Cloud avoidance

The forecast predicted rain. Clouds were rolling down the sides of the fells. It was clear that it would be a damp day. We were on G-Force duty as Pistol Pete and Urban-Cub had a long walk planned. It was late morning before they set off to head along towards Grisedale Tarn.

We loaded up the car with all of the baby paraphernalia and headed up towards Pooley Bridge. As we headed along the side of the Lake, the roads dried up and, whilst not bright and sunny, it was brighter than back in Patterdale. We made a quick plan adjustment. Skip Pooley Bridge and head for Penrith. This proved to be a good decision. It brightened further and was really quite mild and dry.

Penrith is clearly an old market town with lots of little alleyways and squares. It was very quaint. To reinforce the stereotypical view of the north, there was even a chap with a flat cap and a whippet sitting outside Sainsbury’s. (Advantage of being on G-Force duty is that you can park in the mother and toddler bays in the car park).

We made our way through town, zigging here and zagging there. Ellie took it all in and was as quiet as a mouse. It was, however, approaching time for her lunch so we found a small sandwich shop and installed ourselves at the back, out of everyone’s way. The bottle was produced and as Ellie drank we managed a tea and coffee and a snack. Needless to say there was a lot of cooing and chuckles from the waitress and the nearby patrons. (The waitress was the thinnest person you could ever see - assuming she wasn’t hiding behind a bamboo cane; she was absolutely charming but painfully thin).

After lunch we made our way back through the town and stopped off at the Post Office (it’s the Coventry Hobbit’s birthday next week). The girl behind the counter tried to engage the Gorse Fox in a discussion about changing broadband provider. He declined. She finished off with “Well if you change your mind, just drop back in”. Politely he thanked her and wandered off debating whether he would actually engage in a 7 hour drive to come and discuss changing broadband, then drive for 7 hours to get home. He decided this was unlikely.

We headed back to the cottage. As we drove into Patterdale, Pistol Pete and Urban-Cub were just walking into the village. If Ellie had not been in the back we’d have stopped for them but, loaded up, there was no room. We continued on and by the time the Gorse Fox had started unloading the car at the cottage, they arrived home.

We had a quiet afternoon. Pistol Pete and Urban-Cub had changed and headed back out for a meal at a local restaurant. We looked after Ellie and the Gorse Fox prepared some Singapore-style noodles. This is difficult on an electric hob and without a wok or any similar cooking vessel. The final result was ok, but not as tasty as when cooked back home. As we were finishing, Pistol Pete and Urban-Cub arrived back.

We all settled in to watch the England-Slovakia football match. 2-1 was a good result given the shock and awe tactics of the Slovakian team in the first 20 minutes. They had looked unstoppable, but clearly ran out of steam.