Relief Reads 19 - The Map that Changed the World

The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester

When I was in Cambridge recently for Matt and Anne's wedding I may not have made it to King's Parade, but I had to return to Charity shop street for old time's sake and picked up this gem.

Charity Shop: Scope, Burleigh Street, Cambridge

Charity: Scope is a charity that exists to make this country a place where disabled people have the same opportunities as everyone else.

Price: £2.00, Teuer but all for a good cause

Book Blurb: William Smith was not rich or well connected, but his passion for rocks and fossils, and his twenty-year obsession with single-handedly mapping the geology of Britain made him one of the most significant men of the nineteenth century. However, his vision cost him dear - his wife went mad, his work was stolen by jealous colleagues who eventually ruined him, and he was imprisoned for debt. // Simon Winchester tells the fascinating story of 'Strata' Smith, a man who crossed boundaries of class, wealth and science to produce a map that fundamentally changed the way we viewed the world.

Expectation: Combining reading with a bit of CPD I figured this book might teach me a bit about the history of the field I've ended up working in.

Reality: In the word's of the daily telegraph 'Part biography, part social history and part entertaining yarn' It was really informative and taught me a lot about geology but was also an engaging story of William Smith's life. It was all evidential, so where gaps existed, for example regarding his wife, Winchester didn't speculate but merely presented the evidence available. This is in contrast to Pam Gregory's 'historical' books! Whilst I was reading this (on a train as usual) I got chatting to a woman who had spent the last few years researching a geologist from the 1600s. Therefore it peeved me a bit that Winchester was implying that the 1800s were the beginning of geology, when it was a subject studied by many men and some women in the preceeding years. However the 1800s did see the rather dubious beginnings of BGS so I'll give him that.

Overall Rating

It was a struggle           2        3        4        5        6        7        8       9      Gripping page  

to make it                                                                                                        turner

It was well-balanced, informative and entertaining. I'd recommend it to anyone, geologist or not. It also has pretty pictures of fossils and geological maps as a bonus.

Twist Scale:

Knew the beginning,                                                                                 As twisty as the 

middle and end         2       3        4         5       6        7        8        9      bendy wendy road

from the first line

It starts with the end, so you know where it's heading, but Smith's life was not straightforward.

Tear-jerker Scale:

 As dry as a house       2        3       4         5         6         7       8        9     Cried an ocean

 throughout

Although William Smith was hard done by, he was never broken. And the as a biography, there was emotional distance between the reader and Smith.

Main Character(s): William Smith

Moral of the Story: Follow your interest, and be glad the rigid class system is less rigid and it is no longer acceptable to exclude someone solely because they are of a different class.

***

Coming up: The Shadow of the Workhouse by Jennifer Worth (I liked Call the Midwife so much)

Walking Wanders 5 - Blencathra, Bowscale and Bannerdale

B is for Bank Holiday

Who: Four non-Geordie Tyneside dwellers, Myself, Clare, Matt and Sheps.

Why: It's a bank holiday and a day trip to the Lakes is feasible, why not? Never mind the heavy rain initially forecast.

The Route: As tradition, here is my beautifully drawn map;

We did the red route which went, up Halls Fell Ridge, Around Foule Crag, down and up again to Bowscale, follow the edge of the cliff round to Bannerdale, then down, over River Glenmaraken (sp?) and up again over Mousthwaite Comb. Pub at Scales, cross A66, rejoin River Glemaraken and follow back to Threlkeld

The Walk: Parking at Threlkeld, we headed a short way up Gates Gill before turning right to follow a wall along to the next valley. As we were walking along the path like the considerate walkers we are, we were confronted by a herd of sheep charging at us. So we stepped off the path as we let sheep, sheepdogs, farmers and quadbike go past. Onwards and upwards and I was soon left trailing..

Sorry Guys, I'm coming!

 You see that ridge in the background, that was where we were heading and walking soon transitioned to scrambling to climbing (although the latter probably more due to my poor route choice than necessity) Putting my bouldering skills to good use, although it is a bit trickier with hiking boots. Being quite high up, it was getting a bit windy so we found a sheltered spot to stop for lunch and to suncream up :o ! My rock seat was incredibly comfy. If it weren't for one slightly back-poky rock I could have had a nap there and then

Nice spot for lunch

Lunch eaten, onwards and upwards we climbed until conveniently popping out right at the summit. It was fairly busy at the top and also really quite windy, so full layering up was required. I was getting very grateful for the gloves I'd brought along on a whim. At the top we had the view of the Lakes on one side and of Mungrisdale Common on the other. The latter was described by Wainwright (paraphrased) as having as much elegance as a blamanche that has been sat on. That is a fairly apt description, especially in contrast to the Lakes, however it did have the sun on it (which had disappeared from our location some time previous) so I was jealous.

As we ploughed on along the ridge against the full force of the wind (or not quite full force yet, as we discovered later) the collective decision was made to forego the original plan of going down to Scales tarn and back up along Sharp edge, a ridge that has claimed lives of far more experinced walkers than I. That collective however did not include Matt, so the three of us continued along and found a sheltered spot on the face of Foule Crag for a rest whilst he did a detour. The good visibility meant we could follow his progress!

Onwards, and time to decide our next action plan! Having visibility to all potential routes on nice undulating ground, we chose to head to what the OS map named 'pile of stones' aka Bowscale Fell and return to the river via Bannerdale, thus summiting 3 B's in a day. Through the wind and bog we plodded with leg length creating a clear boy-girl divide. Clare and I eventually arrived at the windbreak aka 'pile of stones'. Refuelled and taking Wainwright's advice we headed to the left of the bog, along the sheep track. Dry but also incredibly windy. Layering up now also included hood up and pulled tight. We plowed on through the wind, periodically testing how far it would blow us sideways if we jumped. I was frequently blown over, but being at the back no-one saw! The wind was blowing up-cliff so no fear of falling, if anyone did, they'd get blown back up again.

Turning the corner the wind eased, and we soon reached the summit of Bannerdale. Then it was steep steep down to the river. The steepness was such that bum-sliding was possible, no toboggan required.

The footbridge across the river providing a nice resting point, but unfortunately the water was too tempting for Sheps' chocolate which decided to go for a little swim. Chocolate rescued, and Matt off for a jog up Souther Fell, we were on our way. Up and over one little hill and then we were at Scales. We stopped off at the pub to use their facilities, have a drink and play dominos before onwards to Threlkeld. At Scales we faced our most dangerous challenge yet, crossing the A66! Safely over, we headed over some fields to join the river that had nearly stolen the chocolate. A very pleasant walk along the river gave us a good view of the hill we had just climbed

Blencathra in all her glory

Before long we were back at Threlkeld and ended our walk at the Horse and Farrier pub with its massive meaty portions that we easily demolished, and very nice it was too.

Too soon it was sadly time to return to the real world, back to the East Coast. As we left the pub, Blencathra's summit was now well and truely immersed in cloud. 

So long Lakes, till next time!

Relief Reads 18 - Call the Midwife

Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth

Charity Shop: One that uses a green price sticker, lets go with Oxfam

Charity: Oxfam are the provider of charity shops throughout the UK, particularly renowned for its book shops. More importantly however Oxfam is a globally renowned aid and development charity with 70 years of experience, working and campaigning with partners in over 90 countries worldwide.


Price: £0.99

Book Blurb: Life in the London's East End in the 1950s was tough. The brothels of Cable Street, the Kray brothers and gang warfare, the meths drinkers in the bombsites - this was the world Jennifer Worth entered when she became a midwife at the age of 22 (ah, younger than me!) Babies were born in slum conditions, often with no running water. Funny, disturbing and moving, Call the Midwife brings to life a world that has now changed beyond all measure.

Expectation: The TV series. Stories of life as a midwife in 1950s East End, plus incite into behind the scenes at the Nunnery.

Reality: As expected, I recognised some of the stories from the TV series, however it was a bit different. Knowing it was real life made parts heart-wrenchingly sad, more so than the TV version because I get more of an emotional relationship with book characters than TV ones. There was an overriding storyline and that was Jennifer's journey to faith with the closing sentence is 'That evening, I started to read the gospels'

Overall Rating

It was a struggle           2        3        4        5        6        7        8       9      Gripping page  

to make it                                                                                                        turner

I was gripped, helped by the fact I read it (almost) in one sitting on a long train journey. The ending is beautiful and as I finished I looked out of the window to see Durham Cathedral lit up by the evening sun making it even more beautiful.
Didn't give it top rating as as it was lots of individual stories, all linked, it would be possible to put it down and pick it up again later.

Twist Scale:

Knew the beginning,                                                                                 As twisty as the 

middle and end         2       3        4         5       6        7        8        9      bendy wendy road

from the first line 

Can't really rate it, not that kind of book. The individual stories didn't always pan out as expected, particularly the story of Conchita Warren, but I won't give anything away.

Tear-jerker Scale:

 As dry as a house       2        3       4         5         6         7       8        9     Cried an ocean

 throughout

I shed tears in public over the Mrs Jenkins story. I don't cry.
That said it wasn't all tales of woe. There were positives along with the negatives, like real life really!

Main Character(s): Jennifer. It's her story, so everything is from her perspective. 

Moral of the Story: The book made its own conclusion, so I shall quote (from Jennifer's quotes of Sister Monica Joan)
""Do not ask me to immortalise the great Mystery of Life. I am just a humble worker. For beauty, look to the Psalms, to Isiah, to St John of the Cross. How could my poor pen scan such verse? For truth, look to the Gospels- four short accounts of God made Man. There is nothing more to say" ..... "No one can give you faith. It is a gift from God alone. Seek and ye shall find. Read the Gospels. There is no other way.""

***

Coming up: The map that changed the World by ????

Walking Wanders 4 - The Peak District

Walking Wanders

Upper Derwent Reservoir / Ladybower Reservoir

Who: A motley crew of wedding-goers; Myself, Richard VdB and Florence, united by Becky and Pete

Why: Becky and Pete got married! Then we had some time to kill in the beautiful Peak District, and as it was a sunny day sandwiched by rainy ones what better way to spend it than outdoors (who cares if we were in wedding-party attire?)

The Walk: (see the beautiful map below)
Due to our attire, the walk was a sedate one, but it was the perfect place for a slow wander.
Part 1 - the little purple bit, we walked from car to reservoir edge to find a picnic spot. We had a view of this incredible hill that was a mix of green grass, purple heather and jaggedy rocks. All the aspects of the British countryside rolled into one. Deciding we'd better not cross the reservoir on the tempting, and easily accessible pipeline (which imo should be a bridge), we return to the car and drove 50m down the road to begin..
Part 2 - Following the road round, through the Ladybower carpark, and past the toe of the Derwent dam we headed right along the eastern edge of Ladybower reservoir before we headed uphill through the yard of Old House Farm (which oddly is a National Trust property). At this point we were very close as the crow flies from where we had lunch, but there was a large body of water in the way. We were on our way when we heard a loud plane flying nearby. I looked up and saw nothing and then realised it was just to the side of us through the trees, very close. It was a Lancaster bomber! This didn't mean much to me at the time, but I now know there are only two working models in the world, one in Canada and one in England, and at this moment they are both in England and have just done their last tandem flight. So I don't know which of the two we saw. Onwards and upwards we headed into proper countryside. Despite its name the peak district is not very peaky, more moory, and being August it was a beautiful sea of purple as all the heather was in flower.

As we continued along the past, we got a great view down the reservoir..

We were contemplating our route back down when we bumped into a couple coming the other way, somewhat bemused by our non-hiking attire. They were very happy about having seen the Lancaster, apparently it doesn't fly along the reservoir often, we were lucky to see it. They warned us about the steepness of our proposed route and recommended a longer, but still a bit steep alternative. Obviously, we ignored their advice! The path was fairly steep, and probably would have been easier with hiking boots rather than smart shoes, but slowly does it and we made it down in one piece, no problem.
As we were walking back along the boring gravel path we were tempted closer to the water by the beach that the summer had produced. It was formed of soft sandstone which is nice underfoot and good progress was made.
As we continued further along we realised the path we had left was higher and higher above us, making us hope rather than expect that there would be way off this beach further along. I have had this happen before on a beach in Alderney which ended with some cliff climbing to avoid backtracking. However I wasn't wearing a dress then! Luckily we came across a steep grass slope leading back up to the track that was gratefully climbed. From there is was past the east tower of the dam before rejoining the road route back to the car.

All in all the Peak District is a beautiful place despite its misnomer of a name. If you ever end up in Sheffield, just head that little bit further east, so worth it. I can't believe I've never been there before (at least that I can remember) and hope that I will be able to return one day with walking boots this time.

Walking Wanders 3 - The Great Orme

Walking Wanders 3

Llandudno Great Orme

Who: Me, myself and I

Why: For various reasons I ended up holidaying alone in Llandudno for a few days at the end of July. It was a beautiful day and I wasn't going to let it go to waste. In the morning I had taken the tram to the Great Orme 'summit' with my newly-made friend from the hostel, so rather than do a repetitive summit walk I decided to walk around it.

The Walk: (See my beautifully drawn map below - it was drawn with a touchpad so the wiggles more likely represent my finger wobbling rather than actual route detours!) From Llandudno Hostel I headed to the entrance to Llandudno pier before picking up the Wales Coastal path.

Llandudno pier

 I was disappointed to discover that at this point the path follows a road and there is no alternative route as it is cut into the rockface. I had committed so I continued, and it was a quiet road and the scenery made up for the tarmac underfoot. 

Out of place road markings - the gate leads to a cliff...

At a point where I thought I was approximately half way round I detoured sharply up hill and found a nice spot for some reading and getting sunburnt. I continued uphill and found Llandudno's graveyard which is shared between two small churches, very isolated from the town.

Llandudno's graveyards

 Realising I was in fact nowhere near half way round I followed the road back down to join the coastal path (see big wiggle on map!) Continuing round the path is very peaceful with just the sea for company, with beautiful cliffs and coves below. Concerningly I came across an empty car with no-one to be seen, until I noticed two little figures far below on one of the (almost) inaccessible beaches. Coming around the head of the Orme one is greeted by a view across the bay to the mountains of Snowdonia, quite impressive for a walk that doesn't involve much uphill. Onwards I plodded when I noticed some odd concrete things below along the sides of a road to nowhere. A helpful sign explains that this was a army training base in the 60s(?) which was built to look like an ordinary village. It's now gone but the concrete foundations remain. The path then drops to join more roads and follows above the beach of Llandudno's West Shore. 

Llandudno's West Shore (Why I didn't take a picture of Snowdonia (just off  the picture to the right) I'm not sure!)

The road is popular with cyclists and along this section they were considerably faster than cars! At this point I made a rooky error of taking the less-trodded path, an error as I was wearing a skirt and so had ankles susceptible to the nettles and brambles that comprised this 'path'. However, as before, I had started so I continued and hopped my way through the undergrowth until I popped out into civilisation.

I headed into town to find food and wandered along the promenande to find a spot to sit and eat. I then was drawn further along by the faint sounds of music and discovered the local wind band playing at the bandstand. A lovely end to a beautiful walk.

***

Coming up: Ladybower Reservoir, Peak District