news round-up

It's been all go in the last few weeks. Here's a selection of some of the newsworthy items that surprisingly did not make the national media.

Jubilee Celebrations - Tim & Gill Walker were very patriotic, putting up the Union Jack and St George's Cross on their garage. Meanwhile Ruth Walker was watching the Thames flotilla from a Battersea balcony, before retreating from all the razzamatazz to keep the weeds at bay in her allotment.

Sailing - Michael Walker joined YC and Rev & Mrs T for the jubilee weekend on the fine craft Stella Genesta. Mike, Graham & Nic Ashton were also there on Zephyr, and the crews found time for a small jubilee celebration with some champagne (hurrah).

LAMM - YC and Paul Hainsworth ventured forth again on the Lowe Alpine Mountain Marathon in Scotland. The venue was Ben Cruachan near Oban. It was - in no particular order - good fun, tough, and midge overload. More details here on the NFR website.

Emma Duff - has been accepted for ordination training in the Church of England. She will head off to theological college in the autumn armed with a Bible, study notes, and the Good Beer Guide (naturally).

left - on board Stella
right - flags to the fore in Lytham


left - Michael helming Stella at Cantley
right - Zephyr near Langley


left -Paul enjoying the boat ride to the start of the LAMM
right - high enough up (just) to escape the midge hoard

Birthday celebrations with The Middens

Gordon Duff celebrated his 60th birthday with a party at North Shields Rugby Club. YC was delighted to be invited and enjoyed catching up with the North Shields Duffs. Gordon had organised a band for the evening - which was The Middens, led by his nephew Aaron Duff. The band is named after The Black Middens [notorious rocks in the river Tyne below Collingwood's Monument]. YC was expecting the band to cover contemporary numbers, so was pleasantly surprised when they knocked out their own material plus numbers from the 60's and 70's.


left - Gordon and Michelle
right - The Middens

YC took a short grainy video of them performing "I fought the law", originally covered by The Clash. Music fans will wish to crank up the volume. Those taking a surreptitious peak at BN in the office are advised to turn the volume down. Warning - it's loud. The Middens are all 15-16 years old, and worth watching at one of their local gigs in Tyneside.

Old County Tops 2012

YC was back for his annual crack at The Old County Tops fell race on Saturday. It's a pairs race over Helvellyn, Scafell Pike, and Coniston Old Man with a mere 37 miles of running. He ran it with John Telfer (NFR) and very enjoyable it was too. Early snow and ice on Helvellyn gave way to clear views and even some sunshine by Coniston. YC and John completed the race in 9 hrs 15 mins - not bad for a V90 team who encouraged each other one when John flagged after Scafell Pike and then YC struggled towards the end. There was even time for some post race rehydration in the New Dungeon Ghyll afterwards (hurrah). Also there were Paul Myers and Nick Wild who ran round in 9 hours 43.

In a race this long, it's difficult to get competitive until the finishing straight is in sight. As we ran in with 3 other teams, JT demanded extra effort. A good line off the col by Blea Tarn took us away from 2 of the teams, but the other one was running well. However they didn't know the sneaky short-cut in front of Side House farm. As they ran round the back of the farm, JT led the charge round the front and we stole 100 yards to claim 33rd place out of 103.

left - John climbing Wythburn
right - YC's favourite part of the race, the descent into Upper Eskdale

left - looking back towards Scafell Pike from Great Moss, Upper Eskdale
right - celebrations in the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel

a few more photos here

Joss Naylor Challenge success

left - Paul leaving Kidsty Pike, High Street range in background
right - on Greendale Bridge with Joss Naylor (check shirt)

Paul Hainsworth completed the Joss Naylor Lakeland Challenge on Saturday. It's a 48 mile run with 17,000 ft of climbing from Pooley Bridge (Ullswater) to Greendale Bridge (Wasdale) and has to be completed in under 12 hours if you are in the V50 category. YC supported him (ie carried his kit/drinks etc) on leg one from Pooley Bridge to Kirkstone Pass. The weather was superb with a cool dry day, a following wind, and excellent visibility.

Paul was met at the finish by Joss Naylor who created the challange and lives in Greendale. Readers might have heard of Joss Naylor - he is a fellrunning great. Despite being V70 now, he is still very spry.

It was a grand day, and a tremendous achievement by Paul. In case readers are wondering, YC hasn't done the Joss Naylor Challenge. You have to be over 50 to qualify (no comments about YC's age please).

a few more photos here

St George's Day

Monday 23 April is St George's Day.  YC got into the mood with an evensong for St George at St Augustin's church today.  In the words of Rev T: "very little is known about St George".  What is known is that he was a Roman soldier who was martyred for his faith in the third century in modern day Palestine.  The other stuff - that he killed a dragon to defend a town and a fair maiden - came along later when he was adopted by the crusaders and then England as a patron saint.  He was firmly embedded in the nation's sympathies in Elizabethan times - "Cry God for Harry, England, and St George" said Henry V (according to Shakespeare) at the battle of Agincourt.

St George was martyred - but do readers actually know what this means?  YC assumed it meant someone who was killed for their faith.  But he learned tonight that martyr comes from the Greek word martus meaning "witness".  So St George can be an example to us all as a witness to his Christian faith.  Crumbs.  It's time to start singing along to your favourite school hymn (click here):

When a knight won his spurs in the stories of old,
He was gentle and brave, he was gallant and bold.
With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand,
For God and for valour he rode through the land.

sailing and fellracing

YC has just returned from an enjoyable week sailing on the fine craft Mimosa on the Broads. The weather varied from bracing (frost on the decks overnight), wet (Easter Monday had Norfolk's monthly rain in one day), to sunny (hurrah). Haunts visited included Geldeston, Thorpe, and Oooolton. Bird seen included numerous marsh harriers, avocets, and kingfishers. Beers drunk were Adnams, Greene King IPA, and Ferryman Bitter (to name but a few). After a week of training on beer, YC ran the Gisborough Moors race. This 12 miler takes in Captain Cook's Monument and Roseberry Topping. The unsettled weather continued - warm sunshine followed by a snow shower to end the race.

left - Mimosa at Geldeston Locks
right - moored at Brundall Church Fen

left - Lois & Andy enjoying some rare sunshine on the Waveney
right - Puck in the background near Haddiscoe

running off the beer at Gisborough Moors
photo courtesy of Dave Aspin
more sailing photos here

lion darting adventure

For those looking to inject a little more dar(t)ing excitement into their lives, YC recommends a spot of lion darting in Tembe, South Africa. His cousin Susan Miller has been doing just this. You can read some edited highlights here.


left - the intended targets inspecting the dart
right - the darts that provide biopsies for the lion research that Susan is doing