Various excuses for not doing any walking!
   
As some of you may have noticed this web site has not been updated for quite a while. Now that summer is here (honestly it's summer even though it is still raining!) we had intended to do lots of walks but things happen........
   
The main thing to happen is that I have turned the ripe old age of 40. Now I have known about this for a while now, and started to plan a few things to help me get over (celebrate) such a momentous occasion!

These celebrations had been in the planning for a while now and they just needed the odd finishing touches to complete a month of activities and stuff that would make June 2004 such a memorable one for me. As my birthday was in the middle of June I needed something on the weekends before and after to keep the party going! The camping barn trip had been booked for the week after and Snowdonia was due for a visit the week before.
   

We had been promising Sarah a trip to her local hills for a while and the thought of Crib Goch as a start to my birthday celebrations was too good to turn down! I built the day up as the start of my birthday celebrations and as it turned out I felt like a kid at christmas for the whole day! Snowdonia sort of does that to

you anyway, it hurts me to say it, but when you want real rock to scramble up, ridges and scrambles with exposure so severe that it keeps you awake for nights afterwards, and views that just put the Lake District to shame, then Snowdonia is the place to go!

The author on the East ridge of Crib Goch The knife like arête of Crib Goch
We had intended to do the full Snowdon horseshoe but the main attraction was Crib Goch. I will do a page about this walk eventually but a few words will have to do for the moment. If you take all of the scary (best bits !) of the Lake District like Striding Edge, Sharp Edge and the Shamrock Traverse, pick them up, shake them about and then throw them down again you end up with Crib Goch! A great scramble to start with and then a ridge that just takes your breath away, and that's just the start of it!
The arête of Crib Goch goes on and on, it's fantastic! Two other walkers on one of the Pinnacles. The way the lady is holding on says more about the exposure than I ever could!
Just when you think things can't get much better you arrive at the Pinnacles and then a head for heights is needed as you have to scale a rock wall that just seems to disappear below you into nothingness! And that's just one of the Pinnacles! After safely negotiating Crib Goch you still have to get up to Crib Y Dysgol, the second highest mountain in Wales, this again involves some interesting route finding and scrambling, great ! And after that it is time to join the crowds and head for Snowdon.
The birthday boy and John and Sarah braving the crowds on Snowdon's summit

Snowdon's summit was jammed full of people. The last time I saw crowds like this I was christmas shopping in the Trafford Centre! It sort of put a dampener on things and we decided that enough was enough and headed back down the Pyg Path to Pen Y Pass.

So Sarah got a late start and an early finnish (ish!) and I had started my celebrations. I was buzzing all week with the memories of Crib Goch and I will get round to doing a full version of the walk soon (again, ish !)

 

The following weekend was the day of my birthday. At this point I have to thank Mum and Dad for the planning that went into my conception, how good is it that my 40th birthday coincided with the opening games of Euro 2004 in Portugal! Cheers Mum! just think about it, England playing France the day after my party, still hung over but raring to go and cheering the lads on.

Yvonne had arranged a party for me and we were joined by loads of friends and family to celebrate my induction to the ranks of "nearly old people". Normally when you are an adult and it's your birthday you get socks and stuff, when you reach 40 people tend to think that you need cheering up and tend to make an effort with the selection of presents! An England shirt (this was to turn out very useful!) from Yvonne as well as the party, a case of beer from John and Sarah, when I sample all of the great beers that this country can produce, it makes me proud to be an Englishman! Beers from Kent to Yorkshire , Somerset to Newcastle, they all taste great! One of the best surprises was from the boys and girls at the stables who had a whip round and collected enough money to give me a gift voucher for £100 at my local outdoors shop, to say that I was gob smacked is an understatement, thank you one and all!

   
A few of the boys and girls whilst still sober!
The party just took off, everyone seemed to be having a good time and I certainly did. Sarah had produced some music CD compilations and soon everyone was dancing. Unknown to us the music was being piped into the other two floors of the pub/club we were in. They now want to book Sarah as a resident DJ because the dance floors were full!
Getting there!
I even ventured onto the dance floor myself accompanied by my new rosette saying "over the hill", very apt I thought!
There!!!

It all became a bit of a blur for me at this point! I remember walking home and I remember 6 other people staying over but as we had to be up and out of the house for one of those horse show things at 7am I sort of lost the plot! I know that John and Sarah went to the Pleasure Beach and Sarah somehow managed to get John (scardy cat) onto a ride but I still don't know what happened to the Bolton crowd! Mmm! A few phone calls at a later date confirmed everyone's health and happiness, phew!


The weekend after my actual birthday was one that I will remember for a long time. It started out in Kentmere and somehow managed to end up in Portugal watching England play Croatia in Euro 2004!

The camping barn trip to Green Quarter had been planned for ages and started with myself John and Dave arriving early and going for a bit of a bike ride. I must point out that Dave is a biker, a pedal power person who regularly rides 60 miles (I get tired driving that far!) John is John and I was out classed from the start! The only advantage I had was that I chose the route, so they had to keep waiting for me! The route was from Green Quarter via the bridle way above Halls Wood towards High Borrans, along the road and then onto the Dubbs Road and back over the Garburn Pass and back into Kentmere. This went very well until Dave managed to break his chain along Dubbs Road! He had to push his bike the rest of the way, even so I could not keep up with him and John. The Garburn Pass seemed like a good idea but when you actually try and ride it you find it impossible, walk yes, ride no!

The peace and tranquility of Green Quarter and Kentmere
So ten miles later, one broken chain, and an excellent "falling off" the bike for me (Mountain bikers like to brag about "off's" and I had a classic one as I hit a gate post whilst pointing out the Coniston Fells to John and Dave. two somersaults, a forward roll, and ending up kneeling down facing the direction I had come from with a smile on my face!) I think Dave was impressed with me for a beginner! Back at the barn we had a quick shower and headed off down to Staveley for some food and beer until the rest of the gang arrived. This happened in stages as people were coming from Bolton, Liverpool, Oxford just to name a few.
Fancy dress at the camping barn. Months of planning and preparation, but who is who?

Once everyone had arrived it was time to get reacquainted over a few beverages, whilst at the same time getting changed into fancy dress. It was Sarah and John's idea and it turned out to be a good one! Even Mike and Faye got into the swing of things, they were the only people who had not had an outfit "chosen" for them, Mike as a ballerina was a result, off his own back as well! Once again we managed to see the sun rise over the Kentmere valley before retiring for a few hours rest before the main event of the weekend.....abseiling!

In previous years I had done the planning of the activities on the Saturday myself. Over the years of the camping trips and camping barn we have been walking (Holme Fell, Haystacks, Whinlatter) Mountain Biking around Whinlatter, canoeing in Ullswater, Horse ridding around Coniston and Ullswater..... This time I wanted to take a back seat and let someone else do the donkey work. I still had to sort it all out but after a few phone calls I had the services of a young lady called Sam from a company called Total Adventure. For the princely sum of £20 per person she picked us up from Wilf's Cafe in Stavely and drove us to Hodge Close Quarry. From there we had a sort off guided tour around Hodge Close before walking to Cathedral Quarry and some abseiling.
All of the equipment was provided, training and encouragement and soon we had all completed a 40' abseil into the quarry. Even Faye who really did not want to do it, did it!

Suzanne tackling the easy 40' abseil Waiting for the big one!
This was really just a taster for the main event as after we had all had a go, some more than once, we headed up to the top of the quarry and contemplated the "big one" This abseil was a total of approx 130'. The first part of about 50' was down a face that was not quite vertical, the next 50' was vertical and the last 30' was over an overhang so there was no rock to place your feet on. As I had waited for everyone to do the first abseil, all the time my anxiety levels increasing I was adamant that I was going to be the first one to do this one!
The birthday boy at the top of the big one Nikki near the end of the big one
I was glad I did it first for two reasons. The midges were hungry at the top and if I had waited I am sure that I would have "bottled it!" And there was every one thinking that I was being brave! I admit it, if I had waited I would probably have been shaking all the way down (it's an age thing, honest!) if I had done it at all!
The big one. 130' of pure adrenaline in Cathedral Quarry!

When John joined me at the bottom he started to reminisce about the time we had first found this quarry. On that day if someone had said that we would be abseiling down into the quarry sometime in the future he would have laughed at them, I knew what he meant though, we had been fascinated by the place then, but now with the help of Sam we had gone onto another level of fun! The sight of everyone's faces, especially John and Sarah's really made my day. I had a great time but the sight of the smiles and pure child like enjoyment on everyone's faces really put the icing on the cake for me (am I easily pleased or what!) Just to add to the fun Sam made us (like we were forced to !) walk back through the tunnels. She suggested that we do this without the help of a torch. This turned out to be hilarious as we all had one hand on the shoulder of person in front of us, and the other on the tunnel wall. When we started to sing "Hi Ho, it's off to work we go!" and a short time later started to do "The Conga" along the tunnel , Sam knew that she had done a good job with us. Everyone was made up, and when she dropped us off back at Staveley at 7pm it was difficult to know who had had the most fun! I can't thank Sam enough, she was knowledgeable about the area, expert in her tuition and gave everyone a memorable afternoon. You can contact Sam and her company through the following link. Total Adventure, They also have the Mountain Bike place in Grizedale and I really can't recommend them enough! Mention Steve and the Canon crew and I might even get a discount next time, but I am quite willing to pay full price again!

Once back at the barn we had a quick shower and change and headed back to Staveley for a pub meal. Back at the barn later on we had a rather subdued evening and even managed to get to sleep whilst it was still dark!
Sundays are always sad as we say our goodbyes. This one was more sad than normal as we said goodbye to Donna as she is moving down to Cornwall to start a new life, Nikki seemed more sad than normal as she started her return down to Oxford, but then again this weekend had been rather special!

My weekend was not yet complete though. As some of you may know I work for Canon. Canon had spent rather a lot of money on sponsoring Euro 2004 and I had been lucky enough to have been picked out of the hat to go and watch an England game in Portugal! (I really am a lucky git!) The fact that I had let my passport expire posed a bit of a problem but a quick visit to the passport office in Liverpool got around this slight problem!
So after packing up and leaving the Lake District it was a quick hello and goodbye at home before driving down to Wigan to join up with Ellis and then another long drive down to Heathrow. After a welcome sleep in a proper bed we headed off to the airport and a few hours later found ourselves in Lisbon, I mean how surreal was I feeling by now. Fancy dress party, mountain biking, abseiling and now sat in the sun waiting to watch England play in the European Championships!
Preparing for the game in the Hotel, and near the ground.
We had an hour in the hotel before we had to set of to the ground, this was spent in a 5 minute shower and 55 minutes in the bar! When we got off the coach at the ground we headed away from the ground to find somewhere that served alcohol! We spent some time drinking beer and watching some Croatia fans playing football with some England Fans, the atmosphere was just fantastic! Everyone got on with everyone and there was nothing but the thought of enjoying the occasion, it was very special.
The "Stade de Luce", the home of Benfica. A fantastic stadium for a fantastic game!
Inside the stadium the atmosphere was fantastic, it was just a sea of red and white as the majority of the crowd was English. I have been to a few football matches in my time, European nights at Old Trafford, Ewood Park and the fantastic stadium that is Bloomfield Road but nothing compared to this! The occasion was something very special indeed!
Happy just to be there!
Before the first games I had thought that this would be a nothing match, England would already have qualified, but as usually happens things did not quite go to plan and this was now a must win game! Something else that wasn't in the plan was Croatia scoring after a few minutes, Ooops!
4-2 what a game, and what a result!
As it turned out the lads did us proud ! Watching the likes of Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard was a treat. I am reliably informed that a certain Mr Beckham was there as well but I must have missed him! After the game it was back to the hotel for a quick drink and then down into the dock area to help celebrate the victory and the thought of playing Portugal in the quarter finals.
Celebrating the result down on the dockside!

The docks was full of celebrating English fans mixed in with a few glum looking Croatians. What a night! Eventually we headed back to the hotel for some well earned sleep and next morning traveled back to Heathrow. I felt like one of the prawn sandwich brigade at Old Trafford now! Jetting out, watching a game and jetting back, such is life!

Well that concludes the excuses for not doing anything on the walking and web site front for June! I wanted to celebrate my 40th in style and with everything that I have done I was extremely happy with it all!

July has also been a problem. John and Sarah have been busy having fun and I have had the builders in at home. I now have a loft conversion, which is nice, but as a result I also have 3 bedrooms, 2 toilets and 2 hallways and stairs to decorate, which isn't so nice!

   
The excuses for July! Builders and decorating work for me
As well as have a house that resembles a building site with all sorts of stuff lying around that should be somewhere else, blocking access to rooms and computers it seems to ne rather busy on the horse front. Shows every weekend and even midweek now. The Great Yorkshire show in Harrogate was fun but tiring. The Royal Lancashire show is next week and I know it sound feeble but there is this telly program on channel 4 that I am addicted to!
I seem to remember struggling to update the web site this time last year as well. Now I know why! Only a few more weeks to go though! I'm trying my best to finish writing about Harter Fell, the last walk we did back in MAY! Snowdon will happen and a new walk is planned for the first weekend in August, can't wait to get back into the hills!