Manx Rover's Ramblings
59 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 1 year ago -Series 1 relives the feel-good exploits of a young-at-heart retiree who walked Wainwright's 191 mile Coast-to-Coats Path through Northern England's breath-taking countryside. Series 2 recounts the early life of an eager traveller who was fatefully cast ashore in the 'lucky country', Australia. Series 3 remains a mystery, so let's wait and see, shall we?
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Episodes
The Reluctant Conformist 20(ending purified) - I, Magnus’s pneuma (πνεῦμα) visits the ‘Ever When’: The Finale made complete.
September 02, 2022 01:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MBMagnus’s nascent pneuma is captivated and charmed, yet senses utter isolation at his first encounter with ‘Liminal Time’. His habitation of the ‘Present Tense’ is somewhat akin to reading the final page of a ‘Who-Done-It’. He knows whose throat was slit and by whom, but remains clueless of the Who, What, Where, When, How and Why of all else! He’s in a dark place, and very much alone. A single chime from a tubular glass bell trembles the void, shattering the blackness, reviving and engaging ...
The Reluctant Conformist 18 & 19 (Chapter 10) should never have been divided into two episodes – here it is with truly thunderous TRUE IMPACT!
August 30, 2022 23:00 - 20 minutes - 14 MBMagnus drifted through life with no defined purpose nor focused ambition. He enjoyed his own company and was perfectly content pursuing his current interests. One troublesome issue which dogged him throughout his life however, was the unwanted attention of others. These intrusions were generally sidestepped, but on occasion became difficult. Magnus never looked for trouble; it seemed to seek him out. On this occasion, supermarket checkout provocation proved impossible to avoid and ended in m...
The Reluctant Conformist 20 I, Magnus’s ‘πνέω’, visit the ‘Ever When’: The Finale.
July 21, 2022 00:00 - 13 minutes - 9.37 MBMagnus’s nascent pneuma is captivated and charmed, yet senses utter isolation at his first encounter with ‘Liminal Time’. His habitation of the ‘Present Tense’ is somewhat akin to reading the final page of a ‘Who-Done-It’. He knows whose throat was slit and by whom, but remains clueless of the Who, What, Where, When, How and Why of all else! He’s in a dark place, and very much alone. A single chime from a tubular glass bell trembles the void, shattering the blackness, reviving and engaging ...
The Reluctant Conformist 19 how swiftly life swings; elation to humiliation, celebrity to animosity?
July 13, 2022 23:00 - 10 minutes - 7 MBCongested tension generates checkout mayhem and worse. He lay still, as though resting, as his father had done on Little Mill Road, Kerrowdhoo, on that chilly Saturday morning 1948.
The Reluctant Conformist 18 a stellar year full of ‘Great Expectations’.
July 06, 2022 23:00 - 10 minutes - 7.18 MBSoothing noises were emanating from Paris concerning the authentication of Magnus’s Picasso plate. The French Canals looked promising as a lifestyle alternative to suburbia. Magnus never looked for trouble; it seemed to seek him out. Even the Saturday madhouse of a local supermarket provided its challenges. Checkout provocation usually ended in tears.
The Reluctant Conformist 17 “It’s not A Picasso; I believe it to be The Picasso!”
June 29, 2022 22:00 - 11 minutes - 8.1 MB“Whilst perusing the Willie Leece photographs online(http://willieleece.blogspot.com), I noticed your other blog: Is this a Picasso?. (http://picassoceramic.blogspot.com) What the story?” “It’s a magnificent piece,” Dorothea enthused. “It’s even more wonderful than I imagined.”
The Reluctant Conformist 16 is this a Picasso? Magnus believed so. See for yourself: -(http://picassoceramic.blogspot.com)
June 22, 2022 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MB“It reads like a Picasso. It’s right in its vocabulary; more painting than ceramic,” the Sotheby’s connoisseur affirmed enthusiastically, holding the plate securely in the crook of his arm. “It’s alive with his wit and playfulness. Where did you get it?” The Paris based Picasso Administration’s swift reply stated, ‘From the information provided, and only that, we do not think your plate is from the hands of Pablo Picasso’. Magnus’s cause of action was clear. He’d take the plate to Paris so ...
The Reluctant Conformist 15 a LOST MASTERPIECE (?), with Basque hospitality spiced up with chili peppers.
June 15, 2022 23:00 - 14 minutes - 9.98 MBMeet our vibratingly sexy Sybil Fawlty lookalike landlady who instigated the ‘dookling foot’ episode. And: - At the back of the shop, on a chair seat, alongside a red rusty, two-metre-tall, cast iron Jesus sat a grubby heavily glazed ceramic plate which catapulted Magnus deeper into the secretive, murky and unregulated world of fine arts.
The Reluctant Conformist 14, the McAulay’s sanctuary became Robin’s Croft in the postal district of Kerrowdhoo, Onchan Parish.
June 08, 2022 22:00 - 15 minutes - 10.5 MBRobin’s Croft was a dilapidated seventeenth century stone cottage with the luxury of a cold water tap, but having no kitchen, gas, electricity nor sanitation. However, they’d survived the war and had a roof over their heads. For the first time four-year-old Magnus had a friend his own age. Andrew lived nearby beneath the trees of Fairy Glen and was the only son of a Polish taxidermist who dealt in rabbit skins and feathers. A catastrophic death in the family may, or may not have resulted f...
The Reluctant Conformist 13 Magnus’s adventures along a coastal pilgrimage trail.
June 02, 2022 22:00 - 16 minutes - 11.5 MBExtra Sensory Perception (ESP) may activate Arterial Fibrillation amongst susceptible pilgrims. A cubist inspired shrine in which 80year old Yoko Ono’s power of imagination shine. Magnus is one of millions who remain impacted by Hitler’s ambitions.
The Reluctant Conformist 12, an art exhibition by one of ‘His Majesty’s Most Loyal Enemy Alien’ WW II internees, sparks a treasure hunt for a missing masterpiece.
May 25, 2022 22:00 - 12 minutes - 8.9 MBMagnus records the unique artistry of Willie Leece, the modest creator of a unique style of rural assemblage sculpture. The ‘Hedge’ art works of this quietly thoughtful Manx farmer are selected to be hung alongside a blockbuster travelling Tate Gallery exhibition for a giant of the twentieth century’s artistic fraternity, Herr Kurt Schwitters. An unforeseen consequence of the Dadaist’s exhibition propels Magnus towards entering his artistic endeavours for London’s Royal Academy of Art su...
The Reluctant Conformist 11, our hero holds a joint art exhibition with a legendary Dadaist painter and Merz poet.
May 18, 2022 23:00 - 14 minutes - 10.1 MBMagnus’s photographs preserve the singular contribution made to the world art scene by a modest Manx farmer’s unique creative flair. The incomparable and unrecognised ‘Hedge’ sculptures of Willie Leece are jointly exhibited with a giant of the twentieth century’s avant-garde art fraternity; a onetime ‘Most Loyal Enemy Alien’ of King George VI, Herr Kurt Schwitters.
The Reluctant Conformist (10) Singapore, a diluted Cherokee, marooned on a volcanic island, and a gorgeous apparition.
May 11, 2022 22:00 - 12 minutes - 8.8 MBIt wasn’t all misery! The shore-side base was Singapore, and in the early 1970’s it remained a mysterious and exotic place to explore. The ancient DC3 bounded and skipped along the rough grass airstrip rapidly gathering speed. With an almighty explosion, the starboard propeller stopped dead, the plane slewed violently sideways, and all was white-faced stillness and silence. And there they were, with a broken aeroplane, somewhere in the South China Sea, trapped on a narrow strip of land o...
The Reluctant Conformist (9) an exploding oilrig, a shipping disaster, flaming seas, and entre the exotic Sophia Elizabeth.
May 04, 2022 22:00 - 13 minutes - 9.64 MBMagnus lived under no delusions about his own importance. If he was injured or killed on the rig, he’d be flown ashore, immediately replaced, and just as quickly forgotten On shore leave, Magnus, at one of Darwin’s notorious ‘Late Nights’ dance parties met the mascara-eyed, choker-wearing, adventurous blond, Sophia Elizabeth. Over the coming months, they became wonderfully close, spending most of their time together when he was ashore.
The Reluctant Conformist (8) Elvis in the Sahara, offshore in the Adriatic, then Australia bound.
April 27, 2022 23:00 - 13 minutes - 9.39 MBJust three weeks after leaving England, Magnus was bouncing across the Algerian Desert in the back of a long-wheel-based Land Rover. The vehicle was jam-packed with robed and turban clad Arabs and desert dwelling Berbers. Before heading Down Under, our hero enjoyed a stint aboard off-shore rigs drilling the Adriatic Sea bed for oil. Perhaps Magnus was bad luck as no oil was found.
The Reluctant Conformist (7) kismet’s gift; education as replacement for whale blubber on toast.
April 20, 2022 22:00 - 11 minutes - 7.76 MBMagnus started work with Hawker Siddeley in the autumn of 1964. Providence, destiny, or mere chance guided Magnus to the greener pastures of aviation and away from a seafarer’s life toiling in the oppressive and claustrophobic hell-hole of ships engine rooms.
The Reluctant Conformist (7) kismet’s gift; education as replacement for whale blubber on toast.
April 20, 2022 22:00 - 11 minutes - 7.76 MBMagnus started work with Hawker Siddeley in the autumn of 1964. Providence, destiny, or mere chance guided Magnus to the greener pastures of aviation and away from a seafarer’s life toiling in the oppressive and claustrophobic hell-hole of ships engine rooms.
The Reluctant Conformist (6) a whale of a time at Hamburg’s notorious dockside haunt, The Cabbage Patch.
April 13, 2022 23:00 - 14 minutes - 10.3 MBAfter a stint in the dole queue, Magnus’s receives a new job offer. His potential employer was one of the biggest whaling companies in the world, with a blubber rendering slaughterhouse on the isolated island of South Georgia. This icy and windswept hell was located in the South Atlantic Ocean approximated due east of Cape Horn and a mere 12 degrees of latitude north of the Antarctic Circle. For Magnus, working in a ship’s engine room was akin to going on a country drive whilst cooped up un...
The Reluctant Conformist (5) a seahorse attack and in Savannah, Georgia, all are warned: Beware! Moonshine Kills.
April 10, 2022 07:00 - 16 minutes - 11.1 MBIt wasn’t only appearances that needed to be spruced-up to meet the required standard of the officers’ dining saloon; a sailor’s immune system also needed a booster. Magnus was pleased to benefit from the years of research into tetanus, cholera, yellow fever, typhoid and smallpox. In January 1963, Magnus joined the steam turbine powered, semi-refrigeration ship, City of Winchester, outbound for Australia.
The Reluctant Conformist (4) has his first encounter with the unknown.
April 01, 2022 01:00 - 10 minutes - 7.42 MBMagnus subconsciously writes and star in his own erratic play. Act one exposes the dangers of self-reliance at the tender age of sixteen. Initially our ‘star’ opted for hedonism over applied scholarship, but fate intervenes to nudge him towards resurrection.
The Reluctant Conformist (3) prepares to take a leap into the unknown.
March 24, 2022 23:00 - 12 minutes - 8.78 MBAfter failing to become a budding Field Marshal Montgomery understudy in the British Army, Magnus was obliged take a different tack. The call of the sea was in his blood, or so he was lead to believe. It looked as though a life on the ocean waves lay ahead, or was it a hazardous lee shore?
The Reluctant Conformist’s stoush with and wariness of, ‘Authority'.
March 18, 2022 01:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MBFollowing the Army entrance exams, the aspirants, predominantly from privileged private schools, awaited their fate in a small conference room. When ‘Mr McAulay’ was called, Magnus followed the subaltern into a stark room that veritably crackled with razor-edged military crispness. The seeds of Magnus’s guarded approach to authority were sown well before the art teacher denied him entry for the GCE school leaving certificate: Magnus wasn’t even entered for the examination even though he’...
The Reluctant Conformist 1 A Warrior’s Heritage Over Stated, or ‘Checkmate Granddad’.
March 09, 2022 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MBApart from observing what those around him on the island did to earn a living, Magnus remained ignorant of what employment possibilities existed, what job requirements were, or what most professions entailed. Like everybody else, he didn’t know what he didn’t know, and didn’t even know that. Magnus’s naïve reasoning was that, if somebody who was unable to master disciplined walking was acceptable to the British Army, anyone could get in.
A Warrior’s Heritage Over Stated, or ‘Checkmate Granddad’.
March 09, 2022 23:00 - 15 minutes - 10.7 MBApart from observing what those around him on the island did to earn a living, Magnus remained ignorant of what employment possibilities existed, what job requirements were, or what most professions entailed. Like everybody else, he didn’t know what he didn’t know, and didn’t even know that. Magnus’s naïve reasoning was that, if somebody who was unable to master disciplined walking was acceptable to the British Army, anyone could get in.
Coast to Coast 32: The End, or the Launch of a Laggard’s Literary Life?
March 02, 2022 22:00 - 13 minutes - 9.26 MBThis is the FINAL episode of Retirement Blues Goodbye In wasn’t just the smell of the flowers; the enchantment of rolling hills, dales and moors; slow motion walking through torrential rain; being in good company; or breakfast with the ‘Mad Hatter’ that made our adventure worthwhile, it was ‘letting things go’. Along the way, issues that had previously seemed important were forgotten or relegated to a place where they could be attended to in due course. Or, to paraphrase Socrates’s critiqu...
Coast to Coast 31 the ‘End of the Line’ prize; a lifelong ‘Shot in the Arm’.
February 24, 2022 00:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MBThe heavens, having rained themselves dry, radiated a pale greenish glow which brightened the tumbled stack of cottages that is Robin Hood’s Bay. The higgledy-piggledy houses appeared to cling limpet-like to the cliff face to prevent them sliding into the sea far below. That evening, near the beach, Peter was drawn to a signpost that pointed south towards the distant cliff. The sign displayed two weathered words: ‘Cleveland Way’. “I don’t want to stop now,” Peter said with deep regret r...
Coast to Coast 30. a Yorkshire ‘monsoon’: shiveringly cold, but Heaven on Earth to the devout rambler.
February 16, 2022 22:00 - 14 minutes - 10.2 MBSuddenly a mighty squall was upon us. A lashing headwind drove raindrops straight at us. Rain on the face and the curiously comforting staccato drumming of heavy raindrops on the tight fitting hood, close against my ears, gave the final day a hint of the surreal. It was like main-streaming Morse code directly into the brain’s pleasure centre. The message was loud and clear: ‘Fantastic! Wouldn’t be dead for quids.’
Coast to Coast 29 to Littlebeck Farm where we dined like Epicurean gods.
February 11, 2022 02:00 - 16 minutes - 11.3 MBGetting lost wasn’t easy, but we did. After a wretched time battling the quagmire of bog holes and waist high tussock grass, we arrived where we started, and, knowing the place for the second time, found the path almost immediately. Dinner was a rare and incomparable experience. Perhaps an outsider would have regarded it as an ordinary three course meal. For those dining it was a mammoth undertaking that left everyone replete, exhausted and content.
Coast to Coast 28 Glaisdale, Whitby, Dracula, wild salmon reminiscent of Claude Jeremiah Greengrass.
February 03, 2022 04:00 - 11 minutes - 7.75 MBThe trek from The Lion Inn to Glaisdale was the shortest section we’d walked and so we had time for a little sightseeing at the North Sea fishing port of Whitby. This seaside town is high on the tourist must visit list, not only for its crispy cod and chips, but also thanks to a notorious visitor. In July 1890, Bram Stoker’s Count Dracula was hoist ashore in Whitby, accompanied by a shipment of wooden casks filled with earth from the ancestral grave. There’s no shortage of things to eat and ...
Coast to Coast 27 an eerie stroll by Yorkshire’s Fat Betty towards Great Fryup Lane.
January 26, 2022 23:00 - 10 minutes - 7.07 MBThere was no need for sunscreen this morning. The besieging mist limited visibility with a veil of damp greyness that chilled the face and numbed the hands. The opaque blanket clung low to the soggy earth squeezing the acrid stench of marsh gas between its folds. All sound was stifled, like the muffled oars of a smuggler’s skiff passing close offshore on a raw winter’s night. Walking on the springy grass proved to be a surprisingly agreeable experience. A grey world of misty dampness parte...
Coast to Coast 26 to The Lion Inn with its ancient cock fighting pit.
January 19, 2022 23:00 - 11 minutes - 8.21 MBThe air was heavy with the scent of heather and the musky tang of damp moorland soil. For miles around the yellow, green, russet and purple/browns fused like the dusty autumnal tones of a well-worn Bedouin rug. “I’ve walked New Zealand’s Milford Sound and to the Base Camp on Everest,” the Aussie stated. “But the walk I’ve enjoyed most is the Coast to Coast going as you are, west to east.”
Coast to Coast 25 tramping Captain James Cook’s childhood playground.
January 12, 2022 22:00 - 17 minutes - 12 MBFrom the beginning, Peter and I had regarded the trek as a sort of quest, a diversion from the norm rather than a test of our fortitude or stamina. As our journey progressed, it evolved into an on-going adventure to be lived within – a taste of forgotten freedom. In Great Broughton there were two places to dine. For only the third time on the trip someone called heads when they should have chosen tails. The result was stale, flat beer and bad food. Even the horror of Hugh’s gravy encrust...
Coast to Coast 24 ‘Farewell’ Danby Wiske: ‘Welcome’ Ingleby Cross.
January 06, 2022 19:00 - 15 minutes - 10.9 MB“You’re not having another shower are you?” our diminutive landlord protested in dismay. “You had one only yesterday.” Later, we chanced upon Hugh of Gibbsland who was still grappling with the mysteries of map and compass. Needless to say, he was heading in the wrong direction and became ensnared in a clump of tall reeds and briars on an overgrown river bank.
Coast to Coast 23 Danby Wiske the village that outwitted hospitality.
December 29, 2021 22:00 - 12 minutes - 8.82 MBIn a secluded corner a slightly groggy and bewildered beast stood next to the path. It watched over a calf lying on the grass trying to raise its head. Both animals were exhausted and bloodied. Clearly the cow had given birth to the calf only moments before. We stood quietly by and watched the calf scrambling to raise itself. I felt extremely privileged to have witnessed the newborn calf stand and suckle for the first time. There was no evidence of hospitality in Danby Wiske. The inn loc...
Coast to Coast 22 Danby Wiske cheered by a gaggle of trudging eccentrics.
December 23, 2021 23:00 - 12 minutes - 8.48 MBFurther on, the landscape changed. Stone walls gave way to hawthorn hedges, cattle replaced sheep and fallow meadow were tilled and sawn. We had entered the Vale of York, the long flat wooded plain between Swaledale and the Cleveland Hills. The rich farmland wasn’t solely good for cash crops; it was also a winemakers’ field of plenty with wide swaths of elder bush hedges, heavy with purple berries waiting to be harvested for fermentation.
Coast to Coast 21 Richmond feet-up day and a garlic fix forgone.
December 16, 2021 21:00 - 7 minutes - 5.1 MBIn the space of two hours we’d glimpsed garlic heaven and endured culinary hell. No mean achievement for a Friday night in a small North Yorkshire market town. The landlady proved to be a gem. Her helpfulness and, more importantly, her stylish smoked salmon with scrambled eggs, made our stay at the Old Brewery such a pleasure it assuaged sad memories of Richmond’s missed opportunities and the ‘hold-the-spuds’ Lamb Henry of the night before.
Coast to Coast 20 to Richmond in a monsoon-like deluge.
December 09, 2021 23:00 - 18 minutes - 12.9 MBWalking at a steady pace in the rain promoted a pleasant feeling of detached solitude, a state of mind similar to meditation. The rhythmically paced footfalls became the mantra that freed the observer within to watch the mind at play. The close patter of rain on my hood was wonderfully personal and intimate. In no time, my feet were sloshing about in spongy misshapen boots. The combination of wet grass, pouring rain and the run-off from my leggings had turned each boot into a footbath.
Coast to Coast 19 Reeth with an enslaved yellow crested cockatoo.
December 02, 2021 00:00 - 13 minutes - 9.02 MBFrom Keld, there was little doubt we’d make it to Robin Hood’s Bay provided we avoided accidents or the hailed Rumpsfeltish – unknown unknowns. Keld is the only place where the ‘best’ walk in England (The Coast to Coast Path) and the ‘best known’ walk in the British Isles (The Pennine Way) merged. Like many in competition, their meeting is furtive and brief, with no outright winner evident.
Coast to Coast 18 Kirkby Stephen lost its’ hairpiece.
November 25, 2021 21:00 - 13 minutes - 9.25 MBThe cool breeze strengthened to a squall, pressing clothes close and tight. A light drizzle flurried in the air making it a woollen-hat-over-the-ears day. Mother Nature had called to say “hello” and give us a gentle reminder that the Pennine Hills could be a changeable, bleak and dangerous place to be. A cantankerous Texel ram froze Peter and I with a challenging Catalan stare that proclaimed, ‘This is my patch and don’t you forget it’. Not before the ram was sure we’d got the message, d...
Coast to Coast 17 Orton to Kirkby Stephen with salvaged spectacles.
November 18, 2021 01:00 - 17 minutes - 12.4 MBIt was easy to visualise a stagecoach and four rounding the corner on a quiet Sunday afternoon, and draw to a halt at the steps of the King’s Arms Hotel. The Cumberland Sausage at the Black Bull was the real thing, an appetising coil, nearly a foot and a half long, that covered the large dinner plate. It appeared the Cumberland Sausage had moved on and forsaken its homeland to take up residence in Yorkshire.
Coast to Coast 16 Orton with roast beef of Old England.
November 10, 2021 23:00 - 11 minutes - 7.77 MBA nearby cairn marked the final resting place of Robin Hood. What with Robin Hood’s Chair overlooking Ennerdale Water, Robin Hood’s grave at Wicker Street, and our final destination of Robin Hood’s Bay, the names, even if imaginary, lent a sense of place and time to the overall trail. Back at the farm, Sheila sent us off to bed with a cup of tea and a wedge of homemade cake.
Coast to Coast 15 to Orton via an ancient packhorse toll bridge.
November 04, 2021 23:00 - 11 minutes - 7.78 MB“To come here, I disregarded my doctor’s advice, pooh-poohed my son’s pleas, and didn’t once pray for divine intervention,” stated Bryn with defiant steeliness. “And you know what? I don’t give a Continental!” Occasionally, birdsong brightened the sharp morning air with the magic trills not heard on the mountain tops. The stark beauty of the Lake District National Park gave way to the well-tended patchwork of a tamed landscape.
Coast to Coast 14 Bampton with a cremated sticky date pudding.
October 27, 2021 22:00 - 11 minutes - 8.17 MBDew Drop, or Bryn as we later learned, was lively and engaging company. It took only a couple of pints to transform the mischievous rapscallion of the mountain tops, into an independently minded nonconformist. Even though he experienced great difficulty walking, Bryn was eager to revisit the Lake District; the playground of his youth. The staggering shuffle across the mountain tops was his first respite in many years.
Coast to Coast 13 mist and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on a mountaintop.
October 21, 2021 22:00 - 12 minutes - 8.76 MBAt Angle Tarn it was easy to understand the bond that connects mankind with the land. No claim of contracted possession, only the ‘oneness’ that extends back to ‘The Beginning’. Our Land! An extension of ourselves! The land we sprang from, the earth we’re part of, the place where we belong and to which we will return.
Coast to Coast 12 Patterdale with thanks for the ‘just-in-time’ commode.
October 14, 2021 23:00 - 11 minutes - 7.67 MBOur farm-stay digs were a foxhunters Mecca. Mounted above the sideboard, in a display cabinet, a fox sat perfectly still amidst a stage-set rural scene. The stuffed animal fixed would-be diners with an unblinking glassy stare. It was madness to overlook Wainwright’s haven whilst distracted by a ‘Test Match’ silly mid-off or long leg. After all, ‘the wise man, when he walks, just walks’.
Coast to Coast 11 Shirley, and her Patterdale fox hunting trophies.
October 08, 2021 01:00 - 15 minutes - 10.8 MBNeither birdsong nor creaking trees are heard in that desolate place. A chorus of gushing waterfalls and gurgling streams is the music of the mountaintops. That night, the long forgotten sleep of the innocent came to call. Not a single sound spoiled the silence of the black night. The farmhouse, well-rehearsed over centuries, was up to the task of refreshing guests with the spiritual nourishment of untroubled slumber.
Coast to Coast 10 a belligerent old codger on the Patterdale track.
October 01, 2021 01:00 - 16 minutes - 11.1 MBThe air was chilled and humid, the breeze strong and blustery, and the sky dark and low. Unlike the furtive mist that caressed the cheeks, the storm’s calling card was a shotgun blast of icy droplets full in the face. It was when battling the misty storm that Mr Catastrophe whispered, ‘G’day’.
Coast to Coast 9 Grasmere via mysterious Greenup Edge.
September 22, 2021 23:00 - 11 minutes - 8.06 MBRamblers get lost at Greenup Edge! However, just below this confusing ridge is the easiest walking of all the high-level sections from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, and is certainly something not to be missed. The all-round views are amongst the most dramatic in all Lakeland. Below, nestling by a lake is Grasmere – reputed to be one of the prettiest villages in England, and once home to the eighteenth century poet, William Wordsworth.
Coast to Coast 8 tramping towards Grasmere on blister-free feet.
September 16, 2021 23:00 - 11 minutes - 7.74 MB‘Good morning’, everywhere to everybody by everyone. Often the path was a stony rivulet with runoff gushing around large boulders that doubled as steppingstones. Gaelic ‘drumlins’, formed during the last Ice Age adorned the landscape.
Coast to Coast 7 dinner, bed and breakfast at Rosthwaite
September 08, 2021 22:00 - 14 minutes - 9.67 MBEven though the day had been dull, damp and dismal, the walking had been exciting, the weather exhilarating and the landscape spectacular. The Royal Oak Hotel, ‘William Wordsworth slept here’. Minestrone soup, Cumbrian roast ham with the biggest jacket potato I’d ever seen, and to finish off – pear Bakewell tart. Good night!