06:00 I'm on my last morning walk of 2014. Lanes covered in frost.
17:00 After rainy walk now camped on Hurst Hill waiting for Chorley firework displays & next year.

06:00 It's above freezing for my morning walk so ice patches on the lanes.

15:10 been busy most of day preparing late family Christmas meal. Just popped out for a short walk in Cuerden Valley Park before the low winter sun sets.
17:15  back home and continuing working in the kitchen.

6am Dark & raining for my morning Boxing Day walk.

Had great walk along canal to my brothers house in Withnell Fold. The Christmas meal is joint event and taking longer than usual. I've been sat here for almost 2 hrs & it's not arrived yet.

I'm in Scotland near Amulree to do some walking. There is no Radio 4 FM or DAB  reception. Yet I have full phone signal.
08:45 now walking along part of General Wade's old militart road in Scotland.

Heading back to Scotland, this time in the car.10am just crossed Forth Road Bridge.
12:15 At the Cranog centre, Loch Tay. It's closed for the winter.
www.crannog.co.uk

06:00 very mild on my morning walk through the village lanes.

14:10 reached Edinburgh Waverley Rail Stn. Got 14:51 ticket to Preston for me and bike.

05:30 camped by Loch Tay, Scotland. First part of the nigh was very windy but now it's much calmer with a clear dark sky.
Bad start to ride as crashed on black ice.

Camp near Aberfoyle. It's been raining all night and still raining in the morning. I think I've a wet cycle ride ahead and now the wind has got up.
17:50 tough ride as many miles of cycle tracks are muddy & rutted. Heavy rain all morning & part of afternoon. Camped near Loch Tay.

06:50 Early morning cycle ride to Peston Rail Station. Temp -2degC & main A6 road not gritted. Now on train to Glasgow.
09:45 at last, reached Glasgow Central Railway station.
17:30 camped near Aberfoyle after very tough ride along tracks covered in ice & snow.

Out on my morning walk. It's been raining all night and the river is very high. Lots of standing water to wade through along the lanes.

It was windy overnight but nothinh like as bad as the forecast.
Just picked up my Christmas cards from Newbury Printers. Now tge hard part, writing them all up.

Just fitted a new & additional 6Tb drive to the PC. It's now formatting & it could take some time.

As I set off on my morning walk in the dark a neighbour almost reversed in to me on the road. Then along a dark lane a cyclist whizzed bye with no lights on. Some people don't care about others.

First motorway 1958 the M6 presron by-pass
A great afternoon walking over Embsay Moor north of Skipton.

Now at Bispham Community Centre to do a gig for the Photographic Society.

3 Dec 1992 the first txt was sent by a Vodaphone engineer wishing his colleagues a Happy Christmas.
Yesterday saw The Imitation Film which was a great film. Today I'm back at the cinema to see Mr Turner. Hope its as good.
Have now seen Mr Turner & found it a very odd film.
Arrived in Padiham to do a gig at the Photographic Society.

It's nice to be home and on my early morning walk. It's dark & cold but very enjoyable with a head torch & warm clothing.
10am at Horwich Vue cinema to see 'Imitation Game' Screen 3 and I'm the only one in the place.

Just landed Manchester Airport. Direct trains to Blackpool shown as cancelled. Good to be back!

Afrer flight from Kathmandu now arrived in Abu Dhabi airport.

Just got back to Kathmndu after long bumpy bus ride.
After getting cleaned up now at Roadhouse Cafe, Thamel for an evening meal.

Monday in Kathmandu. Went to nCell office to try a buy a local SIM card. I didn't have my passport with me I couldn't buy one.
19:40 still in Kathmandu. After an unbelievable number of hoops I've had to jump through I've managed to buy a Nepali Ncell sim card. I've not put it in my phone yet to see if it works.
Note to Steve. If Facebook note I sent earlier via satlink got through can you send email to confirm?
It's evening here and in Kilroy's Cafe where they have free WiFi.
I've just had vegetarian tuna salad. The menu says it's OK cos the tuna was a strict vegetarian.

Reached Abu Dhabi after overnight flight from Manchester. I have a couple of hours before my next flight to Kathmandu.
Reached Kathmandu OK but on way to hotel the taxi broke down in busy traffic. We had to walk the rest of the way.

OContinuing frantic packing of stuff for escape to big mountains. Have now managed to get my bags packed.
14:18 at Chorley Railway Station. Ticket office closed for staff changeover. You'd think they could organise shift to match up. The ticket machine on platform worked OK. It's the first time I've used it.
15:44 now at Manchester Airport Terminal 1. Waiting at Etihad check in which opens 16:15.
17:30 have got through security OK but had to have my bag emptied & searched. Was told off for having camera in my bag as it is classed as electronic & same as laptop etc. It should have been in a separate tray.
While waiting at Manchester Airport listening to Radio 4 on headphones on small portable radio. FM reception good, DAB reception rubbish. Good news is Mick Fleetwood just been and said Fleetwood Mac on tour next year including the wonderful Christine McVie after 17 years away.

In 1783 at Tyburn, London was the last public hanging in England.
My old Nokia phone top up card has packed up. O2 shop gave me another which I have to register to get it to work.
Fancied rice with salad for tea. Got stuff off market. It's so nice to have a veg etc in a brown paper bag.

On my morning walk along Kem Mill Lane it is good to see the high intensity security lights at the car park are switched off.
Got lift from Steve on his way to work to the Tickled Trout Hotel near Preston. Reason is to walk home along River Ribble, Avenham Park & old Tramway.
In Our Time IKB

05:55 On short local walk.  Orion looks fantastic.
Nice drive along Hadrian's Wall (Edge of the Empire) Now reached Angel of the North.
13:40 now driving over Hartside Pass, Cumbria. It's a nice day but the summit Inn is closed.
19:30 at Wigan Archaeological Society. Eric Walter talking about Papcastle Roman Fort excavating as a volunteer.

About to start walk near Cumrew, Cumbria. Field gate to public footpath is locked with chain. Path sigh removed. Not nice farmer.
10:11am Now on the moors. Two signs together. One says 'Open Access Land' the other 'No Access' I think people round here must marry their own family members.
Just finished walk over Cumrew Fell, Cumbria. On way down came across wire snare traps. I thought they were illegal.
15:14 The earth mound at the Pines, Clayton-le-Woods has just been placed by contracrors. It is to represent the reservoir demolished last year.
20:30 updating via WiFi hotspot

A lovely sunny morning but my afternoon jobs are all indoors. The builder doing the reservoir monument near the Pines hasn't turned up.
Evening at Chorley Photographic Society. Venue is the Chorley Cricket Club. I'm typing this via their free WiFi. After I tried to update I got a 'network failure' message. So trying again via network.

Age is a beurocratic measurement.
First thing out for cycle ride. The rain had just stopped as I set off under a starry sky. Via Rivington & Belmont I stopped to look at the roadside mementioes to the cyclist who was killed by a motorcyclist. The sun was almost up as I got home.
Now at Vue Cinema Bolton, which is Horwich. To see film 'Fury' at the bigger screen Xtreme and supposedly better sound etc. It cost more too. £8.30 for a senior.
Just out of the film. It's a long time since I sat through such twaddle. The Americans won the war again, all on their own.
19:10 I'm on my canalside walk. It is very windy & dark. Looking forward to my tea when I get home

The car park for 'Cheeky Monkeys' on Kem Mill Ln is still ablaze with security lights on my dark morning walk. It must cost a fortune in electricity. The clock on St John's Church has just struck 6am, 1 minute late.
09:40 At JJs Diner, Cliviger for breakfast. All English for £4.95. Amazing value. Four clocks on the walk all showing a different time!
If you try & buy a Radio Times from Asda after Tue when they come out you probably wont find one. By today (Fri) they've run out. Tip to Asda, get more in.

A very dismal, dark, rainy drive to Ambleside. I'm now preparing to set off on a walk over Loughrigg Fell. The cloud level is very low so its as well I'm not planning to go high.
Now on a rainy misty Loughrigg.
My misty rainy walk over Loughrigg is over. Although I didn't see much I now know some good viewpoints for a further visit.
On thing I noticed was most people I said hello to returned the greeting. The few that didn't were dog walkers. Walking on the lower paths those I met mostly smelled of deodorant. Very pungent & not nice.
In Ambleside I took my bike to Ghyllside Cycles to see Kevin about a problem with my new front panniers.

The car park at the junction of Factory Ln & Kem Mill Ln is still flooded with light from a high intensity security lamp. It's a complete waste of electricity. There is a welcome change in the weather as I walk under a clear dark sky and some ground frost.
11:20 Roof repairs finished. Fantastic job. Thanks Simon.
Enjoyable mid day bike ride via Angkezare & Belmont. Road up from Rivington is closed.
Just bought my first sprouts of the season & plan to have them for tea tonight.

It is still unseasonally warm on my morning walk. There is patchy cloud with the stars shining through. Simon has turned up to fix my roof gable. He arrived 07:50, 10mins early. By 15:50 the rain torrential so Simon & his colleague have left to return tomorrow.
Evening gave projected presentation to Ribblesdale Camera Club in Grindleton. For about the last year they've held their meetings in the new Grindleton Pavilion. There is a ceiling mounted projector & screen which they pay an additional £8 for. The connection was an hdmi so I had to use my equipment.

Brindle Historical Society tonight is Brian Jeffrey & Richard Matthews about Constant Mary waterwheel. At Dunkirk Coal Pit, Read. Paid £12 subs for 2015.

Still struggling with this new app for my phone. Doesn't allow date mod or spell check.

Afternoon out with the Withnell Fold Sports Club walking group.

Cycled over new Harpers lane bridge for fist time in months.

Had to bring my escape from Iona forward as there may not be any ferries tomorrow. Caught the next to last ferry in the morning to Fionnphort in the morning then the 11:20am but to Craignure. The next ferry to catch was to Oban where I walked to the car park to drive home.

A wet, windy and leafy walk though Whittle-le-Woods this morning. We were being affected by the fizzled out remains of Hurricane Gonzalo.

Organising gear for proposed escape to Scotland on Wednesday. Evening cycled to Chorley Photographic Society and managed to get brief glimpse of the ISS (International Space Station) in the night sky.

Desperately trying to catch up with web pages for Chorley Historical Society and my own. Managed to get the Historical Society site updated but still some work to do on my own. Evening out for a walk with camera and tripod hoping to photograph the ISS pass. Rain got in the way but saw about 5seconds though the clouds.

Morning at South Ribble Museum, Leyland to see the Shackleton and Hurley Exhibition and 'South' film. Photos are travelling exhibition on loan.

During morning drove to Astley Hall rear car park to the refurbished Farmhouse. The official opening is tonight but David Tetlow let in for a look around and to take some photos.
The Astley Farmhouse renovation was officially opened by The Mayor of Chorley Councillor Roy Lees on the 17th October 2014 as a dedicated space for Chorley's Heritage and Cultural Community.

Today (Wed 15 Oct 2014) the Lancastrian Suit at Chorley Town Hall was the venue for the Community Archives and Heritage Group North West Conference. The event was hosted by the Chorley Heritage Centre Support Group.
http://www.chorleyheritagecentre.co.uk/
The Community Archives and Heritage Group (CAHG) supports and promotes community archives in the UK and Ireland. During the day several speakers covered the topics of collating archives and also how to apply for Lottery funding. Chorley’s local heritage was covered by a large supply of free Chorley Cakes which were donated by Greenhalgh’s. The Lancastrian Suit was also provided free by Chorley Council.
chorleyheritagecentre