The Pianist

Hannah loves to play Jean Weatherstone's Piano.

Lamonby Walk

When Tom nominated this walk in the Eden Valley earlier this week his comments on the e mail to all of us was "flat and bland". How wrong he was it was neither flat or bland and proved to be quite a challenge in absolutely superb weather. The route started and finished in Lamonby and took us through Greystoke Forest and on to the village of Hutton Roof and then back via fields and lanes to Lamonby. It took us a full 5 hours and was measured as just under 12 miles. One amusing incident was with David's Old English Sheepdog Bowman who walks in front of us most of the time but looks back every now and again to see we are ok. He is very much in charge of the walking group and at one point Tom had held back to answer a call of nature when Bowman noticed he was about 50 yards behind us. He took off to go back and see that Tom was ok and once he had established Tom was catching up on us he took his place at the front again.

Hannah and her Scooter

We headed off to Newcastle to see the family for the day and went to the local pub down the road for an excellent Bar Lunch. Hannah was determined to show us how well she can go on her Scooter. She has had it for a while but has only recently plucked up the courage to use it and now there is no stopping her. Six months from now she will have a worn left shoe and the right one will be still like new. Leo looks on wishing he could have a go.

A day at Ulswater

Tom decides he is lost but luckily for him he is about to be rescued by Old English Sheepdog Bowman who will lead him in the right direction.

Looking west towards Glenridding on the shores of Ulswater and below Howtown from just above the Pier.

Wednesday was another horrible wet day so once again we postponed our walk for 24 hours and what a difference a day makes. Thursday was beautiful with blue skies and hardly a breath of wind. We headed for Pooley Bridge to catch the 12.10pm ferry to Howtown. On arriving at Pooley Bridge we were told the ferry was not operating and the pier was closed, but on further investigation we discovered it would be opened on the arrival of the boat from Glenridding and a few minutes later we could see the ferry coming towards us. We booked 3 men and a dog to Howtown to be told they could get us there but we would have to wade 25 yards from the Pier to the road as the Lake had risen about 3 feet and the footpath was flooded. We waited till the Ferry had departed before we made a spectacle of ourselves wading for 25 yards but thankfully it was not quite as bad as had been expected and we made it with slightly wet feet but our dignity intact. We then headed uphill on the 6 mile footpath back to Pooley Bridge and the views were spectacular but the ground was very wet and boggy in places. We arrived back in Pooley Bridge about 3.15pm for a refreshing cup of tea in the cafe next to the river and we were back in Langholm before 5.00pm.