Safe Return Doubtful

I was only back in Shap for 3 days and the hiking season started, which meant work. Though I’ve done a few hours online work each week, I haven’t actually attended for any work for six years, something of a shock to the system. 

New Ing Lodge provides bed, breakfast and evening meal to hikers on the Wainwright Coast to Coast long distance path. For the hikers, it’s the end of two long days across the mountains of the Lake District. They usually arrive exhausted, desperate for a cold drink, a shower, food and bed. There are a few other types of guest also, but in the height of the walking season, May, June, September, the occupancy is 11 rooms, pretty much all on the Coast to Coast. 

After the Easter weekend the Lodge was busy, with campers of the lawn outside as well. I am working as ‘Front of House’, doing check in, running the bar, assisting with dinner service, and was soon upgraded to a couple of hours breakfast dishwashing also. That I am around gives the owners a break for a few hours, though with 3 and 5 year olds, break may not be the right word. 

Most of the time it’s pleasant work. There’s almost always some common ground between the guests and staff, and in the early evening there is a nice atmosphere around the bar. I met the Chief Ranger from Gesäuse National Park in Austria who offered me a park-up for the van when I’m next there, even though overnighting is forbidden in the park. Another evening I chatted for a while with an archaeologist who was heading to Orkney with work, and who had spent two winters stationed on the sea ice close to the Arctic landmass. I’m likely to head to Orkney later in the summer, and had just finished reading Buddy Levy’s most recent book on Arctic exploration. 

The Lake District is incredibly dry at the moment, like most of the country, and there is no rain in the forecast. It’s good for hiking, though the last few days have been very warm, and for mountain biking, but not for farmers. 

The van will go on the market in three weeks and I’m making the necessary preparations for that. After four years it needs someone with more skill and experience than me for internal decoration and a few repairs. 

I headed to Marsden in West Yorkshire for the Easter weekend to see some friends. On the return journey I tried to fill up with LPG and somehow caused a leak at the external filling pipe. Initially it was quite worrying, as I was in the busy fuel area of Rivington Services. I managed to get the immediate area coned off, with no help from the duty manager, and called an emergency gas engineer for advice. A guy came out, though he was Calor Gas, and shouldn’t have attended, but the switchboard error was fortunate for me. Unofficially, he said it was, by that time, insignificant enough to continue the journey. The next day I saw my van builder at GV Conversions and the plan is to replace the external tap, and hope that fixes it, but only when the tank is empty, most likely in the next week or so. 

I hope to sell the van sometime in June, then make the purchase of a new, used panel van, a Crafter, Man or Sprinter, and the conversion will be in July.

The Lodge is open for bed and breakfast guests 3 days a week and is rented by large groups at weekends. Groups rent the whole house also in the May half term, and in the school summer holiday. My plan is to go up to Orkney for August, but there are plenty of ‘ifs’ at the moment, so it could change. 

At the end of the season, early October, all being well, I will be away, most likely for a taste of a Scandinavian winter.