W-1 Getting to St Bees

I suppose many of you wonder where is St Bees ? It's on the coast by the Irish Sea and is the local base for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: it also has a sandstone quarry too btw. Population small but if our B&B is anything to go by it is full of walkers awaiting to start the Coast to Coast. Amazingly it has a railway station but probably only because Doctor Beeching didn't know it existed in the 1960's when he chopped the branch line network in the UK :-)

It has taken 8 hours to get here, with a taxi to Northampton station plus a train change at Birmingham and Carlisle. We didn't see Birmingham New Street station... alas we changed at Birmingham International..... an architectural delight ? I will let you decide

The last 43 miles, including a cancelled train (but a nice wait in a coffee lounge with good scones and cherry cake), took 3 hours ! So 3 rail companies later, two of which didn't believe in luggage racks, and we are ready to go. The only debate is what size of breakfast tomorrow - full English with cereal or a light sporty one.

W-2 Middle Aged Spread

I am not talking about the development of a spare tyre around the middle, but more the desire to take everything on holiday. Yes, at last, at 11pm, we have got to the point of packing !!! Once the walking boots are in the bag however, there seems to be little else we can fit in. All thoughts of evening wear, extra shoes, a polo shirt, another pair of trousers are down the tubes. Luckily the walkers trusty top, the base layer, is really thin. yes thinner than a tee-shirt. The girl in the shop did say it retains sweat but what the hell, it truly takes up no space at all. Which is just as well when I have 10 of them ! So we are in the final stage of preparation. Richard is now home to "look after" the dogs. Alas the plaster on his arm stops him from driving us to the station, walking the dogs, or even really doing up his shirt but this must not deflect us from our middle age "before we kick the bucket" adventure.

W-3 Dealing with the unexpected

Tonight was a night of the unexpected. I am not talking about packing for 50 shades of rains: we are prepared for that - what nutter wouldn't be prepared for rain in North England? No, I am talking about needing to react to an emergency. Firstly do not hit a concrete poster board. It normally ends up with Board 1 and Human 0. It also can lead to a fractured wrist. Not that we would do that type of thing but maybe a drunk student on his last night out before finishing his studies for a year would (hypothetically of course). Obviously having your hand / arm in a cast handicaps the ability to pack a suitcase, empty a room, load a car, in fact virtually anything. Any way we coped admirably -  dropped the packing, went to Nottingham on mere 140 mile drive and rescued the offspring from a fractious packing process. After this, what can the hills throw at us ? Well if we ever get time to pack !

W-4 Hats decided

2 hats : Decision made ! Yes you could say its a cop out but what if one gets soaked.... you hardly want me walking around the mountains without a hat. Of course you need a woolly hat and then maybe a baseball cap: ok I don't really like them either but 2 people at work seem to constantly arrive or leave with them on their heads and they must know what they are doing - and they do shield your eyes from the sun. Maybe a Northampton Saints one. Obviously on a windy day there may be a risk of takeoff. So on to the next problem - camera gear. Up to now I was thinking of my trusty Canon but now with a blog going I am going to have to take photos on the iPhone too so I can get them in this blog .... yes you will get photos. Also with huge vistas will I need a zoom lens too ? It's all getting rather close. Oh if you were wondering Andrea's new wardrobe of walking clothes has arrived - modern logistics are so impressive.

W-5 I am already out done

You know I mentioned base layers yesterday: see W-6. Well Andrea has (as usual) out done me. There I was thinking 5 was enough with a few of the old tee shirts thrown in for good measure, only to come home to find Andrea has ordered a wardrobe. She is obviously planning for the future because by the power of Mountain Ware / Amazon she has a flurry of things coming: 8 base layers, 2 fleeces, 2 pairs of trousers and 5 extra pairs of socks. Maybe she forgot to tell me about the BBC drone photo shots in Patterdale or the stunning swosh shot as we enter Swaledale. I can see I better sort out this hat thing and look for more clothes.

W-6 Getting close

We are now in the final throws of our preparations. Obviously top of the list is blister cures with 6 packs arriving today - Compeed no less. I thought they only did one type but I am now an expert - toes, heals, soles, .... the only one they seem to lack is for the full foot. The other interesting thing to arrive is base layers. I have to say that its crept up on us. What is a base layer ? For those in the know its an essential piece of clothing that is breathable and dry. Out with the ubiqious cotton tee shirt and in with the base layer. I think by the end of this adventure we will be walking experts on what to wear and what not to. The big question outstanding for me is the head wear... baseball cap, floppy hat or woolly. I will have a think