Wednesday 30 December 2009 – A ‘Gray’ Day

It’s a year since we waved Nick off to Shanghai.  Today’s plan to meet him got off to a poor start when Sue’s illness prevented her departure from Timperley, but Nick was ready and waiting by the time I arrived at Leighton Moss RSPB’s skating rink of a car park soon after 9.30.

Another gent wandered (well, slithered) up….

“Hello Martin”

“Hello Mark, good to meet you”

Mark is the author of the excellent ‘Beating the Bounds’ blog and had taken the trouble to come along and say hello.  It’s always good to meet such people who have become ‘on-line friends’ in the flesh, and the three of us (Nick is also familiar with Mark’s writing')  enjoyed a lengthy tea/coffee break in the café, before Mark headed off home to confront some domestic duties.

Nick and I set off along basically the same route that I walked with Susan on 28 October – reported on here and here, in dull, cold weather.  It was not a day for stunning images of Silverdale – you’ll have to visit Mark’s site for those, but we did enjoy a good chat and were able to catch up on the year’s activities.

Lunching on a bench near the summit of Arnside Knott, we were glad we hadn’t attempted anything more ambitious, as the conditions in the Lake District looked as if they may not be so amenable for the ‘cosy chat’ that we were enjoying.

The caravan park at Far Arnside was quite busy with holiday makers as we passed through en route to an alpaca farm, Silverdale village, Woodwell, and the fleshpot known as the Wolf House Gallery.  Their tea and cakes were up to the usual high standard and we enjoyed a long break in the warmth of the café.

Then we braved the full force of the brisk arctic wind for our stroll back to the RSPB car park, arriving well before 4 pm after a very pleasant day’s stroll.  We had been expecting either ‘light rain’ or ‘snow showers’, depending on which forecast we’d looked at.  So we weren’t complaining about the cool east wind that had substituted for these forecasts.

My photos were some of the worst I’ve taken this year, but (mainly for Nick’s benefit) I’ve uploaded them to a slideshow that can be viewed here.

Here’s our route – 17 km, 340 metres of ascent, in around 5 hours including stops.  It was the last trip for my Hi-Tec boots, which effectively fell apart; a review will follow.

That’s it for 2009, this being our 386th and final posting for the year.  Sue and I hope you have enjoyed at least a small fraction of these ramblings and that you will join us again, on-line and/or in the flesh, in 2010.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy, even Adventurous, 2010!