Fun at the Lakes
Andrea’s Thirtieth was celebrated in style at the weekend as we travelled with Graham and Beth to join Shona and Simon at the lakes for an adventure weekend! I had organised it with Shona as Simon was going with his firm and we were allowed to join them 
Straight after work on Friday night we set off with Graham at the wheel. We expected a 2 & 1/2 hour journey going by the google map directions… this turned out to be a little off. We were avoiding the possibly busy Carlisle (?!) by going as the crow flies. This however took us over the Pennines… literally. Hair pin bends, tight roads and steep gradients made a 30-odd mile stretch in the middle of our journey an arduous affair! By around 8.30 we were at a lake… not the right one though. It took us until 9.30 to actually locate the Birmingham Uni owned centre that was our home for the weekend.
We were greeted in style; food and beer awaited Shona and Simon arrived shortly after and we settled down to watch the end of Englands thrashing in the Rugby world cup and to play Beths new board game, lots of fun!
I was up and about at 6am the next morning and went for a stroll in the fog filled suroundings, a few piccys are at the start of the September Gallery. After breky we decided on our morning activity; Kayaking. We paddled to a near little island (when I say near, it was 4km there and 4km back!), where we stopped for a quick break and had a look around. That was the location for the photo above.
Andrea and Shona tried their hand at windsurfing in the afternoon while the rest of us took some mountain bikes on a scenic trip to the local town, Conniston. Both groups enjoyed themselves, the bikers frequenting a local public house while the girls took to the windsurfing.
That evening, after another few rounds of Beths “Apples to Apples” game, we headed off to the local pub. It was a fantastic little village centre point with low exposed beams, a roaring fire and a large litter of puppies! Around 10:45 the entertainment started, a blind guitar and harmonica player accompanied by a lute player. They kept the whole bar lively with some classic Irish music and we joined in with aplomb!
The next morning after an early start (8am breky, 9am activities!) we had to decide what to do in the face of strong winds and heavy rain. We settled on wet suiting up and trying gorge walking… and it was awesome. we all agreed it was our favourite activity. Graham looked like he might succeed in his main goal for the morning early on, keeping his testicles out of the water! However he soon realised he was destined to fail… we all ended up fully submerged at some point! The only down side was Beth trying to hang onto a rock too long and hurting her shoulder, hopefully she will be OK for a netball tournament next weekend.
After lunch and a quick tidy we made the trip home, this time via the speedy M6 and Carlise. It was back to reality quickly for Andrea, lots of planning and teaching for the coming week.
John and Andrea.
September 18th, 200711:32 pm at
Hi guys. Found it on the map and all sounds good. Well done with your jobs you fellahs
September 21st, 200711:12 pm at
Some great photos again from such a lovely part of the country.
I was in Bakewell and the Peak District, equally nice and well worth a visit (though not the 90 minutes at Pride Park the next night)
Do us all a favour and do not allow any beach photos from Ibiza on this site !!!!
Cheers
September 24th, 20075:41 pm at
Aye that tells the story pretty spot on. Totally enjoyed the weekend, cheers again for the invite and to shona and simon for allowing us to go, great!!
September 26th, 20077:49 am at
Thanks sooo much to you guys for coming
It was the best birthday celebration ever!
)
So great to get out to nature and tear it up. A bit dissapointed with my windsurfing efforts, but I’ll put that down to my high centre of gravity. Back to school now, and grown-up job for john. JOY!
Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes and commisserations. Can’t wait for a few more of you to join me at the big 30!
Loads a Love
Kiwi (Not John, as it says above!
September 26th, 200710:12 pm at
MORE than 300 pupils had to be sent home after their school was infested with rats.
Parents were told to keep their children away from St Bernadette’s RC Primary, in Wallsend, for two days last week as environmental health experts were called in.
Staff discovered rat droppings in two store rooms, including one for PE equipment, when they returned for the new school year.
Rentokil was called out, poison put down and several dead rats were later removed from one of the store rooms.
Despite now sorting the problem, parents have criticised the school for closing so soon into the new term and are questioning why a teacher or caretaker did not notice the problem during the summer holidays.
One mum said: “It would have been a real inconvenience to all the working parents as they would have had to take time off at short notice. We only got letters about it on Tuesday evening last week and the school was closed on the Thursday and Friday.
“I can see why it had to be dealt with quickly, but why wasn’t the problem spotted in the holidays? Failing that, why couldn’t they have done the work during the weekend?”
Parents are concerned children will miss out on sports lessons as it is believed some PE equipment had to be thrown out.
A woman whose grandson is in the reception class, said: “We got a letter on Monday saying a lot of resources, including PE equipment, would have to be replaced. It’s a real shame if some children miss out in the meantime and it will cost a lot to replace everything.”
North Tyneside Council stresses the school dealt with the issue as quickly as possible and that children were not put at any risk.
The authority’s environmental health section and Rentokil, with whom the council has a contract, were informed and the store rooms were cleared.
Rentokil says there are no rats left in the school.
A council spokeswoman said: “Following the summer holidays it was discovered the school had a minor rodent infestation. At no time did the experts feel that any of the children were at risk and the problem has now been dealt with.
“As a precaution the school was closed for two days last week so that work could take place to ensure the situation would not recur. Parents were informed of the closure and the school re-opened as scheduled on Monday.”
Although there was no evidence of rats having been anywhere else in the school, the roof void space was cleaned and all the drains around the school were flushed.
The two storerooms were cleaned and disinfected.
September 26th, 200710:13 pm at
October 1st, 20078:07 am at
St. B’s?
Have I been to that school?
Most school dinners I have had have been pretty awesome.
I do like my food.
Must be a natural born Udberg