Boog's Blog

Slept in for very obvious reasons

Mostly taking it easy today; Sharon needs recovery time and, of course, laundering.

At Bobbikins penthouse: Muru at Isle of Wight. Possibly no Tom Yom soup.

Muru would be a sought after artist, many genres, but for his mental illness

Above just a sampling of the 30-50 pieces scattered about.

London via Leeds.

Sharon released from the hospital wheezing but able to travel so a taxi to Leeds and then a direct train to London.

Peculiar Hotel I stayed in last night: code for front door, code to get key out of box. Return the key to the dispensing box and leave. It might be an emergency number, but I didn’t find or need one. I selected it because of it’s 9.4 rating on Booking. 

Link below for no reason except I liked it.

https://boingboing.net/2026/04/20/what-thousands-of-years-of-foot-traffic-does-to-marble-stairs.html

Real estate in Skipton

Bobbi met us at kings cross to help with the luggage and long taxi queue

On the train we tried to order tea cakes and tea: no problem with tea cakes; we said we would like the tea with it. No, it comes later in the trip.

Met Bobbikins at King Court Cross Station he helped us with the luggage.

Can you turn around? I got a picture of you in the room.

Walking part of the holiday is over. Now a bus ride to Manchester, a night there, and then a train ride to London on Tuesday.

Planned on picking up Sharon at 7:30 from the hospital then taxi to the bus with the group.

However, another day in the hospital. Breathing not recovered enough to leave.

I booked a hotel in Skipton for the night and the plan is to go to London via Leeds tomorrow. 

              

Above is the church, of course there is a church

It is attached to the castle. The oldest (1090) fully intact, medieval castle.

Steep stairs, cold rooms, nothing charming, and one royal after the other remodeling changing rooms -this reminds me of other castles and palaces. Never satisfied with the way it is architectured. Add a room add a wing, change the color, etc.. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skipton_Castle?wprov=sfti1

Certainly not comfortable place as you will see further on as well.

Did not take pictures of the narrow winding steps that needed handrails to go up and down. Stone steps, of course. treacherous if you live there.

All in all, I like my room in the small boutique hotel far better.

Sharon planned to take another test/cold day. Unfortunately, she will miss the simple walk, but she doesn’t like caves anyway.

The walk includes an optional visit to the famous underground cave here.

this is the final day of walking of the Rhode Scholar trip

However, Sharon woke up and not breathing very well or barely at all. Took a taxi to the Airedale hospital.

Sharon was seen by the Senior doctor in the A&E department. She becomes attending in a few weeks and said that she cannot get a job. 20 years of this, three kids and she can’t get a job and her husband is a GP and also can’t get a job. fabulous bedside in her care of charge.

Oxygen, nebulizer, chest x-ray….

The senior A&E strongly recommended an overnight stay and found a ward bed for the night.

every department is paperwork, nothing digital. They’ve been planning digital for years same questions just increasing complexity as you go from one department to another people extremely nice.

very large Hospital complex multiple wings all one story and the building more wings and with evidence from the window by the construction

All creatures great and small is filmed in this area about a 30 minute taxi ride away -east of where we are. Some bagged the walk today and went to the town. Here are their pictures.

Plan is for me to pick up Sharon at 7:30 in the morning and bring her to the bus so we continue forward 

Sharon and I were to be on separate walks. But…. Bad cold changed her plan.

Much flatter terrain here. More rolling hills than mountains.

Weather for Saturday: Cold North wind. Temp 5c (40f) early, rising to 10c (50f). Blustery, scattered showers    

From the lecture:

Local Geological History from Ivan!

General: 300-million-year snapshot!

300m – 200m Limestone, plus mudstones compressing to shale

2m – 10,000: Glaciation, multiple ice ages

14,000 – 2,000: People, livestock, farming – bronze & iron ages

71 – 410: Roman Yorkshire, Celtic tribal culture

1086 – 1539: Domesday Book – recorded detailed population information for first time.

From 18th Century: Sheep & Wool leading to industrialisation, canals, railways

Hiking development to Pennine Way.

We were about 30 feet off the official path. She came out quite annoyed.

She came out and suggested we eat in the church. Help ourselves to the tea pot and restrooms.

Malham cove- was a very large waterfall in 18 th century

Stopped for tea and scones before the final few kms.

Lovely bitter to finish walk.

Newell house first, an hour and a half drive. Stopped for a couple of hours in Skipton before the half hour drive to Newfield Hall.

First stop in Skipton was at busy Lizzie, a popular fish and Chips joint. Made the mistake of ordering to go which you could only eat outside in the rain. We abandoned it and went around the corner to sit down in the restaurant. Someone got our order and a freebie.

Thinking of DEO missing these. Next time we’re in the area we will definitely come back. Fish (haddock), properly cooked chips and breading not least bit greasy.

Farming is not profitable except for the subsidies. Given for typical ag support and preventing rewilding of the land.

At dinner, I asked for olive oil to go with my salad. Nope, we have no olive oil in this restaurant. I spoke to the guy who said that’s typical. England does not have olive oil in the north except in fancy restaurants.

Trip to Buttermere area by bus.

Sharon and I were on separate walks today however, mine overlapped hers so duplicate area pics. Jeff’s walk also involved going up and down a hill.

Narrow, single track, not too muddy, but very, very windy.

Buttermere was the headquarters of the local group during the Norman conquest. The Normans never succeeded taking this village, too hilly and too many places to hide.

Demographics of the walkers.
Ages:. 70,76,77,80,80,81,81, 85
These are just the ones revealed.

We decided to skip the formal walks today as the rain would be continuous and the mud even more so especially on slippery cliffs. Sharon says “as much as we like them.”

High on the list is the pencil museum.

Walked into Keswick to find a proper tea house before explorations and museum.

Found really good vests in town at one of the many outdoor stores.

Sharon and I went on different walks today.

Jeff’s walk was outstanding.

Surfaces fine, no rain, mild temperature.

Group includes:

Pesticide biologist, civil servant

UK government stiles (the kind that allow crossing between fields), landscape rights of way administrator

Speech therapist – 85 years old, walks without poles,

Former Democratic party worker from the Carter admin days.

Lingholm was an estate favored by Beatrix Potter. Apparently the gardens and grounds provided inspiration for Peter Rabbit and her other books.

Met Sharon at Marina near the hotel for scones and tea post our walks.

Sharon’s shots

First, a clarification from yesterday: The spelling KEEPT is used for counting, in English we generally use kept. As an interesting sidenote I found out that they count the sheep using Cumbrian dialect numbers not English.

There are problems in the Lake District counting the sheep. The hills are very steep so they have to ask the sheep to stay imobile for a longer period of time.

The car park was basically full on this beautiful day. This is extremely charming country.

Day starts with 75 minute drive to Grasmere, definitely famous for gingerbread store, outdoor clothing stores and especially Wordsworth cottage, which was closed today.

Overall, we have done more than adequate Grasmere. Sharon says: adequate plus.

Keswick. via AI
Keswick is a lively town, sitting right in the heart of the Lake District. It has outdoor shops, cafés, pubs, and a steady flow of walkers and visitors, all set against a backdrop of dramatic fells. The town wraps around Derwentwater and serves as a gateway to some of the region’s most famous scenery. It feels energetic but still manageable, and it’s a good place to get a sense of the Lake District.

Accomodation:

Derwent Bank, sited on the edge of Derwentwater in the Lake District. This house has a more open feel, with large windows looking out toward the lake and surrounding hills. Less comfortable room as we did not get assigned premium, boot room. The setting is the highlight here: with water, mountains, and a lakeside landscape right outside our very high walk up room.

Dinner conversation with an odd polymath your who studies 9 languages simultaneously using Duolingo and sings in a chorus called Encore creativity for older adults.