Is this the real life?

It was Langdale folk festival again, so after a record fast day brewing beer, we managed to get up to the campsite before dark.  I have finally got a new decent tent from Terra Nova and, although a little odd, it weighs nothing, and is easy and quick to put up.

A great night in the Old, with the Yates Bitter superb, and a couple of pints of Marshmallow Unicorn joining in.

Walking back to the campsite at around midnight, it is great to see the dark mountains looming over you, with the night sky strangely bright in the background. I have often tried, and failed, to capture this on a camera, but I tried again tonight, dodging out of the road as Jilly hurtled past me on a pushbike.

I know it doesn't capture what I could see, but use your imagination...

Sunday morning and it was dull, so we just had a quick wander up side pike before heading home

Tuesday night was a nice cool September evening, and I made my way down to the river at Putney.

 I was off to the Half Moon to see Hayseed Dixie.  Support was from Jenny wren and her borrowed wings, with a great selection of chill-out music.

Hayseed Dixie followed, a superb band, and if you haven't seen them you have missed some great music.  Their version of Bohemian Rhapsody is better than Queens!

Wednesday and I am off to York to judge beer in the North East.  I like York, but the beer at the festival, although better than last year, was mainly flat.

We had a couple of great pints in the town and rounded off the evening with a superb curry - Salmon tikka - unusual but superb.

Shiny Oak!

There was an Eating at Lukes.  A couple of pints in the Brig, then it was Spanish food.  A superb Paella, spicy meatballs and a Bakewell tart covered in nuts!

Lukes tiny new cat was also in the eating mood.

Chippy Paul turned up to the boat with some shiny Oak worktops, which fitted perfectly.  Once the sink was re-connected, the gas connected, and the hob wired up, the kitchen was starting to look superb.

Back at the brewery, we had Rusty the cat helping us with deliveries

Ian has been cracking on while we are having such a superb September, and the boat is now green undercoat.

Chameleon

Ian loves painting so much, he has volunteered to paint the boat properly.  The previous paint job was so thin much of it was wearing off.  Before I know it, he has flattened down the sides and the boat is looking far cleaner in several coats of primer.

While he is doing that, I managed to transform the kitchen from scruffy white primer to not too shabby wallpaper.  the kitchen is now ready for the worktops.

Having scoured the net for paint, I decided that the Craftmaster paint seemed to have the best reviews, so I popped in to kings lock chandlers and spent £400 on paint.  This may seem a lot, but I would rather have a good layer of undercoat and topcoat and not have to repaint it for years to come.

Chippy Paul turned up to make a template for the cratch and measure up for the worktops.

Back in the hills

It's no good, the workaholic in me has been winning for too long.  I am tired!

We need to deliver a beer to the Old, so sod it, I am off to the lakes for a couple of days.  The weather forecast was iffy, but as usual, I don't care.  By the time I get to the campsite, it is dark, and i cursed the useless outwell tent as I pitched it for only the fourth time, and some of the seams are separating.  I will get soaked if it rains.
I dropped the beer off at the Old, and stopped for a few pints.  It was a quiet Tuesday evening, but to sit quietly and have a couple of beers and a chat to some people was all I needed.
Wednesday morning and the sun was out, with lots of white fluffy clouds that had not yet turned black and ugly.  I lit the stove for coffee, then realised I had no cutlery with me.  I had two cups of coffee hand poured and stirred with a mostly clean tent peg while I waited for the shop to open so I could get a spoon, and book the campsite for the up coming folk festival, and it was great to bump into Jilly, who is now working in the shop.

The weather was a bit uncertain, and it has been a few months since I have been climbing, so I decided to stick to the well known Stickles.

Part way up Mill Gyll, where the bridge used to be, there is a construction site where they are building a hydro plant.  There is a huge scar across the landscape from the road they have built to get the diggers up here, and the place is a mess.

  It will take a long time for the landscape to recover (if it does) and I can't see that the scheme will be worth it in the long run.  Like so many of their recent barmy schemes, I think the National trust have well and truly lost the plot.

As I continued up the ghyll, the empty threats of occasionally dark clouds made the view even more stunning.

I reached Stickle Tarn without collapsing in a heap, so decided, as I hadn't done it for a few years, that I might as well do Jakes Rake.

The views got better and better as I completed the climb to the top of Harrison Stickle.

The problem with having a camera with a battery that seems to last ages between charges, is that you never leave it on charge.  Either that or my camera was overwhelmed by the views, as it shut down completely just after my first photo from Pike o stickle.

You can see Scotland from here - I wonder if that will be another country soon...

Food at last!

Once the new lights were fitted then the ceiling was primed...

   ..and a coat of antique white satin, and the kitchen is looking so much brighter.

It may seem like sacrilege to many out there that I am painting over nice wood, but I have looked at many boats that have varnished wood, and I find them dull and gloomy.  Wood is ok, but too much is too much.

I finally got all the gas connections finished, and to test the cooker I made cheese and toast and fish finger butties for everyone in the boatyard.

If nobody dies over the next few days, then I can be pretty sure the freezer is working as well!

Calder Valley

 I brought a token bunch of southerners up to Leeds, then across to Hebden Bridge to see what real pubs were like.  Hebden bridge is probably one of the best looking stations, as railway stations go, and this is one of my favourite valleys, beutiful countryside intermingled with industrial heritage, as the road, river, railway and canal continually cross each other as they wind through the valley.

The first stop was the Stubbins Wharf.  Slightly hidden off the main road, the pub is a great place for beer and food.  I had a wonderful hot beef baguette, and managed to eat it without getting covered in gravy, which is a first!

The pub is situated below canal level, so out the back of the pub you have to go up some stairs to reach the beutiful and vastly underrated Rochdale canal.  I would love to moor my boat here, but the moorings are few and far between - aka expensive.

Next was the Fox & Goose, which is a very old building in need of a bit of TLC.  This pub has recently been bought by the community and will be done up as funds permit as a great community pub.

Just a couple of minutes by train, and we were in Todmorden, where the Queens is right across from the station.  This is a grandious old station hotel, with huge rooms and high ceilings.  Good beer and an interesting menu.

Just down from the Queens is the White Hart or the Todmorden "spoons".  The beer was ok, but the layout of the pub is very confusing.

Back on the train we got to Mytholmroyd, and the Shoulder of Mutton.  I think this pub has recently changed hands.  The food looked good, but the beer was stale.  I will probably give this place a miss in the future.

Last stop towards Leeds was Sowerby Bridge. This too is a very industrial looking town and we went to the "works" which is an old mill that has had the ground floor turned into quite a contemporary bar.

Last stop was the Jubilee Refreshment rooms, the bar on Sowerby Bridge station platform.  A great pint, and locally made pork pies finished off the day nicely.

Back to Leeds, to see the foreigners off back "Dahn Sahth", and a quick reminder just how good Granary wharf is these days.

Back at the boat (remember the boat...)  I have decided to ditch the chaep and nasty ebat downlights...

  ..for some of a much better quality that I found in an electrical suppliers in Bury.