Hello, I'm Stuart Rae. I was born in 1946, in a small village in Cambridgeshire where my father was a farmer and my mother a school teacher, and I've been going to the Lakes ever since I can remember. The first visit was to Dalegarth
near Boot in Eskdale, where my uncle worked for the Forestry Comission.
Our Summer holidays were usually taken in Keswick, where we stayed in a B&B run by an old lady called Mrs Siddle.
Her house was situated opposite the Park, and approached along a wooden veranda over the river. I can still remember the smell
of the Keswick gasholder mixed with river! I was often accompanied on holiday by my best friend Ian.
Then came a long period with few visits. I went once in the Sixth Form at school when we stayed in the hostel at Seatoller.
We and the masters who accompanied us had an unofficial arrangement; we used the public bar and they used the lounge bar!
Then in 1974 I went to work at RAF Hullavington in Wiltshire. It was here that I met the friends with whom I still visit the Lakes.
It all started when Jerry Fathers came to work at Hullavington in 1978. We soon dicovered a shared interest in good beer, and
began to take long week-end trips in search of it. Then I remembered my childhood holidays in the lakes. 'Let's stay in Keswick
for a couple of nights' I suggested, and sure enough we booked into the Bank Tavern on Friday evening. We tried several pubs
before settling into the Dog and Gun for an evening on Theakstons, which immediately became our favourite beer! The next morning
dawned bright and frosty, and we drove to the top of Honister and climbed Great Gable. I often wonder what would have happened
if the weather had been dull and wet; maybe Jerry wouldn't have been so taken with the Lakes, and subsequent trips might not
have happened!
The first official group trip was in April 1986, after I had left Hullavington to work in Bath, and Jerry had gone to Devizes.
We still used to meet at the White Hart in Castle Combe on Saturday evenings, together with two other friends, Bill Winward and
Mark Flux, who had joined us on some of our week-end trips. We decided to book a house in Keswick (Birch Court, Blencathra
Street) for a week, and that's how it all started. Bill's wife Sally and Jerry's wife Lyn also came with us. Since then Jerry and I
have made two visits a year, Spring and Autumn, usually being joined by Bill, who now works in Swindon, and Mark, who has
moved to Fareham, Hampshire. Sally now suffers from arthritis and finds it difficult to walk, and Lyn is 'ex', so it's now usually
a 'lads' week'.
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Stuart on Lonscale Fell in April 1993. It was a very hot week. We took all the usual warm clothing with us to the Lakes, and had to buy sun hats! |
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Jerry with part of his new family, on the descent from High Spy to Newlands. |
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Bill, modelling his council-workman over-trousers, somewhere on the ascent of Dow Crag. |
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Mark having his lunch on High Rigg. He has a particular liking for Ambrosia creamed rice, which he eats cold from the tin! |
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Lyn and Sally in the layby at Scales prior to climbing Blencathra. We all have beards, and remembering the 'are there any women here?' from the Life of Brian, they decided to join us. |