Wednesday 27 July 2011

Summer has arrived at last

Following comments from some of my blog followers I have finally got around to adding a new posting to the site. After the poor, wet & windy weather of May & June we seem to have settled into a period of sunny and warm weather which is much appreciated by our guests (and us!).

The Three Peaks season is well under way now and hardly a weekend goes by without some of our visitors attempting the classic 25 miles, 5200 feet of ascent of the Yorkshire Three Peaks of Penyghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. The idea is to try and get around the route inside 12 hours, a feat which a surprising number of people manage, some of whom do not even do much walking, but are being sponsored for a charitable cause.

Star performers so far this year were Jeremy Nicholson and Martin Spratt, regular Wood View visitors, who got round the course in 8 hours 37 minutes, an impressive performance by any standard. I am planning on doing the route again with a friend in August, so now Jez and Martin have thrown down the gauntlet we will have to respond accordingly!

The b&b business has been incredibly busy, obviously more people are holidaying in the UK and see a few days in Yorkshire Dales as an economic alternative to longer breaks abroad and the nightmare of airport departure lounges etc. July has been one our busiest months in the last 7 seasons and the autumn is already filling up fast, so I think we will be looking forward to a break in November.

Not that any of this has stopped me from getting out on the bike regularly and Chris & I have just finished another season of Lanequests (2 hour time limit, get as many checkpoints as you can, penalties for late return!) and recently tried our hand at a 10.3 mile time trial, which was great fun and will no doubt become a regular feature of our cycling calendar.

Austwick Village Show is being held on August 6th and as Sue is the Show Secretary she is busy taking show entries and making sure that everything is ready for the big day. The event is always well supported by the village, with about 500 entries in different classes every year and is a real community event.