom had footie training, then I dropped off a cake at the Golf Club at Bentham, we went to Carnforth for a pub lunch by the canal, then went shopping in Aldi and returned home to watch the first Harry Potter film.

Sunday 31st March we decided to do a new bike ride from Bull Beck to Galgate Marina, and back.  The best part of 20 miles mostly along canal banks.  It was a lovely sunny day and warm enough for lunch outside. We knew there was a craft centre / tea room on the canal at Galgate so headed there.  Unfortunately just before we arrived, the owner of the place collapsed and an ambulance called. They closed the kitchen.  Luckily Matt had access to a map and realised that we could cycle to Glasson Dock so we did that and went to our favourite cafe for lunch outside.  Then back along the river into and out of Lancaster back to Bull Beck.  We all had slightly aching legs at the end, but it was a good ride.

We got home, had showers and then headed to Settle to see Pat and Bob before heading to the Craven Arms for tea.

Bewerley Park and High Street

Boys' Dorm

Monday 25th March - how exciting!  I was a little jealous not to be going along with them.  All 21 of his class were packed and mega excited and why not.  On the menu was gorge walking, zip wiring (from the top of a huge 10 meter high climbing wall), canoeing, a visit to Brimham Rocks, night time activities, lots of food including a cooked breakfast in the mornings, playing pool in the common room, sleeping in dorms and mainly having a great time with his friends away from pesky parents.  They all came home on Wednesday afternoon very VERY tired.  Tom could barely speak he was so tired.  Anyway it was happy faces all round, a good time was had by all.

Climbing Wall with Zip Wire

Morning Thumbs Up!

Whilst Tom was at Bewerley Park Matt and I headed over to the Lakes for a night.  After dropping him off on Monday we drove over to Haweswater to the end of the road where we parked up and headed into the hills.  We climbed a mountain called High Street - which was so high there was still snow on top of it.

It was a pretty hard walk - more ascent than we are used to with our 3 peaks and unfortunately one of my feet wasn't happy and a blister started to form - what can you do if you are half way up a mountain with a blister forming - grin and bear it - so I spent the rest of the day trying to ignore the pain coming up from my heel.

It was a lovely walk - took in 3 peaks: Kidsty Howes, Kidsty Pike and High Street.  We would have done a 4th, Harter Fell but I was in pain and we found a route down that looked relatively ok.  We were wrong!  It was mega hard going, probably would have been better to go up and then down on a well worn path - oh well never mind.

It was a beautiful and clear day - we got a great view from the top, across the Lake District mountains to the Irish Sea.

It was 9 miles and it took us 4.15 hours - as I said it was hard going!

Big mountains to climb

We had a room booked in a hotel - people had laughed at us because it was a motorway services hotel, but not any services, Tebay Services which is the best in the country.  It isn't just the services which are good, the hotel was wonderful too.  First of all you would never know you were at the services, it had a  lovely bar full of comfy sofas made with Harris Tweed, huge windows looking over the Lake District Fells, and a lovely huge hearth with a fire burning brightly in it.  The room was massive, we had a huge bed and get this - there were bunk beds in a cupboard - Tom would love it here!

Nice bobble!

Looking down over Hawswater

We were in no position to go out for tea, we needn't have worried, the food was amazing - and that was just the bar food.  In fact the restaurant food looked too poncey for us!  We were happy and I was mega happy that I was able to have my socks off for the whole evening as my heel was in a bit of a state!

The next day we had a MASSIVE breakfast and then headed home.  We stopped off at Kirkby Lonsdale to do a short walk along the river, then came home and started cake baking (me) WOSAS (Matt)  Was a lovely break - felt we were away longer than we were.

Sunset in Sedburgh

Sunset over Sedbergh

Sunset over Sedbergh

Saturday 23rd March, Tom had football match in Settle.  We then dropped Tom off at Pat and Bob's for the night as there was snooker on the telly.  Matt and I headed for the Howgills for a walk up Winder Tor.  A lovely walk, the Howgills are very barren, and steep, so it was a good walk.  We then had tea in a pub in Sedbergh (difficult to find a down to earth pub in Sedbergh as everywhere is tailored for the private school families!)  Came out to the most amazing sunset I have seen in many many years.

Sunday 24th March, we collected Tom from Pat and Bob's after lunch, took him home and then had a quiet afternoon, mainly sorting him out as tomorrow he was going on his first school residential at an Outdoor Activity Centre called Bewerly Park near Pateley Bridge.  How exciting.  Took over an hour to collect all the bits and pieces and label everything and make sure that it all fitted in his case.  We got there in the end.

Flower Bowl and Train Games

Flower shaped pool table

Saturday 16th March was a very horrible day - cold, grey and raining.  Football was cancelled - what to do...Matt had a brainwave - Barton Grange.  They have a new leisure centre with an undercover crazy golf, 10 pin bowling and get this...a curling rink.  We decided to have a go at the crazy golf.  So we headed over.  It wasn't cheap but it was immaculate and well thought out.  AND I WON!!!! Yay, was fun, and we will be back.  We then headed for the chippy for a fish and chip lunch and then back for a game of flower pool which was pretty much impossible.  A quick once around the garden centre, bought some primroses for the garden and then headed home - a good use of a horrible day.  We were slightly concerned that we might not be able to get home as all the rivers were flooding but we did OK, which was good because I had a big cake being collected in the evening.

Japanese crazy golf hole

Sunday 17th March, we had Rebecca over for the day so they could play railways on the model train layout.  They looked after themselves for the whole day making up schedules, Rebecca tided up his layout and there was a lot of narrative about the journeys the trains were on.  Neither me nor Matt were needed.  Matt went out to do the waterfalls walk in the afternoon whilst I sat and did my accounts - not exciting but definitely needed.  A really easy day.