Carlisle Cathedral

During a week in the Lakes, you can always expect some poor weather, but the forecast today couldn't be wetter and there's no fun being out on the fells in those conditions. So, instead we decided to head north-east to Carlisle to do some shopping and have a look round.

The Cathedral is worth a visit and for a pound they'll give you a permit to take photographs on a non-commercial basis (so don't send me any money for this post). The stained glass windows were worth a few shots, although judging the exposure is very tricky. Unfortunately I didn't have a tripod with me but even so I was happy with the results.

Looking up, the vaulted ceiling looked spectacular, and I managed to capture all of it through a wide-angle lens. Although these weren't the sort of pictures I'd expected to take during the week, the visit to the Cathedral proved a fascinating alternative.

A theft and a Sale

For our stay in the Lakes, we'd chosen a guest house in Thornthwaite, a small village close to Bassenthwaite Lake, about 4 miles outside of Keswick. The house was set in its own grounds in a quiet location and, as it only had two guest rooms, we had the place to ourselves.

Early indications on the food were very positive, and the couple who own the house were pleasant, both with a sense of humour. So much so, that when the phone rang during breakfast, we didn't take them seriously when they told us it was a neighbour. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that the caller was Carole's parents' neighbour, ringing to tell us of a break-in in their shed. Could you believe it?

The only damage reported was to the lock, but although arrangements were initially made to get the lock repaired, Kevan was uneasy about leaving things like this and decided to go home to see to things for himself. That left the three of us to head for the hills decidedly downbeat.

We'd planned a walk to the top of Sale Fell, which overlooks the top of Bassenthwaite Lake and is a prominent landmark, particularly when heading from Cockermouth towards Keswick on the main road.

We had our waterproofs with us as the weather forecast was poor, and it wasn't long before the rain arrived. On a nice day, and in better circumstances, it would have been a nice walk, but the conditions turned against us and the breeze was picking up by the time we reached the top - but at least we made it.

The quickest way down was straight on down a steepish slope through ferns, which wasn't ideal, but before long we were back in the car, dry and ready for lunch.

By the time we got back to the B&B, Kevan was already back and able to report no serious damage, although a handful of gardening tools had unfortunately disappeared. Not the sort of day we'd planned but it turned out better than it could have done, and the unusual Dutch apple pudding we enjoyed for dessert helped to improve the spirits.

A week of walking in the Lakes...

After a rare gloriously sunny week, Carole and I headed to the Lake District where we would meet up with Carole's parents Jean and Kevan for a week's walking holiday, hoping that the weather would hold. The first day was promising and with warm sunshine on our backs, we decided to take a stroll around the picturesque Newlands valley (see the Newlands post on my walking blog for the route we took).

The weather stayed in our favour for the rest of the day, but looking at the forecast for the rest of the week, we were going to need our waterproofs...

The ISTC at Eastwood Hall

The Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators isn't perhaps all that well known, neither is the profession of technical communicting, but it is, in a broad sense, related to what I do for a living and I was fortunate enough to be able to visit their conference this week in Nottingham.

Technical Communicators are the people who write instruction manuals or user guides for anything and everything: from cameras and mobile phones through to submarines and aircraft. They also write online help for software applications as well as procedure manuals for companies who want to document their processes.

The event was well organised and the venue was superb - the food was fantastic and the grounds looked like they belonged to an exclusive golf course.

I came away with lots of notes from the various presentations but also, unfortunately, a nasty cold too. Such is life.

Gaining a pound of flesh at the Octagon

Being cultured and all that, we sometimes venture out to the local theatre whenever one of their productions catches our eye. The Octagon in Bolton, which dates from the late 1960s, is a compact theatre whithout a stage as such, just an open space surrounded on three sides by the audience. Those on the front row are virtually part of the performance. We've seen a number of plays there over the years and always enjoy visiting.

We'd seen that the Octagon was hosting a production of Shakespeare's 'The Merchant of Venice', which was the play I'd read at school for my English Literature O-level. Despite several years passing since those days, I did recollect the main jist of the plot and was looking forward to seeing it live, something the school never arranged all those years ago.

Beforehand, we decided to try out the theatre restaurant, which served excellent food in big portions at reasonable prices. The lemon meringue pie in particular was absolutely enourmous!

This was my first visit to a Shakespeare play and I was immediately surprised by the bleakness of the set, which looked like slabs of stone. The production stayed with the original script, but added a modern twist with the cast wearing up to date clothes and communicating by mobile phone. Although this would have upset traditionalists, I felt it added an extra dimension to the play, as it helped illustrate that the key themes of the play are still relevant to our time.

Although the Jewish Shylock is portrayed and treated as the villain, by the end of the play you can't help having sympathy for him as he loses everything and even has his religion taken away from him, all because of his desire for his 'pound of flesh'.

If he'd eaten in the theatre restaurant beforehand he'd have gained his extra pound without any of the hassle!

Dad's birthday: R-1 and counting.

The family met up today for Sunday lunch to celebrate Dad's birthday. Not a particularly special birthday this time, although it is the one Lennon and McCartney sang about, which means the next one will be much more of an occasion!

The Horns Inn often puts up with us when we want to eat out and today was no exception - fine food once again at a highly recommended country pub.

Later we returned to Mum and Dads, where he got to blow out the candle on a special chocolate birthday cake Carole had made. It's just as well we didn't put the other 63 on!

Enjoy at the Lowry

Not content with a night out in Manchester on Friday, we returned to the metropolis again on Saturday to do a little shopping and then head for Salford to take in a play at the theatre.

Enjoy is a rarely performed Alan Bennett play set in the early '80s. Although the reviews were mixed, we thoroughly enjoyed the comedy even though Bennett mixes the laughter with a dark portrayal of society. Bennett's council surveillance officers share comparisons with modern day Big Brother, and he explores other topics such as slum clearance, the generation gap, community upheaval and even theme parks, together with porno magazines, cross dressing and the oldest profession, but all in a fairly inoffensive and humourous way. Alison Steadman and David Troughton were the two well-known names in the play, and both gave entertaining performances.

Above the Clouds...

Cocktails in Cloud 23 were the order of the day as we ventured out in the rain and wind for an evening out in Manchester last night.

The weather had been so bad we did wonder if we would actually be in the clouds, on the 23rd floor of the new(ish) Beetham Tower in the centre of town. As it turned out, the stormy skies brought their own touch of drama to the fascinating views.




Update 7/9

Okay, okay, I get the message. Just to prove I was there too, here's the same photo as taken by one of the waitresses, which includes yours truly.

The cocktail? Apparently it's their take on a marghuerita called 'The Hac', which pronounced the way I said it make it sound like a throat sweet. However any true Mancunian would have known that it was pronounced 'Hass', as in 'Hacienda'.

Still, what do I know?

Of course the view from the bar is the main reasons why people want to visit. Although the weather was lousy (it's Manchester after all), I was able to piece together this panorama looking North across the city centre.

The Good Life

Remember the 70s sitcom The Good Life? Where Tom and Barbara decide they've had enough of the rat race and attempt to become self sufficient, growing their own crops and keeping animals?

Well, admittedly my attempt at becoming self sufficient isn't as ambitious as Tom Good's plans, but even so I shared a little of his character's pride and contentment recently as I harvested my first strawberries from my hanging basket! I'd got the idea of growing strawberries this way from watching a Jamie Oliver programme earlier in the spring, and with all the rain we've been having recently, keeping them off the ground has proved a wise decision.

Whilst it's fair to say they won't make a hearty meal (or even just a dessert), they are a decent size and, more importantly, tasty too.

I can't profess to being a strawberry expert though. "What kind are they?", asked Dave next door. "Red ones", I replied. Well, they will be eventually.