Blackwell House

Blackwell House was built in 1900 by M. H. Baillie Scott, as a holiday home for Sir Edward Holt, a Manchester Industrialist and one time Lord Mayor. Baillie Scott was part of the Arts and Crafts Movement, inspired by John Ruskin and William Morris, and the house has a more restful relaxed atmosphere than the busyness of the average Victorian home.

It was acquired by the Lakeland Trust 10 years ago, and has been open to the public since 2001. As well as admiring the quite beautifully restored internal decoration, visitors also get to see craft exhibitions as they are housed in the upstairs rooms. It is located south of Bowness, on the hillside affording wide views of Windermere and the Coniston fells beyond. Visitors to the tea room can either sit inside, or on the terrace, enjoying the views.

The house has a large hall, more like a medieval house, but like all the rooms, there is a an inglenook around the the fireplace, for more intimate gatherings. There is a second area of recessed seating with a superb peacock frieze in the opposite corner, and above the fireplace there is a minstrels' gallery.

There are two other downstairs rooms, a dining room, fairly formal with its wood panelling, but facing west, and with views over Windermere is the drawing room. The walls and ceilings are all patterned, but painted white, and the result is very light and restful. There is a recessed seating area around a window, with views over the lake, and as the other rooms, inglenook seating around the fireplace. There is a shelf, at picture rail height around the room, supported by slim columns. It really is a most restful and peaceful room.

Upstairs there is a bedroom with a dressing room, and one smaller bedroom. This room has some pictures of the time the house was used to re-house a school during the war time. The other upstairs rooms house craft exhibitions. At our visit we saw an exhibition of glass made by James Powell & Sons. There were also sculptures by David Nash.

The exhibition changes each few months, so we can look forward to visiting again next year.

Sailing Boats on Ullswater

Here are a couple of pictures I took last summer, of sailing dinghies on Ullswater. I had just turned up on spec, and they were all booked up, so after a chat with Steve I found a quiet spot to enjoy my picnic.

Very restful.

The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters

When Dr Faraday calls to attend a sick servant girl at the Hundreds, he finds the house a little more delapidated than he remembers when he attended a prize giving there once in his childhood. Then he finds himself taking tea with the Ayres, who retain their grace and charm through all the troubles that the post war period presents to the once grand families. So it is that he begins an unlikely friendship with the family for whom his mother once worked as a domestic servant.

But the family have more than a reduced income from the estate, Roddy's injury from the war and a house they cannot afford to maintain to contend with. As they weather a series of unfortunate events they begin to wonder whether, something about the house, some little stranger, is working against them. Or perhaps it can all be explained by an overwought mind and imagination? Dr. Faraday is concerned for their welfare, and has his medical training to guide him.

As the events move on, the slow beginning is left behind, and there is no shortage of drama and excitement. Even Dr Faraday is caught up in his own drama before we reach the end of the story. You might consider the ending unsatisfying, but I don't think so. I hope that, like me, you will have been well entertained along the way.

With thanks to David, who lent me his book, signed by the Author.

Solo Seafly

On Friday I went out solo in a Seafly, and it was great fun.

I remember not liking the Seafly intially, because of the sound of the water splashing near the front of the boat. Peter Lawson, who makes the boats now, told me on Monday that the shape of the boat pushes the water out to the sides, which makes them sail better, especially in the sea. I found the splashing noise annoying again this day at the start, but either it stopped once the boat was sailing faster, or I did not notice it after a while.

There are other things not to like about the boat; there is no cleat to hold the rudder up, which is only a problem when landing on a beach, and I took off and returned from the jetty; The wooden centreboard was slightly swollen, and very stiff to move up and down; the centre main goes round a loop of rope on the transom, which is only a minor problem following a capsize (you have to duck underneath the get to the back of the boat); Following a capsize it comes up full of water.

Having got all my grouses out of the way, I have to say it is a great boat, and it was a great session of sailing. It was a really enjoyable time, and it was great to get to know the boat and to feel how it handled. It was a very different experience to sailing the Laser on Tuesday, even when the wind grew stonger, there was still time to react to situations. It certainly had a good turn of speed, and was a lot more fun than the traditional boat, or Lune Whammel.

I started off with the two jib sheets tied together with a reef knot, but it came undone, twice. Then I reverted to a figure of eight on each end, but it was a struggle to reach. So then I tied the two ends together with a reef knot but the two figures of eight in place, and that worked very well.

I found the yellow buoy and practised the man overboard procedure, generally I stopped too short, but one attempt worked perfectly.

I practised stopping the boat, keeping the boat turned away from the wind so that the boom was over the side of the boat rather than directly over it. I also put it in the hove-to position, which worked fine the first time, but not the second.

The wind was quite strong by this time, my guess is force 4 rather than force 3 that Jonathan wrote in my log later on. There was only me and a Whammell with a family of four still sailing as far as I could see, although there were still a few canooes.

I felt quite cheated, because I had avoided capsizing through all the sailing, and thought that the hove-to posistion was a safe one, and that adopting it was a responsible action to take in winds that had become quite strong. I was quite dissappointed when the boat gently keeled over, and I dropped into the water. Apparently what was needed was less centreboard, as it is the centreboard that causes the boat to heel.

I was pleased to find that getting the boat righted again single handed was no great problem, nor was pulling myself up over the side. However sailing the boat, which was now full of water, was not a piece of cake, and the controls all felt very heavy. I capsized again almost straight away, and managed to lose the scoop, which floated gently away. By this time Steve had arrived in the safety boat.

I sailed, or limped, most of the way back to the jetty, without opening the flaps at the back that might have emptied the boat of water. I doubt they would have done. Steve showed me how to undo the flaps, and then towed me round in a circle at speed, which did the required job.

The lessons for next time? If someone is available, have a crew; use less centreboard; learn how to put in a reef.

Sailing a Stratos with Stan and Alex

After sailing a small boat solo on Tuesday, I was pleased to join with Stan and Alex sailing a Stratos on Wednesday.

I would not have been sure about taking a Stratos out single handed, but I did feel very happy with Stan, an experienced, self taught sailor. I followed his lead in electing not to wear a wet suit, and the confidence was justified. It was my only day sailing in the week that I did not end up in the water.

Stan is one of many people who travel many miles, in his case from North Yorkshire, to do all his sailing at Glenridding, which is a testament to the wonderful scenery, and the relaxed atmosphere that Steve & Pete maintain. (It also helps that he used to live locally, and knows Linnhe's husband through a shared interest in Folk Music)

Having recently done my RYA level 2 course on a Stratos, I was familiar with the boat, whereas for Stan it was his first time in a Stratos, and for Alex his first time sailing. I could also remember most of the "right" terminology, some of which Stan had never learnt. When he gets time and the instructors are not busy on other courses, he is doing his Seamanship skills.

The sailing conditions were not particularly easy, the winds were mainly light, and sometimes they seemed to drop altogether. There were episodes when it was not obvious where the wind was coming from at all, it was certainly changing direction confusingly. At one stage, we were sailing close to the wind, we knew that because we were close to both sails flapping. Then, as we went about, we turned 270 degrees before the sail swung over, as the wind seemed to be following us around.

Stan started off at the helm, and once he felt he had the measure of the boat, he let me take the helm, which I did for most of the session before lunch. Then he helmed for the short session after lunch, as I had to leave by 2.45. They were hoping that they might get the Seafly afterwards, thinking that it might make a safer option for Alex.

I have to say that Stan gave us a smoother ride than I did. There were gusts, and even when we heeled over enough to ship in some water over the side, it felt secure, smooth and in control. By contrast when I took action during gusts we were often lurching back into the centre of the boat as I overreacted to the situation. More practice needed.

The day I took out a Laser (but did not bring it back)

The best moment on Tuesday was before the sailing began. There were low clouds on Farleton Fell, and it did not get any better past Kendal, Ings, or Troutbeck. Approaching the top of Kirkstone, the valley looking down towards Ambleside was thick with cloud, but as soon as I started down towards Ullswater it was bright and clear, and Brother Water was lying in bright sunshine at the bottom of the pass. Beautiful.

The Laser is like a Topper Topaz, but faster, having a larger sail area. It certainly made for exciting sailing, and it was a good lively and enjoyable session.

I practised my man overboard procedure with the yellow buoy, but mainly stopped short, due to the boat being lighter and the wind being heavier than when we had been taught it.

There are many ways of capsizing a Laser, and I probably managed most of them. The wet suit proved very necessary.

One of the problems could be that the main sheet passes through a loop at the back of the boat (at the transom), and has a tendency to get snagged on the corner, meaning that you do do not have any control until it is unsnagged. This design makes it different from a Topaz in a couple of ways. First, on capsizing you have to duck under the loop of mainsheet to get to the back of the boat, and secondly you pull yourself up over the side when the boat is righted, not the back as on a Topaz.

The main reason for capsizing is the lightness of the boat and controls, and that it tips very easily. I got quite used to slipping down between the boat and the sail, and it was certainly light enough to right again very easily.

On one occasion I over-reacted to a gust and the boat tipped over towards me. I was pleased when the sail landed beside me rather than on top of me, but I had to lunge to grab hold of the sail before it drifted off beyond my reach. I guess that this was the time when the boat tipped over and soon as I had righted it. As one of the staff commented, it is probably easier to let it tip over like that than to turn it round in the water before righting it.

I returned the boat to the shore after the first capsize, as the rudder would have floated away had the tiller extension not got caught up in the loop of rope on the transom. Pete was able to bend the clip that keeps it in place. I returned it a second time, after I had made a grab for a piece of plastic at the bottom of the boat that came away in my hand. It was something to do with the self bailing mechanism, but it seemed none the worse without it. I returned a third time, to explain how I could not correct the tiller extension joint which had got twisted, but when I came to show what the problem was it had corrected itself.

The wind got stronger after a while, and by the end I was enjoying the sail, but I did not feel fully in control of the boat. Eventually I had no control at all, as the sail had come off the boom, and was flapping freely on the mast. A few attempts to reach hold of it persuaded me that I was not going to manage it without tipping over again, so I had to wait until the rescue boat to arrive, which was not immediate, as I was behind the near Island.

A couple of geordy men, both called Mike, picked me up in their Laser Fun, and we left the Laser upturned in the water. But by now the wind had grown stronger, and the three of us capsized, and were attempting to right it when the rescue boat arrived. Pete picked me up, and on the way picked up the crew from a trimaran, that had also gone over.

Retrieving the laser, the laser fun, and the trimaran kept most of the staff busy most of the afternoon. I did not feel quite so bad, as I was not the only one giving them extra work on a windy day.

Our RYA level 2 qualification teaches us to take out sailing dinghy in light winds, and how to cope with gusts. So here is what I gleaned about coping with heavier winds:-

1. Tighten the outhaul and the kicking strap. This is what would have prevented the sail coming off the boom.
2. Let the sheet out, so that you are wasting some of the wind. You may even go faster with less wind because you are heeling (leaning toward the sail) less.
3. When on a reach, let the sheet out before you start heeling. Once you are heeling there is a limit to how much further you can let the sail out before it dips in the water, so turning to wind is the only option left.
4. Use less centre-board. With less centreboard you will tend to drift leeward more, but heel less.
5. Less helpfully, sail a larger boat, have a heavier crew, and finally
6. Put in a reef and use a smaller sail area.

How to Play Zilch

You need: six dice, three different colours, a pair of each colour; a pencil and paper to score with; a group of friends, anywhere between three or twenty; a table or surface to throw the dice on; and relaxed hour or two.

Basic Scoring: Any 1 counts as 100; any 5 counts as 50; a single dice then has a 1 in 3 chance of scoring, and a 2 in three chance of not scoring; two dice have a better than 50:50 chance of scoring.

The play: Each person plays in turn, clockwise round the table; A turn consists of one or more throws of the dice; After each throw, the player scores the newly thrown dice; If none of them score, its the end of the turn and the score is Nil or Zilch; The player sets aside one or more of the scoring dice to add to his score for the round, and discards the rest; He or she can then choose whether to throw the discarded dice, and possibly add to the score, but risk getting Zilch, or to end the turn with the score already achieved; When all six dice are set aside to score, they all become available to throw again; The turn continues until the player opts not the throw again, or with zilch.

The twist: at the end of a turn that is not Zilch, the player declines to throw one or more dice; the next player has the chance of starting his round with that score, by throwing only the dice the previous player left unthrown; He may get zilch, throwing only one or two dice, he may inherit a good score; If the prize is not worth the risk, he can ignore it and start with six dice.

All the scores;

1 scores 100; 5 scores 50;

A run of 1 to 6 scores 1,000;

Three pairs scores 1,000

Three pairs with matching colours score 2,000

Three of a kind scores 100x face value; (three sixes are 600);

Four of a kind score 200x face value; (four fours score 800);

Five of a kind score 300x face value; (five threes score 900);

Only the dice thrown at one go count, dice set aside to score from a previous throw do not count;

After three Zilches in a row, a player loses 1,000 points.

(some of these scores need to be verified by someone who knows!)

How the Game ends.

The game ends when one player reaches 10,000 points or more, and each player has played one more turn. The player with the highest scoreis then the winner;

How to Eat Banoffee Pie (Anderson style)

First of all, give your spoon a good lick, to clear the soup off. Then when the dish is passed your way, pick up the dice and throw.

You are hoping for a 6, because that means you can help yourself to a nice spoonful of Banoffee pie, before you pass it to the person on your left.

What you want to avoid is a 4, because then you help yourself to a spoonful, but not of Bannoffee pie. You take a spoonful of cold baked beans instead. Yuk.

If you throw a 3, it is good for you, you still help yourself to a spoonful of pie, but not so good for the person on your left, because they miss their turn.

If you throw a 1, then some one gets to eat pie, but not you. You get to choose who.

On the first round, throwing a 2 or 5 is quite boring, you eat nothing, and pass the pie and dice to your left, but after the first round, things are different.

When you throw a 2, you get to take a spoonful of pie, but you feed it to the person on your left. If they then thow a 6 they do quite well.

When you throw a 5 you take a spoonful of pie, and you feed it to the person on your right. Only you have your eyes shut, and are guided by the person on their right. It can go smoothly, but some how it didn't

With special thanks to Nathan for making the pie, to Tim for having a birthday to celebrate, for Dave for devising the game, and to Dan, John, John, Peter, Colin, Dave, Mark, Luke, Nash & Mike.