I had planned for a long time that once I had finished all my work for University I was going to go to the Lake District for a week or so to take a break from the rat race that I have called my life for the past few months. I hadn't expected to have anyone come with me but ended up with my new housemate, Dave a friend also on the World Challenge Apprenticeship scheme, heading up with me. It was would be a good opportunity to get to know each other as we had only actually met once before.
We headed up on the Saturday morning to Keswick where we stocked up on food and then parked up at the National Trust car park at the Great Wood where we took our rucksacks up and over Castlerigg Fell to Bleaberry Fell, High Seat, High Tove, Middle Crag over to Blea Tarn where we set up camp for the night. The weather was pretty miserable raining nearly all the time but then it cleared as we got to the tarn which was a welcome relief but then it came down again. I had the unfortunate experience of going up to my thigh in a bog and getting some very soggy boots. It was very uncomfortable and knew I would end up having wet socks for the rest of the weekend.
The next morning the weather was just as miserable. We headed up and over to Ullscarf and then followed the ridge along to High Raise where we were met with some beautiful sunshine which was a welcome relief. I still had wet socks though. We then dropped down into the West valley and followed Langstrath Beck all the way down to Stonethwaite and then we stopped at the Rosthwaite hotel where we had a drink and a little rest then we went back up to Grange Fell where we set up tent again for the night. It was blowing a gale all night and the weather again was pretty miserable but we did have some nice clear moments.
We woke up in the morning with two puddles in the corners of the tent which were worrying, it was thankfully not my tent and thankfully none of our things got wet otherwise I would have another few nights in some miserable conditions. We headed down to Watendlath and in more rain we followed the road all the way back down to the car where I happily removed my wet boots and made some lunch of beans and bacon on the stove. Yum! We ended the good weekend with a cup of tea in a cafe in Keswick and then I rearranged and sorted all my stuff for my journey to continue on. Dave dropped me at Grasmere and then I walked up to Easedale Tarn with my puzzle book and had some glorious weather. I then set up tent and watched the night fall in the sun over the tarn. Beautiful. It was these moments when I love wild camping, with no-one else around and all I have is the things on my back. So all in all we had a good time, minus the bad weather, where we decided we probably won't kill each other when we move to Buxton. I think he was quite happy to get to a warm dry house to get the last of his degree finished the Friday.
I woke to, again, some lovely weather but then as I continued up and over Blea Crag, Castle How, Lang How, Silver How, Dow Bank and Loughrigg Fell I think I had pretty much all the weather under the sun, hail, rain, gales as well as being quite burnt. I ended the day walking around Ambleside then along the lake towards Windermere, where I bailed at Brockhole for a bus to the centre of Windermere. My boots had really started to rub with the wet socks so gave in. I was shattered and was happy to finally get to the Lake District Independant Hostel. A squishy bed, shower, non-boil-in-the-bag dinner and then a little wander to the vantage point over looking Windermere and the lake with the hostel night manager finished off the day lovely.
Wednesday, I wasn't getting the train until 6pm so had a day to kill. Thankfully the guy at the hostel allowed me to leave my rucksack in the reception and I then went down to Bowness, over the lake on the car ferry and then up to High Top which is the home of Beatrix Potter, author of Peter Rabbit. It was a lovely day, sun all day and I thankfully had my flip flops with me so my feet could have a little break. I then made the trek all the way back to Windermere. I was truely shattered and was very welcome for the cup of tea from the manager man again :-)
I would have been having dinner cooked for me that evening by Ceara as I was due to be back in Stoke by 9pm but the train turned out to be cancelled which was annoying. I didn't get back until 11pm. After having a chance encounter with a lovely man who bought me some sandwiches from Booths after I lent him my phone to ring his wife to say he was going to be really late home (his phone had died). A favour for a lonely traveller :-)
All in all an awesome time away, though I ended up with some very sore feet and I also pulled a muscle in my left shoulder which is still hurting but oh well. I was away from Stoke :-)
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
The end has arrived!
Well it has finally come around, the end of 3 years at Staffordshire University! I can't believe how quickly it has happened, 3 years have literally flown by.
My last piece went in on the 14th May and it certainly was a whirlwind for getting it done. I was a bit uncertain on the Tuesday whether I was actually going to get it finished but the printer spat it out on the Wednesday evening about 15 minutes before I was due to go out to the last Gobble (Wed night fun at the students union). I was dressed as someone for the Army just staring at the work as I stapled it together but I couldn't work out if it had hit me or not that I had no more work to do. So I headed out with a sort of weight off my shoulder, happy I could enjoy the evening without having to worry that I had to get up early the next morning to finish some work.
The evening was a lot of fun, including my first experience in the local Old Corner Cupboard pub (it's literally 2 minutes around the corner to my house but I had never been there) as well as my first LRV outting of the year (sad times). It was great to see everyone together and we had a good turn out.
The next morning would have been a welcome lie in but instead the Staffordshire University Mountaineering Club organised a fund raising consisting of an abseil off the Mellor building at the University. It has happened twice every year since being at Staffs and I had the pleasure of running the line as practice for my climbing award. One of the members of the club had a bright idea of inviting the local newspaper so we were made famous the next day in the Sentiel. And yes I am the one in the main photograph making faces as I abseiled off the building :-) The day went really well, it didn't rain until the afternoon and we made around £100 which we donated to Buxton Mountain Rescue. Good job guys! All ended in the pub that afternoon for chips and chocolate cake. It was originally planned that we were going to have a BBQ but the weather changed the plan to heading over to Shropshire Bouldering Centre.
The centre has newly been opened since I was in India so I had missed out on a couple of sessions with the guys but a group of us headed over for the evening (after I managed to grab an hours sleep). It's quite a small place but was a good evening. Was proof how weak I am though since not climbing for over 4 months. I forced a few routes out and had a catch up with some friends then went back to trying to finish writing up my India diary (no I still haven't finished it). It was a welcome sleep when we finally got home.
And that was the last day of being a student and what a cool day it was.
My last piece went in on the 14th May and it certainly was a whirlwind for getting it done. I was a bit uncertain on the Tuesday whether I was actually going to get it finished but the printer spat it out on the Wednesday evening about 15 minutes before I was due to go out to the last Gobble (Wed night fun at the students union). I was dressed as someone for the Army just staring at the work as I stapled it together but I couldn't work out if it had hit me or not that I had no more work to do. So I headed out with a sort of weight off my shoulder, happy I could enjoy the evening without having to worry that I had to get up early the next morning to finish some work.
The evening was a lot of fun, including my first experience in the local Old Corner Cupboard pub (it's literally 2 minutes around the corner to my house but I had never been there) as well as my first LRV outting of the year (sad times). It was great to see everyone together and we had a good turn out.
The next morning would have been a welcome lie in but instead the Staffordshire University Mountaineering Club organised a fund raising consisting of an abseil off the Mellor building at the University. It has happened twice every year since being at Staffs and I had the pleasure of running the line as practice for my climbing award. One of the members of the club had a bright idea of inviting the local newspaper so we were made famous the next day in the Sentiel. And yes I am the one in the main photograph making faces as I abseiled off the building :-) The day went really well, it didn't rain until the afternoon and we made around £100 which we donated to Buxton Mountain Rescue. Good job guys! All ended in the pub that afternoon for chips and chocolate cake. It was originally planned that we were going to have a BBQ but the weather changed the plan to heading over to Shropshire Bouldering Centre.
The centre has newly been opened since I was in India so I had missed out on a couple of sessions with the guys but a group of us headed over for the evening (after I managed to grab an hours sleep). It's quite a small place but was a good evening. Was proof how weak I am though since not climbing for over 4 months. I forced a few routes out and had a catch up with some friends then went back to trying to finish writing up my India diary (no I still haven't finished it). It was a welcome sleep when we finally got home.
And that was the last day of being a student and what a cool day it was.
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Earth Hazards
After a very long 48 hours I have managed to complete the Earth Hazards essay aswell as the portfolio. Ran that down to reception for hand in this afternoon after taking a trip up to Hanley for some printer ink. That damn dissertation ran my poor printer dry!
Restart on the work front now for the Scottish Report on the Loch Lomond Stadial *big sigh!* Only 2 reports left, yippee! Definitely looking forward to climbing this weekend, let's hope the beautiful weather returns.
Restart on the work front now for the Scottish Report on the Loch Lomond Stadial *big sigh!* Only 2 reports left, yippee! Definitely looking forward to climbing this weekend, let's hope the beautiful weather returns.
Monday, 4 May 2009
Last few weeks of University
Well I'm afraid it hasn't been the most exciting few weeks, especially after such a manic month travelling around here and there. It has come down to the last few weeks of being at Staffordshire University and to be honest I really can't wait for all the work to be finished. I am well and truely done with studying for a while.
I am currently in the process of writing an essay for the Earth Hazard module, and as you can tell (as I have resorted to updating my Blog) I am bored. It's quite an interesting topic, how local conditions have more control over the disaster potential compared to the magnitude of an earthquake. I'm pretty much there with it but hoping to finish it tonight then it's just the Scottish Fieldtrip report to do for Thursday. The enthusiasm has completely walked out the door so it's a real struggle to get it done. Not long now and then after the Spanish fieldtrip report is in on the 14th May, that's it! Finito! :-)
Results are due the 22nd June, I believe which so happens to be when I'm working up in the Peak District so hopefully I may be allowed to disappear for a hour or so to pick them up. Scary stuff!
Apart from the lack of work that I have been doing, I have just come back from Buxton (again) to complete a Remote First Aid Training Course which was really interesting. The amount of times that you would go for First Aid training and the worry that it's not sticking to your brain, makes refresher courses worth while. The day ended with a big incident which we had to deal with, we only lost Annie (the CPR dummy - RIP). And that's the main set of training sessions done with World Challenge now and on with the preparation and organisation for heading out to Bolivia. It's going to be neat trick going to graduation, moving out of Stoke on Trent back to Dunstable and pack for Bolivia in the matter of 72 hours. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.
Well I'm afraid that's the excitement for me at the moment. I'm planning on disappearing to the Lake District around the 16th May for the week to go walking and wild camping. May need to find a couple of maps first but it will be a good escape. But now it's back to the Earth Hazards essay and maybe even an exciting trip to the library. Bad times...
I am currently in the process of writing an essay for the Earth Hazard module, and as you can tell (as I have resorted to updating my Blog) I am bored. It's quite an interesting topic, how local conditions have more control over the disaster potential compared to the magnitude of an earthquake. I'm pretty much there with it but hoping to finish it tonight then it's just the Scottish Fieldtrip report to do for Thursday. The enthusiasm has completely walked out the door so it's a real struggle to get it done. Not long now and then after the Spanish fieldtrip report is in on the 14th May, that's it! Finito! :-)
Results are due the 22nd June, I believe which so happens to be when I'm working up in the Peak District so hopefully I may be allowed to disappear for a hour or so to pick them up. Scary stuff!
Apart from the lack of work that I have been doing, I have just come back from Buxton (again) to complete a Remote First Aid Training Course which was really interesting. The amount of times that you would go for First Aid training and the worry that it's not sticking to your brain, makes refresher courses worth while. The day ended with a big incident which we had to deal with, we only lost Annie (the CPR dummy - RIP). And that's the main set of training sessions done with World Challenge now and on with the preparation and organisation for heading out to Bolivia. It's going to be neat trick going to graduation, moving out of Stoke on Trent back to Dunstable and pack for Bolivia in the matter of 72 hours. Fingers crossed it all goes to plan.
Well I'm afraid that's the excitement for me at the moment. I'm planning on disappearing to the Lake District around the 16th May for the week to go walking and wild camping. May need to find a couple of maps first but it will be a good escape. But now it's back to the Earth Hazards essay and maybe even an exciting trip to the library. Bad times...
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