INTRODUCING …

… Jean:

Jean is in the folk dance group that I joined some time ago. The dancing stops for summer early in May, but we kept in touch through the summer, and have become … quite close. More later.

…  My new smile:

Something had to be done! I was going to lose the two central top teeth – one was loose and the other infected. These are temporary, but fixed. More later.

… Speck:

After only three years with me Smudge became very ill. I had to let him go (help him on his way …). This is a visitor. We don’t know where he belongs, but he’s not a neglected stray. I call him Speck (or Specks or Speckles!) because he has a small white speck in the middle of his grey/black back.

So where were we? Ah, yes, the last entry closed with my return from Cumbria in early July. Soon after that I began serious consultations with 2 dental practices about the teeth. A big problem was how to pay for what needed doing to give me teeth which not only looked better, but with which I could actually eat! I’d already been to London to take part in ‘Beat the Chasers’ and knew that that effort wasn’t going to finance the job! I’m so grateful to the family members who offered a loan to cover the cost – the bank wouldn’t lend to me – absolute ‘NO!’ to an 80 year old! The date was fixed for August 14th, and it was a dreadful, traumatic experience! All remaining teeth (only 6) removed, 4 implants inserted into each jaw and a prosthesis of 10 teeth screwed into them. As I say, these are temporary. Grateful to Rachel for transport that day and for bringing Jean to be there for the homeward journey and to be there when I emerged from the worst part of the treatment! In spite of the sedation and the local anaesthetic it was very painful! No date yet for replacing the temporary set with the permanent ones …

After that, it was strictly ‘no alcohol’ for 4 weeks, so September 12 was celebrated as ‘Back to Booze’ day!

Even Smudge looks interested!:

Meanwhile, on September 7th, the day after I’d done a monologue (The Battle of Hastings) in Honley Players’ cabaret evening, we went down to Stratford (Upon Avon) for the reunion of the ‘Chappies’ – my fellow would-be thespians from 60 years ago who met at the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art. The Principal was Miss Pamela Chapman, which gave the place the affectionate nickname, ‘Chappy’s’. Jean came with me to this 10th reunion – though in 2020 and 2021 we had met on Zoom, not face to face – and she was made very welcome by the others, and when my flatemate for two of our three years, Jeff, (Jeffrey Holland) was asked to sign her copy of his book (‘The First Rule of Comedy’) he nominated her to be ‘an Honorary Chappy’! We had a good early evening meal at The Boathouse restaurant:

Next morning, Monday 8th September, after breakfast at the hotel, the Chappies agreed to meet for coffee (or something) at the theatre. On the way (not a long walk) we paused to take photos in front of the staue of Billy the Bard:

It was a fine, but blustery, morning, so after a brief coffee break (I had orange juice) with the friends, which included that bit of book signing metioned above – and would you believe? I’d left my copy at home! (Yes, of course you would.) – Jean and I left and went for a short cruise on the river. This gave us a chance to photo the Boathouse from the water:

Then the rest of the ride included bridges, and some magnificent trees:

On the way back to the hotel, to get the car for the journey home, we paused by the ‘bassin’ as the French would call it (sort of boat park) for another photo or two:

It had been a good trip – enhance by the Chappies’ very friendly welcome extended to Jean, and some unexpectedly favourable comments about my own appearence! – Not only related to the teeth ….

Now, moving on to October: here’s an extract from the last entry (Theatre and Grasmere): The increasingly persistent Cumbrian ‘drizzle’, and knowing how difficult and expensive parking in Keswick can be, I drove out of town and up the A66 to Threlkeld for an evening meal at the Horse and Farrier. There was another reason for going to Threlkeld – more later ….

Now is ‘later’! I had already written of my admiration of the theatre group ‘Mikron’, so was delighted to learn that they would be performing their other 2025 show in Cumbria this month (October ’25), which would give me a reason for another pilgrimage to my native county! More delighted still when Jean invited me to a four-night stay near Keswick to see the show and visit some favourite spots of mine; the venue for the performance was to be Threlkeld Village Hall, so that trip up the A66 on that drizzly evening was to spy out the location and the possibility of eating nearby.

The start of that stay was on Wednesday 15th October, and after a steady drive up the M6 to Penrith and down the A66 to Keswick we foud our B & B at Thornthwaite, then went for a lovely evening drive – lovely in spite of the total cloud cover which persisted thoughout the stay. We took in the west side of Derwentwater, Borrowdale, Honnister, Buttermere, Crummock Water, and Winlatter, then found a satisfactory meal at one of the pubs off the square in Keswick. How’s that for a starter drive for a visitor who didn’t know any of those places?

Thursday began with a classic tour: Along the east side of Derwentwater to Ashness Gate, and so up to Ahsness Bridge:

And on to Surprise view:

Don’t look so fretful! The nice man is a photographer!

And so on to Watendlath – and back! I thought the King’s Head at Thirlspot might be a good spot for lunch on the way to Grasmere, based on previous experience, but we were disappointed. I had some mushroom soup and Jean sampled a plate of falafels – not exactly a Cumbrian speciality and the accompanying sauce was a bit too spicy!

We drove on past Thirlmere to Grasmere, paused in the village where I left my postcard collection (mainly from the 50s and 60s) at the Gallerie in case they want to buy them – they have a large selection – then on to the lake and got lucky with the parking. So Jean was introduced to that well-known (to my family and readers of this journal) activity “whiffling through the Tulgey Wood”! She agreed it IS (very) tulgey! At the lakeside the water was low, and the reflections nearly perfect:

This was the day of the Mikron play in Threlkeld. Because of the timing, we had decided not to have the day’s main meal in the evening, but then we would have fared better at The Horse and Farrier than we did at Thirlspot!

But anyway, we made our way back to the B & B and changed for the evening – even in a village hall event, performers deserve a bit of respect! Well! what performers! This team are so skillful! – constantly changing character, and picking up a variety of musical instruments to play – and to use to symbolise props at times – e.g. a violin, with its bow, became a rifle at one point. The play was ‘Hush Hush’ – telling the story of Bletchley Park, and of the possible friends and relatives of those working there, who were taking part in the fighting. I was able to chat with a member of the cast during the interval, and asked if they would be back at base at the end of November, and might be interested in the Ghost Train event. He seemed interested and suggested I email the company, but it’s come to nothing.

Friday 19th October: Up the A66 as far as Rheged then down to Ullswater past Dalemain. We turned left at the bottom so as to go and look at Pooley Bridge, crossing the Eamont by the new bridge, light controlled and not much to admire compared with the old one – but it should stand up to the floods for a decade or two, if not a century! We drove through Pooley Bridge, but weren’t tempted to stop, so turned round and crossed the bridge again, then drove the length of Ullswater. We didn’t ‘do’ Aira Force from the main car park – I thought it wouldn’t have enough water to justify the time and the walk – we just drove on to Glencoyne. At the best autumnal bit there wasn’t space to park, but a little further on we did find a space, pulled in, and made our way down to the water’s edge:

While we were there we watched one of the steamers go by, passing the foot of Place Fell:

Back on board (the car, not the steamer!) we went on through Glenridding and Patterdale, past Brothers’ Water and over Kirkstone pass, down the Struggle to Ambleside. Remembering my visit to The Swan in Grasmere we thought we’d go there for lunch, and had a much better meal than yesterday’s! By contrast that sometime favourite, Skelwith Bridge, was a big disappointment! Not tempted, as in days gone by, to indulge in ‘Kaffee und Kuchen’, nor to make any purchases in the much-changed shop, we went on to Elterwater, then I treated Jean to that ‘exciting’ drive over Red Bank …

That took us to Grasmere, of course, where we visited Heaton Cooper’s studio, but we were unlucky in that the connected cafe was closing just as we thought we would go through and have a bit of something. But never mind! – we headed north over Dunmail Raise, past Thirlmere, then deviated to go through the Vale of St. John’s. Not only that, but we went looking for Castlerigg Stone Circle as well:

Saturday 18th October: Up the A66 again but only as far as Troutbeck, then down to Ullswater via Dacre. This route takes you past the point of access to High Force, and the ‘middle’ car park to get to Aira Force. This car park is called ‘Park Brow’ and is now run by the National Trust who require you to pay – unless you’re a member. I don’t know whether it had that name when I used to frequent it, and I am still a member of NT so the charges don’t bother me! Well, in that we were passing and this is closer to the waterfall than the main car park at the bottom, I pulled in and suggested we went to look at the waterfall. Yes, there was comparatively little water in it – but Jean’s photo seems to make it look more impressive than I thought it was! –

Over Kirkstone to Windermere this time; a quick visit to Lakeland (the shop) and down to Bowness – it was heaving! Very difficult parking, and not NT, but we got lucky when someone coming out of their space gave us their ticket with lots of time still on it. Later we passed it on to the next people – it still had as much time as they wanted! We had fish n chips at a sort of sit-in shack (not quite what I thought we might find there!) then went on a cruise round Belle Isle.

There followed the rest of today’s ’10 Lakes Tour’ (a sort of SKT special)! We crossed Windermere by the ferry, then via Far Sawrey and Near Sawrey, nodding at Hill Top (Beatrix Potter’s farm) as we went by, to drive alongside Esthwaite water and by-pass Hawkshead. I wanted to included Tarn Hows, but I must have missed a turning. However, going a long way round, we got there. Out of the car and admiring the view from the high ground between the road and the water, we ‘rested on a rock, conveniently low’ …

And, believe it or not, there was, by request, a full recitation of ‘The Walrus and The Carpenter’ to explain the origin of that frequently repeated quote, and its companion ‘that would be …. (a d t t d)’. This was very well received, maybe even by Jean’s little companion, Bracken:

Back in the real world, it was down the one-way, steep, narrow road towards Coniston. We skirted the northern end of the lake, of course, and went down to the boating centre, saluting old haunts (of mine) en passant, but we didn’t stop there. Then up and over the hill to Yew Tree Tarn …

… and on to Ambleside. The lakes count was completed by passing Rydal Water, Grasmere and Thirlmere, and there was one more to come: we got to Keswick, went down to the lake, paid for an hour’s parking and walked the length of Friar’s Crag in the last of the daylight:

The jetties were all renewed last year after a storm left one of them ‘totally smashed’. At the far end of the crag, there’s still a view south up the lake to the Jaws of Borrowdale, with a bench to rest on, but it’s changed a lot. I think they’ve let the trees grow too tall – it’s not as open as it used to be.

Only the journey home to relate now, (Sunday,19th) and as forecast the weather finally broke as we progressed. Still, I was as determined as ever to get to Westmorland services, and got it right this time, although the most direct route would have been to go up the A66 to Penrith and south on M6. But no, I wanted another drive through the Lake District, but turned off the A591 before Kendal to go to the A6 via Burneside, joining the M6 at Shap. The diversion was worth it! The farm shop had two items I was looking for – one is in the freezer and one has been slow cooked and consumed!

Then we heard – saw signs, that is – of a 60 minute delay on M62! So we turned off and headed for Oldham, thinking to follow the A62 into Huddersfield, but SatNav had other ideas, set for Jean’s house, not mine, and took us via Holmfirth! Don’t know whether that was best, but it was nice!

That’s all there is to say, really … So it’s –

GOODBYE! (For now …)