Ambleside Sports 2018

 

On Thursday my son and I headed up to Ambleside for the annual Ambleside Sports. We have been twice before in 2014 and 2015 but have been away for the last couple of years as it is always the last Thursday in July. The fell race was part of the club championships but there was plenty of other stuff going on as well.

We watched some cycling and the start of the gruelling 9 mile Rydal Round before he had a Cumberland & Westmorland Wrestling competition. Unfortunately he came across the eventually champion in round 1 so that was game over... Then he lined up with his team mates for the under 12's fell race (photo by Woodentops):

It was a there and back again race up quite a steep hill:

He had an awesome sprint finish:

Three Musketeers at Williamson Park

It is nearly 2 years since we went to see The Hobbit at Williamson Park. Last week my daughter and I went along to this year's promenade performance by The Dukes Theatre. This year's production is The Three Musketeers and we followed the signs to the first scene:

We were there in plenty of time for my daughter to get us front row seats:

We had eaten on the way but had time to eat our dessert whilst waiting for the play to start. It was a lovely sunny evening:

Back in the saddle

Now my son is back cycling we have borrowed my mum's bicycle to give him more confidence and get in some practice. It has meant that I have dragged my bike out of the shed so that we can get out and make the most of the cycle friendly routes around Kendal:

We headed out along the old canal and then up along the River Kent as far as Dockwray Bridge:

We turned around on the industrial estate before heading back down the river:

Puy du Fou Historical Theme Park

Before we went to France I had seen some Instagram photos of Puy du Fou historical theme park. So we booked some advance tickets to go for a day. It was an hour and a half drive from our campsite so an early start but it was definitely worth it!

On arrival we had to pass through a bag check and security scanner but it gave us time to check on the day's timetable. We only managed to acquire a Spanish version (and later discovered we could have installed an app!) but it was enough to realise that the Dance of the Phantom Birds was the first thing to go see. It was raining as we crossed the park, typical it was on the furthest point, and joined the huge crowd in the arena. I could understand enough of the French to get the gist of the show, not sure what my son understood! But we could all appreciate being close up to such an amazing variety of birds:

Next up it was the Knights of the Round Table. This was when we first discovered how the sets for the big pieces could actually move so much. Again the words went over my son's head but there was enough action with sword fighting etc for him to enjoy the show:

We then had to queue for a while to get into the Vikings show. It was worth it to be right at the front. This show had a bit of everything from fighting, longships and trained animals:

Wild Swimming in the River Kent

After our enjoyable swim in Rydal Water my daughter and I wanted to go wild swimming again. This time in the River Kent nearer to home. So we headed down to Sedgwick where there are some good pools for swimming. The water levels there are very low at the moment so it reveals the way the river has carved a passage through the rocks:

Although this looks stunning its not a safe place to swim as its tricky to get in and out of the water. So we walked along the river bed to find a more suitable spot:

We had to walk a long way on what would normally be under the water:

Langdale Gala 2018

On the first Sunday of July its the Langdale Gala at Chapel Stile which is a traditional Cumbrian event. The weather wasn't typical when we arrived:

After signing in for the fell race the first event my son took part in was the school's Cumberland & Westmorland wrestling. There was a little mix up when he wasn't in the draw for the juniors but after I'd pointed this out he ended up winning and getting £5! This was a friend's son in his first ever bout as an under 15:

The flat races then started with traditional events such as sack, sprint and egg & spoon races. My son was in the sack race:

 and then I had to head up onto the fell side for the fell races:

Due to the heat all the juniors took the lower level route. There were some disappointed teenagers that they had to only do the under 13 route:

Coniston Triathlon

On Saturday night my son and I camped out in our car at Coniston so that we were able to be in place for volunteering at 6 AM! We went to sleep with the Old Man watching over us:

I was up at 5 and made myself a coffee before waking my son and heading down to the event organised by Epic Events. It was so peaceful and tranquil in the early morning light:

Our first job was car parking and we made a great team ensuring that everyone could park safely and get their bikes off their cars:

FRA Juniors Clougha Pike and Quernmore Sports

This Saturday saw the penultimate fell race of the FRA Junior Championships at Clougha Pike as part of Quernmore Sports. This wasn't too far from Lancaster in the Trough of Bowland so relatively local to us. 

The first group to tackle their course were the under 9's who had to complete one lap of the field:

Then it was the under 11's who had to do a bigger lap of the next field as well as the first climb:

For the under 13's, such as my son, had a longer course than normal with 3 km. This meant two big laps at the top which was tough on the younger ones:

Chateau and Velo Rail at Commequiers

One of days out was to the Velo Rail at Commequiers. We first discovered the joys of the Cycle Trains when staying in Seine et Marne in 2013 and so were keen to have another go now that my son was tall enough to pedal! 

We allowed time to picnic on the way having pre-booked for 2 pm (be warned its very popular so you have to reserve...). So we hunted down the Chateau Commequiers:

Unfortunately due its state of disrepair the castle has been closed for access since 2014 and they are raising funds to rescue it. They still use the grounds for a medieval spectacular in August:

Hidden in the woods we discovered a children's play area:

#CountryKids Ile de Noirmoutier

On the second day of our stay the adults voted for an exploration day by driving up the coast to the Ile de Noirmoutier. The island can be accessed by 2 methods in a car. Traditionally the only way was to cross on the tidal road at low tide (unfortunately we had the wrong year's tide table so missed our chance!). Instead we had to cross over on the modern bridge which is one of those wonderful bits of French construction:

The island is a thriving salt producing area and we drove past many of the salt fields:

As its low season for tourism we found it easy to park up in the market place and it was only 50C for 3 hours parking! Then we wandered down along the harbour to look around:

#CountryKids on the beach at Les Mouettes, Vendee

It's been all quiet on the blog as we have been in France enjoying the camping break I had partly won from Canvas Holidays. On our first full day at the site it was extremely hot and sunny so we headed down to the beach (it turned out to be a longer walk than advertised!). It was almost deserted as was not French holiday season:

My son lost no time in heading down to the waves whilst the adults set up base:

It was so peaceful and quiet as well as being very clean. I suspect that in August it is packed out with holiday makers:

My son soon started work on building a marble run to see if we could make videos like some of the ones he has been enjoying watching on YouTube:

#CountryKids at the Kendal Colour Dash 2018

 

On Sunday my son and I donned white t-shirts and joined approximately 1,400 people of all ages to take part in the Kendal Colour Dash. This was my 4th and his 3rd colour dash which raises money for our local hospice. We started by covering ourselves in the powders that we had bought ourselves:

My son then abandoned me to find his friends so I warmed up with the crowd. He ended up near the front of the start whereas I was somewhere nearer the back so he got a flying start and I was held up in the crowd! I recorded my run on the head cam as well as snapping some pics on my phone:

It was certainly an explosion of colour even if there wasn't much dash for those of us in the main crowd:

#CountryKids at the Three Peaks Race on Pen Y Ghent

This weekend my son and I headed off to Horton in Ribblesdale in Yorkshire to film one of the most iconic fell races the Three Peaks Race. It is known as the marathon with mountains:

The Three Peaks Race traverses the famous Yorkshire Dales mountains of Pen-y-ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside is one of the oldest, most famous and best organised fell races in Britain. 

First run in 1954, the Race covers 37.4 kilometres with 1608 metres of ascent and descent over the most rugged and spectacular countryside in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, taking competitors to a height of 723 metres above sea level. 

The men's course record is held by English international Andy Peace of Bingley Harriers, who completed this gruelling challenge in 2 hours 46 min. 03 sec in the 1996 race. 

The women's record of 3 hours 9 min 19 sec is held by English international Victoria Wilkinson in the 2017 race.

After about a 50 minute drive we arrived at the race start:

As soon as we arrived we met another fell running family from Kendal who were also planning on watching the race from the side of Pen Y Ghent. This was great for my son as the 2 other boys were only a year younger than him. We set off along the well trodden Pennine Way. For folks hiking the 3 Peaks Challenge they were being sent a slightly different way to make it a circular walk:

It was a beautiful day to be walking between dry stone walls on undulating terrain. We were glad we weren't running along it like the racers would be: 

#CountryKids A walk on the Lancaster Canal and River Kent

On a cool and wet day over the holidays I persuaded my son to take a walk along the Lancaster Canal Trail which follows the old Lancaster Canal:

For much of the route to Sedgwick from Kendal there are only relics of the old canal alongside the path:

However most of the bridges are still in place which looks a bit odd in an otherwise ordinary field:

At some of the bridges the remnants of the canal are a lot more obvious:

#CountryKids FRA Junior Championships Blacko

On Sunday my son and I travelled for just over an hour to Blacko in Lancashire for the 2nd of the Fell Running Associations Junior Championships. (First event was at Todd Cragg in Ambleside). We arrived in plenty of time as we knew parking was going to be an issue (it did result in total gridlock in the village!). This also gave us time to walk the course and check out the obstacles and let me decide on filming points.
We actually got lost walking the route as we were so early they hadn't flagged it out (the landowner wanted it all done at the last minute). However we did manage to discover the bog of doom and how many stiles they would have to climb (4 in total but 2 would be repeated):

Looking at my strava recording I can see where we went wrong but it wasn't easy to see on the ground:

The first two races were taking a slightly different route which had no mud but an awful lot of hill. I positioned myself on the hillside with both cameras and enjoyed the sunshine whilst waiting for the under 9 runners to get to me. Bear in mind some of these are only 6 years old:

#CountryKids Go Ape Junior Sherwood Pines

One of the group activities on our Single With Kids break was a trip to Go Ape at Sherwood Pines. On previous Go Ape trips my son had refused to have a go but this time he was encouraged to do it as lots of the other children were taking part. He has inherited my fear of heights but he gained in confidence as he kept on going around. You can see the difference in him in my video:

I will have to save up to do it all again if we lead the break next year! I wonder if he will ever be brave enough to do the adult course like his big sister has done...