Wimped out this weekend as I had a wedding on Saturday and a hangover on Sunday.....well I would have made the effort but did you see the weather?!! I know, I know, I can't peek out of my tent at 18000 feet and say I'm not going out 'cos it is too cold, but hey it was another excuse to go back to Cotswolds and swap my 'swapped' boots again. I figure if I go there enough times they'll give them to me to keep me away. Naturally I also came away with something else, a pair of waterproof trousers if you must know, and I was also eyeing up some base layers. I really need to stay out of that shop. Anyway the weekend wasn't an entire washout as the lovely Bec and Gary allowed me to put a bucket or two out at their wedding which brought in a tasty £100 worth of donations. Add that to the £51 that Linzi made courtesy of her mum's pub quiz on Sunday night, and a couple more personal donations (thank you), brings me to £3213.81, only £182 shy of my current target of £3295!! Looks like the ducks at the MAD DUCK RACE (6th May Pentewan River) are going to cross the line first. Plenty more available at £2 a duck..OR some fine young ladies will be shaking their tins in Fore Street and White River, St Austell on Saturday 5th. My back stop is the Charity quiz night at The Band Club, East Hill, St Austell. £1 each, teams of 1-5 - let me know if you want to come along. It'll be a fun night, with DJ Len, a raffle and auction, and no hard questions - I promise!
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Monday, 30 April 2012
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Cotswolds
I need to sing Cotswolds, on Truro's Lemon Quay, praises. I bought my new walking boots from Cotswolds about 6 weeks ago. They've been giving me gyp for a few weeks now. I popped in yesterday to buy an insole or get some advice on lacing them but was suprised to be told they shouldn't have sold them to me as they were too big and offered to swap them for another pair (which I did). Amazingly good service. Also given 15% discount cos I'm doing the Trek for Cornwall Hospice Care. If you're a National trust member you get 10% off - give them a go!
A load of bullocks....
Bullocks
Hemmick Beach
Cornish shetland Ponies
Interesting fact: Hoofed and dangerous: Britain's killer cows :
Day 6: Gorran Haven to Lambowden Cove : 9 miles (10 in Ben's case) - 4 hours
Well I found a couple of willing accomplices today (and another dog) - Fran & Ben - thank you for coming along - it made the day more enjoyable. The day started as usual with me forgetting something. My camera and map as it happens. We set off from Gorran Haven in the sunshine towards Caerhays and what a beautiful stretch of coast this is. Poor Fran's boots had given up the ghost and she braved the muddy path in trainers. Bridie (Ben's dog) brought along her tennis ball and kept dropping it to be kicked, getting a number of boots to the chops and squashed paws for her efforts. Eventually I realised that if I hoofed it into a bush I wouldn't have to keep kicking it. Bridie was wise to this and just got a stick to throw instead. The weather held out until the most exposed part of the walk, Dodman Point, at which time the heavens opened, a la last week. A bit further on we came across a field full of bullocks. They didn't like Bridie much (see Bullock video above) but we pressed on. Ben had to be back for a family horse-riding event so we turned back after 3 hours (perhaps we should have done so a bit earlier?) and after another half hour Ben announced he would be running the remainder, as he was late. Fran and I left him to it. Even Bridie thought twice about following Ben, and with good reason. 30 mins later a very red looking Ben and bedraggled Bridie staggered across the front of us back in Gorran Haven and an incredulous Ben asked us whether we'd got a lift. I should have lied and said 'yes' but simply pointed out we'd sauntered along the road. Ben seems to have taken the scenic route - hare and the tortoise anyone?
Thought for the day: People can change when they realise that the pleasure of changing is greater than the pain of staying the same...
CLICK HERE TO DONATESaturday, 14 April 2012
Legends of Giants
Day 5 Bedruthan steps circular walk - 4.5 miles ( 2 hour
A view of the stone stacks which make up Bedruthan Steps. Photo: National Trust/David Sellman
Today was organised by Amy (green coat) who is the Challenge organiser for Cornwall Hospice Care as part of a regular get together for prospective trekkers. There were 14 (of 17) heading out to Peru next month and just 5 of us (2 no shows) of 11 signed up for the Himalayas in November. The good news is they are prepared to run the trip with just 11 of us. Amy will accompany us, as well as the Peruvians - nice job! Well you might be able to tell from the photos at the top that the weather was well....variable. The group photo saw a glimmer of sunlight and then the heavens opened half way around. Some of the cannier souls were wearing their waterproof trousers. Others had them with them but thought they'd press on without getting them out. And then there was me who hadn't even realised rain was forecast and hadn't packed any. I got well and truly soaked. Apparently it was sunny in Falmouth..Note to self - check before leaving. I've now discovered that however good your boots are, rain will track down trousers and get in there somehow. The scenery on the north coast is dramatic in any weather and this section of the coast is perhaps the most dramatic of all. Time passed very quickly in the company of others as we all exchanged stories. I was, however, mortified to hear from Amy that she's had a few calls from businesses who have received one of my letters requesting raffle / auction prizes and been required to pay additional postage because I hadn't put enough stamps on the envelopes. Doh!! Might harm my chances of getting anything in methinks. Too late now though as I've sent loads of them out. Oh well. That story was eclipsed by one of our young Himalayans hearing from Amy that she used to work for a Cruise liner but left because they didn't treat the staff very well. Our young yeti then broke it to her that that was the one he had been hoping to work for when he left college!!! Poor things...but it did raise a laugh.
Thanks to Tracey for looking after Oscar today.
Finally if you've yet to donate to the justgiving site and are enjoying my trials and tribulations please visit (link at bottom of page) and get me over the £3000 mark!!
Today was organised by Amy (green coat) who is the Challenge organiser for Cornwall Hospice Care as part of a regular get together for prospective trekkers. There were 14 (of 17) heading out to Peru next month and just 5 of us (2 no shows) of 11 signed up for the Himalayas in November. The good news is they are prepared to run the trip with just 11 of us. Amy will accompany us, as well as the Peruvians - nice job! Well you might be able to tell from the photos at the top that the weather was well....variable. The group photo saw a glimmer of sunlight and then the heavens opened half way around. Some of the cannier souls were wearing their waterproof trousers. Others had them with them but thought they'd press on without getting them out. And then there was me who hadn't even realised rain was forecast and hadn't packed any. I got well and truly soaked. Apparently it was sunny in Falmouth..Note to self - check before leaving. I've now discovered that however good your boots are, rain will track down trousers and get in there somehow. The scenery on the north coast is dramatic in any weather and this section of the coast is perhaps the most dramatic of all. Time passed very quickly in the company of others as we all exchanged stories. I was, however, mortified to hear from Amy that she's had a few calls from businesses who have received one of my letters requesting raffle / auction prizes and been required to pay additional postage because I hadn't put enough stamps on the envelopes. Doh!! Might harm my chances of getting anything in methinks. Too late now though as I've sent loads of them out. Oh well. That story was eclipsed by one of our young Himalayans hearing from Amy that she used to work for a Cruise liner but left because they didn't treat the staff very well. Our young yeti then broke it to her that that was the one he had been hoping to work for when he left college!!! Poor things...but it did raise a laugh.
Thanks to Tracey for looking after Oscar today.
Finally if you've yet to donate to the justgiving site and are enjoying my trials and tribulations please visit (link at bottom of page) and get me over the £3000 mark!!
Interesting fact?:
Some believe that the origin of the name stems from the legend of a giant named Bedruthan who used the stacks as stepping stones across the beach. Legends of giants abound in Cornwall. “It is the tradition of the country that a much larger race of men stalked over this ground”, writes J. T. Blight in 1861: the vibrations of their laughter shook the cliffs, their footprints marked the solid rocks, they hurled large stones, tossed them in games of quoits, arranged them in peculiar ways, or in the case of the Bedruthan Steps used them as stepping stones.
Ranking first on The Times best of British dramatic beaches list in 2009, the Bedruthan Steps is to be enjoyed with caution. The steps leading to the beach are steep and the staircase is closed in the winter months; swimming is prohibited due to strong currents and the beach all but disappears at high tide, so visitors should watch out for tide times before they venture down.
A memorial plaque at the top of the steps is dedicated to Alex Laurie who had drowned on these shores, a warning to visitors which does not seem to be heeded. Swimming aside, there are many rock pools with crystal clear water and of reasonable depth, plenty of caves and crevices to be explored. The views of the Atlantic are simply overwhelming.
Legends of Giants
Giants are traditionally creators of landscape features, especially associated with large isolated boulders or stones. In Cornwall, which Blight calls the “fabled land of giants”, there are many legends of giants, such as Bolster, John of Gaunt, Jack the Giant Killer, Wrath and Dan Dynas. They hurled rocks to each other in battle or threw boulders in games of quoits or in strength competitions; they were also known to take giant strides.
The Bedruthan giant of Cornwall is reportedly a late-19th-century invention of the locals for the benefit of the Victorian tourist. The Giant used the huge outcrops as stepping stones to cross the bay between Park Head and Berryl’s Point in the south. He was possibly inspired by the Bolster giant, who took a six-mile stride from St. Agnes Beacon to Carn Brea. The impressive volcanic rock stacks have been given names, like Samaritan and Queen Bess.
Bedruthan Steps Ordnance survey reference
200:SW849692
Sources
John Thomas Blight, A Week at Land’s End, London 1861.
Jennifer Westwood and Jacqueline Simpson (eds.), The Lore of the Land. A Guide to England’s Legends, from Spring-Heeled Jack to the Witches of Warboys, Penguin Books 2005.
Read more at Suite101: Legends of Giants in Cornwall, England: Bedruthan Steps Beach on Cornwall's Atlantic Coast | Suite101.com http://lito-apostolakou.suite101.com/legends-of-giants-a144664#ixzz1s33ROmXY
Thought for the day:
Pursue lifelong growth....how?
- At the start of each day, ask yourself 'How can I apply today what I learned about myself yesterday?'
- Decide to do something every day that stretches yourself
- Commit to comparing yourself only to former versions of you, not others.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Marilyns & Deep Throated Divers
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Day 4 - Pendower Beach - Portloe (return) - 8 miles - 4 hours
Easter weekend could mean only one thing - Yes, lousy weather. Well it was to start with. Someone needs to invent a jacket that takes itself going uphill and puts itself back on coming down, or at the top....So I parked at the end of Pendower and slipped a few Everest promotion cards onto unsuspecting motorists' windscreens. I wonder if such blatant self-promotion ever works?! I then set off across Carne Beach and underneath the Nare Hotel. I know it is posh because those on the beach actually said 'hello', and they weren't locals. Manners cost nothing. My book didn't cover this stretch. Just as well as it wouldn't describe the going as 'flat' and I might have avoided it. I skirted round an annoying holidaymaker who tried to negotiate a stile while conducting a business meeting on her mobile - why is it only my phone that won't work on the path? Round Nare Head, Manare Point and 4 miles later I arrived at picture postcard Portloe - deserted due to the weather. Note to self- Return and spend an afternoon in the pub there. I'm beginning to realise that the Public footpath signs have been twisted round for a laugh by someone. When I tried to traipse through someone's pond I realised it was time to get the map out. What no bus I hear you cry? Well I did spot one and was sorely tempted but I don't think Western Greyhound run in the Himilayas so I resisted the temptation. Feeling the pace I took a short cut back across the fields to Carne beach pausing only for an ice-cream served by a ubiquitous (polite) Eastern European teenager ?!! As I took my boots off I was shaken out of my stupor by an excited Yorkshire accent - did you see the black throated divers ?(http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackthroateddiver/videos.aspx) Realising he was probably talking about birds I feigned some interest out of politeness. Fatal. Although he was excited he was disappointed he hadn't seen any Red throated divers. Setting up an enormous tripod and camera I was then obliged to take a look at 5 of the very boring birds swimming about down below. Apparently Gerrans Bay is renowned for the things. He was with his long-suffering wife combining a visit to Cornwall to climb some Marilyns (he'd done all the Munros) with viewing this rare creature. Nice couple though. See below for Marilyns!! PS Aching a bit.
Interesting Fact? :
Marilyn (hill)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Marilyn is a mountain or hill in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland or Isle of Man with a relative height of at least 150 metres (492 ft), regardless of absolute height or other merit. The name was coined as a punning contrast to the designation Munro, used of a Scottish mountain with a height of more than 3,000 feet (914.4 m), which is homophonous with (Marilyn) Monroe.
There are 2,009 Marilyns identified: 1,216 in Scotland, 455 in Ireland (of which 66 are in Northern Ireland), 176 in England, 157 in Wales, 5 on the Isle of Man. Black Mountain, in the Black Mountains, on the border between England and Wales, was formerly counted in both countries but is now treated as being in Wales only.[1] The list of Marilyns in Britain was compiled by Alan Dawson in his book The Relative Hills of Britain,[2] and continues to change as resurveying produces revised heights for hills and the passes between them. The list was extended into Ireland by Clem Clements in a booklet, The Hewitts and Marilyns of Ireland.[3]
Thought for the day:
Find meaning through shared love. Identify who you can help because of what you've experienced.
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Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Booby's Bay
Day 3 - Trevone Bay to Porthcothan Bay - 7.5 miles / 3hrs 30 mins
Now that I've got your attention I can tell you I completed Day 3 last weekend, a respectable 7.5 miles in 3hrs 30 mins. More rugged north coast scenery, which my book described as 'fairly flat'. My legs said otherwise. The route was Trevone, Harlyn Bay, Mother Ivey's Bay, Trevose Head, Booby's Bay (far too cold for any of those), Constantine Bay, Treyarnon, and finally Porthcothan. The spring like weather of last weekend was long gone and the coat stayed firmly on. A feauture of my walks so far has been the sound of the sea and a tiny bird hovering above me all the way. Not being a bird fiend I had to look it up on my return and found it was this lovely little fella above - have a listen! Anyway, I expect you're all waiting for an update on my battle with the buses? I don't like to disappoint so here goes. I thought after last week I would print off a timetable (of the ubiquitous WG 556). Popped in my book with my boots, where it remained until I got back to the car some 4 hours later, having forgotten it when I put my boots on. Now I dimly remembered they ran every hour but I couldn't remember how many minutes past and from where. Not much use really. Anyway, I arrived at Portcothan and missed the bus by 5 mins with a 55 minute wait for the next one. Doh!!
Interesting fact:
Booby’s Bay, Cornwall
A booby is a seabird closely related to the gannet and can be seen diving off-shore in stormy weather which might explain the name. This four mile walk takes the walker popular stretch of the north Cornish coast offers walkers stunning views across Constantine Bay and onwards to the lighthouse at Trevose Head. There is the chance to see some rare species of bird and plant life, and hidden coves.
For more silly place names have a look at the National trust link :
http://www.ntsouthwest.co.uk/2011/04/national-trust-guide-to-silly-walks/
For more information call: 01208 863046.
Thought for the day:
Leave the world at least a little better than you found it.
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