The Retirement Thread

[Dave7]

Any of the neighbours have similar problems?

We don't know yet.....have to check.

 

[BoldonLad]

I don’t know if any of the bridges are named.I walked from the old Keswick railway station to Threkeld
Believe the rout is part of the coast to coast route Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the area could advise on the current state on this section.
If memory serves me correct Pooley bridge is in the area near Windermere

Keswick bridge is the name of the site wher the time shares are situated If you you know Keswick it is close to the leisure centre and the old railway station and the adjacent hotel.

Pooley Bridge is a village, near Ullswater.

The C2C route has a few variations, but, as far as I know, it still follows the former railway line, our of Keswick towards Threlkeld, then, joins a tarmac section alongside the A66, in the general direction of Penrith.

 

[ColinJ]

It had been a while since the forum ride and my memory is atrocious, you'd lost a lot of weight as well.

To be fair, if I hadn't been expecting you to be there I might have walked past without spotting you.

I had a fantastic memory when I was young but there has been a steady decline since then. I'm sure that health problems (carbon monoxide poisoning and two bouts of blood clots) haven't helped preserve my remaining brain cells.

So, bear with me, y'all, when I forget things or repeat myself!

 

[Dirk]

Nice walk along Brean Down this morning.

Little old doggie is knackered now. Should sleep well tonight.

Had a look around some new vans at Highbridge but nothing really impressed us enough to consider changing our current one.
Dropped into the Red Cow again and had an excellent roast beef lunch.
Going on a search for a 6kg propane bottle refill tomorrow - apparently there's a national shortage. I've still got one full bottle, which will last about 7 days, but the one we're using now will probably run out tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

 

[ColinJ]

Not even if you were to win a prize?

I think that I might have actually been watching my duck lose the year that I took those pictures!

It was nice when the town was busy but not STUPIDLY busy. I took the photo below from upstairs in a cafe during the Arts Festival. There was a good crowd for the musicians, but there was still room to walk round the rest of the town and obviously we were still able to get into the cafe, rather than having to give up because of lengthy queues.

 

[Dave7]

Nice walk along Brean Down this morning.

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Little old doggie is knackered now. Should sleep well tonight.

Had a look around some new vans at Highbridge but nothing really impressed us enough to consider changing our current one.
Dropped into the Red Cow again and had an excellent roast beef lunch.
Going on a search for a 6kg propane bottle refill tomorrow - apparently there's a national shortage. I've still got one full bottle, which will last about 7 days, but the one we're using now will probably run out tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

And prices seem to have rocketed.

 

[oldwheels]

It happens everywhere that starts attracting tourists. I used to live in Hebden Bridge and sunny Bank Holidays in the town were a bit of a nightmare, as was the A646 in the valley through the town. People flocked there from Manchester, Leeds and elsewhere. This is an example from the annual 'Easter Duck Race'! It is a charity event where thousands of numbered plastic ducks are dumped into Hebden Water and fished out again downstream. Spectators buy tickets for the ducks and the first few out of the water win prizes, all profits go to local charities. Very worthy but I usually stayed in or left town by an alternative route (HILLS!) on days like that.

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Somehow, with Covid-19 probably still doing the rounds, I don't think that will be happening in 2021!!!

(Maybe there is something wrong with me, but I honestly do not see the appeal of standing in a huge mass of people to watch a few thousand yellow plastic toys float 100 metres down a river!)

We had the annual car rally which was really just racing on closed roads in October. They tended to be an arrogant bunch and tried to stop people going about their legitimate business before the event and my workshop had no parking signs up against it once briefly and vehicles were parked blocking my doorway. Sorry about the missing paint unless they were moved promptly. The door opened outwards and I could not see something parked a foot away from the door.Eventually I joined with lots of others and just left the island for a week.
The current problem is different however and is constant and escalating.

 

[oldwheels]

Yep!


From the accent, I'm pretty sure that it was an English tourist! If he had only slowed down or stopped I could have passed safely. Instead, I had cms between my right and the car, and my left and the barrier, beyond which was a drop onto rocks and the sea. It was bad enough for me, but if a driver had been coming round the blind bend instead of me there would have been a head-on collision. Absolute effing tosspot!!!

I, of course, was also a tourist that day but... (1) I was travelling by bike, and cycling with consideration for other road users. (2) I was claiming ancestral visitation rights, since the Scottish half of my family came from Mull 150+ years ago!

I have had the same experience from I think hunting shooting brigade. My stalker pal told them to crawl on their belly behind him though some nice muddy bits and the only thing they were to look at was the soles of his boots until instructed otherwise. Only the nasties got this treatment as some were ok.

 

[oldwheels]

We had the annual car rally which was really just racing on closed roads in October. They tended to be an arrogant bunch and tried to stop people going about their legitimate business before the event and my workshop had no parking signs up against it once briefly and vehicles were parked blocking my doorway. Sorry about the missing paint unless they were moved promptly. The door opened outwards and I could not see something parked a foot away from the door.Eventually I joined with lots of others and just left the island for a week.
The current problem is different however and is constant and escalating.

One anecdote from about mid 1970's. We had a load of 100 empty casks arrived and the driver, a loon frae Buchan, was not amused as he had been held up by rally cars not letting him past. We had less than an hour to get him unloaded and back to Craignure for the last ferry. The boat agreed to wait so long as it was not too long so he set off back empty with American style horns on his roof operated by an overhead pull cord and about 20 minutes to do the 21 miles. We could hear him blasting his horns for quite a while and he made it in time to catch the boat. On his next visit he said it was great, there were rally cars scattered in the ditches all the way down the road. A bit like Smokey and the Bandit.
I discovered that the distillery yard had several rally cars being worked on with no permission to be there and the entrance was completely blocked with casks. All the workers had gone home by then. Oh dear.

 

[Tenkaykev]

Just cracked open a can of Chew Chew milk stout from Fallen Brewing. Rehydrating after 60K on the Brommies. I know it's no distance at all compared to the hard core cyclists on this forum but I was glad to get back.

Bit of a domestic on the way round as Mrs Tenkay disappeared into the distance while on a long uphill climb into a strong headwind.
When I eventually caught up I remonstrated with her about how we could have worked together instead. That went down really well 😉

 

[12boy]

Lots of branches under the snow... my hoop houses in the garden were ok and the cold frames as was my sheepherders wagon, which being under a crab apple tree has some branches fall and about 6 inches of heavy wet snow on the roof. A couple of hours piling up the branches in the back yard and next to the driveway nd shovelling some paths. Can't have the aged canine freezing her nasty little toes in 8 inches of snow.

 

[PaulSB]

We had a time share at Keswick BridgeThe last time we visited prior to giving the time share op was in 2017

A regular walk was along the railway track from Keswick to Threkeld.to the Farriers pub.for lunch.Didnt happen that year all the bridge had either been washed away or were in a dangerous condition Don’t know what it is like now.

Work is still being done to repair bridges, the Cycleway and footpath.

 

[PaulSB]

Is that Pooley Bridge ?

No it's Keswick. 😂😂

 

[PaulSB]

Very surprised at how busy Keswick was on our two day visit, probably the busiest I've seen it. The vast majority of B&Bs had "No Vacancies" signs up. If ours was typical they're all operating at 50% of usual capacity, ours was using 6 rooms out of 13. The main limitation seems to be the public rooms such as the breakfast room. I complimented the owner on her efforts and how it had not spoiled our stay. Last night all the eating establishments seemed to be at capacity. It was busy but not swamped which seemed positive to me.

Good walk today. Damp, misty, cloudy, sunny, rainbows. All good. Home now and a touch nackered.

 

[screenman]

Who would have thought that Efes and baking powder would help ease the itching and burning of a mosquito bite.