Andrea - Snake Lane 10 Mile Run

On Your Marks!

Andrea had been fretting about doing her first 10 mile run, up until now she's only done 6 miles (10k) runs. After looking at the times that the runners were doing last year Andrea was a bit worried. 1 hour 30 minutes was the target time that she hoped to do.


We set of to Pocklington early to make sure we had plenty of time, Andrea is getting better at developing a routine before doing this type of thing, and she was as prepared as possible for the 11am start.

Go!

Jack wasn't with us, he was at Cubs on a 'Movie Sleepover'. So after the start me and Finlay headed to a park where he could occupy himself of an hour. We headed down to the finishing line and waited, sure enough Andrea and one of her running friends appeared just before 1hour 30 minute mark. By the timing system Andrea did 1 hour 29 minutes but her time form Start to finish took about anther minute off this. She was well  pleased but tired.


Another race under her belt!

Keswick Camping

Panorama

It had been very cold for over a week before we set off to Keswick. We hadn't used the van for several months, I'm always concerned that something will not work after such a long layup. We stopped at Morrisons in Kendel to get some food and have some lunch.

Sledging Weekend

The kids have been excited by all the snow over the weekend. On Saturday we went sledging down the botts and today the kids have been sledging outside our house. Both Jack and Finlay didn't complain once about the wet or the cold, way to go. 

Pretty good how all the parents ring round and organise everything, on Saturday 5 families all turned out with very little notice. Jack and Finlay bounce pretty good and were quite happy bailing off once everything started coming on top. In the end they rolled a couple of snowballs and sent them off down the hill, gaining speed and getting bigger until they crashed into the bottom of the valley, wish I was 9 years old again!

Zooooommm!

The Long Walk Back.

Finlay and Dan.

Jack Wins School Cross Country Run!

Jack with his Gold medal

Last year Jack was picked to run and he came second. He was the best from Shibden Head for his age group, but was beaten by someone from another school. This year he was picked again but wasn't expecting to do very well. Andrea and been giving him some tips about how to run better, but Jack didn't appear to be that bothered about doing well. When he did a practice at school he wasn't as fast as some of his mates, so he decided to 'do his best' in the race.


To our surprise Jack won it, he was in the oldest group but there was kids there from several local schools. At the end of the race he was a football pitch length in front of his nearest rival. Way to go!


So now there's two good runners in the family Andrea and Jack.

Finlay's First Beaver Camp

Finlay Ready To Go!

Finlay went 'camping' with the Beavers last night, we had our fingers crossed that he'd have a good night and not get the 'heebie jeebies'. Thankfully he had a great time!

It was the first time he's been away from us overnight, we always do things together and he's not into sleep overs etc.

I suppose when you're only 6 years old it's pretty easy to get scared.

The kids we're sleeping in tents in a hall at the scout centre, so the snow outside wasn't a concern for them. There was a Chinese new year theme to keep everyone entertained and it certainly worked for Finlay! The leaders kept the kids entertained and everyone had a great time. I don't think Finlay had much sleep, he was full of adventure stories when he got home.

Penyghent Walk

Penyghent was one of the first Mountain I ever walked up, probably 25 years ago. It stuck in my memory as a good walk, the pain of the climb is worth it due to the great views at the top (on a good day!). It's about 6 miles round trip from Horton in Ribblesdale and there are only one or two steep bits.

We were up at Horton in Ribblesdale at just after 11am. The weather was pretty good, some high cloud, there had been a hard frost and the ground was frozen solid, good news for the kids, no mud to fall in!

Jack on the way Up.

Setting off we headed straight towards the mountain, it looked quite a long way, but thankfully this is deceiving. Up the road past the primary school, a stream on our left, as we approached the first farm it was time to leave the road, heading by the side of a wall, we would follow this for some distance. The path undulated for the next mile before we arrived at the foot of the mountain.

As we went over the wall the view changed and we could now see the path leading steeply away to our left. The wind was howling as we started to climb, I didn't have a hat on and my ears were soon aching, thankfully the kids had gloves and hats on. Even though it was pretty steep both Jack and Finlay didn't complain, or slow down.

Two Monkeys Climbing.

Andrea was in front with Finlay and I followed on behind with Jack, I kept him occupied by playing word games. He kept wanting me to give him clues, however I made him think hard and work things out for himself.

Jack was a little unsure about one of the steeper bits, but we were soon onto the last slope with the top in sight. It's always surprising how quickly you get cold once you stop walking, today was no exception. It was very busy at the top, the good weather had brought out lots of people. We had a sandwich and a drink on top, admired the views, kept out of the wind.

The walk back was pretty straight forward, but longer than the climb. We were soon at lower levels, again the frozen landscape made it easier, no mud or bogs!

We could have walked up to Hull Pot, but the kids and Andrea were happy to head back to Horton in Ribblesdale.

We had a look for somewhere to sit down and have a pot of tea, but nothing was open. Last week in Clapham there we're several Cafe's and Tea rooms, strange! So we headed back to the car and home!

On The Way Up.

Looking Back.

Sandwiches at the top.

Clapham - Ingleborough Cave - Walk

We'd set out to go up Pen-y-ghent but the weather was pretty poor. Plan B was to have a walk from Clapham, keeping relatively low in the valley bottom. It was raining and foggy, nice walking weather!

We Parked at the National Trust Car Park in Clapham village and headed up the valley towards the Church. To make this a circular walk we turned right at the Church and headed through two tunnels, a strange feature that I'd not seen before.

Heading up the hill on a track we turned right at the first opportunity, staying on an old unpaved road, now used by farmers to reach remote areas where sheep roam! The weather took a turn for the worse and the rain got heavier, as we continued up the track the cloud came down and the day felt miserable. It was quite atmospheric, the barren hillsides disappearing into the mist. We soon arrived at a style over the wall and headed down into the valley bottom, back below the tree line.

Jack and Finlay at The Waterfall - Clapham

From here we could have walked up to Trow Gill, but the kids wanted to head back. We were now on the main path above Ingleborough cave and the walk back was more scenic. We stopped briefly at the show cave, but at this time of year everything is shut up. The path back through the valley winds its way above the stream that flows into the artificially made lake. There's also a strange Victorian folly, the kids quickly explored this. Once we got back to Claphan we stopped for a rest at the waterfall which was looking spectacular! Walking back through Clapham we took a closer look at the church and the graveyard, the kids enjoyed looking for old dates on the gravestones.

Considering how poor the weather was the kids did really well, they didn't complain too much, in all we'd walked just short of 4 miles. Considering how muddy and wet everything was we had stayed remarkably clean, it had been an interesting walk, but we were glad to be back in the car and heading home!