Some family updates

We celebrated our 32 wedding anniversary this week. Unfortunately Gina was working in Suffolk, however she is back tomorrow (Tuesday) and I have bottle of Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir sitting in the kitchen! We will never forget a fantastic lunch we had with Jenny at the vineyard in Central Otago a couple of years ago. We both still think that good NZ wine is the best there is and long may it continue! Mind you some of the Chilean and Argentinean wines are good too. Even French reds at 15 - 20 pounds a bottle don't seem to suit our palates. I'm sure it is our new- world palates and not the wine.
Anyhow we are off to the North of Scotland to near Ullapool where we hope to do a lot of walking with Brian and Judith. The weather is immaterial. We assume the worst and hope to be pleasantly surprised. We have rented a house which overlooks the sea from a cliff top so if it rains for a week we shall be happy reading, drinking and eating and looking out to sea!

We will catch up with Nick and Amy and if possible, Anna and Scott, as we will come through Edinburgh on our way back. Poor Nick has had severe tonsillitis including abscesses and has been in hospital. Just when he was starting his new job at Harvey Nichols too. Seems to be better at the moment and is on the waiting list for a tonsillectomy. Should get good care in Edinburgh. Hard to believe but he will be 21 at the end of October.

Sam is enjoying London and likes his job. He's already thinking about doing further study. Amazing how short a time it seems since he vowed not to do any more at all. Hope he got to the Notting Hill carnival this weekend. Friends are arriving from NZ just before Xmas so I think he may go flatting with them. He'll be 23 in December!

It's going to b a fabulous Xmas this year as the boys will be with us.

Malham Tarn, North Yorks

Since I don't work on Fridays and since Gina was still in Suffolk I decided that I should go for a good walk. Having just purchased a GPS I was keen to try it out. Leaving home I typed in Malham Tarn and followed the road instructions. Not sure why but the unit took me on back country roads and after about 1.5 hours I arrived at the Tarn. (Thank you Mr Garmin). The drive was stunningly beautiful in some of the most spectacular scenery in Britain, and very unusually, bright sunshine prevailed all day! We had done the Malham Cove walk a few months ago (see blog 04/29-05/06) and so I was prepared for some great walking. The tarn is a good sized lake trapped high on the Penines and around it are areas of peaty wetland with their special life forms.

I parked at the tarn field centre which is run by the National Trust,

slipped into something cool and with a light pack containing sandwiches, fruit and water I set off. The pictures tell the story.

"Malham Tarn and its associated wetlands and woodlands form a 136.5 hectare National Nature Reserve, declared by English Nature in 1922. The reserve is part of the much larger Malham - Arncliffe Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) - one of the most extensive areas of limestone scenery in England. The area's importance is recognised by its designation as a RAMSAR site and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC).

Nestling at an altitude of 375 metres, this is one of Yorkshire's most attractive areas of open water, even in mid-winter. The water contains ancient and rare stoneworts, a wide range of molluscs, white-clawed crayfish and shoals of bullhead. The inflow stream of the Tarn is the only UK breeding site of a flightless caddis fly Agrypnia crassicoris.

The birdlife that can be seen from the hide on the north shore includes a wide range of waders and wildfowl with good numbers of coot and great crested grebe, while an occaisional hen harrier may be glimpsed hunting over Tarn Moss."
The National Trust (2005) - MALHAM TARN National Nature Reserve. A Guide to the reserve.(Pamphlet) , Settle, North Yorkshire.

There were a few people on the walk but generally I was able to keep well out of their way and so it seemed I had the whole vast area to myself. For the most part the path follows the edge of the tarn which is a wild life refuge. The Brits are so so good at this sort of thing.

I found a lovely old shade tree to nestle up against while I had lunch and then got moving before post-lunch weariness set in. If I wait even 15 minutes after eating on a walk I find it very hard to get going!! After about half an hour I came across about 50 people all sunning themselves, having
lunch, reading the paper and sitting in deck chairs.

Just when I thought I was alone I realised that I had come to another carpark! Still in a minute of two they were behind me and it was as if they didnt exist in that vast landscape.

The last part of the walk was on a minor road, and I saw sheep farms which are the modern equivalent of the ancient farming settlements of old (very old).

So it was a peaceful flatish walk with plenty to see and lots of opportunity to appreciate the world

in general and this fantastic place in particular on a perfect summer's day.

And a bonus on the way home: cattle in the late afternoon light.

Weekend in Worcester with Sue, Pete & A Marie

We always look forward to our weekends with my cousin Sue , her husband Peter and Auntie Marie.

Auntie Marie is my father's sister and Sue's mother, & is still going strong at 90 making great fruit pies & keeping the magnificent garden under control.

We had a lovely day exploring Bewdley, & Ludlow.

Bewdley is on the River Severn a town which often floods & there was much evidence of the most recent events. Peter showed us the plates on the river bank which are used to attach flood barriers. The bridge was built by Telford in 1798. We had coffee in a charming garden around which there were exhibits of local industry, iron foundries, farming, coracle making (these were
used here mostly for transport rather than fishing.)

We admired the buildings many dating back to the 14th century. In fact the town was named then by the French who called it Beau lieu, for "Beautiful place."

En route into Shropshire & the lovely town of Ludlow we had lunch at The Castle, a lovely pub covered in Virginia Creeper.

Ludlow markets itself as a gourmet delight the food is appropriately luscious & expensive.
Ludlow castle was first developed in 1086 overlooking the Teme & Corve rivers to keep out the Welsh. In fact the Marches round here are named after the troops who used to march & protect the boundaries.

"Dinham - 'Newly Built' in 1656 after burning in the Civil War."

The town has 500 listed buildings many of them half-timbered from the Jacobean era. There are vistas down narrow streets looking out to beautiful countryside laid out like a tapestry.

Sue INSISTED that we have afternoon tea & of course she knew exactly where to go the coffee cream puffs were the biggest I have ever seen & defeated even us!!!

The next day we had a few hours in the nearby town of Stourport. Stourport-on -Severn is the only town in Britain built solely as a consequence of the canals.

James Brindley built the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to link the River Severn with the Trent and Mersey, in 1766. The town grew quickly and by 1783 brass and iron foundries, as well as many other industries had developed. Now we can walk & see the network of several locks on many levels as well as take in the rowing regatta on the River Severn.

Apparently there is a walk along the river path which goes into Birmingham. (so much to do so little time!).

When we got home Sue had prepared another fantastic lunch. Other friends, Richard & Sue, arrived co-incidentally from Harrogate, where they have a home when they are not working in Cyprus. We all had a lovely time.

Skipton/Carlisle Railway

On a sunny Friday morning, Judith, Brian John & I set off for our adventure on British rail.
This is a great rail journey which crosses much of the Yorkshire Dales & goes over the famous Ribble Viaduct. We don't have photos yet of the viaduct we will have to wait until we climb Penyghent to get views of this.
The train goes past the village of Dent which is the highest rail station in UK & where the film "Brief Encounter" was filmed. There is still a small museum set up for the film.
Carlisle is not the most picturesque of towns but has the distinction of being the place where Judith used to meet her boyfriend when he was studying at Lancaster & she at Durham, (this person is not now her husband so we will not speculate on what secrets Carlisle holds of those little trysts)
Carlisle is making the best of itself however with amazing flower displays all over town.
The town is on the English/Scots border & was a Roman stronghold. Hadrians wall starts here. It has a castle & I'm afraid to say a rather dismal cathedral tho' John & Brian enjoyed hearing the choir practising.

The ceiling of Carlisle Cathedral

The Cathedral is quite plain on the outside but exquisite inside.