Keeping things on the lowdown...

Another year, another lockdown, and we're as fed up and frustrated about it as everyone else, but it is what it is.  As someone who walks, writes and shares photos about our Cumbrian adventures I feel it's important that everything I do and share is in line with... well, I was going to say 'government guidelines' but the reality is those guidelines should be common sense by now.

I'll be honest, I'm running out of patience with the endless debates amongst some of the outdoors community who are quoting and re-quoting their interpretation of government guidelines as if to find a loophole that allows them to race to the top of Scafell Pike.  The way I see it is this: we all know what's going on, by now we all probably know someone who has been affected by the virus, so we all know that even though it's a pain in the ass, the best thing we can do is stay low, stay local and stay safe.

And it's not just me saying that - Mountain Rescue are also facing enormous challenges.  They are all volunteers and many of their members are fronline NHS workers - the last thing they need is to be called out for fully avoidable incidents.  None of us set out with the express aim of having an accident and calling Mountian Rescue, we all think it will never be us, but the reality is that accidents can happen even to the best prepared of folks, but by staying on low, safer, local routes, we can vastly reduce the chances of that happening.

Interesting fact:  Hardknott Pass is technically a national speed limit road.  That means that, if I wanted to, I could tear along it at 60mph - but we all know that's a bad idea.  I should imagine that "But, your Honour, the sign said I could do 60mph!" will carry little merit as a defence after I've embedded my car deep in the Roman fort...  I don't need a sign on every bend telling me precisely what speed I should be doing, instead I will revert to the guidance in the Highway Code that tells me something like I need to be in control of my vehicle at all times and be able to anticpate hazards.  For me, it's the same with this guidance, just because, on a technicality, I could justify a hike up the nearest snowy peak, doesn't mean I should.

I fully appreciate that we are supremely blessed at being locked down in Grange-over-Sands with stunning Morecambe Bay on our doorstep and Hampsfell just across the road, and I never, even for one second, take that for granted but, wherever you are, every walk can be made more interesting and beneficial (I grew up as an urban kid on a council estate so I absolutley know what it's like to live with limited greenery).  To try and help a little, here are my top tips for making every walk more interesting, plus some ideas for those with kids (or those of us who refuse to grow up!)

• Walk with all 5 senses - take the time to see, hear, smell and touch (where safe) your environment.   Run your hands over a tree  trunk, a wall or a rock.  Take some deep breaths to truly smell the air, listen to your feet and the different noise they make on different surfaces.  Look for the small details on houses, street signs etc.  Taste is tricky at the moment, especially since they reclassified a cup of coffee as a picnic, but take a chocolate with you, pop it in your mouth halfway around, and let it dissolve slowly on your tongue as you take in your surroundings.
• Spot something different on each walk - make it your mission to find smething new every time you go out - doesn't matter how big or small it is.  We've spotted fossils in the prom wall that we'd never seen before, and noticed dates and initials on different houses. We've also watched closely as the seasons have changed around us and spotted lots of tiny details that we would otherwise have missed.
• Tool up and do a litter pick.  Obviously we have to be a lot more careful now, but a pair of Marigolds and a bag should see you in good stead; there's still plenty of litter that needs clearing, including far too many face masks blowing around...
• Make up stories as you go!  I honestly thought that everyone did this, but turns out they don't.  Invent stories about people you pass - maybe they're spies, or brilliant scientists, or a world famous opera singer that you just don't recognise because they have their mask on.  Is that just a tree or is there a door around the other side leading to another world?  Perhaps there's a spaceship inside?  And that hut at the back of the park - just the workman's hut or is it covering the top of a stairway that leads to a secret subterranean hidden world?  Yes, I know it's all a bit bonkers, but it takes your mind off the here and now.
• Build up a photo story - take a picture in the same place, of the same feature, each time you go out.  Watch how it changes over the months.  It will be great to look back on when you put them all together.
• If you can get off the beaten track with your kids a little,  collect leaves, twigs, or other bits and pieces to make a collage when you get home.  Or, if you feel more comfortable, photograph them then draw, paint to model them when you get home - and then make up stories about it.
• Learn about your local history - there are loads of fantstic online local history resources  so have a dig around and learn about your neighbourhood.  Find old photos online and match them up to today's view, find out who built where you live and what was there before.

Please join me in staying low and staying local - I'll only be walking from the door until things change and I'll only share posts on social media where people have done the same.  It feels like forever right now, but I can guarantee that during the summer of 2025, we'll be sat around in a pub garden, enjoying a glass of wine in the sunshine with our friends and family, and someone will say "The pandemic?  Wow, I can't believe that was 5 years ago."

And if you have any other ideas and tips for making local walks more interesting, please feel free to share them below!

Be careful what you wish for...

I feel that 2020 may be all my fault.  One year ago today I wrote this blog about how 2019 had gotten away from me and how my wish was to spend more time at home in 2020.  Boy, did that wish come true.  After a couple of mini adventures in January, February and March, everything screeched to a rather dramatic halt.  I dug out my old work handbag the other day and found my final train ticket in there, dated 12th March 2020 - for someone who used to rack up intergalactic mileage on the trains every year, this has been quite a change of pace.

The mini adventures

Before lockdown hit work took me to Dublin and Littlehampton

Cliff walk near Bray (Dublin)

Littlehampton

As usual, I tagged on some extra time for exploring, which was all very lovely, but still rather at odds with my plan to spend more time at home.

In March, the week before lockdown, we finally got away together in Delores for a week in Clitheroe - it really is a lovely spot and well worth exploring - the sculpture trails alone make it worth the trip.

Sculpture Trail - Clitheroe

Lessons from lockdown

Since March we've barely left Cumbria - we took one trip to Wolverhampton to see my elderly mum during the lockdown reprise over the summer, and a couple of trips to Morecambe for some flat walks after I stuffed my leg in July.  Have I missed all the travelling?  Not one single bit of it.  I have had zero lonely nights in hotels, zero unapetising train picnics, loads more sleep and have spent tons more time with Steve (which I have absolutely loved and I'm hoping he's enjoyed it too! 😁 )

Not that this year has been easy - far from it - we lost our entire income and were firmly in the group that qualified for zero government support - but I'm a stubborn old mule and by working incredibly hard together (another big plus, we have dug deep and worked our collective socks off together this year) we are still here.  As with any tough journey, lessons have been learned along the way, so I thought I'd share the things we've learned during 2020 in case they are of help to anyone else.

• Focus on "can" not "can't" - I keep banging on about this, but it is absolutely at the heart of everything we do.  There have been an enormous amount of "can'ts" in 2020, but there have been plenty of "cans" too.
• Ask for help.  Honestly we would not be here if it weren't for each other and the support of family and friends. In April, May and June we had absolutely nothing and I was utterly humbled by the way our friends stepped up to offer help and support, They even sent gin!
• Learn new things.  We have learned countless new tech platforms this year as we completely reinvented our business.  There were some very long weekends, lots of tears of frustration and several entertaining mishaps - like the time I pressed the wrong button and kicked every single delegate out of a training session mid way through.  Ooops!  We survived though!
• Set firm boundaries between home and work - if you work from home, that's not always easy, but try changing clothes at the end of the day, going for a 'fake commute walk' before you start and after you finish, hide your work stuff away when you're not using it, and avoid saying "Just this one more email" - it will still be there when you log on tomorrow.
• Be nice to yourself - we have all had a crap year and we're all feeling pretty fraught just now, so ease up and quit beating yourself up for not living up to your impossibly high standards.  I've always hated the expression 'guilty pleasure' - just take time out to indulge in what you love, whether that's The Times crossword or bingewatching the every episode of Friends.
• Accept change.  This is a toughie, but things won't magically 'go back to normal' - we've all been changed by this.  One of my favourite quotes on change comes from the "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" by Dan Millman: "The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new."

Of course I've also learned to enjoy flat walks, thanks to my slow healing leg, and have enjoyed watching the seasons change on my many (many!) walks along Grange prom.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year by buying books, sending gin and/ or buying us a virtual coffee - we really do appreciate it!  Here's hoping 2021 is a little less eventful - and I hope your new year is a peaceful and happy one.

DON'T FORGET - we still have all our books for sale right here - perfect for a virual escape or for planning your next Cumbrian adventure!

Five things that made me smile in lockdown

Following on from the previous blog where I was possibly a little less perky than usual - at least that's the way I was feeling when I wrote it - I thought I'd follow it up with something rather more chirpy.  As restrictions ease (I was going to add 'at least for now' but let's be optimistic!) many of us are emerging from the experience rather differently to the way we went in.

The headlines may have focused on the folks who seem to have little respect for the landscape but for many of us it's been about learning new skills, making new friends and appreciating the smaller things in life.

Here are 5 things which have really made me smile over the past few months.

1.  Walks in the sunshine

As I type this it is *pouring* down outside but, let's face it, the weather during lockdown has been amazing!  I still haven't ventured more than 5 miles from our home and during the main lockdown I barely went out at all.  But when we did get out we truly appreciated the fresh air, open spaces and wonderful warm sunshine.  The day the photo above was taken we'd been out for 6 hours and only saw 4 other people - 2 near the start and 2 near the end.  Perfect!

2.  Our Saturday nights in the virtual pub with friends

During the first weekend one of our very good friends, who happens to be an events organiser, created a virtual pub.  There have been talks, charades which have to be mimed using stuffed toys and, of course, a pub quiz.  Everyone has been really inventive with their rounds so me & Steve pitched in.  We started by creating really bad drawings of famous events from history (Mo Farrah winning the 5000m at the London Olympics - obviously 😂) and progressed to making models of cartoon characters (Marvin the Martian - how could you not get that one from our superb recreation? 😁).  We laughed as much putting the rounds together as we did watching the looks on everyone's face as they tried to figure out what it was...

3.  Posh Sunday lunch

One of the highlights was definitely being offered the chance to try out Simon Rogan at Home.  We are lucky enough to live within shouting distance of L'enclume but have never had the cash to visit.  I'll be honest (and Steve will cringe when he reads this, but knows what I'm like!) I was worried it would be 'poncy piles of food' and we'd need a bag of oven chips on standby!  I couldn't have been more wrong!  There was TONS of food - so much that we had mains at lunch time and pud for tea,  All the food is freshly made that morning and comes with full and very easy to follow re-heating instructions.  I was delighted as I've always loved how hard Simon Rogan and his team work to support our local community.  The Simon Rogan at Home 3 course dinner is just £30 or the 2 course Sunday Roast with all the trimmings is just £25. The only downside is that, for now, it's only available in South Cumbria (but they will be expanding their delivery areas) - so check it out next time you're here!

4.  A fizz fuelled lockdown birthday

Yes, I'm one of the folks who has had a birthday in lockdown.  Luckily, these days, I'm not much of a party animal so it wasn't much different to other years.  A few years ago we ran off to Scotland in our camper van to celebrate my 50th with only otters for company.  This year we were obviously at home and managed a soggy toddle in the morning before I hit the airwaves in the evening.  I had full permission from the studio boss to start on the bubbly on song 9 (if you're a Eurovision fan, you'll understand the significance, especially as song 9 was an obscure but lovely Eurovision entry from Malta many years ago!), and he also allowed me an extra 30 mins so I could cram in all my very favourite tunes.  I had an absolute blast!  (You can catch my show Wed/ Thur/ Fri 5-7pm and Sat 9am - 12noon right here.)

5.  Spending more time at home, with him.

Pre lockdown my life was a whirlwind of trains, hotel rooms and random offices.  While the financial downside is indeed huge, I have massively enjoyed spending more time at home and larking around with Steve.  I really feel for all those who have been isolated during lockdown.  Three months on and I am not even close to being bored of spending so much time at home.  In fact I really hope that the way we're being forced to reinvent our business will enable me to spend more time at home in future and a lot less time in lonely hotel rooms.  I think the cats are getting fed up of me now, but Steve seems to be coping ok...

Don't forget you can support us in two ways.  You can find all of our books right here - and we are happy to sign them for gifts etc. if you'd like.  You can also support the blog by buying us a 'virtual coffee' right here.  Thank you.