Yesterday with the family I visited my Mum in Richmond in Swaledale and had a sultry but fresh walk in the wind through the Easby Woods under a very green canopy of leaves that doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the dry weather although the River Swale was complaining because it was just inches deep a long way from its usual magnificence . Mum was in good fettle and we had a good laugh as usual . After this I took Fo and Clifford home and then took Miles to RKade skate park in Redcar where he did a 4 hour skate session which was a memorial session for a skateboarder and skate shop owner called Bingo . It was great and wild with about one third of the lads and one girl! manically ripping around . Miles went hell for leather for 4 hours with just a 15 minute break . A lot of the regions best skaters were there like Froggy who was awesome . His girlfriend looked pregnant so a Little Froggy could be on the way ! It was great to see all the skate chappies , and one girl , having a ripping time and it was a fitting tribute to Bingo. I met him a couple of times years ago and his shop in Stockton called Mischief was a business founded on a huge enthusiasm for skateboarding and encouraging the young and the not so young to get out there and roll . A great evening and many thanks to RKade for supporting it and all of the entrance fee cash went to the British Heart Foundation because Bingo died of a cardiac arrest but he was only 36. Thats to young and the more the British Heart Foundation and all those dedicated researchers understand our hearts the less chance things like this will happen . A great night out and Miles reliably informed that after the 11 miles hike yesterday and the 4 hour skate session his legs had " turned to jelly " Good doggy! Thats what your body is for : using and abusing !

On Saturday with the family I had a great day out in the Howgills and Pennines. We dropped the boys off at the bottom part of Bowderdale and they went up to the Calf and then down into Sedbergh. 11 miles which they did in 3.5 hours . Good doggies. It was a easy map reading exercise for Miles because has has been up there so many times before and he didn't really need the map but it is useful to identify hills and places as you go along and adds a bit of interest to the journey . Fo and I drove around to Caultley Spout to look at rocks , plants and birds and it was beautiful in the valley . We didn't get to see the Golden Plovers we were after it is a bit early for them but there were a lot of Wheatears about and they were amazing . Every time we go to Cautley we notice the general drift downwards of the rocks and parts of the hillsides . Give it a couple of million years and it will all be a lot smaller! Then, onwards to the Adam Sedgewick Geology Trail just outside Sedbergh and that was pretty amazing even though it is only half a kilometer long . As well as lots of fossils I saw the breccias and conglomerates I'd been longing to see . I did not do much preparation for this trip because I wanted an overview but next time we go it will be a full day there and I will decode the rocks and understand their story with magnifying glass geologists loupe and guide . Some of the rocks are from the Lake District but they were transported to Sedbergh 350 million years ago and they are virtually intact as rounded pebbles some being very big which indicates erosion before deposition buried them but best of all were the breccias which are fragments of rock with far less erosion ie more jagged fragments . Mega interesting . We met up with the boys in Sedbergh and they were fresh as ever in spite of the 11 miles and we then visited Veronica in the South Lakes and had a really nice time there and Becky Fiona's sister came for a while but she was on call for dealing with intensive care patients (shes a physiotherapist) so couldn't stay for long . A really exciting and nice day out where everyone was very happy !