From Beauty and Lace On-Line Magazine
On the first day of my Blog Tour to celebrate the release of In at the Deep End, I was interviewed by Beauty and Lace magazine. Here is the link to the interview in which I answer questions, amongst other things, on the path to publication. http://bookgirl.beautyandlace.net/blog-tour-author-interview-penelope-janu
The Image is from Beauty and Lace magazine. Isn't she lovely!
Not long to go now and I am really looking forward to In at the Deep End being available to readers. I hope you enjoy the book and get something out of it! There have been some positive reviews so far which is lovely, and it is exciting for me seeing it all in print. It took me around a year to write the book, and another year from acceptance by Harlequin to seeing it in the shops, so it is quite a long process. In the meantime I've written another book, and am really looking forward to the editing process for that one, while working on my third (almost finished!) - something I wrote a couple of years ago but have a lot of faith in. One day I hope it will be published.
I am organising some library and bookshop visits, and I'll be at the Romance Reader's conference in Melbourne in February, so it will be wonderful to meet up with readers (and a few of my Melbourne friends!) while I am there.
In the meantime, here is a photo of my very first book box!
The social, ethical and legal issues surrounding artificial reproductive technology (ART) are complex and fascinating. This month’s Legal Beagle topic (published in the December issue of the Romance Writers of Australia newsletter, Hearts Talk) is surrogacy arrangements.
In a surrogacy arrangement, a woman (known as the surrogate, or surrogate mother, or birth mother) agrees to carry and give birth to a child on behalf of another person or couple (the commissioning or intended parents). Developments in ART have made the creation of families through surrogacy arrangements—while unusual—increasingly possible.
All States and Territories, except for the NT, have legislation on surrogacy. This legislation is available through the Austlii link we looked at in the November issue of Hearts Talk—http://austlii.edu.au. But for a straightforward introduction to this area, I suggest you read a recent report published by the Commonwealth Parliament. It outlines the rights, responsibilities, and protections available to parties to surrogacy arrangements. The link is
Let’s consider the law by looking at three scenarios.
Scenario One: Amy is a 32-year-old corporate lawyer who doesn’t have the time or inclination to gestate a baby (maybe she’s busy, or enjoys red wine, or rigorous gym workouts). Amy and her husband use their own egg and sperm to create an embryo. Lucy, a 20-year-old law student, offers to act as the surrogate mother.
Issues: Amy isn’t infertile so she wouldn’t qualify as a commissioning parent in Vic or WA (but this wouldn’t disqualify her in some States). In Victoria the surrogate mother must be at least 25, and have given birth to at least one child (variations to this requirement apply in different States).
Scenario Two: Tom and Jack have been together for two years, and want to have a baby. Tom’s sister Tina, a mother of two, has offered to carry the baby for them, using her own egg, and Jack’s sperm.
Issues: A surrogate mother can’t use her own eggs in Vic, so a donor egg would be required—meaning IVF for Tina. Same sex couples can’t be commissioning parents in SA or WA but this is okay in other States. In the ACT one commissioning parent in a same sex relationship must be genetically related to the child.
Scenario Three: April is single, 40, and infertile, but wants to have a child. Anne, who has given birth to her children using IVF, offers to donate a surplus frozen embryo. April puts an advertisement in a magazine, offering to pay a surrogate mother’s expenses, and $20 000 as a ‘thank you’ present.
Issues: Commercial surrogacy (involving payments that don’t strictly relate to medical, legal, counseling and travel costs) is illegal in every State. April’s single status would exclude her from a surrogacy arrangement in NSW and the ACT. Advertising is prohibited in NSW and other States, but allowed in WA. .
Counseling and background checks are required in all States, though legislation in these areas is not as strong as it could be. As in adoption situations, genetic and other information (such as the identity of the birth mother, and donors) should be available to children born under surrogacy arrangements. Under current laws this information isn’t, unfortunately, always available. Inconsistencies between the States complicate matters further. Overseas surrogacy arrangements have their own legal and ethical issues—a topic for another column!
Gabriella's year 4 Adélie Penguin
People often ask why I wrote this particular book. It's a difficult question to answer! For me, it all started with wanting to write a romance involving environmental issues. The environmental aspect was to be climate change. But how to weave this into an upbeat romance? As soon as I had my characters the process wasn't too difficult - though I have numerous folders on environmental science and historical figures that have been condensed from hundreds of pages to mere paragraphs (and emails, posts and texts - you'll see what I mean when you read the book). I knew something about the legal regulation of climate change through work I'd done in this area, but I had a lot more work to do!
At first I thought my female protagonist would be an environmental scientist and I honestly can't remember when she became an environmentalist. Something to do with looking out for whales in Antarctica I think. So Harriet is an environmentalist who cares about global warming and the effect it's having on the planet.
National Geographic November 2015
How about my male lead? This is where the whole Scott and Amundsen idea came about. The first manuscript I ever wrote (still a work in progress - now called On the Same Page) has a Norwegian male lead called Lars. I wrote 135 000 words of that manuscript without giving him a last name. Looking for inspiration I googled Norwegian surnames and came up with Amundsen, and a reference to well known Amundsens. One of them was Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole. Norway was forging it's identity as an independent nation in the early 1900's (when Roald Amundsen's expeditions took place) - he is very well known not only in Norway, but (in the context of exploration, anyway!) around the world. I not only thought Amundsen would be a good surname for Lars, it sparked another idea for the climate change story that had been doing cartwheels in my mind for months. The end result was that my male lead for In at the Deep End would not only be a climate scientist but a naval officer (like Roald Amundsen) and the South Pole would feature!
My female lead Harriet became a Scott, namesake of the second man to the South Pole, the Englishman Robert Falcon Scott. I knew about Scott partly because my grandmother was a great fan. She read Elspeth Huxley's 1977 biography Scott of the Antarctic a number of times (her fond memories of him are why I kept the biography - even though I'd never read it until I started writing this book). So I guess Scott could easily have led me to Amundsen instead of the other way around.
Australian GeographicJuly-Sept 2001 at 76
It was natural for Harriet and Per to meet in Antarctica's Southern Ocean. And everything that happens next flows from this setting. So … Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen, Harriet Scott and Per Amundsen. For me, the names started it all!
Elspeth Huxley, Scott of the Antarctic, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London 1977
Just wanted to let everyone know that In at the Deep End is now available on Netgalley! I'm guessing if you are someone with access to Netgalley you will know what this means - you get to read and review the book before it goes out into the big wide world. You'll find it with other fabulous Harlequin Mira titles in the Harlequin Mira Australia spot on Netgalley.
I've also started an author profile on Goodreads so if anyone would like to put it in their 'to be read pile' come February, you can add it to your Goodreads reading list. I read a lot of books but I haven't had a Goodreads account before so learning as I go along. I did give five stars to my daughter Tamsin's Janu's two novels, but that's okay, isn't it? Even though she's my daughter I do like her books (and so do a lot of upper primary school children - their correspondence is magical to read).
And finally, In at the Deep End is available to pre-order from your favourite retailer. The link via Harlequin is http://www.harlequinbooks.com.au/product/9781489214553
Whoops! Monday morning. Back to work!
HeartsTalk is a publication of the fabulous Romance Writers of Australia. It is available to all members of RWA, and publishes articles on writing craft and all sorts of other things relevant to romance writers - and writers generally. It is an invaluable resource to aspiring, emerging and established writers.
I write a monthly column in HeartsTalk - Legal Beagle - which gives a snippet of information on many things romance writers might come up against in their writing. Here is Novembers post!
The law is something we all have to deal with in life—including our writing lives—whether we like it or not. And it’s not that you need to know a lot about the law—unless you write courtroom dramas—you just need to know what you don’t know, and what you have to research to get things (more or less) right. Otherwise you run the risk that a publisher will roll their eyes, an editor will tear their hair out, and a reader will stop reading. And this applies to everyone. So, for example, historical romance writers need to know about the laws of sexual assault (marriage meant automatic consent to sex with your husband well into the mid-1900s) just as much as contemporary romance writers do.
There are many different laws that cover us in Australia—primarily State and Federal laws (we can deal with international laws in another column!). Jennie Jones recently told me about the research she had to do for her novel A Place to Stay (released in December) when she had to look at how laws on the same issue differed between States. Let’s have a look at what laws might apply to our ‘legal beagle’ dog.
The law doesn’t regulate dogs, only owners. In NSW, a municipal or local council might issue a fine if a dog owned by a NSW resident isn’t micro-chipped or registered. If the dog bites someone in NSW, the victim can sue in the tort of negligence. There may also be a civil action in assault and battery. Additionally, the police might charge the owner with a criminal offence. NSW law would cover all of these actions, but the law may be different in every State and Territory. Not only that, some State law matters will be covered by statute law, other matters will be covered by common law (or judge made law). And if the dog was illegally imported (think Johnny Depp) Commonwealth law will apply because it covers things like customs regulation.
A great place to start when you are looking for specific State and Commonwealth statutes is the Australasian Legal Information Institute, or Austlii (http://www.austlii.edu.au). This database covers all Australian and New Zealand laws. The site also refers to useful ‘libraries’ that group laws together—anything from Health Law to Privacy Law. This site may be too technical for some purposes, but it’s a great way to check whether State law or Commonwealth law is relevant to your plot point. Best of all, the database is up to date and free.
Here it is! The cover for In at the Deep End. I'd love to hear what you think!
And here is the back cover text:
A quick-witted, contemporary romance about losing your cool.
What woman doesn’t love a real-life hero? Harriet Scott, for one. The fiercely independent daughter of famous adventurers, she grew up travelling the world on the environmental flagship The Watch. So when Harriet’s ship sinks in Antarctica and she has to be rescued by Commander Per Amundsen, an infuriatingly capable Norwegian naval officer and living breathing action hero, her world is turned upside down.
Like their namesakes, the original Scott and Amundsen who competed to reach the South Pole first, Per and Harriet have different ways of doing things. Per thinks Harriet is an accident waiting to happen; Harriet thinks Per is a control freak. But when Harriet realises that Per is the only one who can help her fund the new ship she desperately wants, she is forced to cooperate with him.
Per refuses to assist unless Harriet allows him to teach her to swim. But there is more to Harriet’s terrible fear of water than meets the eye. Can Harriet face her fears and come to terms with the trauma and loss of her past? And will she begin to appreciate that some risks are well worth taking—and that polar opposites can, in fact, attract?
Soon I'll be posting about some of the background to the book. Why climate change? What's so interesting about Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen? The settings and the dog!
The cover reveal will happen soon and I can't wait to share it with you. Harriet, Per, Dougal the Golden Retriever - and a quintessential Australian seascape - all appear on the cover. What's not to like? In the meantime here is the blurb recently released by Harlequin.
A quick-witted, contemporary romance about losing your cool.
What woman doesn’t love a real-life hero? Harriet Scott, for one. The fiercely independent daughter of famous adventurers, she grew up travelling the world on the environmental flagship The Watch. So when Harriet’s ship sinks in Antarctica and she has to be rescued by Commander Per Amundsen, an infuriatingly capable Norwegian naval officer and living breathing action hero, her world is turned upside down.
Like their namesakes, the original Scott and Amundsen who competed to reach the South Pole first, Per and Harriet have different ways of doing things. Per thinks Harriet is an accident waiting to happen; Harriet thinks Per is a control freak. But when Harriet realises that Per is the only one who can help her fund the new ship she desperately wants, she is forced to cooperate with him.
Per refuses to assist unless Harriet allows him to teach her to swim. But there is more to Harriet’s terrible fear of water than meets the eye. Can Harriet face her fears and come to terms with the trauma and loss of her past? And will she begin to appreciate that some risks are well worth taking-and that polar opposites can, in fact, attract?
Still in the midst of editing my novel, which is why I have been an inconsistent blogger of late. But I have had a couple of days respite from editing and work to embark on something new - Wednesday walks of Sydney's coastline! Last week I walked from Bilgola Beach on Sydney's northern beaches, to Palm Beach at the tip of the peninsula. Then back again to Bilgola. It was 16km on this circuitous route). This week's trek was from Bilgola again. Caught the L90 bus to Collaroy, and walked all along the coast back to Bilgola. Only around 15km yesterday but there were kilometres of beach to walk along on the route (and quite a lot of climbing over rocks to get around the headlands). Perfect Spring Sydney weather to walk in!
Now back to editing. When it is over I will have time to blog about it. But since much of In at the Deep End is set on the Northern Beaches peninsular, I guess this is all related to my writing. Note the picture of the rock shelf, crevice, and the lime green algae. A similar scenario marks a very important turning point in my novel!
Narrabeen Rock Shelf
Narrabeen and Collaroy beaches
Turimetta Beach
There were a number of highlights for me at the conference this year. Loved the academic stream. Professor Catherine Roach was great and both of her talks on the function of the romance narrative in culture were interesting and thought provoking. I highly recommend her book, Happily Ever After (iupress, 2016). It's an instructive read for those who read romance (and for those who don't!)
Michael Hauge's all day workshop on Friday was a lot of fun. It was a good opportunity to apply his ideas to my second novel. Now I have my heart set on a rolling black moment! And speaking of black moments, I also really enjoyed Rachael Bailey's talk on black moments. I've been to Rachael's presentations before - she is always so well prepared, and her sessions are really informative. It's amazing how much she packs into 45 minutes.
Tess Wood's and Natasha Lester's 10 steps to building an author brand was also very useful. I think I've only done a few steps so far but I'm making my way up the flight. Tess's website has some great tips and ideas for authors new to the publishing process. Now to organise that blog tour….
And most importantly, the Conference gave me many opportunities to talk to other writers. Wherever you are in your writing 'journey' - aspiring, emerging or established - this is a great forum to learn while interacting with others who write. It is a supportive, generous and educative community of people. A couple of them appear in the photo, Victoria Purman victoriapurman.com on the left, and Amy Matthews (who writes romance as Tess Le Sue) tesslesu.com on the right. They are extremely talented women!
Where have the past three weeks gone? Well….I have been working through the edits for In At the Deep End that's where! Very satisfying because it means the novel is one step closer to publication, but quite a challenge to fit it all in to my regular (irregular) schedule.
It's great to be at the Romance Writers Conference in Glenelg, SA. The sessions start tomorrow, and finish on Sunday. RWA is a fantastic community of writers from all around Australia. For this conference there is an academic stream (through Flinders University) in addition to the regular stream that focusses on craft, publishing, and a number of other indefinable elements (such as the vibe created when scores of writers - at various stages of their writing careers - get together). It is going to be very difficult to fit in all the sessions I am interested in attending!
Glenelg. Looks like the perfect setting for a novel….
I'll keep you posted on how it all goes. In the meantime, here are a couple of shots of Glenelg. There's a fierce wind blowing, but the sun is out and the weather is warm. And in the next couple of days I hope to take some photos of some writers. There are many of my favourites from Harlequin attending the conference!
This shot (from the Glenelg jetty) brings to mind In At the Deep End
I'm at Heathrow airport hiding scones from the First Class Lounge (I am not travelling first class - I was smuggled in).
I'm expecting my structural edit for In at the Deep End on Monday morning - I'll have a very busy two weeks after that! I'm really looking forward to the editorial process - my only regret is that I'll have to leave the characters from the novel I'm working on now to languish for a while…..
The Australian Romance Writer's Conference is on from 18 to 21 August. It will be great to spend a few days in Adelaide attending sessions, catching up with old friends, and meeting some new ones.
In keeping with my diary of the Coast to Coast walk, here are a few London photos. I'm posting horse ones because…why not! We had a great couple of days in London. The weather was great, and it was lovely to walk through the parks for hours at a time.
AW Wainwright in his A Coast to Coast walk, writes:
Every walker who plans a cross-country expedition refers to his maps, looks for the footpaths and the bridleways and the areas of open access, links them together by quiet roads and lanes that avoid roads and busy traffic arteries, and so devises a pleasant route to his objective that he is free to walk...without fear of trespass or restriction.
This is pretty much what we have done on our Coast to Coast walk but having said that...
The route is not an easy one. If you look through the photos you will see that many shots are taken from the tops of hills and mountains, and the way we got up there was to climb them! There are also pastures and paddocks and fields and moors and bogs. We walked across these to get from one side of England to the other. And the animals? It was an unusual day when we didn't eat lunch with the scent of cow or sheep adding an extra layer of flavour to our meals!
My original intention was to rate the accommodation as we did the walk, but there were all sorts of problems with this such as the differences in the types of accommodation (hotel, inn, B&B) and the price we paid each night. And our party often had different views depending on their personal preferences for things like soft eggs and hard beds (or hard eggs and soft beds).
You might recall that in an introductory post, I told you that our daily commitment was to "Rise early each morning and have breakfast. Walk purposefully and jauntily, in an animated, determined, and energetic manner, to our destination." After walking around 320km in 14 days, with one rest day, I could also add "Don't slur speech (tiredness, not alcohol) when checking in, don't swear when directed to hoist heavy bag up a narrow staircase, don't inadvertently deposit filth on the bed, wash favourite socks immediately or they won't be dry by tomorrow morning."
St Bees: Fairladies Barn. Two nights. Our room was so small we couldn't open our bag. Excellent internet (only in the dining room, but the lady let us sit there all morning on the day before our departure so we could finish off our work commitments). Awful sheets (fluffy yet not flannelette). Reasonable shower. Lady offended Coconut Water by saying "I don't serve fried eggs, only scrambled eggs - and anyway, scrambled eggs are better for your figure."
We ate at a local pub where we discovered the "The Large Glass of Wine." This is a 250ml glass and is apparently equivalent to two standard glasses of wine - a fact that was quickly forgotten because a large glass of wine is only one glass.
Ennerdale Bridge: Shepherd's Arms. Wonderful pub. Good dining room - we ate at the pub. Poached eggs for breakfast so Coconut Water was happy. Rubbish internet. Bath glorious (even though only one of our party's rooms had a bath, I was lucky enough to get it). Bags had to be lifted up the stairs - the beginning of two weeks of climbing stairs with bags.
Stonethwaite: Knott's View Guest House. Lovely little house that was hundreds of years old. Nice breakfast. Rob gave us a lift to the pub. But…..he also told us "Grasmere is only a little walk over the hill away. It'll take you two and a half hours, three hours at most, to get there…." Six hours later we arrived after a very challenging climb, and a long descent. From that time whenever our walks were more difficult than expected we called them 'Rob distances' ' (or more colourfully, Rob bullshit distances). In other words, we learnt that the walks were always much harder than people said they were going to be (maybe they were worried we wouldn't leave their establishments if they told the truth).
Note: Rob was a fell runner in his youth.
Knott's View Guest House
Grasmere: Thorney How Independent Hostel. We had to wait half an hour to get into our rooms. Pretty ordinary bunks (considering the price paid). Very ordinary breakfast. Great location, clean and tidy. Internet dodgy.
Patterdale: Old Water Inn Guest House. This is the Guest House that was favoured by AW Wainwright himself. Sherbet Lemon and Acid Drop got his room. Butterscotch Keeper and Coconut Water suspect they got his original bed. Very helpful host with a bog phobia (long story). Great location.
Shap: The Hermitage Guest House. This house was one of our favourites. Dated from early 1800s and everything was set up beautifully by a very nice owner. Great breakfast that got us set on a tinned grapefruit and prune odyssey. Ordinary meal in the pub down the road (half way through The Large Glass of Wine we didn't care).
The Hermitage
Kirby Stephen: The Black Bull Hotel. Ordinary pub in good location. Sherbet Lemon fell down the stairs (not too seriously). Coconut Water didn't like her eggs. There were Jelly Beans in the rooms (but not in Sherbet Lemon's room - maybe that's why he fell down the stairs).
Keld: Butt House Guest House. Very nice guest house with lovely owners. Excellent breakfast (and we had dinner there the night before). No Large Glass of Wine - disappointing.
Reeth: Hackney House B & B. This was very nice. Excellent lemon syrup cake on arrival. Sherbet Lemon bumped his head on a low beam that ran between his bed, and Acid Drop's bed (with the benefit of hindsight, and all the Epsom salts (for muscle fatigue) he was consuming, he should have taken the bed closest to the bathroom).
Richmond: King's Head Hotel for two nights. Window overlooked the old town square and the hotel was a lovely old building. This was the heat wave day and it was very hot in the room, but it gave us an excellent opportunity to wash and dry our clothes. The rest of our party stayed at Castle View, a luxury Georgian B & B. Coconut Water liked her eggs.
Ingleby Arncliffe: Somerset House Guest House. Being well aware of the law of defamation I will be factual. This was the worst place we stayed in (subjective statement of opinion). It had an extraordinary number of five star reviews on TripAdvisor (balance of views).
The hosts were pleasant and brought us a glass of wine on arrival. Nice touch (even though it wasn't The Large Glass of Wine). But the advertised 'close to Coast to Coast route' meant it was situated a few metres away from A MAIN ROAD THAT WAS ONE OF THE HANDFUL OF ROADS TO BE CROSSED IN 320KM OF WALKING. Butterscotch Keeper's toilet wouldn't flush. Sherbet Lemon's taps didn't work. Internet useless. Ugly wall mounted animal heads stared at us through breakfast. They could have eaten the breakfast and we wouldn't have cared.
Chop Gate: Buck Inn Guest House. Nice pub with a very friendly host who served good German sausages and a range of beers. Tiny rooms. Loose toilet seat (a common concern).
Blakey Ridge: Lion Inn Hotel. The pub sits on the moors in the middle of nowhere, and the position was brilliant. Rooms were small but clean, and all had a bath. The pub is a popular spot for tourist buses so was very busy. Perhaps our dislike for the busyness was linked to our increased intolerance in dealing with animals other than sheep, cows and the occasional pony.
Grosmont: The Gallery B & B. Excellent location and lodgings, including access to a common area where we cooked dinner (the pub was full so it was lucky we had an alternative). Access to The Large Glass of Wine was assured.
Robin Hood's Bay. Excellent if pricey (and no bath!). Breakfast not served until 8.30am which felt rather odd because we are generally on the road by then!
View from our balcony at Victoria Hotel
Some people buy expensive woollen socks for walking (The Water Tank). Others buy support stocking types of long black socks (Acid Drop). Some swear by merino socks (Butterscotch Keeper has merino socks, long white surgical socks and a merino vest). Some insist on smearing Vaseline on their feet (Acid Drop again). Aside from giving you smooth moisturised feet, Vaseline is supposed to minimise the chances of getting blisters.
And please don’t think blisters only happen when your boots are new, or don’t fit properly. One day they'll fit perfectly and the next day…it is hotter than usual, the path is steeply downhill (or uphill), the ground is hard, the ground is soft, wet, or boggy (or you had a big lunch, or the stars are out of alignment). Whatever the cause, suddenly there is a sore bit and if it’s not treated immediately there is a blister. And after that there are a host of decisions to be made about popping (or not), band aids, taping, and the amount of complaining that others in your party will tolerate about a tiny little red thing underneath your toe that is AGONISING.
Thank you to my fellow travellers for their excellent humour (and photographic submissions). And thank you to everyone else who has read one, or multiple, posts. You are welcome to continue to visit my blog any time you like. I genuinely hope that you do!
We walked twenty-five km today. There was a steep incline early on, and a steady climb throughout the morning period, but it was glorious (to use a common Wainwright adjective) walking thereafter. We have been very lucky with the weather. Even in the Lakes District, notorious for rain and mists, we had mostly fine weather.
Wild cotton plants growing on the moors. Pastures in the background.
Falling Floss Waterfall
We saw ancient burial mounds, another moorland, the hamlet of Littlebeck, and the Falling Floss waterfall. There were many locals out and about today and it was strange to see so many people (and dogs) roaming in the small wooded section of national park near the falls.
We finally came across the magnificent coastline that leads to Robin Hood's Bay. The Bay (as it's known by the locals) was used by smugglers in years gone by, hence the name.
Robin Hood's Bay
John Keats wrote a poem called ‘Robin Hood,' and the final stanza is reproduced below.
So it is: yet let us sing,
Honour to the old bow-string!
Honour to the bugle-horn!
Honour to the woods unshorn!
Honour to the Lincoln green!
Honour to the archer keen!
Honour to tight little John,
And the horse he rode upon!
Honour to bold Robin Hood,
Sleeping in the underwood!
Honour to maid Marian,
And to all the Sherwood-clan!
Though their days have hurried by
Let us two a burden try.
And here are a few (less literary) quotes from our party..
Here is a map of our walk, and a photo of the view (at sunset) from the room we are staying in this evening - having a view of the North Sea is a perfect finish to our adventure. Tomorrow I will post about some practical things. Like what socks and vaseline have in common, tips for pole craft, and how much water to take on a hike. I'll also give you some insights into the places we have stayed at.
Robin Hood's Bay at Sunset
Today we had a 20km hike in perfect walking weather. There was a breeze and it was overcast, with the occasional glimpse of sunshine. We encountered a few kilometres of tarmac (we had very little yesterday). Most of the roadway we walked along was through the North York Moors but as you can see from the photo to the right, there was very little traffic. This Wordsworth poem (while referring to Grasmere), nicely sums up how we have felt at various times during our journey across England:
William Wordsworth, in Extract from Poems on the Naming of Places: IV:
A NARROW girdle of rough stones and crags,
A rude and natural causeway, interposed
Between the water and a winding slope
Of copse and thicket, leaves the eastern shore
Of Grasmere safe in its own privacy
And there myself and two beloved Friends,
One calm September morning, ere the mist
Had altogether yielded to the sun,
Sauntered on this retired and difficult way.
Heather, and a Butt, on the North York Moor
Eventually we left the heather and moors behind us. But before this post says goodbye to them, here are another couple of photos. This one is of a butt, a stone shelter used by grouse shooters to shoot…grouse. They are also a convenient location to shelter sheep, and to sit around to have morning tea.
We came across three farm dogs, Ben, Skye and Merc, when walking on the moors. These dogs are used to round up the sheep (with the assistance of a quad bike). The sheep in these parts are used purely for lamb breeding - there is no wool worth keeping, and they are self shedding so they don't need to be shorn.
Ben, Skye and Merc (sorry - forgot to ask the farmer his name….)
We left the moor to walk through the woods of Grosmont, which is a very pretty railway town. There are many steam engines which still operate in the midlands. Some of the earliest railroads were constructed here in the early 1820's.
Firstly, an apology to anyone who read the early version of this post. I was typing in the dark and fell asleep mid way through, but managed to press the publish button anyway!
Dinner: There aren't so many walkers on the trail, but if one is staying in a small tourist village like Grosmont (which caters to local people with a fondness for steam engines), ensure you book ahead if you wish to eat at the only pub for miles. We arrived at 3pm today to find there was no room at the inn, and the small co-op closed at five pm. Luckily our lovely B & B had cooking facilities and we managed to buy a few frozen pizzas, and cheese and biscuits, before the establishment closed. Otherwise we would have been pooling our resources and sharing muesli bars, nuts, sultanas, and Acid Drop's last bottle of beer (she bought three bottles 'on special' and has been dragging them around ever since).
Pub food ranges from excellent to ordinary. Two nights out of three Sherbet Lemon eats fish and chips. There is always a pie on the menu. It is difficult to get a salad. Then again, Wainwright stays away from towns (which is our preference too) so a pub or two is always a welcome sight after a day of walking, and mostly we fall asleep at the table anyway.
Breakfast: Everywhere we have stayed has provided 'A full English Breakfast.' Some have been more welcomely received than others. Coconut Water, for example, has given up on eggs because a few miles into the first incline she feels like throwing up. Now she eats porridge (and feels like throwing that up instead). The Water Tank ate kippers once. They looked like they'd been smoked a century ago and preserved in a bog. Tea Bag has a penchant for baked beans on toast, and bacon. The good thing about eating a big breakfast is that you don't need much lunch. Which brings me to...
Lunch: Some establishments offer a packed lunch. At most all that is needed is a sandwich between two people (if there is a co-op shop it is more cost effective to buy the sandwich there), and a piece of fruit. Digestive biscuits are excellent. And tea is a welcome addition. In other words, carrying the thermos is worth the effort.
Heather coming into flower
Besides footsoreness and blisters, occasional (huh!) muscle aches, and stiff joints (particularly knees), our party has maintained excellent (physical) health. There is always the potential to come to grief however, particularly when clambering over rocks and through streams (particularly in the Lakes District), walking through fields (Butterscotch Keeper's rash is a testament to this) and walking along uneven and treacherous paths.
Yesterday we saw two walkers with far heavier loads than ours (they were camping so carrying all their gear). The man was striding up ahead when his companion tripped, and fell over backwards. She couldn't get up! Her legs and arms were flailing in the air as she tried to flip herself over. She was like Kafka's cockroach Gregor in Metamorphosis!
The walker managed to right herself before her partner looked around (and before we could reach her). What happened next was a testament to the courage and endurance of the Coast to Coast breed. The woman, disheveled and limping, her pack strapped to her back, was compelled to catch up with her partner (who still hadn't noticed she had fallen). Quasimodo-like, she hobbled over the hill and disappeared from view...
Now it is 4.30am so I'd better rest up before breakfast. Our last day of walking! The time has flown by and I can't believe we are nearing the end of our adventure. Robin Hood's Bay awaits!
.
We had a very pleasant 14km walk today over the moors to Blakey Ridge's Lion Inn. The pub is the fourth 'highest' pub in England in terms of elevation, and has stood in this spot, miles from anywhere, for over 400 years. We will sample its beers and wines shortly!
The short upward incline at the beginning of our hike led us to many miles of mostly level ground. The navigation was relatively straightforward and we only had to resort to our maps occasionally…..
We are very much in Wuthering Heights territory now, so I'll start with a quote from Emily Brontë's novel (Chapter 34):
I sought, and soon discovered, the three headstones on the slope next the moor: the middle one grey, and half buried in the heath; Edgar Linton's only harmonised by the turf and moss creeping up its foot; Heathcliff's still bare.
I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.
We kept mostly to the paths, but saw our old friends the marshes, bogs and craggy rocks. From Chapter 18 of Wuthering Heights, here is another quote. It applies to anybody clambering on the moors.
I walked as if for a wager, mile after mile, till a turn brought me in view of the Heights; but no Catherine could I detect, far or near. The Crags lie about a mile and a half beyond Mr. Heathcliff's place, and that is four from the Grange, so I began to fear night would fall ere I could reach them. 'And what if she should have slipped in clambering among them,' I reflected, 'and been killed, or broken some of her bones?
A sheep on the Moor
There are sheep dotted over the Moors, even though we are in the North York National Park. Per mile there aren't many sheep at all, but today every sheep we saw wanted to be photographed. We found this fellow balanced on the top of a wall, not sure whether to go backwards or forwards….
What we were supposed to be looking for was grouse. At first we were excited to spot them! By the end of the walk we were contemplating chasing them out of the heather, picking them up by their stumpy little legs, throwing them over our shoulders, and walking into the Lion Inn with them - demanding they be plucked and cooked for our dinner (after being stuffed with partridges, chickens and quails). In other words, there were quite a number of grouse on the Moor. They don't fly terribly well, so must be easy pickings for grouse shooters.
The Famous Grouse
Backpacks:
Acid Drop and Sherbet Lemon carry Polly Pocket Backpacks (and eat very light lunches comprising pumpkin seeds and boiled sweets).
The Water Tank and Tea Bag are a two-thermos team. They are a reservoir of liquids - the camels of the desert.
Coconut Water carries a defibrillator, ultrasound machine, full sized stretcher, and surgical equipment (including gastroscope).
Butterscotch Keeper carries a map (thank goodness(.
Boots:
Acid Drop's boots are the Louis Vuitton of footwear. Classical in design, stylish, and costly. So why do they leak? If you want to survive the wet, I suggest you wear sturdy sensible ugly boots. And also on boots…. sometimes B & B establishments want you to leave them at the front door. Inns and pubs don't care - and often have a drying room if you need one. The only time our boots have been washed (by a kindly proprietor) it was a disaster. In the evening we left our boots at the front door. They were muddy on the outside, but dry on the inside. In the morning they were clean on the outside, but wet on the inside.
Moorish Vegetation….and sheep
Gaiters:
Goodnight from the moors
We read up on gaiters before we left, and thought they may be something only weirdos wore. Wrong! We love our gaiters. You need the ones that clip onto your laces. They give you the confidence to stride through brooks and becks and wiskes. And if you do happen to step knee deep into a bog, the gaiters will keep your boots and legs dry. Equally importantly, walking through long grasses and crops will not be a problem wearing gaiters. Without gaiters, particularly if you are wearing shorts (another blog post altogether!) you risk grass ticks, grass allergies and nettle stings. In short, gaiters are an excellent investment. Having said that, buy them in England because my $80 Aus ones are no better than the £12 ones The Water Tank purchased locally.
Thermoses:
Essential!
We left the Georgian buildings of mid 18th century Ingleby behind today. A cottage we passed on the way...
A lovely trek of 19km over the North York Moors followed. This was a 7 hour 19km trek - a welcome break after yesterday's marathon. It was still a significant walk though, with beautiful scenery and challenging peaks.
Mr. Wainwright's way is 'the high way.' Meaning we climb the hills, drop down to the valleys, and climb another hill. A walk along a ridge is a welcome respite. The photograph below was taken just before we reached The Wainstones (the fluffy white mounds are sheep). In his book Wainwright says, 'You will enjoy the Wain Stones.' Some of us enjoyed them more than others. Sherbet Lemon misplaced Acid Drop and had to backtrack to search for her. Her response to his distress and admonitions when he finally caught up with her? "The Americans said I should keep going."
The Water Tank took the rest of us on a diversion up a treacherous slope. Coconut Water almost curdled at one point.
We were picked up by our inn keeper and driven to Chop Gate (because there is no accommodation on route) and will be driven back to where we left off tomorrow morning. As you will have noticed, the flat route of yesterday was laid out in a wonderful patchwork of colourful fields. Great weather again - sunshine and a light breeze.
In tomorrow's blog I will give some equipment advice for aspiring walkers (hats and thermi (plural of thermos?), boots, socks and backpacks). For now, here is another scenery shot.
We didn't see Emily Brontë's Heathcliff striding on the moor today, but Yorkshire has brought to mind many of the characters created by the Brontë sisters. Here is a quote from Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Her first impression of Mr. Rochester...
Something of daylight still lingered, and the moon was waxing bright: I could see him plainly. His figure was enveloped in a riding cloak, fur collared and steel clasped; its details were not apparent, but I traced the general points of middle height and considerable breadth of chest. He had a dark face, with stern features and a heavy brow; his eyes and gathered eyebrows looked ireful and thwarted just now; he was past youth, but had not reached middle-age; perhaps he might be thirty-five. I felt no fear of him, and but little shyness. Had he been a handsome, heroic-looking young gentleman, I should not have dared to stand thus questioning him against his will, and offering my services unasked. I had hardly ever seen a handsome youth; never in my life spoken to one. I had a theoretical reverence and homage for beauty, elegance, gallantry, fascination; but had I met those qualities incarnate in masculine shape, I should have known instinctively that they neither had nor could have sympathy with anything in me, and should have shunned them as one would fire, lightning, or anything else that is bright but antipathetic….
In respect to things you may need to know about the medical consequences of walking across England, I’ll focus on three members of our party, Tea Bag, Sherbet Lemon, and Butterscotch Keeper.
For medicinal purposes...
Tea Bag: The good news is that, after a 35.5km hike today, all that hurts are Tea Bag's feet and left shin (and her knee, but only when she bends it). I attach a photo of her pre-dinner cocktail.
Sherbet Lemon: Things were looking up for Sherbet Lemon today. Four days ago he tumbled down the stairs while carrying a suitcase and skinned his side. Two days ago he banged his head on a low beam in the bedroom while making his way to the bathroom (head wound). Shortly afterwards, he fell asleep in bed while reading his laptop. The laptop fell on his mouth (fat lip). He also has a blister at the back of his heel that’s as large as a sixth toe. Today he has a heat rash. But this little malady is nothing compared to…
The Butterscotch Keeper. The Keeper has a stride that is twice as long as most other walkers. He glides over bogs like a bog dweller (he’s almost as fast as The Queen of the Bog). He crosses rivers (almost as well as Gollum). He strides up hills in a purposeful (Darcyish) manner. But today (to the delight of the rest of us) he developed a rash. A crimson shiny tide of dots, stains his calves and thighs. But he walks on…
Wheat fields en route
Today was a Wainwright route where it was impossible to avoid roads, so we spent quite a lot of time on them. Most were country laneways however so not too bad. We walked through barley and wheat fields as well. There weren’t any hills, and the properties were much larger than those in the dales. At first I thought the cow in the image below was called Lotte (Charlotte - how delightful!). It was later pointed out to me that her tag, in fact, said 'Lot.'
Cows at the gate on the way to Ingleby Arncliffe
Signage (the Coast to Coast sign led around a corner)
Our night’s accommodation at Ingleby Arncliffe is at the foot of the Cleveland Hills, a range of mountains that runs from North to South. When we get to the pinnacles we should be able to view the North Sea (another three days of hiking away). According to Wainwright, 'only a genius could get lost in the Cleveland Hills.' We shall see!
And speaking of signage. I spoke to someone on a guided tour today and she said, 'I just follow the leader.' There is a difference of opinion from many hikers. Some want no signs at all. At the beginning of the walk I would have believed them to be demented. But now…. it is fun to navigate! (or to watch those who navigate while some in our party search for little yellow dots or camouflaged signs or (and lets face it, this is a woman thing) ask for directions - which will then be scrupulously checked for accuracy by our navigators).
So a combination of an occasional sign and a series of guidebooks is a wonderful compromise. I would not want to 'follow the leader' (particularly over a bog). The sight of The Water Tank (finding his own way) stuck thigh deep in a bog has been a highlight of our walk!
What crop is this?
Penultimately…..we walked through a field today and were unable to identify the bean like crop. We did identify the thistle. Incidentally, is thistle a weed, or not?
If anyone can identify the crop, please let me know.
Finally…what type of horse is in the photo below? It was like a mini shire horse with regard to mane and feathers, but much much smaller. All the horses in the herd were brown and white. You can comment at the end of this post!
What breed of horse is this?
A post in anticipation of leaving the Yorkshire Dales (just in case I don't have internet tomorrow evening).
Firstly, a photo of the locals enjoying a warm summer's day in the waterfall at the River Swale, Richmond. Sunblock, anyone?
Secondly, page one of James Herriot's wonderful first novel, All Creatures Great and Small (published by Pan Macmillan in 1971). This novel, and all of Herriot's subsequent books, were set in the Yorkshire Dales. Herriot was a vet and lived and practiced in the area all his working life.
Herriot's portrayal of the people, animals and settings of Yorkshire are magical.
The extract provides me with the excuse I needed to repost my favourite (for the moment) cow photo. This time tomorrow night I'll resemble the cow at the near left of the photo….
Richmond Castle, and the River Swale
It is around 30 degrees in Richmond today. Lots of English people are taking advantage of the warm weather by sitting in the sun and going increasingly pink.
We walkers are still focussed on walking….we were advised by our Dutch friends that storms are forecast for tomorrow (on our 33km hike to Ingleby Arncliffe). This means that poles may be a problem (in terms of them becoming lightning rods). What to do? Butterscotch Keeper and Coconut Milk are particularly attached to their poles. They have the pole equivalents of Harry Potter's Thunderbolt 1,000. Meaning their poles are constructed from finely tempered lightweight titanium. They are fitted with shock absorbers, reflector clips, state of the art grips and bionic tips (not that any of these things are going to be of any use at all should lightning strike).
We will leave the Yorkshire Dales early tomorrow morning, and by tomorrow evening we'll be on the fringes of the North York Moors. Ingleby Arncliffe has a pub (likely to become an increasingly important focus as the kilometre count increases). Happily there is also a stop on the way, the attractively named Danby Wiske. Leading me to another note of advice to other walkers (touched on earlier with reference to shops).
The Coast to Coast walk is not a walk. It is, in fact, a hike. On only a handful of occasions in nine days of walking have we come across a tea room or shop that is directly on the route (and believe me, the route is long enough without going off it). One very welcome stop was on the way to Keld. After traversing the bog we had tea and a scone at a farmhouse. En route to Reeth there was a tea room, but other walkers had found it before us. So….
Only Butterscotch Keeper got a fruit scone. The rest of us watched on helplessly (and ultimately, fruitlessly), waiting to be served. Not that everything went Butterscotch's way: an American woman (with a bottom the width of a Yorkshire Barn) sat on his table (literally) and sighed (in a 'let's let it all hang out' sort of way). He was horrified. We all had to walk very quickly until he'd cooled down.
A simple stile (breathe in and hoist that pack!)
Mostly the route, besides our own little group, is deserted. And so far as road (in a tarmac sense) goes, there continues to be very little of it. Sometimes there are no roads at all. At other times there may be a stretch of a kilometre or two. Tomorrow's route was one in which (a few years ago) there was an element of road walking, but public access ways have opened up in the last few years so we will be up and down the stiles as usual. The photo depicts one of the narrower stiles. Some have little gates with deadly springs!
CCTV….
And just a couple of photos to finish. The first depicts the Ladies Bathroom at the Black Bull Hotel in Reeth. Please note the sign that is stuck to the left hand side of the mirror (the mirror is directly outside the cubicle).
Please feel free to use these toiletries while you are here, but do not remove them...We do have CCTV footage in place! Thank you!
Any visitor to the Ladies Bathroom is at risk of whiplash as soon as they read the sign. Where - exactly - does the CCTV camera point?
Apparently the Gentleman's Bathroom has a large jar of boiled sweets near the sinks (hopefully the sweets are individually wrapped).
Finally from Richmond, a Shire Horse who missed an earlier posting.
A shire horse
Author website
