Mal's Blog, Blaithwaite House & In2venture

Brownley Hill - Nentsberry Haggs Connection

2012-03-09T03:13:00.000-08:00

With: Alan & Clare

Weather: Snow showers in Nenthead!

Where: Brownley Hills, Bloomsberry Adit, Nenthead, North Pennines

We went back into Brownley Hills again on Wednesday aiming to build on our knowledge of the Wellgill Cross Vein area and locate the connection to Nentsberry Haggs mine. It took slightly longer than we anticipated (due largely to our own misinterpretation of a trip report we had read). In typical Nenthead style just before we entered the mine there was a heavy snow shower - it didn't stick - just got me soaked on the way back from the Community Shop & gave everything a distinctly chill feel.

Once in the mine, via the Bloomsberry Adit, we turned a sharp left at the sump & headed off down the Wellgill Cross Vein. The first site we suspected might be the connection was accessed by a short climb up to the left about 175m along the vein, not far from the white stone arching photographed in a recent post. The area was bolted out (picture below of Alan de-rigging) but unfortunately led nowhere.

Back into the main passage we headed on along the vein in the knowledge from the survey that the Nentsberry Haggs connection was no more than 250m from the sump. On past the area from where it is possible to climb up into flats on the right we continued NW for a short distance (less than 25m) and found another climb up on the left which led into a passage containing a wooden ladder & a slightly awkward climb up into an engine house, we knew from research that the connection was beneath the engine house.


Engine House in Brownley Hills

Me Descending Ladder Into Nentsberry Haggs

At this point we were temporarily confused as we had interpreted our pre-trip research as indicating the way on to Nentsberry Haggs was from this engine house. This is in fact not the case. It is necessary to continue on in the passage below (i.e. effectively ignoring the climb up the wooden ladder) for a short distance before climbing down & doubling back in the direction of the engine house - to reveal the top of the first metal ladder leading down into Nentsberry Haggs, Alan & myself descended the ladder way (2 ladders separated by a wood boarded landing) and took the opportunity to dip our toes in the watery Nentsberry Haggs passage below. All told the connection is no more than 25 minutes in from the Bloomsberry Adit.

In2venture Activity Weekend At Blaithwaite House

2012-03-06T03:28:00.000-08:00


Ascending a Fall in Cat Gill

The weekend of 02-04 March was this year's In2venture Activity Weekend at Blaithwaite House, I think it was the best one yet!

It was great to welcome friends back to the Centre, we reckon Ian Grimshaw holds the record of having been on every activity weekend, with Brendan & Sarah just one behind. The weather started off as "interesting" with enough heavy rain & hail on Saturday morning to give the cavers something to think about, there was snow in the fells overnight on Saturday to provide stunning views as the sun came out on Sunday morning.

Activity choices worked out very well this year & saw us working as two groups, on Saturday: myself & Graham took a group into the mountains (Deepdale; Link Cove Beck; Hart Crag; Dove Crag & Hartsop-above-How) while Alan, Clare and the cavers went to Upper & Lower Long Churns in the Yorkshire Dales.

On a much cooler Sunday morning activity choices once again worked out nicely to split us into a Ghyll Scrambling group (again myself; Graham & Ferg took a group into Cat Gill and then on to Walla Craggs for very impressive views of Lakeland). Alan, Clare and the others canoed on Bassenthwaite where initially flat calm conditions were favourable for an open water crossing. Great Weekend - next years is already booked 01-03 March 2013.

Limestone pavement on Ingleborough

Underground in the Churns

Alan Rainford & the cavers just before going underground

"Team Morpeth Road" on the Hartsop-above-How ridge

Cat Gill was excellent

Flat calm conditions on Bassenthwaite Lake

Thanks to all who provided photographs for the weekend: John Wood, Chris Turner & Clare. I'll aim to get as many as possible on to the blog via the facebook link.

Exploring in Brownley Hill Mine, Nenthead

2012-02-29T09:34:00.000-08:00

With: Alan & Clare

Weather: a mild evening for February

Where: Nenthead, North Pennines

Stone Arching in Brownley Hill

Brownley Hill is a mine I've not spent very much time visiting, maybe just a couple of previous trips both of which have ended in exactly the same place with me wondering whether I really ought to be in that place! Each time a sense of self-preservation has clicked in, discretion has been the better part of valour and a swift retreat has ensued.

Last night was an altogether more civilised evening which essentially involved an interesting exploration of one particular section of the mine. We entered through the Bloomsberry Adit at just after six o'clock with the last remnants of daylight still lingering on (thoughts of evening trips into the fells now beginning to beckon again) the weather although damp was mild for the time of year.

The initial drive through shaley ground was longer than I had recalled from previous visits & we spotted a bat take to flight close to the entrance maybe he had noticed the milder air as well? At the sump which was roaring no doubt due to the recent wet weather we had a short ratch around the passage to our right (SE direction?) and straight ahead. However, the aim of the evening was to have a good look around the long passage that ranges from this point in a north westerly direction (i.e. effectively left from the sump)

The going was easy in the main passage throughout the length we explored with just occasional constrictions to crawl over/under or squeeze past, there are precarious looking deads stacked in the roof on occassions!

Blue Pool in Brownley Hill Mine - Photograph by Clare Mackey

In this direction there are numerous vertical rollers - artefacts of a continuous rope system? Not long after the stone arching pictured above is an area which branches in several directions with a rise to the right which we did explore again on this occassion despite having had a good look around previously (it provides access to quite extensive flats workings) in addition are a couple of small pokey passages and also to the right the way on to an excellent blue pool (also photographed above, by Clare) - at the moment I am unable to lay hands on any of my Brownley Hill plans so this post will be edited again with some better "positioning" references from the mine plans. After exploring everything in this area we pressed on down the main North West heading passage, across a sump spanned by some dubious looking boards & another spanned with a rail protected by a traverse line, at each junction & every possibility to explore we deviated from the passage in an attampt to gain as good an understanding of the area as possible. Eventually at another sump crossable via a rail but with the passage seemingly running on & on we turned back. Frustatingly we were running out of time to pursue this passage to its conclusion so to find out where it ends will have to be the subject of another trip, however, it was good to increase our understanding of this area.

Its always interesting to spot all the possible climbs & holes to crawl around on the way back that hadn't been noticed on the way in & once again we found several on this occassion, the most interesting of which was in the area of the rise referred to earlier - a climb up which would be to the LHS on the way in took us into a worked area which had been bolted out with 3 bolts allowing access down to a sub-level, not sure where this goes its one for another night.

With a slightly improved understanding from this short visit it was back out into an eerie misty Nenthead evening.

Blaithwaite Life - The Year So Far

2012-02-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

A Sunny Winter's Day In The Courtyard

Its been a while since anything has appeared on the blog about Centre life, so I thought a brief update might be in order. 2012 has got off to an exceptionally hectic start, hence slightly fewer posts about days out in the fells & underground, hopefully the balance will be re-dressed as the year progresses.

Visitors
January is the sketchiest month of the year for visiting groups, however, we enjoyed a full Centre over the New Year period itself; followed by the In2venture weekend and a midweek student conference - some new visitors to the Centre from a Church in Lancaster came towards the end of the month.
February has been very much back to business as usual with every weekend occupied by Church groups and the first of two mid-week schools already having visited.
The weather for our visitors has been a real mixed bag with an unseasonally mild start to the year being followed by a fine spell of dry cold conditions in which we missed the snow that affected the majority of the country.

Projects
As reported earlier the newly upgraded power supply is working well with no hitches - a welcome conclusion to the biggest project undertaken during our time here.
The Stables bedroom upgrade is almost complete now with just re-carpeting to go & once again Richard has worked through an epic painting and decorating programme over the winter.
Recent weeks have been dominated by some un-scheduled maintenance as we have had to deal with some dry rot in the Main House this has been a very significant & unwelcome piece of work but is now just about complete.
Our website (www.blaithwaite.co.uk) has been refreshed with some new photographs & a new events page. On the events front we are looking forward to: Activity Weekend (first weekend in March); Spring & Autumn Retreats; and several new events being organised by Rob & Margaret Bianchi including over 50's walking & activity weeks in September / October.

We received some welcome news today regarding Kay - latest scan all clear, which will allow her course of treatment to continue. Thanks to everyone for prayers, help & support over the last couple of very tense weeks.

The Centre calendar is looking very healthy for 2012 and increasingly into 2013 - so once again we look forward to what I'm sure will be a busy & rewarding Spring and Summer at Blaithwaite!

A Seathwaite Round

2012-02-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

With: Alan Rainford, Graham & Paul Rose
Weather: Cool; initially low cloud but clearing in afternoon; brisk north westerly & lying snow
Where: Seathwaite; Taylor Force Gill; Seathwaite Fell; Esk Hause; Allen Crags; Glaramara; Hind Gill; Seathwaite - Borrowdale, Lake District

Distance: Approx 6.5 miles
Height Gain: 2810'

I've not seen Paul since August last year so it was good to spend a day out with him.
We set off from Seahwaite at about 10:30, half term visitors to the Lakes had produced a long queue of parked vehicles tailing well back from the farm - more like summer, except for the snow covered summits surrounding us.
Through the farm; across the beck and a steady pace towards Taylor Gill Force, there's a little brief optional scrambling on the way up on this route which breaks the walking. We crossed the beck roughly underneath the as yet invisible summit of Seathwaite Fell and ascended more steeply through at times knee deep snow, the summit was shortly gained & a brief stop for photos. By this time the views were just starting to improve although Great Gable remained stubbornly in cloud.

Looking Across the Snow Field From Seathwaite Fell Summit Towards Great End

Moving on across the sometimes very deep snow, which hid one or two watery surprises, we headed towards Esk Hause stopping briefly for lunch just above a frozen Sprinkling Tarn. The going was quite difficult on the final ascent to the Hause where we took a sharp left for the short climb on to Allen Crags.

Above: The Langdales From Allen Crags

The journey from Allen Crags to Glaramara is deceptive, 2.5km and I don't know how much height loss & gain. It took us a full hour through deep snow and over false summits to finally reach Glamara's summit.

Above: Looking North From Glarmara - Derwent Water & The Northern Fells

Descending from Glarmara's summit the head of Hind Gill was quickly located and the knee jarring descent under way, it is one of the steeper well used descents & the path is poor, however its over pretty quick!

All told a good day - Seathwate Fell has never been one of my favourites but it showed up particularly well in the snow especially with the hulk of Great End contrasting in the background. Are these the last throes of winter 2012?

A Snowy Morning on Blencathra

2012-02-05T11:45:00.000-08:00

With: on my own
Weather: first thing snow/ice on roads in Threlkeld; low visibility; deep powdery snow on summit ridge; visibility cleared on descent
Where: Lake District, Northern Fells

Lonscale Fell Looking Impressive In The Snow

Blencathra is possibly my favourite mountain in the Lake District & this morning provided an opportunity to explore it in the snow, the intended route wasn't completed but more of this later. Getting up to the Blencathra Centre to park proved too much for the car so a start from Threlkeld was the next most convenient option, a short walk up the road and on to the fell just before the originally planned parking spot. Rather than root around for indistinct snow covered paths a general N.E. bearing for Knowe Crags provided varied terrain from skitey, thin snow covered frozen ground to knee deep snow. Visibility grew steadily worse and was quite poor above about 300m, the climb was quite hard work this morning - need to get doing more!
Just short of Knowe Crags I bumped into Lee & Clare from Whitaugh Park and passed an enjoyable few minutes of Centre talk!
There wasn't much to see at all on the summit ridge - in fact nothing at all was visible from the top of the mountain! It was at this point that the morning went a little pear shaped - I realised that my mobile phone was no longer in my pocket!! A couple of kind folk tried calling it for me, it wasn't squirreled away anywhere in my bag so they let me use their 'phone to call in my change of route as I tried in vain to re-trace my steps in an effort to find it - no chance!
The only consolation was that the cloud lifted on the way down revealing some great views of the surrounding fells. An enjoyable but costly morning.

More of Lonscale Fell

A Few Days Out West

2012-02-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

This time last year we spent a couple of days in Arkengarthdale with my Mum & Dad. This year it was Wasdale.We set off on Thursday morning calling in at Whitehaven on a glorious day, the weather was equally good as we travelled around the dale both in the car & on foot. The Wasdale Head Inn was our destination - one of the best places we have ever stayed.

Whitehaven Marina

The Scafells

Wasdale Panorama

Looking Into Mosedale

Inside St Olaf's

Mosedale at Dawn - View From Wasdale Head Inn

All Change On The Way Home

Aygill Caverns (with extra photos)

2012-02-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

With: Kevin Marsh
Weather: Bitterly cold; snow on Casterton Fell
Where: Bull Pot Farm

A Cold Scene Looking Up the Lane Towards Barbondale

Aygill Caverns have been on the "to do" list for ages. We made it there late afternoon yesterday, there was plenty of ratching and writhing around - it was a bit more physical than anticipated. The photos tell the story (there will be a few more when Kev sends his through).

Kevin At Cave Entrance

A Bit Tight

Tighter

Scrambling in Cat Gill

2012-01-20T09:25:00.000-08:00

With: on my own

Weather: persistent rain falling as snow above about 400m; cold; low cloud

Where: Lake District; Derwent Fells


A verdant Cat Gill viewed from the entry point which is the foot bridge leading from Great Wood NT carpark

I've been off since completion of the Blaithwaite electrical upgrade project on Monday - a couple of days across in the North East and looking ahead to a weekend with quite a full diary. This left today as the only available day to get outdoors, unfortunately in terms of the weather its the worst day of the week with persistent rain; the Cumbrian sort that soaks everything; blanket low cloud and a raw cold feel. Above about 400m there's a dusting of snow.

What to do?

Cat Gill which drains part of the Derwent Fells just south of Walla Crag has been on the list for ages, its a grade 1 gill scramble.The guidebook describes the gill as being fed by a small catchment area so the reasoning was that it might not be too full today.

The temperature on the car's gauge at Great Wood car park was a raw 4 degC & the drive past Ullock Pike & Longside Edge had painted a dreak picture of Lakeland. Its not far from the car park to the footbridge in the picture above & there is an easy route down to the bed of the gill from the bridge. Water level could probably be labelled as moderate.

The gill essentially drains an area of moorland above and cascades down the side of the fell as a series of cataracts. Its hard to describe the routes that could be taken and as is the nature of gill scrambling they will vary according to water level. Overall I would say the scrambling is not continuous and the most interesting bits are found by sticking close to the bed of the gill. Its good fun right from the start but by far the most enjoyment is to be had on the numerous waterfalls, at the level today I was able to tackle all except one of the falls and I walked around this one just to avoid a complete soaking. Lower water levels would offer a multiplicity of additional route options and add significantly to the quality of the day. Escape from the bed of the gill is possible just about all the way up and the main hazard is simply the slippery nature of the rock which will always be the case in such an environment.

One of the more interesting falls - got my foot wet here!

In the higher reaches of the gill several other falls tumble in from the right hand side and the general aspect widens out becoming less gorge-like. Eventually a path crosses the stream. I stepped out a little before this point and wandered up & across to the wall which heads roughly north east towards the rocky outcrop which constitutes the summit of Walla Crag. The views today weren't great: a grey moody Derwent Water below and a snow dusted Bleaberry Fell just about visible through the cloud off to the south (photos below). The walk back to Great Wood down the path which runs alongside Cat Gill was over quicker than anticipated and it was back to the car for close to a complete change of clothing - I never fell in but a combination of wet feet through slipping off rocks; spray from the falls and the persistent rain produced a thorough soaking.

South toward a snow dusted Bleaberry Fell - just visible through the gloomy low cloud

Derwent Water Islands

A short drive back to Keswick and coffee in Java proved to be too irresistible a temptation! There's a petition in the shop at the moment as the local council don't want the outside tables in the summer any longer - its worth getting in to sign it, Keswick wold be a poorer place without them!

More Power

2012-01-16T08:37:00.000-08:00

This is quite a geeky post!

Today we completed what has probably been the biggest infra-structure project undertaken at Blaithwaite House in the last couple of decades - an upgrade to the site electrical supply. We have been "short" of electricity for a long time and this work will provide us with a new 100KVA supply - plenty for our needs. It all started back in Spring 2010 - we did the groundwork trenches ourselves; ENS laid the cable; Electricity North West supplied & fitted the new transformer & distribution module; EON supplied & fitted the metering and David Young upgraded all the switch gear. After much negotiation and a few false starts four separate groups of contractors arrived on site today & the final pieces of the jig-saw came together without any problems! The pictures below tell the days story.

Power Off - Working on Overhead Lines

Hardware

More Hardware

The "Mule" Transporting the New Transformer Across the Field

Hoisting the New Transformer

Contractor Transport

Shiny New Transformer Up & Running

Speed Machine

2012-01-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy start to 2012 at Blaithwaite, the In2venture weekend was followed on Wednesday by the arrival of a church from Lancaster who hold their annual mid-year conference at the Centre. It was great to be able to welcome back many familiar faces & see the conference so well attended.

This week sees the start of a planned 2 week shut down to undertake some major works at Blaithwaite - more of this to follow!

The busy Centre has prevented me from exploiting the welcome settled dry & sunny weather we have enjoyed for the last few days so this morning I tried out, for the first time, this year's Christmas present from Kay. I am no bike expert & in fact I don't always get on that well with them! However, I guess that in the road bike world this one is now a bit of a vintage classic - a Raleigh with Reynolds 501 frame - 20 years old, or more?? (if anyone knows I'm sure you'll tell me). We got the bike from "Rebike" in Carlisle, its a social enterprise which recycles old bikes providing training & employment opportunities for folk who have been out of work for some time.

This mornings trip was through the lanes & hamlets around Blaithwaite, its good cycling territory with undulating terrain which is relatively free from traffic. Getting used to the "thumb wide" tyres; toe clips and twitchy cornering was interesting, however, on the flat or slightly downhill sections I cannot ever recall traveling faster under my own propulsion! Some adjustment on the gears & brakes will be necessary before a next outing but a very positive start.

View South into the Northern Fells Across Farmland From Aikbank

Different Format

2012-01-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

Experimenting with a different format - let me know what you think?

Mal

Off line comments have led to a swift return to the traditional format! - thanks

Sour Milk Gill - Borrowdale

2012-01-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

With: Alan Rainford & Glyn Mitchell

Weather: for once it wasn't raining!

A fine clear day with the cloud above the summits & still very mild for the time of year

Where: Borrowdale, Lake District

Glyn Mitchell is In2venture's technical advisor for mountain based activities - its always an enjoyable day when we are able to get out with him!

Today's plan was to have a look at a more interesting route up to Seathwaite Wad Mine, in an attempt to alleviate the long hard slog directly up the fell side. We elected to have a look at a combined gill scramble up Sour Milk Gill and some bouldering on the numerous rocky outcrops that litter this area of fell.

As can be seen from the photo on the left there was plenty of water in the gill, we worked our way up the right hand side ( as seen in the photo) and found plenty of interesting, safe scrambling with the added bonus of all being able to keep our feet dry. At a convenient point and before ropes became necessary we left the gill and cut a diagonal line up the fell side via numerous straightforward bouldering challenges heading in the general direction of the mines. A final, much shorter than usual, walk brought us to the top entrance. We donned SRT kits and entered the mine abseiling down the top couple of pitches before traversing over the "grand pipe" to return to daylight where we were able to view Borrowdale in a spectacular light.

In2venture Weekend

2012-01-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was the annual In2venture weekend at Blaithwaite House, its the one weekend each year when the whole In2venture community get together.

In2venture is a registered charity and sees itself as: "A Christian community committed to enabling the exploration and expression of faith through outdoor activity"

The weekend is always a great opportunity for folk who work as either permanent staff or volunteers for the charity across the North of England to get together; catch up with friends & colleagues; share stuff that's relevant within the organisation; exchange ideas and just take some time out at Blaithwaite House. This year Trustees & Directors of the charity worked extremely hard over the weekend in order to finalise some important changes that will be implemented as the year progresses.

The weekend began with folk gathering on Friday evening followed by some late night socialising. Saturday morning kicked off with mobile worship around the grounds of Blaithwaite - you can get an outline of the theme by clicking here (content to follow). During the afternoon people either went out or took part in activities at Blaithwaite (Bouldering Wall; Pedal Karts; Fencing) - the long round of Trustees & Directors meetings began. Saturday evening saw more fun, games & socialising - some lasted until the wee small hours.

Sunday worship took place at the summit of a dreek & damp Binsey, in the Northern Fells.

It was an excellent weekend and will hopefully have set the scene for an exciting year at In2venture.

Smallcleugh Mine - A Trip Through Time

2012-01-05T08:52:00.000-08:00

With: Alan & Clare

Weather: Stormy wild evening

Where: Nenthead, North Pennines

Me Beginning Abseil at "New Pitch" Above Wheel Flats

The weather at the start of 2012 has continued to thwart our underground plans in the same way it did in the latter part of 2011 - this was planned as a caving trip, however, torrential rain made the decision to divert to the Nenthead mines an easy one.

We decided to do some of the easily accessible vertical sections of the mine, a Smallcleugh - Rampgill through trip: in through the Smallcleugh portal & keep right at the fork heading in the direction of 9 crawls. At Luke Hall's sump we took a left and headed for Wheel Flats where we ascended above the Flats to arrive at the recently bolted pitch - this is a nice addition to this section of the mine & it was good to stop by and have a good look at it (picture above).

We then re-traced our steps to Prouds Sump and abseiled down the two pitches into Prouds Sump Flats - an area quite rich in artefacts & well worth a visit. The final descent down a fixed ladder leads into the Rampgill horse level & a long wade out through sometimes waist deep "Baltic Cold" water. Any way its fairly quick back to Whisky Bottle corner this way & soon back on the visitor centre car park.

This is a good evening underground and a good alternative to a trip to the Dales on a wet night.


Clare at foot of 2nd abseil


A Mining Museum

Great Archaeology

New Year's Day - Bannerdale Crags

2012-01-01T15:51:00.000-08:00

With: Jim, Colin & Tony (all from the New Year group staying at Blaithwaite)

Weather: remaining mild; blustery hail showers; cloud above summits

Where: Lake District, Northern Fells

Approx 5 miles & 1700' ascent

Another northern fells classic: Mungrisdale - River Glenderamackin - Bannerdale Beck - "Arete" - Summit - Miners Track - Mungrisdale

An excellent way to start a new year!

Happy New Year, Mal

The Arete & Snow Flecked Bannerdale Crags

Bannerdale a Natural Rock Amphitheatre

Colin & Jim Beginning Their Ascent

That Was The Year That Was - 2011

2011-12-29T14:37:00.000-08:00

29th December 2011, almost another year over. Just Kay & I in the Coach House tonight, its the quietest Blaithwaite has been for some time and the quietest its likely to be for some to come as our first "New Year" group arrive tomorrow, followed by another on New Year's Eve - we are looking forward to welcoming folk back to the Centre & looking forward to 2012.

2011 has been an interesting year, in many ways its not turned out as anticipated but overall its been a good time. I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone out there who takes the time to read this blog - readership has increased significantly since the summer, its a real encouragement and there are plenty of developments planned for the year ahead which I hope will add interest and relevance.

Looking back to where the year started I was busy building mileage & fitness aimed at a series of mountain running challenges, injury while fell running in Snowdonia in May put paid to much of that but following cortisone injections and a fresh look at scheduling of activity what could have been a pessimistic outlook has turned out very well.

There have been some real high points in 2011

- Blaithwaite has had a great year, the life and mission of the Centre is strong and well on track with our vision here.

- After years of faffing around (I trained in 2005) it was very satisfying to complete the Mountain Leader Assessment process

- For Kay & I a very welcome third grandchild

- Loads of excellent trips in the fells, visits to the North West Highlands and Snowdonia & a determined effort to get back underground towards the end of the year

- More excellent days out with groups than there is space to record in this end of year piece

Best trips of the year: Discovering the Buttermere Area; Beinn Eighe; eventually getting up Great Gable; fell running in the Dodds; back underground in Ireby Fell Caverns; a winter day on Whiteside

I guess the less than nice stuff is dominated by Kay's un-planned visit to hospital in October and the subsequent "hard road" of treatment that she has found herself on, however, she is coping exceptionally well with it all and we will be forever grateful for the prayers of so many people - they are genuinely sustaining at such a time.

2012

So what of 2012?

Blaithwaite - the Centre looks busy, we'll be looking forward to welcoming back many regular groups; lots of new groups booked in too. We should complete a major electrical uprgade mid-January which will fundamentally improve the infra-structure of the Centre; further camping developments are planned and a significant re-vamp of the STABLES building is underway. Our programme of retreats has proved very popular & will continue and there will be another Activity Weekend in 2012. Check out dates at www.blaithwaite.co,uk

In2venture - In2venture is a Christian; young peoples'; educational charity based in the North of England (In2venture Community Interest Company is my employer & is responsible for managing Blaithwaite House). The charity has been operating for over 25 years & despite its exceptional work is not well known, I plan to write much more about the work of In2venture in 2012 - watch this space!!

Blogging - there will be at least as much blogging in 2012: trip reports will frequent; I will try to improve the photography! I hope to develop the functionality of the blog and introduce a few new themes. After "dabbling" a little with reviewing gear in 2011 my conclusion is there will be less of this as its already done extensively by others. Again, please keep reading & watch this space.

So here's looking forward to 2012:

"For I know the plans I have for you" says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope"

Jeremiah 29 v11

Seasons Greetings!

2011-12-23T04:50:00.000-08:00

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there............

Well thats it now.

Folk who work at Blaithwaite have gone home for Christmas, those who are visiting are either here or on the way and looking forward to another one of those special times in this special place.

Whether you read this blog from: California or Finland; or Glasgow or Southampton (or anywhere else in between!) ..................................................................................................

Thats it from Blaithwaite House - wishing you all the Peace & Joy that Christmas brings.

Very Best Wishes,

Mal

Skiddaw at Christmas

2011-12-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

With: Ian Wallace; Alan & Paul Rainford

Weather: Unseasonally mild (11 degC) in the valleys; very windy on summit ridge; occasional glimpses of sunshine

Where: Lake District Northern Fells - Ullock Pike; Longside Edge; Carl Side & Skiddaw

Approx 8miles & 3.200' ascent


Ian on Ridge up to Ullock Pike

Skiddaw is often referred to as a boring hill, however, in my view the approach over Ullock Pike & Longside Edge, then via Carl Side & its tarn is one of the top three routes in the North Lakes and is right up there with the best in this region. The summit plateau is anything but boring and has all the atmosphere of the other lakeland 3,000 'ers.

We set off in unseasonally mild weather from the Orthwaite Road and soon worked our way through the pastoral land to begin our steep climb out of Southerndale, followed by the steady ascent up towards Ullock Pike.


Paul Rainford - a Snow Flecked Southerndale

Longside Edge was decorated with the blunt remains of cornices which must have recently tumbled into the valley below & we made good progress through patchy snow to arrive swiftly at Carl Side.


Dropping off Longside & Approaching Carl Side

The climb on to the Skiddaw summit plateau is quite strenuous, we were rewarded with magnificent fleeting glimpses of the ridge we had just traversed but I was never quick enough to grab a photo!


Ian in Ascent

The summit was wild, we headed off to the north & ultimately picked up the line of a fence just east of north which we followed off down Birkett Edge to Dash Falls & a long walk out to Peter House Farm.

Skiddaw Summit

Alan & Paul Descending Through Patchy Snowfields to North of Skiddaw

The Northern Fells

Whiteside

2011-12-16T12:51:00.000-08:00

With: Paul Rich; Alan-R & Graham

Weather: lying snow all day (light dusting at low altitude; 15-25cm at 700m - dry powder); initially a clearing picture as forecast; later deteriorating to snow showers and whiteout - worryingly un-forecast

Where: North Western Fells, Lake District

Approx: 4.5 miles & 2,250' ascent

Regular readers will be aware of a certain amount of whining coming from me over the past few weeks regarding the coincidence of inappropriate weather with my planned choice of activity! Well, today was a day that has been in the diary for a long time - with "mountains" written next to it - Paul Richardson traveled across from Darlington to join us & it was great to be out with him again.

We arrived at Lanthwaite Green just after 10:30 and set straight off up Whiteside via Whin Ben. There was a dusting of light snow and the skies were clearing as forecast.

Looking Good on Ascent - Graham, Alan & Paul

Paul Richardson

We pressed on up the spur high above Gasgale Gill, initially in sunshine. Having all chosen not to "be bold and start off cold" layers were shed and as the climbing got steeper ice axes were used in anger for the first time this winter.

At around 500m the snow became distinctly deeper - it was dry and powdery, great. However, from around this point the cloud began to lower and visibility became increasingly compromised. It wasn't long before those recently shed layers were replaced and eyes began to strain into the white-grey environment.

After a steep but enjoyable climb we made the summit of Whiteside ( a new Wainwright for all of us) and stopped briefly to add even more bits and pieces of kit and to take some photographs.

Whiteside Summit

Me on Summit

From the summit we continued along the ridge towards Hopegill Head. However, conditions continued to deteriorate in snow showers to produce full white-out, we agreed it was possibly the worst any of us had been out in for a long time. As such we re-traced our footsteps to the summit cairn and began to plot an alternative and interesting route off the mountain. From the "anchor" of the summit we were able to take a bearing and pace our way to another marked cairn on the map - a generally westerly direction. From which were able to further navigate to the handrail feature of Wyth Gill. The descent in heavy snow wasn't particularly pleasant but as we lost height the visibility slowly improved and we dropped down to a boundary wall in grey murky conditions. By this time we had dropped below the freezing level and the snow around the tops of boots and on gloves began to melt leading to soggy damp kit.

I don't know if its just me but the low level bits always seem to take ages on the way out.

Back at the car the conclusion was a good day out despite not getting anything like the ridge walk with snow underfoot and bright blue skies we had anticipated!

Hopefully thats not quite it before Christmas - still have an eye on a day next week

Night Nav & Doctor's Pot (?)

2011-12-14T13:38:00.000-08:00

With: Alan Rainford & Fergus Blair

Weather: a gap between a series of intense Atlantic lows gave a clear, cold starry night with flecks of snow covering the moor

Where: Faulds Brow (NE of Caldbeck, Cumbria)

Alan Rainford - on Faulds Brow

Ferg - Doctor's Pot?

This is a post for the geeks!

You may have gathered that we have been getting a bit frustrated with the weather of late & again tonight was planned as an evening cave trip, however, torrential rain all day discouraged us from traveling down to the Dales. Instead we opted for some night nav in search of the very local Doctor's Pot - its been on our list of somewhere to check out for years.

Doctors Pot is listed in" Northern Caves 3" on p.250; its discovery is credited to the Friends School of Wigton Outdoor Activities Group (FSWOAG) through a dig in 1970. A Google search for: Doctor's Pot; Friends School of Wigton Outdoor Activities Group or FSWOAG fails to turn up anything relevant in the first two pages.

I know that Google searches for caves / pot holes often list content of this blog so if you arrive here and know anything about this obscure pot hole or FSWOAG then please do leave a comment & let me know any further information.

Northern Caves 3 lists the location of the Pot Hole at NY291407.

We drove along the Westward-Faulds road & parked at the track leading to the quarry in order to give us an unequivocal point from which to start our night nav. We took a bearing to the above grid reference and paced the distance to it, this led us to a series of small shakeholes & we verified our position by GPS as exactly 291407, however, extensive searching in the immediate vicinity yielded no pot hole. Widening of the search led us to discover at NY 290405 (i.e. some 200m south and slightly west of the quoted grid reference) to a feature that closely resembled the cave entrance: "at base of a small cliff in NE corner of largest of a complex of depressions". A very marshy area was draining into the entrance - also consistent with the Northern Caves 3 description. Across the entrance was a large wooden beam which looked exactly like a belay point for any underlying shaft. We weren't able to investigate very far into the apparent cave entrance due to the large amount of water (it has been exceptionally wet); the slightly unstable look to the surrounding rock and our lack of relevant equipment on the nght - we will have to return.

So did we find Doctor's Pot? If we did it is a couple of hundred metres away from the quoted guidebook entrance or we found something else .

If you know more - please let me know!

We got back to Blaithwaite to witness a spectacular display from the Geminids, shooting stars everywhere - an interesting evening

Entrance to Doctor's Pot ?

Struggling

2011-12-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

View From Kev's Car - Just Outside of Nenthead

Today was another planned caving day. However, 27mm of overnight rain in the Yorkshire Dales National Park put paid to our thinking so we headed to the Nenthead area with the intention of doing some of the vertical sections of Smallcleugh Mine.

Travel from Brampton was via Kev's Nissan Pathfinder, all good until we arrived at Nenthead itself where there were several inches of lying snow & weather warnings coming in thick and fast. In the interests of getting home in one piece rather than any hazards associated with the proposed mining trip we decided to cancel & head back - it was an eventful journey which required some pushing and shoving to keep the Pathfinder moving and a delay to tow another 4 x 4 out of a ditch on the Middleton- Alston road after it had skidded from the road.

So the day didn't lack excitement - we're just struggling a bit to get underground at the moment!

Advent Thinking - Alan Rainford

2011-12-06T04:06:00.000-08:00

Its great to have Alan writing on the blog, grab a cup of coffee & a mince pie - have a read!

"I was out walking with Mal and Graham a few weeks ago. As we walked the
sun was on my right hand side and cloud on my left as I looked I saw my
shadow on the cloud. There was a halo around it and for a second I thought
it was my aura or how saintly I was. This was quickly dashed when Mal
informed me that it was a Brocken spectre. (You can see these photos on Mal's blog) In all the years of being out in creation none of us had seen
this before. It was an amazing experience.

When I got home I explained it to my wife and showed her the photos and
shared this with other people present at the time. I was disappointed that
they just did not get it. They could not enter into the experience we had
because they were not there and photos didn't capture the moment. But
hopefully they knew from my excitement enthusiasm that something good had
happened.

I wonder if at that first Christmas the shepherds families just did not
share the same enthusiasm as they were not there. They didn't experience
the angels or the baby Jesus in the cave. Or Mary and Joseph trying to
tell their family and friends later on in their lives what happened that
day. But maybe again they would have seen in the faces of those sharing
that something good had happened

We often get back from an activity and try to share what happened. If you
could see the look on some of the peoples' faces at the end of the Alston to
Slaggyford South Tyne canoe trip the other day, it said so much about how
they enjoyed it. But if you were not there then we cannot fully share the
moment with you. But hopefully you can imagine some of our excitement.

Same as we share our faith with those who don't get it. Maybe they cannot
enter into our experience at this stage but maybe our enthusiasm for
sharing the good news of Jesus will help people see something good about
our faith and ask more about it.

Maybe this Christmas we need to be challenged to be enthusiastic about the
Christmas story and our faith as Christians. And if we are not
enthusiastic at present - to use this time to renew our faith. Or maybe its
a time for us to be open to experience something for the first time in our
lives."

Blaithwaite - First Snow

2011-12-06T01:56:00.000-08:00

We got our first snow of the winter yesterday:

Looking across the Solway, snow on Criffel this morning:

Duty Manager - Indoors Today

2011-12-03T03:16:00.000-08:00

Its one of those cold, grey, damp days - winter seems to have arrived all of a sudden and after such a mild autumn its still a bit of a shock to the system.

Alan, Ferg, Clare & Graham have met up with some of the COAC folk to paddle the upper South Tyne from Alston to Slaggyford, its one of the few classic North East river trips that I've not done (& would like to) but today a day indoors as Duty Manager at Blaithwaite seems like a good option! Its Main House only this weekend & our last group before a planned three week shut down - we reopen for New Year. Our guests are regular visitors at this time of year & its good to be able to welcome them back.

Kay is away this weekend (and feeling better at the mid point of this phase of treatment).

Its advent which is a good time of year here & we have already got the tree up in the Coach House!

One of our un-planned winter projects has been to repair and upgrade the Ellrigg heating system (its a huge improvement) and to remove much of the glass from the foyer providing a safer and better insulated environment. It looks good:

Otherwise I think the images below give a good impression of the look of this corner of Cumbria on the first weekend in December:

Ayle Burn near Alston

2011-11-30T13:16:00.000-08:00

Its been a bit of a quiet time over the last couple of weeks, we are on weekend groups at the Centre - its been good to welcome back some regular November visitors and also to host some first time visitors to Blaithwaite. Other than the British Canoe Union coach re-validation day last Monday, organised by Cumbria Canoeists, today was the first day I have been out and about since Ireby Fell Caverns

We'd planned to go caving in the Dales but a combination of: torrential rain (its been more on than off since the weekend); a slightly delayed start and an extended lunch stop we opted instead to explore the area of Ayle Burn near Alston. The group on the day was: Alan Rainford; Clare Mackey; Kevin Marsh & myself. Alan had visited Ayle Burn Mine Caves about 20 years ago and we were aware that groups also use Ayle Burn Caves (about 200m upstream according to the guide books).

Alan & Clare had a talk with the guys from the quarry & discovered that the entrance to the Mine Caves has now collapsed but they were able to point them in the direction of the caves which they successfully located for future exploration.

Kevin & myself explored further upstream and found quite extensive mining evidence that we had not previously been aware of.

Locked Entrance With "modern-ish" Fan

Upturned Cart

Slightly Further Upstream Another Fan / Entrance


Flooded Enrrance

These workings are at approximately NY 731500 on the north bank of Ayle Burn upstream of the caves. I've never explored the area before, the only reference I could find to them was at http://www.dmm-gallery.org.uk/collmap/a910.htm which indicates coal workings (1865) - if you know different / more please let me know.

Underground Today: Ireby Fell Caverns

2011-11-16T13:37:00.000-08:00

With: Alan Rainford & Kevin Marsh

Weather: The un-seasonally mild November continues - dry & mild on entering the cave, however, a cool north wind had developed by the time we got out

Where: Yorkshire Dales; Ireby Fell

Description: Ding, Dong, Bell ................................... traditional route
Time Underground: Approx 3 hours

The Journey:

Going Underground - Photo by Kevin Marsh

Kevin & Alan at various stages of their abseils on" Dong" pitch

The view back up the pitch

Below: Me on "Bell" Pitch (photo Kevin Marsh)

Me again on traverse (photo Kevin Marsh)


Kevin Completing a Prussik

The End:

Sharp Edge

2011-11-15T10:09:00.000-08:00

"We must learn to walk the edges of our experiences if we are to journey into God. As we are living and moving beings we cannot stand still for long: we either reach forward and grow or stultify and start losing what we have had. This applies to individuals and their talents as well as communities and churches. To live life to the full we have to reach out to the beyond, we have to seek to extend ourselves"

David Adam, Walking the Edges

Spent the day on and around Blencathra today, there are a few images of Sharp Edge below:

Is this a "Brockenspectre"? - taken above Scales Tarn

Scrambling In Link Cove Gill & a Collection of Summits: Hart Crag; Fairfield; Great Rigg; Dove Crag & Hartsop Above How

2011-11-10T13:17:00.000-08:00

With: Graham

Weather: unseasonally warm with a continental south easterly bringing November temperatures of 14 degC. Visibility was less than 50m until late in the day when the fell tops began to slowly clear

Where: Lake District, Deepdale; Link Cove Gill; Link Cove; Hart Crag; Fairfield; Great Rigg back to Fairfield & Hart Crag; Dove Crag & Hartsop Above How

Distance: approx 9.5 miles; 4000' ascent; walking time 6 hours

First day out for ages, Kay looking much better now at the half way point between the first two cycles of treatment and left site for the first time in about three weeks to visit Carlisle with Becky.

Graham has just finished his Mountain Leader training course and is working on the consolidation phase of the award so a big day out in poor visibility was a good option. We parked just outside Patterdale and walked in up Deepdale (I've never been here before). It had rained heavily overnight so there was plenty of water in Link Cove Gill so much of the scrambling was around the edges of the main watercourse.

Graham in the Lower Part of Link Cove Gill

We emerged in Link Cove itself and then took a line aiming for the ridge just to the east of Hart Crag disappearing after not very long into a thick mist which persisted for most of the day restricting visibility to generally less than 50m. Hart Crag summit was our first stop in a complex "spider" of summit bagging - no photos here couldn't see a thing. On next to Fairfield for more of the same before heading south to Great Rigg where we stopped for some food. Still not much to see but since my bag was open I took a photo anyway (below).

We then contoured around the edge of the ridge back past Hart Crag and on to the unexceptional Dove Crag summit (below left) the cloud cleared briefly on this leg only to return with a vengeance when we arrived at the summit cairn.

Back tracking towards Hart Crag once again (hope you are following this!) we decided to cut out a climb and contour around the head of Dovedale in order to gain the Hartsop Above How ridge. The cloud finally lifted at this stage of the day - once again the guys at www.mwis.org.uk were spot on with their forecast and we enjoyed autumnal views of rusts and green in the valley below.

The final walk along the ridge to Hartsop Above How summit was something of a "plodge" through boggy ground but the end of a long day was now in sight. We tried quite hard to spot Priest's Hole Cave on this section - I've read about it but never visited. The general area in which it must be situated was easy to spot but the detail was elusive.

A straightforward walk off led back to the road and the pleasant slate houses of the Patterdale, Deepdale area. Quite a long day after a three week absence from the outdoors but I really enjoyed it!

Looking down into Deepdale from Hartsop Above How

Autumn at Blaithwaite

2011-11-05T02:32:00.000-07:00

Its a misty autumn morning at Blaithwaite. Our last school group of the year left yesterday & we have a local church alpha course running in the Main House this weekend alongside a first visit from a local Christian Union group in Ellrigg. Autumn has been busier than usual but we are entering that time of year when our visitors become fewer & visits from contractors increase as we get on with winter projects, we have a big day next week when our electrical upgrade will take place (this has already been very stressful - more on this in future posts!).
Many thanks to everyone for all the prayers and support offered to Kay over this last week - very much appreciated.
There are a few photos below from this mornings walk with the dog.

The Blaithwaite Cedar of Lebanon

The Mirrored Cross

Into the Courtyard

No Hills

2011-10-30T06:10:00.000-07:00

The title & theme of this post have been taken from the latest post on the excellent blog "Cairn in the Mist"

This should have been Original Mountain Marathon weekend for Dave Magnall & myself but unfortunately Kay's recent illness worsened leading to her being admitted to hospital midweek - she starts treatment tomorrow, we are hoping and praying that it is both effective and kind to her on the side effects. These are challenging times.

Rhodri Pritchard: A Big Day In Snowdonia

2011-10-27T01:48:00.000-07:00

This week I'm really grateful to Rhodri (Rodders) Pritchard for writing my first ever guest post, its very timely because life has contrived to give me a week in which I've spent more time indoors than outdoors (sometimes its just like that).

Rodders spent a year with us at Blaithwaite House and has now moved on to continue his instructor training at the Christian Mountain Centre in Wales. I hope you enjoy his post - looks like they had a great day out! Thanks Rodders.

With: Gavin, Samantha, Josh, Sam, Anna, Megan, Amber.

Weather: Dry, warm, blue skies and sunshine.

Where: Snowdonia, Road by Gwen Gof Uchaf; Tryfan North ridge; Tryfan summit; Tryfan South ridge; Bristly ridge, Glyder Fach summit, along the bottom of the east side of Tryfan back to Gwen Gof Uchaf.

Six weeks into starting my two year instructor training at Christian Mountain Centre and I have done lots already and learnt a whole lot more besides. As part of the training we are given the opportunity to get the mountain leader award. For this award you need to get 20 quality mountain days in before you can even go for training. As part of this whenever I get time as part of work or free time on days off I and the other trainees aim to get some mountains logged. I have already done four days since being here.

A guy I know called Gavin suggested that we do the route I have written about. He described it before hand as “one of the best days out you could have in the whole of Snowdonia”. Gavin and Samantha had recently completed their ML qualifications. The experience they have from that meant the day was a lot more enjoyable and safe. The rest of us were very grateful that they invited us along with them.

The first part of the route involved scrambling up and some points climbing the North ridge of Tryfan. The main route up it is pretty tame, we choose to scramble and climb the harder stuff next to the main route for the most. For those familiar with Tryfan you’ll know of the cannon which is on the North ridge, we stopped here for photos as it was the first time up Tryfan for most of us. When we reached the summit of Tryfan there were a lot of people already there. The main reasons being it was forecast to be a sunny day which it didn’t disappoint, and it was a Saturday.

Adam and Eve looked different to how I had pictured them. They were a lot less tall then I had expected but still tall enough that when you jump them you get an adrenalin rush. Anna, Gavin and I were the only ones who jumped them. It took a lot more courage than I expected with a large drop on one side and the wind pushing you about.

We then headed down the south side of Tryfan. When we got to the bottom we decided we had enough energy and time to climb Bristly ridge, which leads to the top of Glyder Fach. It was a scary climb and scramble at parts due to the fall if you made a mistake. There were some hard bits that we were able to tackle because we all have experience in climbing, which would be a lot harder or impossible for those that don’t. The top of Glyder Fach looked amazing. The large stone formations and a large cantilever makes it a very special looking mountain top. Again the cantilever is a popular photo spot and we were no different from the masses in having our photo taken on it. I personally enjoyed Glyder Fach over Tryfan. Saying that Tryfan was also a very enjoyable mountain to climb. After we reached Glyder Fach summit we headed down the east side of Glyder Fach then back along the bottom of the east side of Tryfan back towards where the cars were parked.

It was one of the best Mountain walking days I’ve done. I recommend doing it if given the chance. Although if you are not that fit and new to any form of scrambling it is a bit daunting.

First Year of Blogging!

2011-10-18T14:58:00.000-07:00

Its hard to believe that a year has past since I started to write this blog - I've really enjoyed it!
Taking photos; writing up and publishing days out has enhanced the whole activity experience.

A big thank you for 2,353 visits to the site - please keep reading!

To celebrate the first year I've re-published my favourite three photos in order of preference - hope you like them, please let me know if you think I've missed one & whether or not you agree with the order of preference.

Innominate Tarn with a Snow Flecked Pillar in the Background

Coire Mhic Fheachair

High Seat in the Coldest Winter for Decades

Climbing At Headend Quarry

2011-10-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

With: Ferg
Where: Headend Quarry is just outside the northern boundary of the Lake District National Park; mid way between Keswick & Carlisle. Its our local crag.
Weather: bitterly cold NW wind; one or two bursts of sunshine - a heavy downpour brought the session to an early end

Its Autumn Retreat week at Blaithwaite, we've got 15 folk on the retreat & its a great time at the Centre.
Kay covered the office / site while Ferg & I nipped out for about an hour and a half to the quarry. I love the views from the crag, to the south Skiddaw and slightly further afield the North Western fells looked moody & broody. To the north the ever increasing number of wind turbines were working hard & occasional bursts of sunshine illuminated the flatlands which lie between the Northern Fells & the Solway Coast. It was absolutely baltic and only minimal climbing was achieved before a torrential downpour ended things prematurely.

Ferg in one of the few bursts of sunshine!

Bessyboot

2011-10-13T11:13:00.000-07:00

With: on my own

Weather: a weak ridge of high pressure gave brief respite from what has been a long wet, windy and mild period. Weather on the day was still, dry with cloud just covering the higher summits. The northern fells appeared to be cloud free

Where: Lake District, Borrowdale Fells; Stonethwaite; via road towards Seathwaite; Tarn at Leaves; Bessyboot summit; Big Stanger Gill; back to Seathwaite

Distance: approx 4 miles; 1500' ascent; walking time 2 hours 35 mins


Rough Route - not drawn all that well, sorry!

Tarn At Leaves

View North From Bessyboot Summit Towards Derwent Water

Back At Blaithwaite

2011-10-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

After a couple of weeks away Kay & I got back to the Centre on Friday - it was good to take some time away but its also good to be back. Blaithwaite has been much busier than normal at this time of year (& this is set to continue) - we had a full site over the weekend; a busy school week & are set to be full again for the coming weekend with another Church and a youth group. Kay is working mornings at the moment dealing with Centre admin; domestics and writing a new community prayer book. I've split my time this week between the archery range; indoor climbing & abseiling and the Centre office.

The weather is definitely autumn: its been windy all week; initially a gusty south westerly and today a bitterly cold north westerly with frequent heavy showers.

An Autumnal Blaithwaite Barn (taken by Kay - not bad?!)

Dave-M & I have decided to make the effort and take up our place in this years Original Mountain Marathon (OMM) at the end of the month - not sure how the injury will hold up - but looking forward to taking part!

A Week In Wester Ross

2011-09-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Rubh Re Lighthouse

Kay & I have recently got back from a week in Wester Ross we had a great time despite some very mixed weather - contrast the picture on the left with the one taken in Torridon three days later!

Torridon - hail stones all over the road

We stayed at the Old Inn in Gairloch which was excellent - the staff were extremely helpful & friendly from the moment we arrived to when we left. Our room was large, comfortable and well maintained. The Old Inn's bar is well frequented by locals making it a lively place and a good selection of real ales are served including An Teallach and Dark Island (two personal favourites) their own brew made out the back of the premises isn't bad either! Live music from Dave Fleming on the Friday evening was really enjoyable. All in all we thought the Old Inn & its Gairloch location made an ideal base from which to explore the area - our only negative with the hotel was, that in our opinion, the food didn't quite meet expectations.

Things to do (what we did):

Rubh Re Lighthouse (photo above) is well worth a visit, the seascapes throughout the drive north from Gairloch are dramatic and the visitor centre has a month by month historical record of dolphin; minke and orca sightings - unfortunately we saw nothing but we spent several hours looking in the most incredible surroundings with views to Skye and the Western Isles.
Beinn Eighe, there is no shortage of mountains to climb in the area - I chose Benn Eighe, Ruadh-stac Mor (see this blog, previous post) - and was not disappointed.

Coire Mhic Fheachair

We also stopped by the Visitor Centre at Beinn Eighe on a very wet day - well worthwhile and carried on down Glen Torridon where we were ultimately greeted by a torrential hail storm in Torridon village - see photo above.

Gairloch itself has a superb beach as does Redpoint, just to the south, with its "peach coloured" sand - we visited both on one of those bright windy days that seem so characteristic of the area.

Kay on Gairloch Beach

We also explored the shores of Loch Maree; visited the villages around Loch Ewe (including the quirky Heronscroft) and spent quite a bit of time about Gairloch itself.
Food and Drink
We visited the Mountain Coffee Company in Gairloch everyday & ate in the Old Inn a couple of times. However, our food and drink highlight was undoubtedly Na Mara restaurant on the square in Gairloch - we ate there four times in the week!

Na Mara - on a sunny day

Its been a great week - a very long drive next down to London & Cambridge to catch up with family.

Beinn Eighe (Ruadh-stac Mor: 1010m, 3314')

2011-09-21T13:07:00.000-07:00

With: on my own

Where: Kinlochewe, Wester Ross, NW Scotland

Weather: Frequent squally showers; wind building to gale force south westerly; cloud above the highest summits most of the day


Choire Mhic Fhearchair

Although a frequent visitor to the Highlands I've spent more time in a canoe when there than on foot so during this current visit I took the opportunity to enjoy a day on the hill. The hill of choice was Beinn Eighe - it was a good choice!

I set off from the car park on the A896 at the bottom of the Coire Dubh which separates the Liathach from the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve. It was a wild squally morning and there were only a handfull of vehicles parked up. The initial trudge up the path and across the stepping stones, which allow a dry shod crossing of the Allt a'Choire Dhuibh Mhoir, was under bright blue skies and in the company of a stiff south westerly breeze. I headed north, where the path divides at a small lochan, tracking around the base of the large bulk of Sail Mor. I didn't see many folk all day but on this section I was completely alone and the view out across the wilderness that lay in the north west quadrant was inspiring, it lifts my spirits to see such vast areas untouched in this country.

It was with a sense of anticipation that I "rounded the bend" towards Coire Mhic Fhearchair, about which I have read so much - the finest mountain scene in Scotland? The waterfalls were in full spate with the rapidly strengthening wind blowing constant spray from the upper cascade.

It wasn't long before I had climbed the final few metres to be greeted with the sight of Choire Mhic Fhearchair; triple buttress and the summit ridge leading to Rhuadh-stac Mor, my main objective of the day.

The scene was"ampitheatre-like" an expanse of bare rock in the foreground; changing shades of green through to grey as the wind disturbed the surface of the water; the towering mass of Triple Buttress to my right and steep scree streaked slopes protecting the ridge to my left. It is indeed a classic view one which I'm not sure my photograph above does justice to.

After soaking up the scene for a few moments I crossed the water issuing from the corrie and headed around the east shore before selecting a route to scramble up on to the ridge. I'm not sure I chose well at all - the ascent was a hard slog over loose rock up, round and over boulders but it was good to get acquainted more closely with the Torridonian sandstone and Quartzite which add a special colour and feel to this environment. I eventually emerged on the ridge in a howling gale with the summit of Ruadh-stac Mor about 200m to my left, I paused for a moment and vowed to find an alternative route down (my original plan had been to traverse the ridge taking in Spidean Coire nan Clach but I had already concluded by this time that the wind might well have ejected me from the ridge, the forecast was for 75 mph by afternoon & it must have been close to). The last few metres into the wind and a short scramble to the summit cairn were a pleasure & I was rewarded with fine views in all directions.

My chosen line of ascent - not good!

I re-traced my steps along the ridge with a wind that had picked up to the point that it was really quite difficult to stay upright and headed for an obvious col that I had spotted from the loch below which was at the head of a red sandy coloured "rake" hoping this might provide a better line of descent - it did. There was still plenty of scrambling and a little slipping and sliding particularly towards the bottom where the small loose stuff had piled up no doubt helped by the footfall of many others via this route. The section from the foot of the rake to the shore of the loch took a little longer than I had anticipated as the scrambling over slippy, wet, sometimes small car sized boulders continued. Once back on the east shore of the loch it just remained for me to reverse my route in to conclude a great day on a big mountain with the reward of expansive views and much solitude - quality!


Ruadh-stac Mor Summit Cairn


View North

Red Sandy "Rake" my Line of Descent - Would Have Been Better in Ascent Also

Widnes

2011-09-16T14:53:00.000-07:00

Kay & I have been on tour for the last couple of days, we've enjoyed catching up with parents in our home town of Widnes. Its 20 years since we left the shores of the Mersey and so much has changed!

I guess the town's most iconic image is that of the Widnes-Runcorn bridge, opened in 1961 to replace the earlier "Transporter Bridge", there is a great deal of similarity between Widnes' bridge and the one in Sydney harbour.


The Bridge from West Bank

I think it could well be a full two decades since I was last in West Bank on the promenade where the above photo was taken so whilst there my Dad & I went on to Spike Island. Its incredibly difficult to picture this place as the heart of a thriving British chemical industry manufacturing soap & alkali, I can recall from childhood the remnants of the factories in this area, names such as Gossage, Deacon, Brunner and Mond are etched on my memory. Below is a picture of the Sankey Navigation, which I always knew as "The Cut"- again its hard to envisage barges laden with the output of processes like that developed by Leblanc for the production of alkali plying their trade along this stretch of water.

Looking upstream in the direction where ICI's Pilkington-Sullivan works used to produce Paraquat and Saffil the Mersey looks like a big river and another of Widnes' iconic sights can be seen - the eight towers of the Fiddlers Ferry power station! (I only got four towers in the photo). I can remember well the windy day when one of the towers imploded and for some time the eight became seven!!

This "post-industrial" landscape now forms part of the Trans Pennine Trail a 215 mile way marked route connecting Southport on the Irish Sea with Hornsea on the North Sea Coast and now provides a stopping point for the geese rather than a source of employment to thousands in the manufacturing sector.

A Gate Valve From One of the Alkali Plants

So the "chemics"have become the "vikings" and Spike Island has given way to the Mersey Multi Modal Gateway where no longer do ICI, Fisons, Albright & Wilson make the chemical building blocks that support the World's economies but Eddie Stobart distributes produce made elsewhere. In a week that the Widnes Weekly News reported the potential arrival of a further 2,000 new jobs via an Amazon distribution centre at the multi modal gateway I guess this looks like the next stage in the development of the town's commercial future.
The town centre itself has changed beyond recognition with the arrival of the most of the well known high street giants - the new Tesco store still under construction - appears to be of immense proportions and judging by the car parks they all seem to be doing well. The Peel House Lane & Widnes Road ends of the old main street, however, appear in need of some urgent regeneration.
It was great to be back, we enjoyed seeing the changes and reflecting and reminiscing as to how it used to be - we will try to get "home" more often in the future.

Canoeing In The Rain

2011-09-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

We've just had a great weekend at the Centre hosting a family focussed outdoor activity weekend, fifteen parent-child pairs attended and all rotated between canoeing on Bassenthwaite Lake; Ghyll Scrambling in Stoneycroft Ghyll and a selection of on-site activities (archery, fencing and pedal karts). Challenges were overcome; fears conquered & comfort zones extended - all went home smiling on Sunday afternoon!!

Considering we have the remnants of hurricane Katia hurtling towards us and the weekend weather forecast looked distinctly un-promising I guess we didn't fair too badly for weather, on Saturday I worked with the canoeing group on Bassenthwaite in the morning in dry and calm conditions, the afternoon Ghyll Scrambling saw a few showers and Stoneycroft at a very sporting level with the jumps & slides at their best - very enjoyable.

Sunday was a different story, I spent the morning canoeing again on Bassenthwaite, it poured down! Interestingly although the wind had now picked up significantly- blowing up the lake from the Keswick end with "white horses" in the middle - the area around Peel Wyke (where we get on) was in a giant eddy that was effectively wind free and provided us with safe although very wet paddling conditions. A couple of hours on the water saw everybody soaked to the skin with just one swimmer and the weekend complete!

Canoeing In The Rain

Looking Back At Summer

2011-09-05T16:39:00.000-07:00

As Atlantic lows spiral towards us strong winds and heavy rain bring a distinctly autumnal feel to the week, I've found myself looking back at a diverse, challenging but deeply rewarding summer at Blaithwaite House.

Weather

This summer's weather has been truely mixed: April was dry, sunny and characterised by cool northerly and north easterly winds. After this excellent start, with the exception of a couple of good weeks in July the summer was a distinct dissapointment, reports suggest the coolest summer since 1993

Centre

The weather did not put off Blaithwaite's campers, folk have arrived in the biggest numbers since Kay & I have been here to enjoy our upgraded camping facilities. Schools' weeks from mid-March right through to mid July saw intense activity, especially late June and early July & we have enjoyed welcoming back Church groups & our regular summer youth camps..

Lake District Fells

Its been my best summer of fell walking for years. I completed the Mountain Leader Assessment and enjoyed some great days out.

Its hard to pick a best day but Great Gable took a long time for me to get to & was very enjoyable

Caving

Caving has been a bit limited this summer but we plan more for the winter. Venues such as Sell Gill Holes & Bull Pot of the Witches tell their own story of wet opportunities to get out!

Reading

Over the last few weeks I've really enjoyed reading Nick Baines's (the Bishop of Bradford) excellent blog and on the outdoorsy front Hendrik Morkel's Hiking in Finland is a treasure trove of information!

Running

Running has had to take a back seat since injury in May, the outlook is very uncertain in this area so I've just joined the new gym in Wigton to try to maintain some of the basic fitness I always kept through running.

So with a stormy week ahead & a busy activity weekend scheduled I'm looking ahead to a trip to the North West of Scotland and a change of season at the Centre..................................

Stoneycroft Gill

2011-09-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

I was back in Stoneycroft Gill again on Wednesday leading a gorge walk for a fairly large group that were staying at the Centre. The group were a great bunch with seven or eight nationalities represented and the Christian schools work they do is excellent. It was amongst the best of the many days I have enjoyed in Stoneycroft Gill over the last six or seven years.

Stoneycroft Gill in the Newlands Valley is, to me, a special place in the Lake District - its a magical set of cascades of water offering great entertainment for the folk that use it each year as a gorge walking venue (the bottom section is bolted and provides a gentle introduction to canyoning) but the setting is exquisite - right in the heart of the Newlands Valley. Walkers find it a popular start point (see my last post) for Causey Pike, Eel Craggs, Sail, Barrow etc. I guess the heavy footfall must take its toll on the natural environment of the Gill, however, it still does look superb.

From my point of view there is added interest in its mining history which provides both an interesting and tragic tale. The early (Elizibethan period) German mining engineers were the first to work in Stoneycroft Gill prospecting for lead. Sometime around 1700 an engineer named David Davis undertook extensive work in the Gill: building dams, sluices and sinking an engine shaft. However, a storm destroyed the efforts of his labour and many miners were tragically drowned as a result.

The mine did re-open some 160 years later and was worked for a further eight years prior to closure. There is much evidence of the work of the miners in and around the gill and its well worth an explore to see the history that is still evident.

Ref: The Lakes & Cumbria Mines Guide, Ian Tyler, Blue Rock Publications, 2006

August Bank Holiday: Centre Life & Working With Groups

2011-08-29T04:11:00.000-07:00

Blaithwaite has enjoyed the busiest August Bank Holiday I've known. All the buildings are occupied & over the course of the weekend / next few days we'll see about a dozen - fifteen families camping out on the field.

About three years ago we built a bouldering / climbing wall in the outer Barn, many of our visitors might not know its there as its mainly the school groups that use it - I've posted a couple of photos below.

I spent yesterday morning working on the wall with one of the residential groups & then took another group gorge walking in Stoneycroft Gill during the afternoon. The walk in was slow & busy as many others were using the gorge. The weather was unseasonally cool. These two factors gave me the opportunity & stimulus to reflect on some great days out in this area last winter (some pictures below). As summer draws to a close my mind is already wandering to autumn & winter days out in the fells; emerging from caves in the dark & hopefully a little more time on the water this year...........................................

Approaching Eel Crags in the Snow

Descent off Causey Pike

Great Gable; Green Gable & Base Brown: from Seathwaite

2011-08-24T05:36:00.000-07:00

With: Rhodri "Rodders" Pritchard & Ferg

Where: Borrowdale, Lake District

Weather: High pressure still persisted yesterday giving a dry, still day (apart from Windy Gap). Cloud above the summits

Great Gable was another of those missing pieces in the Lakes jigsaw for me until yesterday. I wasn't disappointed - what a great mountain!

It was Rodders last day & we set off with Ferg from Seathwaite on a still mild day, not the sunshine of the evening before on Helvellyn but nevertheless quite pleasant conditions. There was still plenty of water in Sour Milk Gill as we ascended alongside of it. We headed into Gillercomb & then doubled back on ourselves to take in the summit of Base Brown (this was also a first for me).

After lunch we re-traced our steps & headed up on to the summit of Green Gable before giving up height & dropping down into "Windy Gap" then beginning the steep ascent of Great Gable. Some short sections of hands and feet scrambling with a good "aspect" looking back towards Sprinkling Tarn before crossing the shattered rock of the summit plateau to reach the memorial plaque. We got good views all round - great summit! Our return was via the Mountain Rescue post; Sty Head Tarn & ultimately Stockley Bridge.

Ferg on Base Brown

Memorial Plaque

Crossing the Shattered Rock to the Summit

Wast Water

English 3,000'ers: An Evening on Helvellyn

2011-08-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

With: Rhodri Pritchard ("Rodders")

Where: Helvellyn, Lake District

Weather: A ridge of high pressure gave fine, dry and completely windless conditions


Me on Helvellyn Summit

We set off from Swirls car park on a fine late August evening at about 17:30 and took the direct route to the summit broadly following the line of Helvellyn Gill and just around the back of Browncove Craggs. The route has been extensively worked on by the National Park authorities, its a bit of a stone staircase.

Rodders has been with us for his gap year & is about to leave to join the Christian Mountain Centre in Wales. Before moving on & beginning his Mountain Leader Training, of which much is likely to be in Snowdonia, he was keen to get a couple more Lakes log book days in.

It took us just over an hour and a half to get to the summit where we were rewarded with some excellent views, photos below & on facebook. To get back down we just re-traced our footsteps, a great way to spend a few hours on an evening like this!

Roddres with Swirral Edge in Background

Helvellyn Summit "Plateau"

More Group Caving: Upper & Lower Long Churn Caves (Yorkshire Dales)

2011-08-20T09:46:00.000-07:00

With: Kevin & CYFA Group

Weather: Dry for last 36 hours but water levels still moderate

Where: Upper & Lower Long Churn Caves; Selside, Ingleborough; Yorkshire Dales

Doctor Bannisters Hand Basin, Upper Long Churn Cave

Another good day with a group of 12 campers from a CYFA camp staying in the Dales.

We did a full traverse of the Upper & Lower Long Churn system (just missed out the "slot" and "cheese press". Our journey started with an assisted hand line entry via Dr Bannister's Hand Basin (some took an early swim here!!) followed by a wander through Upper Long Churn to the middle entrance where we chose to abseil down the waterfall. On into Lower Long Churn where most fell victim to either or both of Double Shuffle or Plank Pool's - exit was via the Diccan Pot crawl. Those who weren't already soaked made amends by crawling round in the beck at the exit - all good!!

Caving: Sell Gill Holes (Yorkshire Dales)

2011-08-17T03:36:00.000-07:00

With: Alan Rainford & Kev Marsh

Where: Sell Gill Holes; Pen-y-Ghent; Yorkshire Dales

Weather: Wet!!

After the group trip in the afternoon, we met up with Alan in Ingleton & spent the evening in Sell Gill Holes. As I said below its been very wet. We did the three pitches to the waterfall at the bottom - it was spectacular!

Some photos below:

Kev on first (surface) pitch - Sell Gill

Alan & Kevin approaching second pitch

Alan rigging 2nd pitch - left hand wall

Kevin rigging 2nd pitch - right hand wall

Caving With CYFA Pathfinder Ventures - Bull Pot of the Witches (Yorkshire Dales)

2011-08-17T02:53:00.000-07:00

With: Kev Marsh & CYFA group

Where: Bull Pot of the Witches, Yorkshire Dales

Weather: It has been a very wet 24 hours, see below

As well as holding camps at Blaithwaite House CYFA also run Christian themed holidays throughout the country. I've been fortunate, for the last five years or so, to help the camps staying in the Yorkshire Dales with their caving activities. Yesterday I led a group of six into Bull Pot of the Witches. We've had so much rain in the last 24 hours that there wasn't much option other than to use Bull Pot, with its extensive fossil development - its one of the few venues that doesn't flood in these conditions. We followed the "exposed" traverse to the chimney - the group loved the up close view of the waterfall as it poured into the surface shaft; then we abseiled in down the chimney to the base of the falls & got soaked from the spray; a run around the galleries & climb out provided an adventurous afternoon for the group!!

Both Photos: Bull Pot of the Witches with plenty of water on today!

Kevin at the bottom of the surface shaft: Bull Pot of the Witches

Looking at Kit (4) - Montane Gear

2011-08-14T12:06:00.000-07:00

Its been a very busy week at the Centre again & I've not been out since Monday.

Now that the new group are in & well set - thought I'd have an evening looking at kit again.

The Centre has been buying Montane gear for staff for years and on any day around here I'd say you would be certain to see members of staff wearing at least one item of Montane clothing. Overall, the feeling is that the equipment is first class. This post takes a closer look at two items I've been using myself for just short of a full year now.

Relative Size / Packability

Litespeed H2O Jacket

I've been using this jacket since last December, its seen:

- fell running in the coldest winter for decades

- evening fell walks in bitterly cold North Easterly winds in March / early April

- torrential downpours on humid "summer" days

- extended days in persistent fine drizzle

Findings:

Water "Proofness" - despite Montane's relatively conservative description I've never got wet in this jacket across the range of conditions described above

Windproof: I think the jacket comes from "windproof" ancestors, absolutely no complaints in this department

Breathability: I've never found a jacket that keeps me totally dry on the inside when I'm running up Skiddaw or even when working hard just walking with a pack up a steep incline (maybe I just sweat a lot!?) & this one is no exception. It seems to work well for me under moderate conditions but if the work rate is high enough the condensation begins to appear.

Other thoughts: I bought the jacket as a light weight waterproof principally for running & it is certainly light (on my scales it comes in at between 210-220g in the stuff sac - others report the Large version at about 185-190g). Maybe my scales are a bit dodgey but I can't get excited at this discrepancy - it is light. The "packability" (see photo) has led to me taking the jacket on every mountain day that I do, its proved invaluable both to me & as a spare, on my last day out one of the leaders forgot their waterproof so I was able to pull this very functional "spare" out of my bag!

My conclusions: great value; water proofness has never let me down; windproof; light; packable. I do get a bit sweaty in it when working hard but overall a good go anywhere 3 season piece of kit.

Atomic Over Trousers

I bought the trousers at the same time as the jacket & have used them under the same conditions as above with the added important extra that I never took them off throughout the expedition phase of my Mountain Leader Assessment (except for the very few hours when sleep was possible!)

Finding / conclusions:

Jacket & Trousers

I can cut out all the words on these trousers - for all round balance:

Water proofness; windproof; breathability; durability; weight; pack size; fit - the best over trousers I've owned, I love 'em.

A Day In the Northern Fells with CYFA Pathfinder Ventures

2011-08-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

With: CYFA Pathfinder Ventures

Weather: Initially low cloud & rain; clearing to give a fine sunny afternoon with fresh south westerly wind

Frozen Fell Gill

CYFA Pathfinder Ventures run a number of camps at the Centre, they work on a Christian outdoor theme & are a great time in the Blaithwaite calendar. Kay & I act as hosts for the camps, today they asked me lend a hand leading a mountain day.

We went out in our local fells (the northern fells) & did a circuit of: Longlands Fell; Lowthwaite Fell; Little Sca Fell; Great Sca Fell & Meal Fell. It took about 5 hours to complete the five summits with everyone finishing in good shape. There are a few photos below:

Little Sca Fell

Little Sca Fell & the view North towards Scotland

Looking north towards Brae Fell - this is a great run that I've enjoyed many times

English 3000'ers: Sca Fell

2011-08-06T12:31:00.000-07:00

With: on my own

Weather: fine, dry, a bit humid, very light winds & cloudy, although cloud base was above the summits (see below for more on weather)

Still enjoying a few days off at the moment so took the opportunity to fill in one of the "missing pieces" in the Lake District: I climbed Scafell Pike a few years ago and have been up Skiddaw & Helvellyn many times so Sca Fell was the only English 3000'er remaining.

I thought about going via Lord's Rake but reckoned it'd be climbing with the hoardes (first weekend in August) so I picked a fairly conservative route:

I did wander about a bit exploring various options but essentially the route was: Brackenclose; Hollow Gill; Green How Path; Summit; Descent West towards Burnmoor Tarn; with deviation off to take in Maiden Castle Cairn; back to Brackenclose.

I was surprised (maybe everyone else was in Lord's Rake or on Scafell Pike?) because:

- didn't see anybody on the way up
- only about 8 people on the summit (of which three, quite independently, asked which mountain they were on!!)
- only saw two couples on the way down

Also, I expected to find "motorway" paths throughout the area - this was not the case.

A few pictures below & more on Facebook:

Sca Fell Summit

Not many folk here

They're all on Scafell Pike!!

Weather: last night the BBC forecasters were frantically hedging their bets with a prediction that anywhere in the North of England was set for potentially very heavy rain today. Meanwhile mwis (http://www.mwis.org.uk/) and the met office mountain forecast (www.metoffice.gov.uk) consistently forecast that the far west would be dry, with high cloud - they were spot on!

Original Mountain Marathon 2011

2011-08-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

I have a confirmed place available in this years OMM "B Class" that I will not be able to use.

If anybody would like the place please contact me through this blog.

This year's OMM details can be found here - it will be held on the weekend 29/30 October in the Loch Tay area.

Mardale Ill Bell & Harter Fell

2011-08-04T14:53:00.000-07:00

With: On my own

Weather: all kinds - humid (but less than lately); occasional showers / drizzle; low vis; light winds

We've just enjoyed a great month at the Centre: busy, challenging but very rewarding. Kay is still away at New Wine but I am pleased with the opportunity to take a couple of days off. The plan was to head for the fells early this morning, however, the weather which had been consistently forecast had other ideas - it poured down at Blaithwaite right through to lunch time. The metoffice indicated better things for the afternoon so I hung on & decided to go for the North Eastern fells.

Driving through Bampton its clear that this is a pleasant corner of Cumbria, the road alongside Haweswater has an increasing feeling of remoteness as the "road head" (Mardale Head Car Park) is approached, I think the area has a Scottish feel to it.

Rarely for me, I set off with no clear agenda on the trail up towards Small Water - a gem of a Lakeland Tarn, the views from above Small Water, back towards Haweswater were impressive even on a drab day like today.

Small Water & Haweswater

The Nan Bield Pass (what a great name) led me up to a "crossroads" where a decision was needed - I went for a detour to Mardale Ill Bell followed by completing the round i.e. returning to the shelter at the head of the pass & ascending on to Harter Fell; picking off its summit; before descending along the line of the fence & picking up Gatesgarth Pass to return to the car at Mardale Head. I only saw two fell runners all afternoon - a good dose of solitude!

The photos below are:

- Mardale Ill Bell summit

- Blea Water (another impressive Tarn)

- Harter Fell summit

No ill effect on the knees after the cortisone injections & the new kit configuration (see previous post) worked well.

I'm hoping to get out again on Saturday - please stay tuned!!

Looking At Kit (3)

2011-07-31T11:15:00.000-07:00

Blaithwaite has been exceptionally busy over the last 10 days or so, our biggest group of the year left on Saturday after a week of wall to wall sunshine (it was such a good week on so many levels) & following a busy change over day we have three buildings in use again this week with the camp field due to fill up as the week goes on.

I've not had any time to get out recently but with Kay away to New Wine today I've done some geeking about with kit again. The headline is that without too much loss of functionality I've got my standard group day weight down from 6950g to 5590g (20%). I've also contrived to lose 5kg in body weight recently which I don't think is a bad result. There is a bit of an explanation, at least about the kit below.

First thing is I bought a new rucsac, after years of good service from an OMM Adventure Light 20 which I used on extended fell runs ( eg. Old Crown Round); as a small day pack & when travelling on hols. I didn't experience any hint whatsoever of the sometimes mentioned lack of durability -so I opted for the OMM Classic 32.
I reckon that it will:
- get everything in thats needed for a day for myself & a group (could easily fit a rope on top of everything else)
- definitely save me at least 190g in weight depending on how I use it
- possibly double as an overnight lightweight camping bag subject to me makng a few alterations to how I presently camp (the bag is clearly the choice of a lot of mountain marathon runners)

Item			weight
			31/07/11

First aid (group)			420
Spare Food			60
Emergency Shelter (group)			650
Survival Bag			440
Crab & Sling			300
GPS			240
Spare Compass			0
Spare torch			120
Spare group clothes			230
Whistle			0


Rucsac			700
Poles			640
Silva 4 Compass			60
Map			260
Head Torch			210
North Face Apex Wind Shirt			0
Knife			120
Montane Litespeed H20 Jkt			220
Montane Atomic Overtrousers			260


Camera + bag + batteries			660



			5590

The other main weight saving changes are:

- no whistle (one built in to the chest strap)

- no spare compass (the regular Silva 4 and a GPS sufficient?)

- no Apex wind shirt (just bought a new Montane Sabretooth soft shell so will test for a while the combination of this / thin fleece under it / Montane Litespeed H20 as a clothing combination)

So total kit now looks like this:

From top left: gloves; first aid kit & spare food (red bag); camera / batteries (Fuji Finepix S2000 HD in green bag); buff; Head torch & spare; Montane Litespeed H2O; Montane Atomic Overtrousers; penknife; wooly hat; GPS; long sling + crab

Survival bag; group shelter & spare group clothing (light weight waterproof / windproof; mittens; fleece hat).

Not shown in photos are my trekking poles & a map

First Cortisone Injection

2011-07-28T09:09:00.000-07:00

I try not to spend too much time reporting on the continuing saga of my knees! However, I thought some of the "dodgey knee" readers might be interested to hear of my first encounter with a steroid injection.

There is a long history associated with this but to try & summarise:

Left knee: diagnosis by MRI (last October); extensive "wear & tear"; partial tear in medial meniscus. Likely ultimate outcome - knee replacement. However, this needs to be delayed as long as possible so in the meantime more careful management of activity; use of NSAIDs; much less fell running & much less caving. Fell walking; paddling etc all still ok to do.

Right knee: basically its been exactly where the other one has, suffers similar symptoms + an injury (possible medial meniscus tear) while running 12 weeks ago - oops! At this stage assumed to be in similar condition to above.

I went to see the GP earlier in the week - my GP's surgery have been hugely helpful - and he suggested a cortisone injection to the right knee for the following reasons:

- its has been considerably more painful than the left one of late

- the cortisone should provide pain relief

- the injection should help to distinguish between pain caused by wear & tear (i.e. it ought to relieve this type of pain), whilst being less effective against pain caused by flapping tears of cartiallige. i.e. a diagnostic element

Outcome: the injection wasn't especially painful but so far has resulted in total relief of all pain symptoms!

I guess overall I've got to regard this as a good result at least in the short term, the only negative is that it points to the likely root cause being much more to do with long term wear & tear (i.e. ultimately knee replacement for this one too) rather than just meniscus damage which could be fixed by arthroscopy.

I'd love to hear any comments on this one!

Glorious

2011-07-24T13:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday saw the start of Blaithwaite's single biggest week of the year: camp field & all buidlings full; we've been fortunate enough to host this week every year since coming to Blaithwaite & its good to catch up with folk who have become friends over the years - its a real high point in the Centre calendar.The sun came out for the campers & the weather looks set fair.

To make things even better Jo & Evelyn are visiting, its only the fourth time I've seen our Grand Daughter - what a blessing!

I've just taken a few photos out of the conservatory, there's a couple below & a few more on facebook.

Looking towards the Solway

The Coach House

Wild Camp, Haycock

2011-07-20T09:32:00.000-07:00

With: Paul Rich & Fergus

Weather: Awful - persistent drizzle; light north westerly wind; mild; visibility less than 10m above 450m

Distance: Total approx. 8 miles

Paul Cooking Tea

Ferg & I met Paul by Nether Beck in Wasdale at about six o'clock on Tuesday evening. The weather at this point was dry albeit it overcast with the top of Yewbarrow in & out of low cloud. We took our time & headed north following the Beck. Originally we had planned to head up to Scoat Tarn & then pick off a summit or two after setting up camp & having something to eat. However, we were all a bit late getting away so instead we opted for a plan of camping around the confluence of Nether Beck & the beck which flows out of Scoat Tarn. We picked our spot as the drizzle began and quickly had camp set up and the stoves on. Ferg & I went for the Wayfarer beef stew & dumplings (very good) whilst Paul made fish pasta - smelt good! After a fairly leisurely first part to our trip we decided to go for a night nav on Haycock. The light was "dim" as we set off in steady drizzle & lowering cloud base at around 21:45.

We hadn't climbed too far up Lad Crag before we were in thick mist and fading light, it wasn't long before visibility was down to below 10m and the rest of the evening was spent taking compass bearings & measuring distance. We made it to Haycock summit at 23:00 - I'll have to go back to see what its really like up there!

Ferg & Paul on Haycock Summit

The nav down was probably harder but we got back problem free apart from a comical few minutes when we were no more than 25m from our tents but just couldn't see them! Reflective tape will be added to the tent next time we do this. It was approaching 1 am - just time for lemon tea & a small dram before calling it a night.

We were up again by seven & on the move by eight after porridge for breakfast - still raining!

An excellent short adventure & really good to get out with Paul again. We're planning to do some more of these in the coming weeks & months - watch this space.

Wednesday Morning - Still Raining

Looking at Kit (2)

2011-07-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

This post is related to my recent post of the same title. I have an overnight wild camping trip planned for later this week so thought it would be good to weigh in the extra items of kit in order to provide a baseline total weight for this kind of activity as well.

Again, I have not included food or fluids - this could be a significant variable but for the record I will probably carry: 1 litre of water & purify after its gone; instant lemon tea; 2 Wayfarer meals for the evening and oatcakes / energy bars for breakfast.

Ferg will carry one or two additional items that I have not listed but other than that the list is fully representative of what I plan to carry. Once again it is by no means optimised & a thread to which I intend to return!

Item							Weight

First aid							420
Spare Food							60

Survival Bag							440
Crab & Sling							300
GPS							240
Spare Compass							60
Spare torch							120
Whistle							30
Rucsac							2000
Poles							640
Silva 4 Compass							60
Map							260
Head Torch							210
North Face Apex Wind Shirt							420
Knife							120
Montane Litespeed H20 Jkt							220
Montane Atomic Overtrousers							260
Camera + bag + batteries							660
Sleeping bag (2 season)							1540
Thermarest							940
Terra Nova Solar Tent							1940
Trangia, spork, matches							800
Meths / container							390
Mug							80
Water purification kit							90


TOTALS							12300

A Morning On Barrow

2011-07-13T09:25:00.000-07:00

With: Fergus (+ 14 Year 6 visitors & 2 school staff)

Weather: Dry & sunny with a light North Easterly breeze keeping temperatures manageable

Route: Braithwaite; Braithwaite Lodge; Barrow Summit; Barrow Door; Barrow Beck; Braithwaite (approx 4 miles)

Above: Ferg on Barrow Summit

Left: Path off towards High Stile & on up the valley

Caving With Scripture Union

2011-07-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

The weather has been good so far this week. As such we were able to take the lengthy drive down to Upper & Lower Long Churn caves with the Scripture Union group who are staying at the Centre.

I took a group of 8 in via Doctor Bannister's Hand Basin, water levels were quite low but sufficient to keep things interesting. We did a full traverse of the system exiting via the Diccan Pot entrance. Double Shuffle & Plank Pools were negotiated with mixed success by our guests with a good half of them taking a swim!

A very enjoyable afternoon's caving for the group!

Sorry no pictures this time.

Photos From Last Weeks Climbing - Headend Quarry

2011-07-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

Kevin Marsh

Blaithwaite's Biggest Activity Week

2011-07-10T13:26:00.000-07:00

Headend Quarry

The past week was Blaithwaite's biggest activity week of the year, we had two schools in with 86 pupils + staff on activities simultaneously from Tuesday afternnon until Friday lunchtime. Off site activities included: Gorge Walking; rock climbing & open canoeing. There was a full on site programme covering: archery, fencing, team building activities, woodland weasling, mountain biking & "Kidz Klub" (our contemporary youth church).

I spent two & a half days rock climbing at Headend Quarry (http://www.ukclimbing.com/logbook/crag.php?id=1268) we dodged the showers, enjoyed the sun & got the vast majority of our guests up all of the climbs we set up, a good quota also conquered their fears and abseiled as well.

Wednesday was spent running three open canoeing sessions on Bassenthwaite Lake where we were less successful in avoiding the frequent monsoon like downpours!

I managed to spend some time on the Solway coast over the weekend - we are so fortunate to have the mountains of the Lake District on our front doorstep & the little visited beaches of the Solway Firth as our back garden.

Saturday morning was spent kite buggying with Rob Bianchi - first time for me & a very enjoyable few hours. I got several good runs in.

On Saturday evening Kay got back after a week of grandparent duty so we re-visited the coast on Sunday afternoon and continued to enjoy the run of improved weather of late. Just now I'm sat in the conservatory watching the sun go down over Criffel, the picture below is what I can see.

A good week at the office!

Looking At Kit

2011-07-08T02:18:00.000-07:00

I've got some group mountain days coming up in the next few weeks so have done something new for me - weigh what I normally carry with a view to reducing overall load. The stuff that I carry is probably not what everybody would take when out for a day & its certainly never been optimised for weight so hopefully this is the start of a process of refinement. I think it will in turn influence what I take with me when running in the fells (perhaps this might be a future thread) & also what I carry on expedition - something I hope to do more of in coming months. So here is the list: excluding food & fluids:

890g Berghaus freeflow light (32l) rucsac

030g Whistle

440g Survival Bag

650g Group Shelter

540g Spare Group Clothing

060g Spare Food

300g Crab & Sling

140g Hat, Gloves & Buff

440g First Aid Kit

420g North Face Apex Wind Shirt

660g Camera + Bag + Spare Batteries

120g Knife

210g Headtorch

120g Spare Headtorch

060g Spare Compass

220g Montane Litespeed H2O Jacket

260g Montane Atomic Overtrousers

060g Compass

260g OS Laminated Map

080g Glasses & Case

640g Poles

6.60Kg TOTAL

For day group kit I don't really have any reference points, however, this sounds quite heavy to me. So hopefully I'll be able to start reducing the load!

A couple of additional thoughts:

1. I've just read an item in Trail Running 4/2011 p.109 on packing for a lightweight adventure which indicates the author packs under 6kg for an overnight event: including tent, sleeping bag, stove, food etc. Now I know that I am carrying stuff that is not just for myself (eg. spare group gear, group shelter) and other stuff that I choose to carry in order to improve the overall experience (eg. camera) but it does imply that there must be some significant improvements I can make that should reduce the load.

2. Now this is not about weight I pack in a bag & carry on my back but my BMI has been constant at 25-26 for several years now, it would seem that a fairly simple hit of 2-4kg could readilly be achieved with some minor weight loss whilst still maintaining BMI at or just under 25. Hence making a very significant reduction.

3. Last time I went out I used poles for the first time for ages. This was mainly to try to help with knees (which also applies to all of the above). I certainly found they helped. However, navigation was different in that I usually carry a map all the time, if visibility was bad & I needed to micronav I would have to put the poles away - so I guess this is a minor problem. However,maybe if I revert to paper maps in a case I could keep the map accessible - a possible compromise? This is an experiment to continue.

Hoping to get out for some "gentle jogging" this afternoon - first running for just over eight weeks

Special Evening - Red Pike & Dodd (Buttermere)

2011-07-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

With: On my own

Weather: Hot & sunny; virtually no wind (Started at 17:15 & 24 degC; finished at 21:00 & 19degC)

Approx: 6 miles & 2,200' ascent

Time: 3 hours 45 mins

The Buttermere fells are fast becoming one of my favourite Lake District destinations. Tonight I shut down the Centre by 4 o'clock & was walking away from the car in Buttermere by quarter past five on a hot, dry & sunny evening. The photos tell the rest of the story.

Bleaberry Tarn

Dodd Summit

Red Pike

Red Pike Summit looking into sunset over Irish Sea

High Stile Ridge

Getting Near End of Term

2011-07-03T15:33:00.000-07:00

We've just had our biggest single school group of the year at the Centre.Sixty three pupils on activities - industrial scale.

The school is a High School & we take Years 7-10.

Year 10's do a separate programme: bushcraft; team development tasks; mountain day (Grisedale Pike & Hopegill Head) and an open canoe day (Derwent Water)

Year 7-9 spwnd the first day & a half rotating through a five activity programme (this year: kayak; rock climb; ghyll scramble; mountain bike & on site multi-sports) before picking an activity to specialise in for the next two full days.

I spent most of the first three days charging around the North Lakes in a minibus but ended the week with a great day in Penton Gorge on the River Lidd - great week!

Half Year Update

2011-06-27T15:11:00.000-07:00

The end of June seems to have come around with shocking speed!

So sitting here tonight at the end of a long day with a school occupying the Centre (will post separately on this) it seems like a good time to have a quick look back over the year to date.

Its a bit of a cliche but Centre life has been both rewarding & challenging. The Centre is doing well but we haven't been immune from recession and it seems we have had to work much harder to keep things moving along. Still the schools, youth & church ministry is alive, well & growing.

Kay is doing very well the treatment is working but has its consequences for her. Overall she has had a very good 6 months for which we are massively grateful especially considering where things were at last Christmas.

I am delighted to have completed everything I had planned to do this year opposite NGB awards, completing Mountain Leader (summer) - see previous post & adding Level 2 (vertical) mine exploration routes to my "list" The extra time spent in the fells, which are effectively our back garden, has been a real highlight of the year to date.

Fleetwith Pike

Progress on the running front has been slow, mileages are well down on what I'd hoped for. This is partially due to injury (just coming to the end of an eight week lay off) but the time working on the above NGB's has also been a factor - there is only so much time available!. Anyway I'm planning to run again later this week, which could be decisive & am still desperately keen to take part in the OMM this October..............................................................................................

Great Result

2011-06-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

This week I completed my Mountain Leader (Summer) Award - great result!!

Thanks to John Mason & Glyn Mitchell who assessed me (& Kay for putting up with all the recent practise)

Although entirely of my own making its been a long journey through: training, consolidation & finally assessment. For several years I meandered through the scheme only putting together a concerted plan of action from the beginning of this year, however, I have worked hard at it since January & its paid off very well.

I've always loved the mountain environment & in many ways I think it maybe should have been the first NGB award I undertook, however, I'm absolutely delighted to have completed it now!