Yorkshire Girl's Midlife Diary

After the visit to the student accommodation the other weekend, Saturday afternoon and evening was spent with the youngest in Bristol.

I absolutely love Bristol! It’s got a real edgy city feel, a real diverse population and when you are 19 it is such a cool place to be. It is the UK’s only European Green city with some gorgeous parks, has a huge art and creative scene, historic harbourside, great food scene and is regularly voted the best and happiest city to live for under 26 year olds. Needless to say, he absolutely loves it!

It has strong links between art and political activism and is the home of world renowned graffiti artist and activist Banksy.

It is also home to some of the most stunning Georgian architecture and perhaps civil engineer Isambaard Kingdom Brunel’s greatest achievement the Clifton Suspension Bridge spanning the Avon River Gorge, 101 metres above the water, which marked a major achievement in the history of engineering.

The City was also the starting point of many famous voyages in the discovery of America including the 1497 voyage of John Cabot to Newfoundland.

However, try telling all this to a 19 year old who was under the impression he was going to sit in a harbourside bar for the afternoon at my expense! I’m one of those lifelong learners. I like to know the history of a place and love to wander around discovering new things…….at 19 he is not the same. However, we do have a love of discovering new places and food. We have had lovely trips to Amsterdam and Rome together but you have to make it into sort of a treasure trail……see a few sights and coffee, a few more and cake, a few more and a bar etc. but that suits me fine. So that’s basically how Saturday went.

First stop, the Cabot Tower in a leafy suburb park on the edge of the city. A beautifully preserved tower built in memory of John Cabot which you can climb up inside, using the spiral staircase, to be rewarded with some fantastic views of Bristol from the top. It’s quite high for those of us not fond of heights and the spiral staircase is very dark and narrow but with much encouragement from the teenager we made it and it was very worthwhile. Far reaching views over the harbour and over to Clifton Suspension Bridge.

This was followed by a walk down to the docks, still on the Cabot trail to see the statue of the man himself and the replica of his boat, the Matthew.

One thing I love Bristol for is graffiti. That might sound really odd as the majority of people find graffiti quite disrespectful and offensive, and a lot of it is. But some of it is fantastic art, but maybe just in the wrong place. Bristol is famous for its graffiti and you can download many a graffiti walking tour. By this point though the teenagers legs were refusing to go any further without a refuel. So burger and beer it was and Aperol for me before the graffiti tour. Now I just love Banksy……a lot of people don’t! A lot of his messages are a bit too left wing, I get that definitely, but I really do admire both his ability to communicate what a lot of us are thinking, and the ability to express it through art in the way he does. He does it with a simple picture, no words required, often with a double meaning, and some of the locations and placings are just so well thought out, clearly not chosen by accident. My favourite Banksy…..entitled ‘Rage – The Flower Thrower’ is not in Bristol and I’ll probably never get to see it. He travelled all the way to Jerusalem to deliver his message and paint this one. It depicts a masked Palestinian poised to throw a grenade…..but instead of a grenade he is about to launch a bouquet of flowers. The entire piece is in typical monochrome black and white, except the flowers which are in vivid colour to emphasise the need to make peace not war. Such a simple piece yet the message so powerful.

So off we set on our graffiti walk which always includes one Banksy. First stop, his ‘Well Hung Lover’. I’ve seen this so many times and it never ceases to make me smile…….both the double meaning in the title, and his absolute perfect placing on the side wall of the Bristol Sexual Health Clinic. It’s just a pity that some people don’t have the same appreciation for his work and it’s now been vandalised with black paint in addition to the blue paintballs that had been fired at it last time I visited. My other two favourites from this walk were one called ‘Lynx’ by street artist ATM, on the side of a semi-detached house in the Stoke Croft suburb and ‘Natural Adventures’ by Zase and Dekor. This one is so colourful and detailed and its placement at the bottom of the entrance slip road to the mundane M32 motorway is enough to brighten up anyone’s drive.

Grafitti tour done, then it was time for a trip to the suburb of Clifton. For two reasons…….another close up look at the Clifton Suspension Bridge as it never ceases to amaze me and also because outstandingly pretty Clifton has the best selection of small independent shops in Bristol.

Now this was done without the student. By this time his patience had worn thin and a night out with his friends was beckoning. He does not understand why I need to look at the bridge again……..”It will look the same as it did last time!” I explained that it looks different in different weather and different light and I learn something new about it each time I visit. I did point out that the XBox screen looks the same if you play the same game over again but that did not go down well. And he hates shops like those in Clifton…….they don’t sell branded sportswear! They do however, have excellent coffee shops and quite the best independent book shop. I did remind him of all those times I had spent with him in JD Sports looking at Nike trainers debating whether to buy Air Force Ones, 95s or 97s……which usually takes much longer than half an hour. Anyway, I continued on my own. After looking at gorgeous Autumn wreaths and decorations for home in the florists and spending at least half an hour in the book shop choosing and talking to the delightful owner about all things book related I emerged delighted with my purchases. I revived myself with a visit to an excellent little coffee shop and was delighted to see that the coffee shop recycles all its used grounds which I thought was an excellent idea…..I love to see good recycling ideas! I recycle mine at home as anyone with an allotment will know that coffee grounds are really good for the soil for all the reasons stated on the photo below. So out I came with a bag of used grounds.

Well that marked the end of a delightful day in Bristol. So it was on to Bath for a day with the eldest the day after…….and my company can’t have been that bad as the youngest opted for a second day with me too……..or could that be because I happened to mention belated cocktails and food for the eldest’s birthday?

So that’s a very, very brief look at Bristol in a day. It’s a city that’s well worth a weekend in it’s own right. So much to see and do and even better if combined with the very pretty, affluent, decadent, World Heritage city of Bath only 20 minutes away. Anyway, more of beautiful Bath and adventures there in a separate post.

Right, where to start! Last weekend I went to Bath and Bristol for the weekend to see the students…..otherwise known as my boys. Both absolutely fantastic cities a four hour road trip away that will each get their own blog post as we got up to allsorts over the weekend and had a good Mum and sons catch up but the student accommodation really does deserve it’s own post!!

It was the first time I have been down there this academic year as I made a point of making them sort themselves out this year with my new found determination to let go of the apron strings…..they have chosen their accommodation with their friends, sorted their equipment and even moved themselves in. I just pay for it!! So off I went to see what I was getting for my money.

Oh my goodness!! I’m still reeling. I just could not believe some of my discoveries. I thoroughly enjoyed my one hour nosey in each house. They don’t seem to be bothered where you wander and photograph and I am a bit nosey so I took full advantage of my opportunity to explore every nook and cranny.

When they decided to move down South I had mixed feelings. I was pleased that they were brave enough to spread their wings so far as there is so much more opportunity down there in their chosen fields and as a parent you want the best universities, life chances and standard of living for them. Selfishly though I was quite upset that I would not be able to see them that often. It’s worked out quite well though as I need no excuses for a weekend away and we always have such fun together when I visit, usually once a semester.

Now I feel I need to explain that they each live in a house with five of their friends, and they are all male households. So that’s two houses, one in Bath one in Bristol, twenty minutes drive from each other, one containing six 22 year old males and the other with six 19 year old males.

Whenever I leave them I always leave them with the same words of wisdom…….”live your best life, work hard, play hard and make the most of the fantastic opportunity you are both lucky enough to have been given”. I get to see the grades so I know they work hard most of the time but this weekend was evidence of the fact that they are definitely playing hard and living their best lives!

First stop Bath. A lovely 6 bedroom Georgian terrace house a few streets away from the Royal Crescent. I was fully toileted before arrival so there would be no need to use the student bathroom and with appropriate footwear to avoid any sticking to the floor I was greeted with a smile and a hug at the door from my eldest. Looking a bit bleary eyed he felt the need to explain before I entered the house that they had had a party the night before and it didn’t normally look like it did that morning. However, the Sherlock Holmes in me had already spotted the bulging can and bottle recycling bin at the front door!

In I went. It was quite quiet as no-one was up yet……it was 12 noon! First stop the bedroom, lovely big bay windowed room which apart from various things strewn on the floor did not look too bad. Then onwards to the lounge. After a couple of minutes clearing the sofa there was space for me to sit, avoiding the damp patch, and admire the empty bottles and remnants of a card drinking game.

I’d been told there was a garden so thought I’d have a little wander. Sure enough I found it, a bit overgrown but with a little patio some plastic chairs and a rather new looking table. I was informed that the table was indeed new and was a joint household purchase after the old one had ‘accidently’ got broken the week before when the legs had been removed to improvise as bats in a game of drunken baseball.

I then turned around to see the Grade ‘A’ Food Technology student eating for his breakfast the staple diet of the student, a chicken and mushroom Pot Noodle.

Off I trotted to the kitchen where I was offered a drink….if I made it myself. Looking at the worktop it looked like a choice of Vodka, Chenin Blanc, High 5 Protein shake, Smirnoff Rasberry Crush or Heineken. I eventually unearthed some coffee. Fortunately I don’t take sugar and it’s a good job I can drink it black as the milk in the fridge had a best before date of 28th September.

I settled back on my dry bit of sofa and what followed was like a scene from Zombie Apocalypse. Various bodies started to emerge from all different directions. Surprise on each others faces……”Oh I didn’t know you stayed last night…..where did you sleep?!?!” was the general question.

Now I love this household of six. Four of them came to stay in Yorkshire with me last summer when the pandemic restrictions were lifted. What I thought was a flying visit of a few nights from Brighton turned out to be a full week where they took over my sitting room, ate me out of house and home and provided much hilarity and entertainment. I obviously looked after them too well but they are a great group of lads.

Then it was on to Bristol to have a good old nosey around student house number two who had also been partying the night before. It did not dissapoint!

These are the 19 year olds and this is their first year in their own house, not in University halls. So just like I did for the oldest one in his first shared house I went with the ‘Welcome to your new Student Home Gift Box’ I like to make for them. Now what does this contain? The essentials:

• A mug with your name on – one each for Henry, Sean, Matt, Will, Nathan and Jack.
• Chocolate – everyone likes chocolate.
• Toilet cleaner – the toilet needs regular attention in a student house.
• Rubber gloves – absolutely essential for the above.
• Toilet rim block – masks various odours in the toilet.
• Lenor laundry scent boosting pearls – because all students smell.
• Smirnoff Raspberry Crush Vodka – I might be 51 years old and a bit out of touch but even I know the mugs are not going to be used for tea and coffee.

So in I went through the front door fighting my way in through an absolute mountain of cardboard! They felt the need to explain that they had only been there 2 months but hadn’t worked out how to get rid of the cardboard recycling. “Oh well”, I thought, at least the intention to recycle is there! It also gave me the opportunity to nosey at the recycling (you can tell a lot about someone’s lifestyle by looking at this). In this case it evidenced lots of pizza and beer. I got slightly worried af the sight of a large ‘Love Space’ box but a quick Google search revealed that this was not a flat pack build your own space for loving but an online space storage solution……thank goodness for that!

On to the living space and kitchen or ‘El Cocina…….home of el Jefe’……a bilingual household nonetheless! A well used cooker top with four dirty frying pans, two saucepans and a seive. They probably weren’t in the sink because they would not fit in it. Despite the presence of six scouring pads (one each) there was little evidence of washing up and the token bottle of multisurface cleaner on the windowsill made me smile.

The living room contained everything you could ever need as a student: keyboard, huge wall mounted gaming TV, karaoke machine, xbox, laptop, lots of wiring, a football in a washing up bowl, table top darts, dirty oven baking tray, token plant, drinking card game, dirty pots, Gorilla Thai takeaway menu, empty beer bottles and the best and most ornately carved and decorated bottle opener I have ever seen……everybody needs one of these!

However, the icing on the cake for me was the display in the corner, or is it a sculpture or perhaps just ornamentation. Most of us have a vase of flowers, pictures, an ornament or two but I bet there is no-one else out there with a beer keg, supporting a full size set of real traffic lights, wearing a top hat, adorned with an inflatable banana!

Asking no questions I moved on to the bedroom. A bit of a tip but still a little bit of floor space, a sort of made up bed and believe it or not some work on the desk.

Quick exit and on to the garden. Lovely little artifical grassed and covered area complete with broken bench, two indoor sofas, well used ashtray, two broken plastic chairs and a pair of Bristol Royal Infirmary Hospital crutches…….in case you have any drunken mishaps down the bottom of the garden I guess? And finally…….the BBQ which has seen better days and is clearly just a stand for the disposable BBQs because when you are a student why on earth would you use the real thing which will require an amount of effort and cleaning! 

So all in all a lovely start to my weekend with the boys. So happy to see them living their best lives and having so much fun. Not sure I’m getting £13,000 a year’s worth out if my rent payments but the upside is my own house felt incredibly plush, clean and tidy when I got home……I really need to upgrade my ornaments and up my game on the bottle opener front though!

This weekend I’ve been in my happy place, the Lake District, for two 10km fell and trail races, the Helvellyn and Ullswater Lakeland Trails series. I absolutely love the Lakes at this time of year, it’s so dramatic and there is possibly no other place in the UK I’d rather be. The backdrop of the lakes and mountains and the glorious autumn colours are fantastic and in true style it delivered four seasons in one day on both days. There were sun, rainbows, storms, wind, icy rain……just magnificent. After a tough few weeks at work and lots going on at home it was the perfect escape I needed.

It started off well on Friday when I arrived at the accommodation that had been booked so long ago. I’d completely forgotten the fact that I’d booked myself in a castle!! I can’t imagine how that happened, my finger must have slipped on the booking button! Yes, a mini castle, but still a castle………it was gorgeous…….and had so much history. It was part of Greystoke Castle where Edgar Rice-Burroughs stayed to write the novel Tarzan. Tarzan also went by the name of Lord Greystoke as Rice-Burroughs paid homage to his stay at Greystoke Castle. I had the most relaxing night on Friday which set me up just perfectly for the first race on Saturday morning, the Helvellyn 10k.

This first race I was absolutely dreading due to the weather forecast so I was so relieved to get up to the most gorgeous blue skies and sunshine. I even recorded a little video for family and friends to show them how wrong the forecast was and to showcase the glorious surroundings. I set off quite sprightly in just my t-shirt as it did not feel that cold. However, I spoke too soon. Just as in any mountainous area the weather can change really quickly……..and it did. Just as it said in the forecast the heavens opened and the smile was well and truly on the other side of my face. The rain was torrential and as we got higher up it got colder and colder and felt like ice as it landed on you. We were all absolutely soaked. It was running down my back, my front, my face, my legs and into my shoes, which by this time were absolutely full of mud. I was running as fast as I could just to get to the end. But funnily enough, I still enjoyed it. The camaraderie of all the runners was just fantastic as we all encouraged each other to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I like to come in the middle of the field and anything above that is a bonus now I’m in the Veteran 50 class. There are some really serious runners out there decades younger than me. I was absolutely over the moon with my 86^th of 209 runners.  

Anyone else who had run that race and had another 10km race to run the day after would have just put their feet up and had a nice afternoon in front of a log fire. But not me! I like to live every second of my life as if it’s my last and when I go away, I like to see as much as possible. For me, one of the best views of Lake Ullswater is from a view point called the ‘Memorial Seat’. So, it was bobble hat on and a two mile up and two mile down trek on Gowbarrow Fell to sit on the ‘Memorial Seat’. Now if this isn’t just the best view, I don’t know what is. You could just leave me up there for ever with a book, only it was a bit windy on Saturday afternoon so I did not hang around for too long.

After a long day I headed off back to my castle only to face my next dilemma. By this time, I was aching a little so I decided to take a bath instead of a shower in the lovely castle bathroom and have a good soak with lots of bubbles. The dilemma was this………the castle has the best selection of complementary toiletries and bubble bath than anywhere I have ever stayed. What to choose? I was torn between ‘Feel Relaxed’, ‘Muscle Therapy’, ‘Muscle Soak’ or ‘Stress Relief’. I decided I needed all four so had what can only be described as a bubble bath cocktail with all four, you could not see me for bubbles!

By now my stomach was telling me I needed food badly. So off I wandered, torch in hand for the return walk, to the lovely village pub, The Boot and Shoe. I walked through the door promising myself I would make all the right choices as I had another race to run in the morning……..so no alcohol and something healthy. Two hours later I exited the pub after steak and ale pie and a gin and tonic……..ooops! I’d managed to convince myself that there were plenty of carbs in the pie pastry and a slice of very healthy lemon in the gin and tonic. It was delicious.

It then proceeded to rain all night, and I mean really rain and storm as it does up there. Fortunately, on Sunday morning it had stopped raining constantly and was just raining on and off. The race was still on and the boats were sailing. The Ullswater 10km starts with a transfer the length of the lake from bottom to top on the Ullswater Steamer boat. The race is then all the way down the east edge of the lake, around the bottom and then part way up the west shoreline to the start point at Glenridding. For anyone that does not like hills, this one is a nightmare of a race. You are either going up or down, and the up and downs seem endless. The race started well. It was freezing cold but I felt good. However, no sooner had we got to the edge of the lake that it became apparent how much rain had fallen the night before. The trail was absolutely waterlogged, parts of it would have been better suited to a kayak. The puddles were so wide and deep going around them was not an option, going straight through was the only way. Three miles in I had drunk all my electrolytes, was wet through and had decided that this was just not fun anymore. I absolutely hit a mental and physical wall. It wasn’t runnable………there was lots of slipping, clambering, dare I say it walking and I was really struggling. I didn’t know whether it was tiredness from the day before, pie and gin, cold, or frustration at not being able to run it due to the conditions. I had noticed however that no-one had passed me since the start where I set off reasonably well not too far from the front so I thought maybe everyone else was struggling too. I ran with a lovely gentleman for a while who could not quite believe I was up there having run the day before as he was only doing Sunday’s race. Then I seemed to find my stride and ran unintentionally with another woman from that point until the end. We kept overtaking each other at different points. She seemed to be stronger than me on the flat but I’m a little bit like a mountain goat on the rocky downhills and uphills so together we made quite a good team pacing each other on the bits we each were weaker. We eventually limped over the line and into the finishers tent within seconds of each other, each thanking the other for the unspoken encouragement.

By that time, I was so wet I donned my wetsuit and went for a dip in the lake to cool down my leg muscles which were by now absolutely screaming. The results came in and I was absolutely delighted. I’d actually placed 40^th out of 184 runners and 10^th Veteran 50 female……. now that, I wasn’t expecting and I’m absolutely over the moon to be in the top 25%. It’s a feat I’ll probably never repeat so I’ll make the celebration last for as long as possible.

Then the icing on the cake, or is it the twist of the knife……..I can’t decide which, was when I read the following post on the Lakeland Trails Facebook page whilst looking for the official photos. Congratulations to Richard on his 40^th Lakeland Trails run who to celebrate would generously like to treat the 40^th finisher from each boat to a free entry to the race next year! I’ve ‘Liked’ the post but I’ve not yet owned up to being 40^th on the 9am sailing, I keep looking at the results to see if by a stroke of luck someone’s timing chip wasn’t working and I’ve been bumped down to 41^st when the results are verified. Now I do hope Richard has had an absolutely fantastic 40th Lakeland Trails run without any mishaps and I also hope to goodness he’s moving better than I am this week. I’m still at the stage where if I sit still for longer than 5 minutes I just can’t move. So, it looks like I might be running it next year after all!

This weekend is the weekend of the Lakeland Trails Dirty Double and tonight I’m having a bit of a mental meltdown as I think I might have bitten off a bit more than I can chew. So, Saturday will see me huffing and puffing up and down the Helvellyn mountain 10k in the English Lake District followed by the Ullswater 10k on Sunday, both departing from Lake Ullswater.

I absolutely love the English Lake District and if anything, it’s an excuse for a nice Friday to Sunday weekend away. It’s stunningly beautiful at this time of year with all the golden Autumn foliage and there’s nothing like the good old British pub meal and a log fire after a run. The lakes themselves and the mountains that surround them make for the most stunning backdrop to these two races.   

I always get nervous on race day, even though I’m not racing anyone but myself. You just get swept along with all the hype and adrenaline, it’s a bit like stage fright. However, my nervousness does not normally start as early as Tuesday before the race!

The reason being is I think I was lulled into a sense of false security last year, the first year I had run these races. I absolutely loved them. The back-to-back 10k’s were quite tough but the sun shone on Saturday, the scenery was spectacular and apart from my spectacular face plant in the river on the Sunday it was quite dry.

Physically it should not be an issue, I know I can run 20k. I say should as I have been suffering from terrible cramp in my calves and feet every day since I did my Camino walk in the summer. It hardly happened on the walk and now I can’t get rid of it and I have tried all sorts. It happens at the most inopportune moments, like when I was half way up the climbing wall last Friday and had to be lowered down rigid on a rope by my belay partner who was in fits of laughter, unlike me who was nearly crying, it’s so painful. I’m up at least once in the night with it too, hopping round the bedroom trying to stretch it out. If anyone knows how to get rid of it, answers on a postcard please because it’s driving me insane.

Anyhow, anyone who knows the Lake District will know that some of the altitudes are quite high, these are mountains not hills, and the weather can change very quickly and before you know it you can get in quite a bit of difficulty with low visibility.

I started to get a little nervous on Sunday when the e-mail below came through telling me about the mandatory kit list due to the remote location of the route. “Why is there a mandatory kit list?” I thought. There wasn’t one last year. I was a bit disgruntled because I don’t like to carry lots of equipment when I’m running, I like to be free of clutter. I’m now going the have to wear a race pack and carry a cagoule, over trousers, hat and gloves………..extra weight. Then I went on to read it was necessary because they have changed the route and access is difficult with ‘rapid response safety teams only being able to access the trail by boat’. By now I’m getting slightly worried as I wasn’t expecting to be in a remote location, and I certainly am not anticipating needing an emergency rapid response team.

By now I’m thinking this is possibly not going to be like last year’s and definitely does not sound like what I signed up to. I’m thinking nice bed and breakfast lodgings, sunshine, glorious autumn colours, running up Helvellyn mountain, pub meal on Saturday night, crackling log fires, beautiful run around Ullswater on Sunday, all finished off with an English Cream Tea on Sunday. Now that’s what I signed up for. Running is always followed by eating, in fact most of my activities end at a café. I’ve been for my final little trot round the village tonight, nice slow 10-minute miles for 5 miles, and I won’t run now until Saturday. I’ll just eat, sleep, work repeat as I try and get rested and fuelled for the weekend.

That’s if I run as I have now made the mistake of looking at the Helvellyn Mountain weather forecast for Saturday. I can now see why the compulsory kit including hat and gloves is required and I definitely did not sign up for this!! I’m running this on my own, and I normally do end up on my own, there is usually a bunch at the front of the race and bunch at the back and me somewhere in the middle slogging it out on my own, so there’s no-one I can really tag onto. I absolutely hate poor visibility as my navigational skills aren’t that great and I just feel lost and scared.

So, bring it on! It’s a 10am start which according to the forecast below that means snow showers, yes, SNOW! But let’s not worry too much about the snow showers, perhaps the fact that it will feel minus 13 degrees C will be the issue, or could the 65km south westerly head wind blowing the snow into my face cause more of a problem?!?!? WHAT???? This is not what I agreed to. I could cry. I’m having a serious panic. I’ve never dropped out of anything in my life but this was never part of the deal.

So this is the final blog post until later next week as I’m hibernating for the rest of this week. The race kit is out on the bed and includes all the compulsory gear, headtorch for extra measure, fluorescent yellow coat in case I need rescuing and two pairs of everything as I don’t suspect anything I wear on Saturday will be dry enough to wear on Sunday. Next week there could be a race report. Or there may just be a blog post of me enjoying a lazy weekend in the lakes drinking Aperol Spritz in front of a roaring fire with not a pair of running shoes in sight. If there is neither, then you know I’ve been carried off by the Emergency Rapid Response Team. Live results will be available here, if like my mother, you desperately need to know if I survived.

https://www.lakelandtrails.org/results#2_F1E839

Today is world Mental Health Day! This post is a little late in the day as the day is nearly over and I guess it’s a little rant about something I feel really passionate about, not just mental health, but children’s mental health in particular. The views are entirely my own and are not in any way politically motivated as I don’t affiliate to any political party. I always use my vote, but politicians have to work for my vote and I’ve spread my vote widely over the years dependent on who is delivering what as actions speak louder than words.

I work in a primary school and we take mental health and children’s mental health very seriously. Today we all wore something yellow to work and our casual clothes and fundraised for Young Mind’s ‘Hello Yellow’ campaign. Now this in itself was quite difficult as I don’t do yellow but I managed to find my yellow flowery happy shirt lurking in the back of my wardrobe! ‘Young Minds’ are a mental health charity for children, young people and their parents, making sure all young people can get the mental health care they need. 

I haven’t always worked in a school, for 18 years I had a career in banking. I became disenchanted with banking when I had my children. My hours were long, work was stressful, a lot of travelling away from home was involved and I was working very hard just to make as much profit as possible for a bunch of shareholders I’d never met nor was likely to do so. I wanted to do something where I felt like I made a difference and I absolutely love children so I decided on a career change and ended up firstly in a secondary school (11 to 18 years old), in quite an affluent area, and later in a primary school (3 to 11 years old), in a deprived area where I am still based now.

It’s hard work and it’s opened my eyes and continues to do so. According to the 2019 Index of Deprivation the area the school is in ranks 9 out of 10 (with 10 being the worst) for income, employment, education, health, crime and overall deprivation, but I love working there as there is the potential to make such a difference to the lives of young people.

In 2019 I did my Mental Health First Aid Certificate to enable me to provide First Aid to people who may be experiencing mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and psychosis, another subject I feel passionate about, as it’s ok not to be ok and stuff happens to most of us at some point in our life that we just can’t deal with on our own.

Anyway, two of my passions, children and mental health! So today is an important day, but so is every day and today I have been made aware of some statistics which I have to say have horrified and saddened me and are the reason for me getting on my soap box now.

• According to the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2019 about 7% of children in the UK have attempted suicide by the age of 17 and almost one in four say they have self-harmed in the past year………. that’s 25%!
• According to the children’s society 1 in 6 children or 5 in every class of 30 have a mental health problem.

Now that’s a huge number of children and that first bullet point horrifies me. But what horrifies me more is the lack of action that is being taken to rectify the situation. For me this is a bigger pandemic than Covid and its long-term impact will be far greater. These people are the next generation, we are reliant on them to look after us when we get old.

Over the last 13 years I have gradually seen the demise of the British education system and the wheels have now well and truly dropped off. According to a National Education Union Survey this year 44% of teachers plan to leave the profession by 2027. That’s nearly half the workforce, with teacher recruitment and retention at an all time low. Perhaps it’s about time someone looked at why. The latest Government survey cites Government policy, lack of support from leadership and workload as the 3 main reasons for high turnover.

I’m not saying that the state of the current education system is to blame entirely for the child mental health crisis as there are so many social factors involved and the demise of society in general, but it certainly does not help. School should be a happy place where we nurture and foster the individual strengths of each and every child. We seem to have lost the sight of the fact that they are all different as the Government come up with the latest buzz word and treat them all like a scientific experiment.

The latest buzz work ‘Age Related Expectation’ defines as: what children should have learned, or be able to do, at the end of each Key Stage. It works on the premise that the average child of that age and stage should meet the given standard.

But they won’t all meet the given standard as they are all different!! And we are only testing them in English and Maths, what about those that are good at science, art, languages, humanities! Are we telling them they have failed to meet expectations because they did not achieve age related expectation in a Maths paper and an English paper, they sat on one morning when they were 10 or 11 years of age?  Yes, I get that we need a baseline to measure against but there has to be a better way of doing it with less repercussion on the children and it has to come from the top. We have to stop penalising a profession when their pupils fail to meet, what for some, will be an unachievable target and we need to stop making children feel like a failure if they don’t meet that target.

Since when did trying your best and not giving in become not good enough. I have two boys. They have both been through the broken education system. One flew through, one didn’t. He considers the last few years of his secondary school education as some of the worst of his life and I find that sad…..his best was simply not good enough and that was made quite clear to him. I never for one moment had an expectation that academically they would reach that same age-related expectation in Maths and English, they never have been and never will be the same. He’s lucky, I saw him falling and was there to catch him, but not every child has that support network around them. He got up, brushed himself down and makes me so proud every day. He has the most fantastic creative mind, is studying architecture, is a wonderful artist, kind, generous and has the potential to go just as far in this world as anyone who meets ‘Age Related Expectations’.

Government Policy has to change and here is why. The system can only be fixed with competent leadership from the top. Since 2019 we have had six Secretaries of State for Education, yes six, and four of these in 2022, one of whom lasted 36 hours in the job! Each one has a different agenda so no sooner do you put one thing in place to have the tables shuffled again and be shooting off in a completely different direction. There is confusion, lack of clarity, no-one knows what they are doing and in the middle of all this are children!

Below are the last six Secretaries of State for Education and their careers before politics, sourced from Wikipedia. See if you can spot the one thing they all have in common

• 2018-2019         Damian Hinds                    –              Pubs, brewing and hotel industry
• 2019-2021          Gavin Williamson             –              Management in Fireplace and Ceramics
                                                                                           industry
• 2021-22              Nadhim Zahawi                –              Chemical Engineering
• 2022-22              Michelle Donelan             –              Marketing
• 2022-22              James Cleverley                –              Army and Hospitality Management
• 2022 –                 Kit Malthouse                    –              Accountant

Yes, you’ve guessed it!!! Not one of them has a career background or qualification in anything remotely linked to education (army might be similar on a bad day). These people have never stepped foot in a classroom on a normal day, have no idea what issues these children face on a daily basis and do not see the impact that their policies have on everybody from the headteachers, to the teachers and ultimately to the children. Come on Britain, we have to get this right and get someone on the case who is suitably qualified and gets it or this pandemic really is going to come back and bite us in a few years. It really does show a lack of respect for all of us working in schools who have studied for years to gain related qualifications.

So today, on World Mental Health Day, and every day after, connect with other people, give them a smile or a hug, they might just need it, they might not be ok. Where children are concerned always reassure them that their best is and always will be good enough, highlight their strengths and celebrate the successes and the wonderful little people they are. Let’s stop giving them a hard time because they’ve not achieved the latest pie in the sky target set by a bunch of people out of touch with the reality of what these children are living on a daily basis and the struggles that they are facing.

So that’s it, rant over, back to light hearted posts from tomorrow. I feel so much better for it, I love the fact we live in a democracy and can say what we want. If I’ve offended anybody we’ll have to agree to disagree, I don’t do falling out, life is too short! I’m off now to give someone a hug and a smile on World Mental Health Day! Stay happy, keep smiling and if you aren’t, remember it’s ok not to be ok, reach out, there will be someone there who, like me, will give you a smile and hug you to within an inch of your life on any day of the week, not just today.

This post is about the allotment garden but first things first. This morning I conducted my sports science experiment as to whether I am faster or slower with a thorn in my shoe. I thought possibly slower as I was desperate to get to the end in last week’s 27:49 minutes. So I dragged myself out of bed early this morning to have another go minus the thorn. Now I’m not a rise and shine person, I’m a night owl. I always go for a coffee after my run and the sign below that I spotted in the coffee shop this morning made me smile as that is me, I don’t rise and shine in a morning……. I caffeinate and hope for the best! ……and this morning felt harder than last week, possibly due to the consumption of wine last night. However, I am pleased to report I am a full 45 seconds faster without the thorn at 27:04 minutes and an 8:42 mile. I’m happy with that and that will be the end of the experiment as I really do think that is my limit. I do have a slight problem with the 4 seconds and whether I could have got below 27 minutes but I’m not going to dwell on that.

My thorn injury last week meant I have spent a lot of time in the garden this week rather than exercising and training as I have to be outside when the weather is fine, I’m not an indoors girl. The allotment garden has been the possession of the household for around 10 years now. I like the idea of growing your own and doing all you can to reduce your food miles. Homegrown also tastes so much better than anything you buy too and I love to cook. When I retire, I have two dreams: travelling lots and ticking off all the places on my long bucket list and residing somewhere warmer than Yorkshire and living a simple life, surrounded by nature and being as self-sufficient as possible. I like to grow from seeds too rather than buy plants as I’m still fascinated by watching a little seed as big as a pin head, germinate and turn into something on your plate.

The allotment garden however is hard work and it’s not quite as idyllic as it sounds. For 10 years an attempt as been made to space the planting out to ensure a steady flow of vegetables through summer and Autumn, however, this year, as in all other years, everything seems to be ready at the same time. So, for the last two weeks I have been drowning in a sea of fruit and vegetables. So many that I don’t know what to do with them. I give them away to random strangers walking past, deposit them on the doorsteps of grateful friends and cook, eat and freeze as many as possible. There is beetroot, sweetcorn, gooseberries, potatoes, beans, pumpkin, rhubarb, figs, onions, courgettes, late strawberries, cucumber and you name it.

I am also pleased to report that I am Mum to the village’s largest pumpkin this year weighing in at 9.5kg, heavier than two babies, and here it is above! I have no idea what I’m going to do with so much pumpkin and it may possibly end up being this year’s carved masterpiece at Halloween as although I have no children at home with me now, I do love a celebration and will have my sweets, pumpkin lantern and dressing up outfit on ready to dish out my chocolates to the mass of children that normally come knocking for ‘trick or treat’. I might even borrow a child and go myself.

So, this week on top of work, running, and the adopted guinea pig there has been lots of cooking going on: rhubarb crumble (my absolute favourite with custard), strawberry jam which I like to make look all pretty, pickled beetroot, pumpkin soup and lentils with goat cheese and walnuts to use up carrots, onions, celery and vegetable stock.

I think it may have actually been harder work than my adventuring and training but that’s about it for this year. I’m not a winter grower as it’s too cold to grow anything well up here in the north, everything will be asleep in its blankety bed until Spring when the cycle will start again and I’ll once again try to get the timing better.

I can’t quite believe what I’ve done today and I’m quite cross with myself. I just do not know when to give in so I’ve obviously paid no heed to my reading on accepting that you sometimes have to stop and that’s not failure. Now I am a bit of a calamity when it comes to running, or any challenge really. I am better off having a chaperone to look after me and tell me when to stop. I’ve had to drive myself to Accident and Emergency before now to be stitched up after falling and cutting my arm open on rocks and have fallen down numerous times, I’m a bit of an accident waiting to happen.  

Earlier this week I received a call from my cousin telling me he was coming to Yorkshire for the weekend and did I want to run Park Run with him this Saturday morning, a timed 5 kilometres around the local park and along the Trans Pennine trail and back. He lives four hours away from me now and we don’t get to see each other that often so I was so happy to hear from him and go and run with him.  

With it only being two weeks to my mountain race weekend and being only a short course I thought I’d use it as an opportunity to do some speed work and run it as fast as possible. The last time I ran Park Run was before the pandemic almost three years ago and I was interested to know if I’m fitter at 51 than 48, and I have to say I was secretly thinking it might be a PB (Personal Best) opportunity despite there being a head wind on the way out and it having rained heavily five minutes before. Like I’ve said before I never race anyone else, but I do like to race myself.  

The only slight problem was that since I went running on Tuesday night I’ve had a pain in the bottom of my left foot when I run. I could not work out where it was coming from. It felt like there was something in my shoe. I’ve washed my socks three times and could not feel anything, had the liners out of my running shoes but could not see anything and looked absolutely everywhere on the shoes. 

Walking onto the course this morning I could feel it again so I took my socks off, shoes off, liners out and we both had a good look but could not see anything, so by now I’m thinking maybe it is a foot problem. I think the others were thinking I was slightly mad and imagining it but believe me when I say I have a really high pain threshold and if I say something is hurting, it really is hurting. But me being me I thought I’d run it anyway and still go for the PB. Why I have no idea. Well, I do know why, it’s because once I’ve decided I’m doing something I’m just driven to do it. I’ve always drummed it into my boys that through life you will get pushed aside, knocked down and things won’t always go your way but whatever you do, if you get knocked down 7 times, just make sure you get up 8………never give in or stop trying your best! But I do take it to the extreme and like to practice what I preach. 

So basically I gave it my all and set off like a bullet out of a gun, or perhaps more like a rat up a drainpipe, and at various points along the route was in quite a bit of pain, to the point where I actually thought I was going to be sick at the end. I actually look in pain on the official photo below. The high level of my pain threshold and proof of my pain was confirmed when I hobbled back to the car, desperate to get my left trainer off, and my foot up on the steering wheel to examine it, to find a blood soaked trainer liner and a puncture wound in the bottom of my foot, but I still could not find the cause. I am as blind as a bat without my glasses on. 

The cause was eventually found, by someone with better eyesight than me. Whilst out running on Tuesday night I must have stood on a very large, thick thorn from a hawthorn bush, like a nail now it’s out of the trainer. It was so big it had gone all through the thick spongy base of my Hokas, through the sole and when the pressure of my foot was on the liner, straight through the liner and into my foot, leaving quite a hole. It’s now been extracted from the shoe but the very tip of it is still in my foot so tonight’s delightful task after dinner is to try and extract it with a pair of tweezers as I daren’t show up at the hospital again with another self-inflicted running injury, wasting everyone’s time. Fortunately, I fall down that often my tetanus vaccination is up to date. 

So the downside is I am hobbling around with a sore foot, so tomorrow looks like a gardening day or something less adventurous until it feels a bit better. 

However, every cloud has a silver lining and I was overjoyed when my result came through. 27 minutes and 49 seconds!! A personal best by over 30 seconds, my first sub 28 minutes, under 9 minutes a mile and second in my age and gender category. And all with a thorn in my foot! So life really does begin at 50, not only have I moved up the queue for a Covid vaccination I’m like a fine wine maturing with age, just getting better and better…..hahaha! The only thing now is I’m wondering if I’m actually slower or faster than normal with a thorn in my foot so I am going to have to repeat the whole exercise just to see. 

The other upside is because I’ve now had my wings clipped for a day or two, this afternoon was a steady afternoon, off my feet, and I got to spend the afternoon lunching with my Mum and Dad, my absolute world! Love them to bits. Fortunately she did not notice my slight hobble, does not read this blog, and will learn nothing of this incident because believe me, she might be tiny and over eighty but I still get told off on a very regular basis, I can’t think why?!?! 

So every cloud really does have a silver lining, I’ve got a hole in my foot and a bit of tweezer surgery to perform tonight, but I got my PB and a lovely afternoon with Mum and Dad. 

Gosh, I’ve been up to all sorts this week and last weekend – seaside, running, wild swimming …….. and work! Yes, I do work full time and this week has been one hell of a week so this post is a reflection on this week and all about balance in life. 

Now balance is something I got wrong for a long time. It’s easy to look at social media (I try not to) and look at other people’s seemingly perfect life as they travel round the world with what seems to be endless financial resources, have the body of a Greek goddess and nibble on carrots while drinking coconut water. But that’s not real life.  

For me happiness is in finding the right balance between everything I try to cram into my life, and I try to fit a lot in. Work, exercise, two children, elderly parents, friends, hobbies, evening classes,  reading, music, household chores, an allotment garden and a guinea pig which I appear to have adopted. I also drink alcohol, love caffeine and will fight you for the last piece of cake! For me it’s all about everything in moderation and getting the balance right.  

Last night the balance was slightly wrong as it was a get together for dinner and drinks with my two secondary school girl friends. The balance was wrong as there was more drink than dinner, this morning I have a slight headache but I’m still celebrating our victory in the Waggon and Horses pub quiz, not bad for the three imposters in the corner. Even the regulars in there looked surprised we’d stolen the victory, we obviously didn’t look that academic. It seemed that the more Pinot Grigio we drunk the more intelligent we got! 

So this morning to clear the head it was running training, up and down big hills in the woods where I live. It’s that time of year when I get slightly nervous as I enter a set of 10k running races in the English Lake District, two of them back to back on one weekend and as usual three weeks before the event I suddenly think I need to do a bit more training. They are not easy races. They are off road and the one on the Saturday is straight up and down Helvellyn, not a hill but officially a mountain and the third highest point in England. But this post is about balance and not taking things too seriously.  

There is an excellent book called Sky Runner by Emelie Forsberg which talks about finding strength, happiness and balance in your running. She is someone who inspires me because she is at the top of her game, has two small children, an allotment garden and a normal life outside running. She holds the fastest known times for running up and down some of the world’s highest mountains: Grand Teton, Mont Blanc, Matterhorn, Monte Rosa and Kungsleden and she eats cake!! Ok, she does not have a full time job in a school too, but she is an inspiration. She runs because she enjoys it, not to be the best, and in her book she talks about the balance between running, food, nature, gardening and she also gives you the recipe for the best cinnamon buns, as like me, she loves food.  

My running has to be balanced with my love of caffeine and cake. I do not diet – just the word ‘diet’ makes me miserable and I will snap your head off if I think I’m on a ‘diet’ so I don’t do it. I just try and make good choices some of the time so I can eat cake. Anybody who knows me will tell you that I wear my Garmin watch not to track how fast or far I’ve gone but to track how many calories I’ve burnt, because within an hour of finishing a run I’ve normally replaced the calories I’ve burnt off with cake and I make it in my way to do so. Every run route normally ends at a café or I’ve baked something for when I get home, like the cinnamon buns above – I love baking, but more of that in another post. 

I also love running, but I don’t take it seriously, I run because I enjoy it. I’m only ever racing myself, which is a good job as I normally finish in the middle of the field. When I stop enjoying it I’ll stop doing it. In her book Emelie Forsberg says that: “We were all built to run – all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other”. Now when I was younger I hated running and I really can’t emphasise how much I hated it, particularly school cross country. I was the slightly chubby one at the back who got stitch in my stomach before I set off, always ended up with a cold shower at the end as the faster ones had used all the hot water. It did not take me long to work out if you got far enough down the dip at the far side of the field Miss Harrison could not see if you walked for a bit.  

I started running only around 10 years ago following a tragic event. I lost my best friend and flat mate to cancer. We were only forty, with young children and at that age you think you have your whole life ahead of you. The three former flatmates, including myself, were absolutely devastated and we went through that stage where you just feel so helpless and need to do something, anything. So we signed up for the Cancer Research Race for Life 10k at York Racecourse. We chose the one at the racecourse as we figured it would be flat. It wasn’t! None of us had run since school but it ended up being quite a happy event that came from such a sad event. Not only did it reunite us after many years but it also resulted in my love of running because it became addictive. Running releases endorphins and endocannabinoids – which make you feel good. The latter, chemically has the same effect as the mood altering chemical THC in marijuana. So basically when I run I feel happy. It got me over that hump of grief. Now technically it is possible to experience a ‘runners high’ – I’ve never gone fast or far enough to experience it but I’m working on it! 

So although in my posts I might look like I’m a bit of a slave to exercise, believe me I’m not, I do all the bad things too in moderation, it’s all about balance. I’m not a natural runner but am capable of putting one foot in front of the other. So in short this morning was all about the balance between running, cake and clearing a bit of a hangover. A five mile route around the woods with as many up and downs built in as possible to simulate Helvellyn. A batch of Emelie’s cinnamon buns were baked last night ready for the return breakfast. I’ve burnt off 533 calories so by my calculations that’s two cups of coffee and one and three quarter cinnamon buns, but I think I’ll stretch it to two!  

So in short, find that balance, do everything in moderation, the good stuff and the bad stuff and if it makes you unhappy, stop doing it! 

Well this was difficult and a bit stupid!!

Last week I had the crazy idea that I would like to take part in the Monsal Hill Climb on my road bike in early October for a bit of a laugh as this hill has defeated me in the past. So imagine my disappointment when I was informed they would not accept me because I’m too slow, I’m not affiliated to a cycling club and it’s for better cyclists than me apparently. Now it was a bit of a silly idea. The Monsal Hill climb is probably the most popular hill climb on the UK racing calendar. Set in the very beautiful Monsal Dale in the Peak District it’s only 617 metres long but it’s absolutely brutal. It hits you like a wall with an average gradient of 1 in 6 but much steeper in some places and it just seems to go on for ever.

Then followed the sting in the tail of this conversation when I was jovially told “you probably could not get up that anyway, it’s much too hard for you!”  WHAT!?!? Well that’s just like a red rag to a bull for me. If you tell me I can’t do something I will make it in my way to do it just to prove you wrong.

Now my road bike and I have a bit of a love hate relationship. I’m either cycling lots or not much at all and lately it’s been the latter. So the sun was out this Saturday and I thought what a day to prove I can do this. So the cobwebs and dust were brushed off it and away I went, cameraman in tow, Garmin watch, Strava and all evidence gathering devices possible.

Now at home I am known as ‘all the gear no idea’………….. I can’t think why! I have to be colour co-ordinated, I like my top to match my bike and even have socks the same brand as my bike. It’s psychological I think………I think I’m invincible and built for speed when I’ve got them on when the reality is quite possibly the opposite. So out they all came this weekend, socks, race top…..the job lot in my absolute driven quest to achieve this goal.

Now apologies are due to two sets of people. For the actual event the road is closed to traffic, for me it wasn’t. So apologies are due to the cars I held up for four minutes who very patiently sat and watched me suffer as I crawled my way to the top and avoided knocking me off as I threw the odd zig zag in. Secondly apologies are due to the cameraman who tried to keep up and who at one point I thought was going to have a coronary episode on the way up.

A nice, steady, five beautiful miles to the start was followed by the sudden and much too soon arrival of the climb. Now what followed was four and a bit minutes of absolute agony. I started off slow trying to save as much in reserve as possible, by half way I was losing the will to live. I was already in the lowest gear so had absolutely nowhere to go. Sweat was pouring off me and I was absolutely gasping and could hardly turn the pedals. I could only concentrate on one pedal turn at a time. When the bend in the road came I had convinced myself I would be able to see the end but I couldn’t and at that point I really wanted to stop but the only way to do that would have been to fall off as I could not have unclipped myself from the bike so it was time for head down and keep going. The next time I glanced up I could see the top (and the ice cream van!) and I knew I could do it. I made it to the top!!! Yaaaaaay!!! And I have evidence…….lots of it!!

Now I have to point out that the course record is held by a certain Malcolm Elliott in 1 minute and 14 seconds (how did he do that!) and hot on his heels is me at 4 minutes 48 seconds.

In addition to apologies two sets of thanks are also due. Firstly to the cameraman for being there, shouting encouragement and going through it with me and secondly to the Monsal Ices ice cream van at the top of the climb for the two scoops of Raspberry Ripple that were required to resuscitate me at the top when I collapsed in an absolute heap on the viewing point wooden bench. I could not have done it without you!

So what got me to the top? I’m not sure, just sheer determination and thinking about small steps not the final goal I think. However, I do have an absolute fear of failure which drives me and brings me on to what I’ve been reading this week as I’m working on my acceptance of failure or what I perceive to be failure which probably isn’t in reality, because at some point I won’t be able to make it to the top and I need to deal with it: ‘Summits of my Life’ by Kilian Jornet is the book in question. Now for anyone that does not know him he is from Catalonia and is a professional sky runner, trail runner, ski mountaineer and long distance runner and in my opinion is superhuman and the greatest athlete of all time. In his books he talks a lot about the power and importance of the mind and I think it’s probably that that got me to the top rather than anything physical. He also talks for a full chapter about learning to accept defeat and here are couple of nuggets of his wisdom:

‘ There’ll be objectives that lie far off in the distance, but none of that is failure if we let the journey be what fills us up, even if we don’t make it to the top’ and ‘Our power is in our feet, our legs, our bodies and our minds.’

So in short the journey is more important than the destination and the mind is equally if not more powerful than the body.

So, onwards and upwards to the next adventure!

In my happy place on a Sunday morning……not Yorkshire but Peak District National Park, this time Cressbrook Dale and Water Cum Jolly Dale on the river Wye. Now that name, Water Cum Jolly Dale, just does it for me because I’m jolly when I’m near water. These dales are two of the prettiest for me and are definitely worth an explore. Sometimes I have to pinch myself at how beautiful it is here and I guess I’m so lucky to be able to get here in less than an hour.

On a weekend I just have to be outside exploring. After a week in the office I start to get really sad if I can’t get outside. There’s no such thing as bad weather for me, just the wrong clothing. I come out here in all weather – to run, to walk or just to sit and read my book or listen to my music.

Albert Einstein said: ‘Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.’

That’s so true. When I get out here next to the water and I can hear the birds and the trees and feel the sun and wind on my face all my problems disappear for a short while. I like to close my eyes too and explore it with my other senses, just listening, smelling flowers, foraging and tasting or touching textures on trees and rocks.

In the 19th century James Croston, 19^th century author, wrote the following about the dale and this says it all for me:

‘A calm and beauteous spot
A glorious Vale far down beneath the rocks
Where peace and bliss might, undisturbed repose
And man forget the names of sin and hate’

This Sunday was no different and was made even better by Mike and Karen at Oggies! They have the most adorable little convertible Citroen van which doubles up as a takeaway café and they do what I think is the best bacon and egg brioche roll for miles around.

I’d like to tell you I come just for the nature, but I have been known to drive for 40 minutes just for an Oggies brioche roll because good food and the great outdoors make Sundays perfect for me.