Sunday 2nd March 2008
Last Sunday I was in the Lake District for the weekend but I needed to be home by late afternoon which resulted in a chaotic day with an early start to catch a train that never turned up. I left the youth hostel at 7.30 am going up the slag heaps beside the old mine and on to Glencoyne Head. The climb was rather difficult as the breakfast provided by the hostel had been very filling, but that wasn’t as tough as the wind. On Saturday, Glenridding was sheltered from the wind but now the direction had changed and I was being hit by very strong winds. The climb to Glencoyne Head was really tiring but once I was at the top the winds made any progress nigh on impossible. Crossing over to Hart Side was really tough but once I was at the summit the wind was ridiculous. It was an interesting summit with a number of cairns dotting the area, but attempting to reach each of the cairns was an achievement of near Herculean effort. Despite the scenery I did not want to stay very long in that wind so I soon abandoned the summit and crossed the hillside to Birkett Pike before quickly descending to Dowthwaite Head.
With the need to catch a bus present in my mind I climbed over the headland down to the old coach road, but soon the wind came back into play and impeded my progress slowing my mad rush to Threlkeld. Below Clough Head and with Threlkeld in sight I descended the tussocky, boggy slope down to a minor road and on into the village. When I got there I discovered that I had missed the bus by just ten minutes, so I had no other choice, I flagged a lift down. I had never done that before but it worked a treat, and I didn't have to wait too long for someone to stop either. I got to Penrith in plenty of time but the trains were still not running and the next bus replacement service was not due for another 1½ hours, and it took me 2 hours to get to Preston on the bus where I just missed the Birmingham train and to catching the next train I had to change at Crewe, but if I had just waited in Preston and caught the next Birmingham train I would have been on the one that I later caught in Crewe! Typical. But I was now 2 hours behind schedule and wouldn't be back as planned, which is rather disappointing. This was a funny weekend but I enjoyed it despite all the hassle and those strong winds that are to blame for so many things.
With the need to catch a bus present in my mind I climbed over the headland down to the old coach road, but soon the wind came back into play and impeded my progress slowing my mad rush to Threlkeld. Below Clough Head and with Threlkeld in sight I descended the tussocky, boggy slope down to a minor road and on into the village. When I got there I discovered that I had missed the bus by just ten minutes, so I had no other choice, I flagged a lift down. I had never done that before but it worked a treat, and I didn't have to wait too long for someone to stop either. I got to Penrith in plenty of time but the trains were still not running and the next bus replacement service was not due for another 1½ hours, and it took me 2 hours to get to Preston on the bus where I just missed the Birmingham train and to catching the next train I had to change at Crewe, but if I had just waited in Preston and caught the next Birmingham train I would have been on the one that I later caught in Crewe! Typical. But I was now 2 hours behind schedule and wouldn't be back as planned, which is rather disappointing. This was a funny weekend but I enjoyed it despite all the hassle and those strong winds that are to blame for so many things.
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