I'm conducting four journeys from Grizedale – North, South, East and West. Each one is travelling in a general compass direction eg south, and is of four days duration.
One of the first places I came to was the John Ruskin School in Coniston.
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| Jack from John Ruskin school | | Drawing of gravestone |
I met Jack who is a teaching assistant there; this is some of the high calibre work that the students produce there.
And as Jack says learning never stops. The area is full of references to Ruskin and nothing more so than his magnificent gravestone this is just one of the images carved on to it.
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| Members of Coniston Parish Council |
This is Coniston Parish Council, who I spent an evening with at their AGM.
I found it amazing the topics covered toilets, potholes, street lighting, benches, play equipment the list goes on.
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| John tackles Wrynose Pass |
John and his trusty Volvo volunteered to take me over Wrynose and Hardknott Passes. I couldnt have had a better person, as this was where he was brought up.
He related how when he was ten he walked over the passes to go to relatives on the other side for his summer holidays!
Graham first heard of the Ratty many years ago, his train stopped in Bath long enough for him to buy a paper where he read about it being for sale.
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| Graham changing Ratty’s signals |
That started his years of involvement with it, and now he gets to pull the levers!
Several nights I have stayed in Youth Hostels and they are often in fantastic settings.
This was certainly true of the one at Wastwater. They also provide great food, and these drawings were done whilst waiting for my dinner there.
Part two »
