I went to an old friends funeral today : Alan Riley . It was a beautiful and sad experience but a lot more hope and joy I noticed rather than sadness . The vicar was brilliant : thank God for the Church of England what would we do without it. He said just the right things . Several Richmond friends I had not seen for years were there, including old school friends , of course I was still at school when I met Alan in the pub , different times , and that was really good. Alan was a well liked man. We all went back to the Comrades Club in Richmond from Darlington and had a reception there and it was very cheerful by that time although a couple of people still were a bit teary . I was a bit teary at the Crematorium when I thought about the first times I met Alan in 1972. I'd like to thank Nic Jones Alan's friend from when they were 6 for organizing everything . What shocked me today was I met a lady who was part of our partying scene at the time (mid '70s) and we had a great and in depth chat about kids and getting through life . She'd been married since the late '70s. I hope to keep in touch with her. Her daughter is going to York Uni this October studying Physics and Clifford will (hopefully ) be in York Uni in her third year (2013). I dimly remember a very straight up and down young lady between 1976 and 1980 but I still can't quite picture her . A beautiful but thought provoking day and it was great to meet a lot of Alan's musician friends who seemed to know a lot about me as well. RIP Alan Riley.

Last Saturday with the family we had a great 2 hour walk around Durham. The River Wear continues to drop and is very low but this did not stop a Universities Boat Race happening which was fun to watch as we walked along the riverbank. York Uni. boat team were there as well. On Sunday on the way to visiting Fiona's Mum we walked around Cautley Spout in The Howgills under a threatening sky but it was beautiful as usual and there were many birds out . I saw a Goldfinch and a Wheatear and of course many Sky Larks. The lads had an hour to get up Yarlside and back and we saw them stepping briskly up the side of the valley heading for a mini gorge which I thought was not on the shortest route up Yarlside . Go Miles because he was in charge. Still they got back to the car in 1 hour and 20 minutes which wasn't bad for a 4 mile walk and a 1500 foot climb up. They jogged back down ! Good lads. We met a nice hiking man from Appleby who's back window looks out onto Cross Fell where we were last week . Small world . I gave him my address card and I hope he gets in touch. Fiona's Mum was in good fettle and we had a really good laugh . She really enjoys the wordplay and humour as well as loads of photos that we showed her . It is a privilege to visit her and the boys really enjoy it . When we got back I got a call from my Mum telling me that a friend of mine Alan Riley had died . He was the drummer of the first band I ever played in in 1972. We had remained in touch ever since and I'd seen a lot of him when we lived in Richmond but not so much when we moved to Darlington. He was a great musician , good man and good friend . I will miss him . You have a great day out and come back to some sadness but there is no avoiding it . A great weekend but with a thoughtful ending . I will be going to his funeral next week.

Just got back from a nice couple of hours walk around Durham with my youngest doggie the Comprehending Clifford. He is doing really well with his pre A Level work , well its a long pre because he doesn't start the Further Maths Course until September 2012 but best to get his little head into gear now! Saves a lot of work later . The lad is good company and we had a great look at Swallows feeding on the banks of the River Wear because they were swooping underneath us so we were about 2 metres away. The River Wear was very low and an indication of how long it had been low the water plants had rooted because there has been no flooding for months and down by Framwellgate Bridge some lilies had taken root ! There a was also a gorgeous heron down there as well. Biscuit break today was at Starbucks and a Cappuccino and Skinny bun was just the biscuit so to speak. There was a huge market on today and on the edge of it was the best jazz trio I'd heard for years . Three guys Kurds I think, an accordion , hammered dulcimer or Zither and amazing bass player were laying down more groove than a beaver felling a tree . It was amazing . I could have stood there all day listening . Even Clifford was impressed! Coming back to our house we saw Fo doing the Garden Goddess bit kneeling down in front of a plant " See Clifford she's worshiping the things", smirks all around! "Fancy crashing out and listening to Handels Messiah Fiona?!" , "No thanks I'm on a roll here ". Nothing can keep my lovely lady from her garden once she gets going! A lovely time out with my youngest lad. The other two were wasted from yesterday , wimpolas, and didn't fancy walking . " Miles : Shame on you!" Must mention this : every time we come back from Durham we go past a Nursery business called "Clever Clogs" , quick pause while I reach for the retch bucket and I wonder if any parents actually believe that , but we reckon that if the Liberals ever take over Durham County Council , hell will freeze over first , the business will be renamed "Clever Cleggs"! Now there is a contradiction!

Master blaster day out with the family yesterday striding up to Great Dun Fell, then (of course) Little Dun Fell and onto the magnificent Cross Fell. Because there is a radar station on Great Dun Fell there is a road all the way up which was great because there is a lot of grip walking on the road and we really ripped up the fairly steep gradient . I didn't want to stop so I didn't get to look at the brilliant geology but you walk over nearly 500 million years of geological time and part of the walk is on the Knock Geological Trail . Just as we approaching the radar station Fo and I saw a Golden Plover very close and that was a first . Its plaintiff call was beautiful. Natures music . Going over the peat bogs on the paving stone flagged path to reduce erosion the cotton grass was just fluffing out giving a very dreamy quality to the view. And what a view . On top of Cross Fell you can see at least 60miles all around , The Eastern Lake District to the West , Lowlands of Scotland and the Solway Firth to the North West , all of the Howgills and the Phenyghent Ingleborough hills to the South West and all of the Vale of York and North York Moors to the South East . You can even see Teeside which is handy because we went and stood (it was almost a religious act ) at the spring which is the source of the Tees. Nice moment . As we approached the top of Cross Fell we saw a 4 meter high ariel which I though was permanent until we went around the opposite side of the shelter and there was a huge fat bloke red all over with a massive belly overhanging the best pair of hiking legs I've seen for a while and he told us why because he is a radio ham enthusiast and he walks all over the Pennines lugging his gear up every hill ( at least 30 pounds of it ) and contacts people from these locations and records the location as part of his ham club activity . Amazing ! He'd walked up the steepest and of course shortest route up Cross Fell which is nearly 3000 feet high . It takes all sorts! This old lad in his 60s is going to get in touch with me because he's from County Durham! On the way back down tired legs kicked in for Fo and when we arrived at the car we'd been walking for five hours and its about ten miles . Going back through Appleby we went straight past all of the Gypsy Traveler Horse Fair camp , we could see the whole encampment from Cross Fell and that was amazing . The were 100s of horses some of them super high quality . It was a good carnival atmosphere but I can see why some of the Appleby residents have a bit of a problem with it because there are a least 10,000 Travelers. It all looked pretty orderly to me and I know from what Fiona has told me teaching Traveler children most of them are the cleanest living , morally upright and honest people you can come across and many of them are God fearing Christians. Its just the old story of a few giving everyone a bad name and a UK public that believes anything bad and nasty said about anybody and a traveling lifestyle which is diametrically opposite to how most live in the UK. I knew that if we'd stopped and I asked permission of one of the temporary residents to get some food from the vendors on the camp for my lads because they were hungry due to it being an hour past tea time they would have said "Yes" . A great day and we will be going up there again soon!