Wednesday 17 October 2012

Whose idea was this anyway?

Memories of last week (10th October) have faded but we can all still recall that creepy sucking noise that the Greenhow mud makes as you try to extricate one or more of your boots from its fond embrace.  Catriona tells me her boots have only just dried out today (17th) which is unsurprising.

But, despite the conditions, we soldiered on, Tony earning the prize for most time spent under water (see left hand side of wall in pic above).  To be fair, Greenhow didn't give us its best shot and we were spared the soaking that had sent us scuttling for cover the previous week.  So we were half way up the final stint by the end of the day.

The Met Office, so often wrong this summer, got it pretty much bang on for 17th October.  We all peered bleerily into a dark and soggy dawn and immediately concluded that home was where we all should be, at least until 10:00 am.  By 10:00, the clouds hard begun to part, allowing watery sunshine to persuade Robert (finally got a day off), Graham, Roger, Paul, Phillip that maybe Greenhow wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. 

And so it turned out.  Yes, we were ankle deep in the black stuff, but it stayed dry and not-too-windy and we were able to finish off the final stint.  Hopefully Graham will publish his snaps for you all to admire from the comfort of your warm armchairs.

So that's it for Greenhow.  Kev sends his thanks for all who contributed - he seemed well impressed with our efforts both in terms of quantity and quality.  Next week it's off to Hackfall Woods where with luck we can wile away a reasonably sheltered winter.


Wednesday 3 October 2012

There's wet, and then there's ..... a sinking feeling

OK, bad idea but it had to be worth a try.  Sunny periods and showers, said the Met Office.  Yeah, right.

It rained as we were driving over; it rained as we were unloading the kit; it rained as we slithered into our waterproofs; and it carried on raining as we trudged to the wall.  Then it stopped long enough for us to view the puddles along the finished wall and the blackness of the mud where we stripped out on our last visit.

Nothing daunted, Phillip, Roger, Tony, Richard and I set about demolishing the next stretch of wall.  Squelch, slither, slosh in the primeval slime as we attempted to set new foundations - tricky when the base is under water.  It had by now rained again and the downpour (shower?) intensified as we stopped for coffee.  Now you can rain on me, blow at me and bury me in snow but don't ... don't ever ... dilute my morning cuppa coffee.

A quick show of soggy hands and there was unanimity.  Sod it!  Let's go home.  So we did!

Welcome, by the way to the guys and gals of the NCV.  Happy to share a blogspot with you and to keep an eye on what you're all up to.  I'll be writing up the more slanderous version of what Tony and Ros got up to in Bryan's Wood as soon as I have consulted my lawyers!