Blogs from Kendal, Cumbria, England, United Kingdom, Europe

53 Miles. 12.7 MPH. 880 ascent The Mango Tree Indian Restaurant last night can be recommended. A great stay at the Jolly Farmer with a very luxurious breakfast before heading south along Mallerstang. First stop was the 13th century Pendragon ruined Castle before heading along to Sedbergh for a brew. Unfortunately the cafes were closed so we had to do a takeaway and sit in the street. Some narrow lanes to Kirkby Lonsdale in brilliant sunshine until we came across a Road Closed sign, which we ignored.as usual. Why are cyclists like this? Eventually we came across a big gap In the road where a new culvert was being installed with no chance of passing. A detour through the field across a wooden bridge got us safely past and confirmed my reputation for taking people off ... read more

We are doing well with preparations for our GSE visit to Karnataka. Last week the team rehearsed their presentation in front of an audience, who gave constructive criticism. A lot of hard work has gone into co-ordinating pictures and preparing the spoken text. The main advice given is that it needs fewer technical statistics and more clear explanation of things like why canals were built and how they are used today. There also needs to be a more humorous, audience friendly approach, particularly with occupations and general interests. All this is being worked on. Vas, who has been such an invaluable point of information, told me yesterday that there are often whole families at Rotary meetings in India, which makes for a wider audience that we need to consider. Leaflets introducing the team are now being ... read more

Greetings from Kendal......Just finished day 4 of my 5 day course and thought I update you on the week. The upholstery class is great. It's held in a old stone barn that they rent just outside of Kendal on a beautiful country road. There are some picutres attached. And my instructor, Marion, is actually younger than me (yes I know you all assumed that upholstery is for old bittys but, it can be young and hip too!). Marion is from France and five months ago she knew almost no English and now she is doing all the instruction for the courses that they hold, which is pretty impressive. She also stays in the same accomodations that I am so she can drive me back an forth to the course every monrning (very convenient). However, she drives ... read more

Sunday 28th June Farewell Settle,Hello Kendal Our two weeks and one day in Settle comes to an end today and we are moving north to the Lakes District and Kendal which is about 30 miles away. Our stay here has been very relaxing and we have achieved all the things we wanted to by way of either walks or drives to outer lying places to see attractions. The weather improved for us as the time went on and we are now experiencing what we hope will be a sustained period of warm temperatures from a settled weather pattern that has developed over the country. Arthurs home had all we needed to make our stay comfortable and he and Dorothy have been so accommodating and welcoming to us. Arthur came down this morning and we helped him ... read more

After a bit of a discussion this morning, we've decided that we'd had enough and needed a break from cycling, and we needed some sunshine. As Christie described it, riding has just become a chore for her, and although a big bit of me wanted to cycle to to London, the idea of getting into the sunshine was pretty appealing. We therefore packed our bags (Christie battling with both a bad head cold and a bruised and sore leg) and cycled the 2 miles to the train station. The oddly quiet train station. After knocking on the door and finally finding someone inside we were told that the trains wouldn't be running ... for the next two weeks! With nothing else for it, we headed off the 50kms to Kendal, the next nearest train line. ... read more