There are plenty of songs titled “Hey Girl”. And it seems obvious that anything by Carol King will be easy to find. But this version of “Hey Girl, Hey Boy” (despite it’s familiarity) is more elusive than you would think. The Jon and Robin vocals together with the arrangement is probably my favourite (not sure who did the arrangement).
If you are at all familiar with Carol King you will recognise this song.
Artist: Jon and Robin with The In Crowd
Performers:
Vinyl 45
Released by/ Catalogue number: Abnak Records AB-115 DJ-Promo copy
Down a ginnel off a pedestrian shopping street in the centre of Leeds is this beautiful reminder that nothing beats glazed tiles and stained glass if you want to do “PUB” properly.
Friendly, seems to be popular with locals and tourists. Good selection of beers. Somewhere you can relax while the world hurries on by.
A proper station pub. OK it’s not in the station precinct but it is close enough to be counted as such. Good selection of beers. Plenty of seating. Probably a really nice pub for a session, it certainly has plenty of choice. Perfect for a quick one before catching your train to wherever you are heading.
A mellow San Francisco vibe permeates this Burt Bacharach/ Hal David song. It’s summer sadness, blissful days and young heartache beautifully summarised by a hypnotic melody.
The Chiffons were formed by three Bronx/ New York teenagers in 1960. Originally consisting of Judy Craig, Patricia Bennett and Barbara Lee they were joined by Sylvia Peterson in 1963.
They are best remembered for their number #1 hit Sweet Talking Guy.
Starting off in 1965 as a soul duo they became best known for their disco vocals. The female half of Peaches and Herb has changed over the decades.
I Need Your Love So Desperately
Artist: Peaches and Herb
Vinyl 45
One of those records that you could easily miss. It’s too easy to dismiss this banging little choon as light fluff. It works. With the volume up this soulful, horn backed, joyful song lifts you up and spins you round.
One of my all time favourite pubs. not just in Edinburgh, but anywhere.
This is another fantastic example of what a good pub is. Strong selection on the pumps, a host of excellent whiskies and a pleasant wood paneled bar. Despite it’s proximity to Edinburgh’s tourist heart you can usually find a space in the Bow for a quick pint on your way across Edinburgh.
In the heart of the Furness Fells and only a short distance as the – crow flies – from both Ambleside and Coniston lies the village of Satterthwaite. Despite it’s central position the village is isolated and is therefore often significantly quieter then many other settlements in the area.
This is also mountain biking country. With those who know heading into the woods and low fells that run north to south on either side of the valley.
The Eagles head is an ideal watering spot, a fantastic country pub with a welcoming ambiance and a couple of decent local ales on tap.
There is also a beer garden where you can keep your bike out of sight. Even better it is dog friendly.
Opening times can vary and if you want a meal it gets surprisingly busy. The food is good and well worth stopping for.
Coniston Old Man is one of the classic ascents of the Lakes. In theory the route up through the old mine workings should have taken us 3 hours including some time to explore the quarry workings high up on the hillside.
My preference is to do a loop. The thought of retracing my steps feels like wasted time. So I planned a route that would take us straight up with a return via the escarpment and down onto the ridge into the copper mines. At this point I should admit that I’d never climbed Coniston and so had no prior knowledge.
It didn’t take us long to make the ascent into the mine workings. As we continued up through the mine workings had a nosey around what is surely an under appreciated historical site.
Soon we were close to the top and in thickening mist. As we scrambled on we started getting reports of conditions on the top from those who were already making their way down. It didn’t sound great. Zero visibility, high winds and rain. Arriving at the cairn that marks the summit of the Old Man of Coniston we decided to start heading down immediately. Following our pre-planned route.
Mistakes one and two
At this point I made my first two mistakes. Firstly given the conditions I should have turned around and headed down on the path we had come up. It was sheltered from the wind and known. But I was determined to do a loop and confident in my skills on the hill. I quickly followed up with my second mistake – failing to check the time.
Conditions meant visibility was poor meaning I wanted to avoid walking close to the edge of the escarpment, but worse I had no sense of how quickly we were moving. The wind making it feel as though we were moving slower then it turned out we were.
We started our descent, it didn’t take long to meet the Goat’s Hawse path. And if I’d timed it I would have realised that some time after we were passing the Levers Hawse path down towards Gill Cove – our planned route. Instead we wandered on into the mist and towards Swirl How, still confident that we were on track. After all there were other people around. By the time we got to Swirl How it was time to get off the hill. However, I couldn’t find the path. I found a path but it was the wrong one and headed off a treacherous ridge instead of off the hill.
And frankly I wasn’t sure that I was definitely on Swirl How. Not being keen to get too close to the edge given the wind direction I decided that the best thing we could do was head on towards Great Carrs. By this point there was no going back and at least if we headed Hell Gill Pike we could get down via West Side Edge.
The tramp down to Greenburn, and around Great Intake was against the clock and the light. In the end we made it back to Coniston with some some light in the sky and a sense of relieve. After all a quick 8km, 3 hour scoot up and down had taken over 6 hours and we had covered over 22km.
Mistakes made, lessons learned:
It was an OK day to test ourselves against the conditions, but I should have turned around once we had summited and not attempted the circular route I had planned. Change and adapt to the prevailing conditions.
Time and navigation errors. By not taking regular time checks and by not checking these against my expectations of where I thought I was versus reality on the ground I missed crucial features (way points) and lost confidence in where I was.
Finally gear. We had enough water and the correct clothes but given it was October I should also have had additional food (more than we had for the short up and down) and a head torch. These are things I typically do carry. Similarly I had not packed the emergency bivi. It’s always those occasions when you don’t have the gear that you need it.
