5 tips for the Falkirk Wheel

The Falkirk Wheel is a unique piece of engineering as it is the only rotating boat lift (of its kind) in the world. The Wheel opened in 2002 to connect the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It lifts boats up 24 metres and then locks allow the last 11 metres to be covered:

With the current pandemic there are more restrictions so here are my top tips:

1. You must book online in advance as boats are running at 1/3 capacity.
2. Choose a dry day when possible as there is a lot to explore on the site, plus the boat windows won't steam up as much!
3. Food is limited so bring snacks.
4. Bikes could be useful to get you to the Kelpies 4 miles away.
5. Take your parking ticket to the centre to pay (£3) before returning to the car.

Our drive to the wheel was just over an hour so we allowed time to get a coffee before our trip. This meant that we also got to watch the previous trip boat go up and down on the wheel. To keep everyone safe boarding procedures meant that we had to go on as our group and then get seated spread across the cabin. They had also turned off the air system which normally keeps the windows clear:

We were aboard the Archimedes, named after the man whose discovery enables the wheel to function. The boat sailed into the cradle and then slowly rotated to the top:

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The cradle docks onto the top of the structure and then a gate drops to allow water to flow between canal and cradle.  Then the boat sails over the elevated section of the canal:

A tunnel has been carefully dug through the hillside. Above it are roman remains from the Antonine Wall and below it are old mine workings. We passed through and then turned before reaching the locks to head back down:

The boat then reversed its ride by going back down to the lower canal basin. We then walked around to get another look at the wheel and canal:

My mum and I walked along a bit further to try to get to the roman fort and parts of the Antonine Wall but got too wet so headed back to the car. It turned out we had got really close... oh well next time! This is a taste of the video footage I took (hard to film in the condensation coated cabin):

After our visit we drove off to see the Kelpies..

Pokémon Go - Level 39

In case you don't know Pokémon Go is a smartphone game that enables you to hunt down Pokémon in the real world and take part in virtual battles. Pokémon began as a video game on Game Boys in 1995. Since then trading cads, cartoons and films have made it the highest grossing media franchise of all time. It has been a while since I blogged about one of our Pokémon Go walks or raids. My son had lost interest over the last few years so I hadn't played quite so much. However, lockdown and daily walks got him back in and I have finally hit the 2nd highest level:

I started playing 3 years ago and it is amazing how far I have walked and places I have been to in that time:

The motto of the game is gotta catch 'em all and I have been doing my best to fill up my Pokédex. New regions get released which match up with the video games and cartoon series. I have also been making my Pokémon as powerful as possible to do better in battle and raids:

Derby Arms, Witherslack

Going to the pub since lockdown eased has not been at the top of my priority list as they seem to be places that potentially cause outbreaks. Also I didn't go to the pub much before lockdown! However, as we had parked next to The Derby Arms for our walk to Halecat House, it was the obvious choice for a late lunch.

It was very reassuring to see all the COVID-19 safety procedures with a one way system into the pub and hand cleaning as you came in:

One person had to register our group for track and trace. There was only table service able, only max 2 households at a table, and the menu was on the wall and not as one you held. We were verbally told the sandwich options:

All over the floor there were markers to show the one way system and lines to keep everyone socially distanced. Luckily for Sherlock the rules don't apply to dogs and he made a new friend:

Number challenge week 3

I have to say that the Number challenge is getting harder now we are in more unusual numbers! In week 1 and week 2 I made much more progress... Any way here are the 8 numbers I captured whilst out and about in week 3:

• 25 - the % nationally of A grade or better at A level in 2019 on a banner at Queen Katherine School
• 26 - the date in March we should have been able to watch Kendal Gilbert & Sullivan Society
• 27 - one of the sculptures at Halecat House
• 28 - a date on a calendar at the soon to be relocated La Pekora Nera Italian restaurant

• 29 - an update to a shop's COVID-19 opening
• 30 - the distance to Keswick from Kendal
• 31 - a map of architect George Webster's buildings with Colin Croft, Beast Banks
• 32 - a map of Kendal's streets showing Yard 32

Hope other folks are playing along?

Reasons to be cheerful: family time #r2bc

I will be the first to admit that this hasn't been the easiest of weeks. It is at times like this that it is so important to find things that have made you smile. I look forward to seeing what that has been for you. For anyone new to the linky we have a few relaxed instructions: 

What do you have to do? Easy: 

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy 

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to 

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too? 

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. 

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week: 

1) Art Outdoors

Our trip to Halecat House combined several things that make me happy:

• being with loved ones
• a walk in beautiful countryside
• discovering wonderful sculptures

2) Running with my son

I may not be any where near as fast as him but my son asked to run with me twice this week. He pushes me to run faster and keeps encouraging me when I am finding it tough:

3) Hair Dye

To celebrate the end of the school year I decided to do something wacky to my hair. As I was virtually all grey I have gone for a very bold colour which I had never been brave enough to do before:

Halecat House Sculpture Trail

My mum invited us to join her on a walk to Halecat House to check out their new sculpture trail. We were half an hour behind them, due to tutoring, when we parked up near The Derby Arms and set off along the old A590 towards the public bridleway we needed:  

The bridleway took us through Latterbarrow nature reserve and then across the fields. We had views of Whitbarrow one way and the Lakeland fells the other:

Briefly, we were on the road before taking a steep and narrow pathway down towards our destination. We are planning to visit Whitbarrow Scar for a hike over the summer:

Signs of the times

I have been taking plenty of photographs since the COVID-19 lockdown started. It seems a good idea to put some of them together as a piece of social history. These are just ones I have taken in the last couple of weeks and I will have a look and seen what I have kept from the days since March 23rd.

Much of it is based upon keeping our distance whilst others show how people haven't been able to get to places:

The re-opening of retail has meant a lot of ways that South Lakeland council are trying to get people back whilst staying safe. All the shops are pleased to have us back:

Some show how the rules have changed as distances have been removed or face masks made compulsory. It is also sad to see how local events have been cancelled due to the pandemic:

Kendal Winter League 2020: Event 3 Whitestones

Helm Hill Runners' 2020 Kendal Winter League (sponsored by Different Strokes Painting & Decorating Ltd  and Pete Bland Sports) had its third event on the 19th of January at Whitestones near Staveley-in-Cartmel. This course has a steep climb to start off which is tough for all ages. The longer courses also include a bog. The most popular viewing spot is at the top of this ascent as you also to witness some spectacular descents.

Race 1: the under 13s, age 8 to 12, had a mad dash across the common to the narrow path with a lung busting ascent to the ridge. It was then a tricky drop back over the ridge, followed by a race back to the start:

Number challenge week 2

Following on the challenge from last week I have been keeping my eyes peeled whilst out and about to carry it on. It is always the way that you see the next but one number and can't spot the next! My rule about not using consecutive numbers from the same source also means you can't have a straight run. However, it is amazing where numbers are if you keep your eyes peeled:

15 - log pile in Grizedale forest

16 - map in Grizedale forest

17 - date on a moving sign from Maya Maya in Kendal

18 - age to play Game of Thrones Monopoly from a shop in Ambleside

19 - COVID-19 sign which are on all Kendal pedestrian crossings

20 - speed limit sign

21 - a list on a community notice board

22 - car park bay number

23 - example house plaque

24 - map in a shop window in Kendal for Lake District Monopoly

I have seen 25 in town so just need to get back there! Is anyone else playing along?

This post contains affiliate links to fund my blogging...

 

Reasons to be cheerful: smiles, food and family #r2bc

How does Saturday come round so quick! Thanks to everyone who joined in last week and I loved reading your happy posts. For anyone new to the linky we have a few relaxed instructions: 

What do you have to do? Easy: 

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy 

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to 

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too? 

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. 

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week: 

1) Cream tea

After our run at Wray Castle we had our first post lockdown trip to a cafe for yummy treats:

2) Sunset

We had an absolutely glorious sunset that I had to lean out of my bedroom window to capture:

3) Wonderful walk

We thoroughly enjoyed our return to Grizedale Forest and I am so pleased with my iPhone long exposure photograph of the waterfall:

Grizedale Forest Tarn Trail

Grizedale Forest is somewhere we have visited a few times since we moved up to Kendal. My parents took us in 2011 to check out the brand new clockwork trees. We were then invited to the opening day of the new Go Ape Junior in April 2014 which we combined with checking out the Gruffalo trail. I then won tickets for the full Go Ape course. Our next visit was in 2015 for the AND festival outdoor movie in September followed by the Petzl Night run 10km in December. We kept up the night visits by going on a stargazing evening in 2016 but haven't been back since!

My son is looking for more trail runs on easy to follow routes so I suggested that we went to Grizedale as it has many such trails. I printed off the leaflet from the web site which tells you the distance of each trail and whether it is easy, moderate or strenuous. He selected the 5.5 km moderate Tarn Trail which meant we needed to park in car park. 

We had slightly meandering drive there as my son wasn't paying attention to the phone instructions plus a road closure! However, we arrived just as the sun came back out after a grey day. The signage on site was very clear so you could find out where you needed to go:

We had to follow the white trail signs which would lead us to Grizedale Tarn. This took us past some of the art work that the forest is famous for. Unfortunately after 9 years the clockwork trees no longer make music:

The paths curve round so that you get lovely surprises around corners. Bridges and stepping stones make it easy to follow, although I wouldn't recommend the giant stile as an easy route:

Free School Meals during lockdown

Free school meals first appeared in Manchester in 1879, another reason to be proud of my Mancunian heritage! However, it took until 1906 for the Liberal government to introduce legislation allowing local authorities to provide meals. Due to the lack of provision more legislation in 1944 made it compulsory for all authorities to supply nutritious meals for all pupils. Over the 1980s and 1990s the emphasis switched to keeping meals as cheap as possible and making it harder to qualify. It wasn't until 2001 that food standards improved again.

The way they are administered as also change. It used to be obvious which children were getting their school meal for free which caused embarrassment for some. Nowadays, in normal times, lunch systems are electronic and pupils are credited each day. No one needs to know who isn't paying for their own food.

During lockdown most children have not been in school and so new systems have been developed.  Some schools chose to make food packs for pupils in receipt of free school meals. Others made use of the government voucher scheme with supermarkets. Like any new government computer system this had big flaws to start with.

Like many families an extended period of furlough, with vastly reduced income from both employment (as a supply teacher) and self employment, has pushed us under the threshold for eligibility for free school meals for my son. I applied via my county council and this week I was sent an e-mail to claim the vouchers for 3 weeks. The web site gave me a choice of a range of supermarkets. As I shop at Asda and Morrisons I selected these two.

The Asda one is very flexible and I was able to use it when I did our click and collect order. I just had to add in the code and the PIN at the checkout.

The Morrisons one can only be used in the store which is less flexible. I also hadn't got it up and ready on my phone before I got to the checkout... It was a good job there wasn't any one behind us!

As my furlough has been confirmed until the end of August I am grateful that Marcus Rashford successfully campaigned for free school meals to continue over the school holidays. This means one less thing to worry about whilst seeking out a permanent job.

Meal Bank hike using Dales Way

My mum invited us on another hike from an old Ramblers' book. This one claimed to be a 6 mile loop from Meal Bank making use of part of the Dales Way. It started at the Meal Bank industrial estate which was sited to harness the power of the Mint River:

We crossed back over the road and then into valleys that had been carved out by glaciers. This meant we spotted quite a few erratics as we passed through:

It wasn't just rocks that caught our eyes. There were some amazing old trees too:

Number Challenge

How many of you have ever played the number plate game (where you try to spot number plates with the next number)? We did as children and I tried to get my children into it, but the new number plate format doesn't work so well!

I decided to challenge myself to find numbers whilst out and about and photograph them. The only rules are:

• no house numbers
• no number plates
• no consecutive numbers from same source

Here are this week's spots:

1. a vehicle at the electricity board
2. a pedestrian crossing pole
3. National Trust poster
4. footpath distance
5. another National Trust poster
6. road signpost

7.   weight limit

8.   price of a camping chair

9.   post box collection time

10. parking restriction end time

11. bus timetable

12. warning sign

13. travel time to walk to somewhere in Kendal

14. sample house number at local shop

I am still looking for a 15 having seen several whilst it wasn't the next in the sequence! If you fancy having a go it is really easy, who will be first to 100?

 

Walks, rainbows and family #r2bc

We seem to be on a Saturday for reasons to be cheerful now, oh well! It seems to have been a good week here and I hope you all have plenty of cheerfulness to share. For anyone new to the linky we have a few relaxed instructions: 

What do you have to do? Easy: 

1. Link up a post about something that is making you happy or grateful. It can be a list, photos or any way you fancy 

2. Add the #R2BC badge (at the end of this post) onto your post or blog so that people can easily find the linky and join in too if they want to 

3. Share the love. This is the really important bit. Please don't just link and run, comment on at least a couple of posts and why not share with #R2BC too? 

I'll stop by all linked up posts to comment and I'll share on social media too. 

Meanwhile here are my reasons to be cheerful for this week: 

1) Back to normal

Last week I had an electrical inspection which caused chaos in the house as we had to move furniture such as my dresser. It felt great when my mum helped me to put it all back and I got my lovely crystal back again:

2) Double rainbow

We may have had lots of rain but it did mean that we got the pleasure of a double rainbow appearing behind my painted one:

3) Family meal

My daughter cooked us a rather yummy spaghetti carbonara when we had a socially distanced dinner. Lovely, comfort food in these slightly cooler days: