The Pig Yard

The Usual Suspects

The usual suspects met up once again for their annual holiday. Sue had managed to find us a magnificent house that proved to be very warm with excellent facilities.

Of course on these occasions, with good company, good food and plenty to drink we had great fun all week.

The cooking arrangements went very well with every couple cooking at least one night then eating out one night and arranging a variety of take-away meals another night.

Duddon Estuary

Duddon Villa is at the edge of the River Duddon estuary and it gave us beautiful views over an ever changing scene. It was fascinating to watch the changing tides and the clouds rolling in over the mountains to the north east.

The house had everything we could need: a very large, well equipped kitchen; large dining room; two sitting rooms, snooker table; games consoles and good bedrooms mainly with ensuite bathrooms.

We could open the front door and be on the edge of the estuary with plenty of bracing walks along the shoreline.

Ravenglass Railway

Jane arranged for us all to have a return ride on the narrow gauge railway using her Tesco vouchers. We'd all been on it before but it's such a pleasurable experience it's always worth doing it again. We travelled up to Eskdale before taking a short walk to a local tavern and then having a drink and sandwiches.

The return journey was just as much fun and our timing couldn't have been better as it came on to rain on the way down.

Martin's 60th Birthday

One reason for taking a later holiday was so that we could celebrate Martin's 60th birthday. There were a few surprises in store for him. Kate had bought him a visit to Rome where he would be able to visit all the roman ruins and really use all his knowledge of ancient Roman culture to the full.

Who would believe this man is now 60? Actually nobody because throughout the day he reminded us and every stranger he encountered with the cheery phrase "I'm 60 you know". It is especially difficult to believe because of the wanton lifestyle he has lead from heavy metal lead guitarist to obtaining a PhD for his work on geophysical surveys and the technologies that help to achieve non-intrusive solutions.

As part of his birthday we put together a magazine depicting some of his life experiences, not all of them exactly as they were but we're sure history will forgive some of the liberties we have taken with this man's biography.

Roman Fort on Hard Knott Pass

As it was Dr Martin's birthday and because of his world wide renown for being an expert on Roman history and antiquities we decided to take a trip up to the remains of the Roman Fort on Hard Knott Pass. It was an overcast, cold and windy Cumbrian day; typical for the time of year and the region.

Mediobogdum, as the Roman's would have called it, cannot have been a great deal of fun for it's inhabitants 2,000 years ago. The natives were hostile, it was cold, damp and windy and the nearest supermarket was at least a day's walk away (joke).

We spent some time wandering around the stone walls with Doc Martin giving us a running commentary on construction and life at these times; how the Roman army was organised; what they would have been wearing (something warm?); and loads more most of which was whisked away from our ears by the brisk wind.

A Walk with Charlie

One of the first walks we did was down the estuary from the house with the owners dog. There was talk of her paying us to take Charlie for a walk but I think it was more like the dog taking us for a walk. He was certainly the centre of attention for most of the route with him featuring on video as well as a number of cameras snapping his antics.

Nick was his master and they bonded within a few minutes such that Charlie was never far from Nick whether he was on or off the lead. As master, of course, Nick was responsible for clearing up the dog mess which he had to do twice and then proceeded to swing the plastic bags with abandon.

The estuary itself was really beautiful with a variety of birdlife along the shore and a myriad of sea shells embedded in the sand.

Unknown to Lucie, Jane and Kate were collecting shells for her with the intention of painting them with gaudy nail varnish so it made the shells look very special. They were presented to Lucie on the final night and she had to choose which ones were going to be kept and presented in their bathroom at home, much to Dave's chagrin.

Walking Dunnerdale Valley

As we get older our walks get shorter and fewer but it would have been a terrible waste of the location if we hadn't taken to the hills at least once. We agreed to take a stroll along the Dunnerdale Valley then up and around Dunnerdale Fells. We soon became aware of our lack of practice and our levels of fitness. It was one thing to walk leisurely along the beech but it was a real effort once we started to climb up and around the fells.

Like all good walks we did manage to get lost in the last third but we were not deterred and after asking a workman at a rundown cottage we found our way back to a path that came out reasonably close to where we wanted to be. We may have been unlucky with our map reading but we were very lucky with the weather because it started to rain once we became within sight of the parked cars.

To follow our trek on Google maps click here...

Stone Circle

We visited this stone circle towards the end of the day and although it was dry there was a cold wind whipping across the hills that just seemed to go straight through us. After parking the cars in a narrow lane and getting a disparaging look from one of the locals we trudged up a rugged farm track towards where the stone circle was supposed to be. It was a lot further than we thought.

Doc Martin gave us all the wisdom of his knowledge about ancient civilisations and what they may have used these stone circles for. It seems they were points of focus for social gatherings and there were stones laid out as guides towards the circle. Once the local inhabitants had arrived there would be feasting and opportunities would arise for cross fertilisation of the clans to avoid too much inbreeding within settlements. Martin painted a very graphic picture but in the chill wind it all fell rather flat and we were only too happy to head back to the cars.

Millom Lighthouse

Millom lighthouse which is made of steel was built in 1905. It stands on the sea wall at Hodbarrow and after being adopted by Haverigg Primary School, it was restored in 2003.

The restoration was obviously a point of focus for the school and the community for some time but it is apparent that the driving force behind the original scheme has moved on because the paintwork is peeling and rust was showing through. One of the light panes had been broken and it just had an air of neglect.

Thankfully the lighthouse is no longer part of the official chain of lighthouses run by Trinity House.

Despite it being past its useful life it was a prominent landmark and on one occasion when we went for a late afternoon walk we used it as a means of finding our way back to the house.