FRA Juniors 2019 - Sedbergh

On a very wet and overcast morning we arrived at the People's Hall in Sedbergh in advance of Helm Hill's hosting of the FRA Junior championship for 2019. At the time it was so cloudy that the tops of the hills weren't visible and it was a worry as to whether it would be safe for the under 19s to run their full route as it took in 3 summits (luckily the weather cleared in plenty of time!).

After my marshal briefing I walked the under 9 route with my son so I could find the best videoing spot. It was a challenging if not too long a route for them:

My son and his friend walked some more of their under 15 route whilst I set myself up to film just below the under 9 turn. There were 26 runners from 6-8 years in this race:

After they had gone I walked up along the descent route to capture the under 11s. This shows how steep some of the course was:

#CountryKids Winter Stroll at Crook

When the temperature gauge is reading a temperature like this there is only one thing to do...

Wrap up warm and head out for a stroll in the countryside around Crook, even if the children don't want to!:

There was plenty to investigate with frozen puddles to smash and ice to look at:

For grown ups there were stunning views across to snowy fells:

There are plenty of tempting looking paths that we could have followed:

#CountryKids A Spring Walk in Crook

A lovely day on Sunday up here in Cumbria. It was perfect for a three generation walk around Crook checking out the signs of Spring:

We were lucky enough to spot a buzzard:

It's lovely being able to walk along the country lanes taking in the scenery:

#CountryKids A Boxing Day Walk

We are very lucky to have local family who live in an even more idyllic spot than we do and that can accommodate us for Christmas. The fact that the weather on Boxing Day was lovely in the morning meant that a few of us were able to go and work off some of the Christmas excess:

My children had both received Christmas hats too so this was a chance to give an outing to Mr Tiger:

and Miss Bunny (alongside Miss Wolf):

The country lanes were almost deserted and there were just a few puddles to negotiate or circumnavigate. Along the way we acted out the Lord of the Rings and had to sneak past fields of orcs (sheep) and wargs (cows)! It kept the children happy for our little outing. 

There were plenty of intriguing footpath signs to follow on day when we all have proper footwear on:

Of course with grown up cousins around my daughter took a chance to take it easy:

She did then help to rescue an exercise ball that had been blown into the beck before it did any harm to the local wildlife:

This little section of footpath was nicely tucked away although the beck itself was close to over flowing after all the rain:

This area used to be a hive of wood turning just like the village of Staveley close by. You can still see the evidence of the mills along the beck:

A great way to clear out the cobwebs and drag the children away from their new toys!

#SilentSunday 1st January 2012