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.