More Peaks walking...

I took J and little M back to the Peaks for another walk this week. We went midweek (cant get a campsite at the weekends - booked out for months ahead!) back to the Upper Booth Farm campsite little M and I went to last time. Weather was a bit dodgy but looked like we would get a reasonable day to walk on, so drove up Wednesday in deteriorating weather. J a bit disappointed that he couldnt see any peaks - had to explain that the slightly higher low rounded hills in the distance were all you get in England. He was happy enough once we got into the hills. Thankfully I had booked us into the camping barn (a bit like a hut in tas) rather than a tent site - absolutely tipped down when we arrived at the campsite. The lady at the farmhouse took pity on my drowned rats and took them to collect eggs from the real barn...they collected about 38 eggs between them and brought back half a dozen fresh eggs for us!

Come bedtime it became apparent I was one sleeping mat short, so kids drew straws to see who would get to sleep straight on the boards. Made up a bed of coats. The sleeping bench was VERY HARD and not too comfy. Next time will make sure I have plenty of soft things to lie on.

The morning was clear and sunny so we set off for a walk up Jacobs ladder and down Crowden Clough. All went well until M was stung by a wasp which was in fact the end of the world as we know it. Eventually cured with sticking plaster. The descent down Crowden Clough is very steep...agony for dad, but M leaped down the hill like a mountain goat. We found a nice little casade and rockpool to paddle about and lie in the sun for a while.

The evening was very pleasant, cooked and ate dinner, told them a story, tucked them into their sleeping bags...then they J asked to tell me a secret. He was suddenly concerned about dying, then M started, then the crying started. Only lasted an hour or so. I have promised them that no one they know will die in the next millenium. Will have to get started on working out new treatments for death!

In the morning they both just wanted to GO HOME, so we didnt get to climb Mam Tor AGAIN. All in all a successful trip!

Very Cambridge

Just to prove that we are adaptable, here is the latest punting trip. We decided that a basic survival mechanism in this town is to learn to punt (or go broke paying for punting with visitors!!) Punting at 12 pounds an hour punt hire is much more acceptable and if you have some basic small boat skills its pretty straightforward after the first go.

Went to the festival of history on Saturday - this is a big event run by English Heritage...reenactments of romans, vikings, saxons, wars of the roses, civil war, boer war, first world war etc. When I woke up in the morning I could hear rain (I had been forced out of my bed and was in little M's bed) so went back to sleep thinking we wouldnt be going. But big M is made of sterner stuff and got up to check the weather for Northhampton and made us all get up because it wasnt supposed to rain over there (and we had to pre purchase tickets)! Frantic rush round to get ready and off in the car (still very sceptical about weather).
Rain dutifully stopped about half way to Kelmarsh hall and we were able to join the other 15,000 odd people in a cold and grey paddock. Watched a reenactment of the battle of Stamford Bridge (Vikings vs Saxons 1066) then the Ermine Street Guard came on to do some Roman drill at which the kids decided they wanted to go and look at something else...big M told me to stay and watch if I wanted and they would be back after the Roman bit was over. She had the Kids and coats, water and I gave them 10 pounds just in case (I had the lunch and picnic rug and most importantly the money). After the roman bit finished I watched some of the next thing (Romano British stuff) and started to get cold and bored so decided to wander off and find the others. 5 hours later I managed to find them (just in time to go home!) Bit of a miscalculation.
The weather here has pretty much reverted to English standard summer - lots of grey days with rain interspersed with brilliant sunshine. We have been doing evening walks along the river with the kids, and have even joined the canoe club - they have boats we can take out - so J and M are learning to paddle kayaks.

Hidden Royston

yesterday we went to Royston (about half and hour drive from here) to look at a fourteenth century Knights Templar chapel. It apparently dates from the suppression of the order, so is underground, dug into the chalk. The entrance was originally under a safe house at the cross roads, as was a smoke hole (the smoke from the chapel when in use would have gone into the house, but apparently nobody minded in those days!) It was rediscovered in the 18th century when the butter market was being built, the access was a steep and narrow shaft...a small boy was lowered with a rope to investigate. The bloke who lived over the way had some workmen dig a tunnel from his place into the cave so he could charge admission. This is how you get in today.
The 18th century tunnel
Original entrance shaft
Part of the roof of the cave was dug out when they built the old butter market so it had to repaired (so there wouldnt be a huge hole in the market!)
The lower part of the wall is covered with simplistic carvings of biblical and religious figures and Templar figures. Interestingly, in spite of claims this represents a geomantic structure eg it is under the crossroads, there is no evidence of carvings any older than the suppression of the templars and the cave is not now under the crossroads, and wasnt when it was built - it was under a house. The crossroads is quite interesting too - it is the junction of Ermine street and Icknield Way, both roman roads. There was a cross at the junction erected possibly by the wife of William The Conquerors steward and the base of this is on a plinth next to the road.

Wilde!

Just been to see The Importance of Being Earnest at Robinson College's outdoor theatre with the kids and some friends. Wonderfully overdone production and the kids loved it. J wandering around saying "In a Haaaaandbag" at every opportunity. Of course we were not sure what was funnier, the actors, or some of the audience, who were literally what one was seeing on stage! The accents, the intonation, the hand gestures......

Paris!

Afraid this is a posting without pictures, as R had the camera - see below! J and I set out for Paris on the Eurostar on a fairly warm day from Cambridge, and by the time we had taken the Parisian subway we were fairly cooked. We went with one of his school friends and his mum. Thankfully we had airconditioned rooms, wonderful hotel (Hotel Neuville Elysées) which I can highly recommend and on last minute.com was only 50quid a night per room. They even gave us bfast for 12 euro, which sounds a lot until you realise they didnt charge for the kids cos they were under 12, anyone who has seen J eat will realise this was a serious mistake on their part (each bfast for him was 2 bowls cornflakes, a muffin, 3 madelines and a hot chocolate, hollow legs I think!) Our first full day was Wednesday, which was 38 degrees and appallingly hot. The hotel was on a direct 10 minute no. 92 bus trip to Eiffel tower via Arc de Triomphe which was great - got to experience the full traffic horror of the Arc without driving it. Went up to the 2nd stage of the tower, only had to wait half an hour, but by time we got down the queue was really really really long. And it was so hot they were blowing water over the queue. So we went and lay on the lawns of Field of Mars for the next 3 hours - sprinklers were going, kids got SOAKED, but dried off in about an hour! After 3 pm walked round to the Rodin Garden which J really liked - he likes sculpture and even recognised some of those in the National Art Gallery in Canberra (maybe some of it does rub off!). Then a walk to look for a merry go round proved too much, so we bussed back to hotel to cool off. Dinner at a great Italian (I know, but pizza is one of the few things J's friend eats) restaurant where the quality was great. Off to bed. HUGE thunderstorm that night, very spectacular. As we were at the top of the hotel J was a little worried. Next day a bit cooler, but still fairly muggy. Off to cruise the river on the Batobus, first stop Musee D'Orsy to see the Van Gogh in particular, but J more taken with the Monet, and the sculpture again, even recognised the copies of the Rodin's from the previous day - glad its not all a complete goldfish mind in there! Back on the Batobus, J had had enough, no interest in Notre Dame so we just cruised past while the others went off to look etc. Bus back stopped half way for some unknown reason so we walked from Arc d'Triomphe which we both enjoyed, then some cooling off before dinner. That night we watched a Western on TV (novelty we dont have a TV - it was in English) which was good fun. Unfortunately I started to run a temp of about 40 deg that night which wasnt much fun. This is when you become thankful that you have another adult with you. Next day managed to get back to Eurostar (via a brief and grumpy stop at the Arc, deciding we didnt want to pay 8 euro each to go up it!) and finally back to Cambridge. Cab home and then to bed for several days. But feeling better now and back at work. So a successful trip in all - J keen to go again next year to see all the things he missed, think I would pick a cooler week, like this one perhaps!