NEWS
Friday December 11, 2009
The flower shop on the corner of Station Street refuses to bow to events. A muddied and bedraggled Santa lends some forlorn cheer.
It may not be the MetroCentre, but it's a remarkable achievement in the circumstances. This is where Main Street has relocated as the carnage of Cockermouth's Main Street lies in skips and the hands of loss adjustors.
Fiona Chippendale at the Toy Shop, now situated in the Mitchell building.
As Workington welcomed its new temporary bridge, courtesy of the army, Cockermouth adopted the Dunkirk spirit as the clean up continued in earnest. There are more than 60 skips at any given time in Main Street, piled high with the collected remnants of lifestyles and livelihoods swamped and ruined on the dreaded night of November 19, when the heavens burst the banks of every river and tributary in this swollen corner of West Cumbria.
As good luck would have it the Mitchell building, an auction mart opposite Sainsbury's, was largely empty. As November became December, so the town's shopkeepers scurried from the waterlogged remnants of their ruined businesses, salvaging whatever they could in order to set up for Christmas in the temporary mall.
A Christmas tree was being decorated as Fiona and Jonathan Chippendale constructed a temporary stall at Mitchells. The Hetheringtons down at the New Bookshop on Main Street were not so lucky. Most of their stock was ruined and there was little they could do but wait for the insurance assessors to come by.
"This shop has been in the family for 41 years. We are collecting the salvagable stock and will have a stall shortly up at Mitchells," said Catherine.
Volunteers keep the workforce warm with soup and hot drinks
Stephen and Catherine Hetherington had more than £100,000 worth of stock ruined.
Where there was once a bridge to Low Lorton Picture: Dianne Moyes
Cumbria FLOOD FUND appeal - see home page
Or click here: http://c2c-guide.co.uk/cumbrian-flood-fund.html
For the latest NEWS and updates please click:
http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/floods/roadbridgenews.asp
and
WEATHER:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/uk/uk_forecast_weather.html
For the benefit of those who didn't see the editorial comment in the Guardian on Thursday December 10, here it is: "CUMBRIA has given the world the best in scientists, comedians and of course poets, but a prime minister has yet ot come out of its beautiful landscape. Perhaps one is in waiting among the young people who have witnessed, and are taking part in, an exemplary expression of civic virtue which has followed November's floods. A bridge has been built in a week at Workingon, a railway halt in a weekend. Devastated shops in Cockermouth have relocated to the town's auction mart, taking their Main Street signs along with them. The strength of the response has been partly a matter of efficiency by all the agencies involved, but it owed more to Cumrians' priorities. The yellow jackets of Churches Together volunteers were on the streets almost a s quickly as the orange ones of the emergency services. Only later came the justified request for extra government funding. The money was offered with enthusiasm because so much self-help had already been shown. The long haul back to normality remains a test, but Cumbrians in the Northside community centre at Workington, or Cockermouth's temporary sugeries, are planning long-term. Shallow obituarists of broken Britain should visit the country to learn these wholesome lessons (as should anyone else within reach, to do their Christmas shopping). The county council's motto Ad montes oculos levavi stricly means "I shall lift up mine eyes to the hills." It might be better translated as "Looking out for one another."
2010 C2C Challenge
I can confirm that the 2010 challenge will take place on July 17 & 18. Our chosen charity this year is the RNLI. Numbers will be limited so register now by going to the Home Page and clicking on the Challenge banner. Here you will find details and a registration form which will allow you to book your places online. We have had to put the fee up this year to £75, having slightly misjudged the time, effort and costs involved in the undertaking. However, we feel that it still represents great value for money.
Last July 200 of you took part. If interest is sufficient we will consider doing a challenge in the spring as well so watch this space.
Pre-Christmas C2C T-shirt offer
Reduced from £9.99 to only £6.99. Avaliable in all sizes.
For further merchandise offers, please see home Home Page.
Pedal Power
I am delighted to welcome Pedal Power to the website. Run by Ian Rochester from Amble in Northumberland, they will be renting out bikes and organising transport and packages for the C2C, Hadrian's Cycleway, Coast & Castles plus the Reivers route. www.pedal-power.co.uk. 01665 713448. For further information, see Cycle Hire.
Coast to Coast Travel
Another newcomer I am delighted to welcome aboard for 2010 is Alan Grimes, who has a 15-seater minibus and bike trailer for 14 cycles. Alan's happy to transport bags as well as bikes and is flexible and willing to ferry people on all three Coast to Coast routes (C2C, Reivers and Hadrian's) plus Coast & Castles. Based in South Shields, he can be contacted on 07766 075135 or 0191 423 0703. alan_grimes_17@msn.com.
Moor to grouse about
I am delighted to report that the Sustrans signs banning cyclists from Rookhope Moor have been taken down, even though the shooting season is not yet officially over.
You will remember that a blanket ban was imposed between August 12 and the end of the grouse shooting season, in mid-December, even though no such ban is in place for walkers or horse riders. In the past Sustrans used to post a volunteer at the bottom of the Boltsburn Incline on the 10 or so days when shooting took place, in order to redirect cyclists onto the Stanhope and Crawleside alternative. However, owing to cost-cutting they stopped this, meaning that one of the greatest wildernesses, and one of the most beautiful sections of the route, became out of bounds.
The C2C Guide website is happy to prominently advertise the days when shooting is going to take place, if this will help restore the old rail track to cyclists during this period. We also appeal for volunteers to stand outside the Rookhope Inn to redirect cyclists on the appropriate days. Anyone interested, please contact Mark Porter on info@c2c-guide.co.uk.
Since the C2C opened 15 years ago, the shooting syndicate which owns this section of the Moor has been kind enough to make it available to cyclists every day of the year except - entirely understandably - those days when there is shooting. In other words, you were able to cycle across it 355 days a year.
Richard Derrick has joined the growing band of readers who have written in about this. 'As they shoot the area once a week at the most, and never shoot Sundays why a blanket ban?' asks Richard. 'Walkers are not banned and horse riders still use it, why not cyclists? The alternative route is putting a much greater number of cyclists onto a very busy A road. To my knowledge the number of cyclists shot whilst on grouse moors is significantly less than the number injured or killed by vehicles on A roads. How can the ban be for the safety of cyclists?'
In previous years, notices were posted at card Stamping Stations westward on the route to alert riders. This has been a unique and model arrangement with a major landowner and an act of co-operation between two rural pursuits not generally renowned for their mutual empathy.
Local resident Ash Scott commented: 'This is a great shame. It's my regular Sunday morning ride to go to Parkhead for breakfast and on down the Waskerley Way. Oh to live in Scotland!'
Sources within the North Pennines AONB say that next year Rookhope Moor should be properly managed and that it should only be closed to cyclists on days when the shooting is taking place. Sustrans say they are not aware of any opposition to their decision decision to close the Moor. "We have not had a single complaint," said a spokesman at their Newcastle office.
Further comments gratefully received.
Snapshots of a weekend to remember
Loads more pictures have just been downloaded onto the C2C Challenge Flickr site. Many thanks to Oliver Dixon and John Grimshaw for sending in so many great shots in the last week or so. And thanks to everyone else, too. Shame there weren't more taken when the weather picked up on Sunday afternoon, following a lousy start to the day out of Alston. More than 200 set off and all but a handful of you completed the ride. Well done everyone and keep your eyes open for more Challenges.
'Coast to Coast Cycle Routes.' Autumn discounts for book coming soon. Watch this space. Last year's book now includes Hadrian's Cycleway. Jointly written by Mark Porter and John Grimshaw, founder of Sustrans, the addition of Hadrian's Cycleway to the book means you now get the big THREE coast to coast routes between TWO covers. Now available on this website for £9.99. Home Page.
Photos welcome! Keep those C2C photos rolling in. Any that get used in the book will earn the photographer a free copy. Pictures of Hadrian's Cycleway would be especially welcome as we have just added it to the Coast to Coast Cycle Routes book for 2009.
Leadgate leads the way
Self help success! After many years of vandalism, neglect, urban decay (and even distrust of Sustrans), local folks have taken matters into their own hands and adopted the route as it passes through the village. Sq Leader David Shields has led the way with the installation of seats, planting of shrubs, clearing of debris, mowing, trimming, draining, sweeping etc. David's Pied Piper act has led to local folks and businesses donating time, labour, machinery and materials. Former troublemakers and vandals have been brought on side to help with this rejuvenation project. Old wooden railways sleepers have been chopped for kindling and sold back at a nominal price to raise funds. Sustrans have helped meet costs and have been able to supply hand tools and donate materials.
Berrier Hill Wind Turbines
As many of you may know there are plans afoot to erect several 100 metre high wind turbines on the top of Berrier Hill, just above Greystoke (at Tarzan's old castle). These will be very eye catching just as you enter the Lake District National Park, on the boundary of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. I am interested to canvass your views on this. Do let me know if you are for or against this project.
Personally, I have nothing against wind turbines so long as they are not detrimental to their surroundings. In this case, there is an overwhelming argument that they will be, as this is one of the most spectacular and sweeping views of the Western Lakes, unavoidable if you are coming in off the M6 and down the A66 Penrith-Keswick road.
If you object, then I would refer you to www.blencathra.net, where your views will go alongside those of local worthies such as Lord (Melvyn) Bragg, Sir Chris Bonington and Doug Scott.
The nine turbines will be at the foot of Blencathra and will provide, we are assured, enough energy to power all of Greystoke some of the time. And possibly even the Wordsworth Museum at Grasmere. So long as no-one puts the kettle on.
Weather reports
Check out the weather conditions on the route. Peter Mathews from Allenheads has just written in to say that he has set up a weather station in Allenheads which will broadcast weather reports for the area. His reports are updated every 15 minutes and could come in most handy. allenheads.myzen.co.uk.
Rubbish!
As you cycle the route and stop for a buttie or a drink please make an effort to put your rubbish in a bin - if there is no bin then carry it with you until you find one. Parts of the route during the summer were becoming despoiled with empty Lucozade bottles, plastic sandwich containers and the like. Not only is it disrespectul to the people who have to live along the route but its also just plain bad manners - rant over!
