Tag: Cumbria

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Memories Places Prose

Retreat

#fowc #retreat

Salford, 24th February 2021

Another Lakeland Reminiscence

Retreat – Normally a call for escaping an attack from an enemy…..

(but not in this case)

for me, it was a week away from the City in the picturesque settings of the Lake District, up by Derwentwater in a place called Keswick.

Arranged by the RE Teachers, a selected group shared the grand surroundings of Castlerigg Manor, where we took part in discussions and workshops, bible readings and so forth. We shared the Manor and its activities with a school from Darwen, Lancashire.

It wasn’t all work and study on this residential though as activities took place in and around the centre

We helped with the cooking and the washing, and shared dorm rooms during the week.

Castlerigg Manor, Keswick

Being a youth centre, there were games and books for use, and all the other things to keep minds occupied, it wasn’t all school work!

There were walks in the mountains for some, but i opted for a trip out into Keswick centre, as although i’d done the same activity with the scouts, the health and safety paperwork was too much for a week away…..I enjoyed the snaps i took with my 35mm camera.

Categories
Memories Places Poetry Schooldays

Castlerigg

#Napowrimo #Room #Dorm

Reflection of a shared room (school retreat)

Painting from photo : Castlerigg Manor, Keswick (p) Brian F Kirkham 2020

Keswick, 1987

Up in the hills

by a mountain stream

a place of reflection and retreat

the room shared three

with a view of the lakes

a place to ponder, relax and take breaks

colour scheme – calming

a sight of some sheep

and during our breaks we would gambol and leap

Categories
Acrostic Memories Outdoor Pursuits Outdoors Poetry

Well worn Blanket

Salford 16th May 2017

Blanket

Back in Nineteen eighty two – i started taking this long woolly blanket to camp

Like many other scouts i stuck it at the end of my tents sleeping bag, and

As it got cold, i wrapped it round me to keep warm

Now, each camp i went to – i picked up a patch from the campsite – and these were

Kept on the woolly blanket…covering areas from Cumbria to Derbyshire – I

Even had a whole heap of locations such as

Torquay , paignton and brixham and these found a spare spot on my sleeping spot

Categories
Nature Parks Photography Places Travel

Ninth Wonder

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Earth

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The Lake District, Cumbria

 

Being the way I’ve been brought up – the stories of how the wonders of the world ended up where they are can either be treated as faith fact or fiction

I studied (for interest) geology at sixth-form briefly before I came to my senses and joined up for technology classes instead.  But I still have an appreciation for all things natural.

Maybe it’s the old scout in me.

Thing is – if you believe the scientists tale – The British Isles are two bits of land that broke off from its European sister when their mother, Pangea was cracking up.

I’d honestly like the tale formed by the creation story – where the various islands around the world were bits added by the creator (take your pick) to make it look pretty.

He let mother nature loose with the clay and she formed hills mountains and valleys – and it was so beautiful, the angels cried with joy, and made lakes in the crevices where the hills and valleys met.

and that’s how North-west England supposedly was given the Lake district.

The pic?  One of the lakes south of Penrith (Buttermere ? could be Coniston).  I’ve been camping by there with the Scout association in a place called Long-Marton, close to the town of Appleby-in-Westmoreland.  I’ve returned many times since, either camping or staying in a holiday park nearby Appleby in a place called Lowther.

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Holidays Nature Outdoor Pursuits Outdoors Photography Travel

Lakeland Landscape

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in response to the weekly photo challenge Landscape

(Photograph : (c) 2007 Brian F Kirkham)

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Lakeland Harbour and Hills, Penrith, Cumbria

I was looking out for the fluffy white clouds in the Cumbrian Skies – but got a lovely view of the hills from this viewpoint.

Blue skies and wonderful scenery – a lovely place to take a break – tranquil and relaxing.

Categories
Camping Character Memories Outdoor Pursuits Outdoors Scouting

A Tale of Old Boots

These Boots Were Made for Walking

March 2011

In a part of the corridor, just by the stairs by the front door, lies a pair of Old Black Boots. It’s been quite a while since they have been walking. And if their owner were truthful – they could do with a bit of a clean.  The hooks holding the laces crusted with dirt, their leather is worn from the passing of time having seen many a moorland excursion. Lakeland water now pools at the toes.

But they still feel right. As if once put on, they could take their owner from their Salford home out to the hills of Perpignan and back again, covering miles along the way and without a mutter or moan.

Rugby Boots and Training shoes might be fine for a sportsman at Old Trafford but they don’t cut it on the fields of the West Yorkshire Moors. If these boots could talk, the tales they would tell – of covering rocky paths once stepped by Roman Legionaries, of campfire ditties sung round old ancient stones, and of moonlight illuminating mugs of steaming hot Beef Tea.

They’d sit outside tents so the groundsheet stayed clean, and leave their owner a morning surprise if they hadn’t been left under the flysheet. They would walk for miles as their owner crossed field and moor, praying that they would avoid the hidden cowpats. Of course they’d get cleaned on one day, just before parade, as the group amassed around a solitary flagpole.

Where they’ll go next, is anyone’s guess. But for now they just sit on the varnished wooden shelf, looking quite a sight with dark brown Yorkshire mud entrapped in the soles. They look at themselves in the tall hallway mirror and think of the streams they’ve crossed and the moors they’ve run, the bracken broken for kindling and stiles climbed in fun.