Arts

B of the Bang

Rather disappointingly I didn't spot Britain's biggest sculpture until I was right underneath it.

B of the Bang is a magnificent sight, bursting into the sky between Manchester City Stadium and an Asda. Well worth the detour from the M62.

Personal

Even chewier

Child of the seventies that I am, there's only one thing to do on a wet, windy non-walking day in south-west Cumbria: be a pilgrim.

Barrow-in-Furness Bus Depot.

A significant percentage of the readership of this website will know why I'm here. It's sad to see it out of use but heartening to see it wasn't chewed to destruction.

Coastwalk

Ravenglass → Silecroft

Distance: 16.0 miles
Ascent: 392 metres
Duration: 5 hours 20 minutes

On the horizon
« Sellafield | Millom »

Had there not been workmen on the Eskmeals Railway Viaduct I might have dashed along it. Had the River Esk been lower I might have crossed at the ford. I'm glad I didn't. Had I not walked along the wood-fringed riverside path I would have missed this view of Scafell. On Monday I talked of snow-topped mountains; today I present the evidence.

During the second half of the walk my attention was fixed on the horizon in the opposite direction. Rising out of the sea forty miles away, the Isle of Man was clearly visible.

Coastwalk

Silecroft → Millom

Distance: 8.26 miles
Ascent: 288 metres
Duration: 2 hours 56 minutes

The impact of people
« Ravenglass | Askam in Furness »

Every step of the coast I'm reminded of the impact people have on it.

Today's sights included the high fence of a prison; wind turbines slicing the air; Escape to Light - a sculpture to honour lives lost in sea rescue; the great iron bloom which is the sole remains of the Millom Iron Works; Hannah and Daniel who came to join me for the last mile or so.

Who says there's nothing to see at the seaside?

Coastwalk

Sellafield → Ravenglass

Distance: 8.26 miles
Ascent: 139 metres
Duration: 2 hours 21 minutes

Anticlockwise is best
« St Bees | Silecroft »

Modern mythology paints the Sellafield Nuclear Site as a huge eyesore that spoils the Lake District National Park. My first glimpse of the works came as I descended St Bees Head last year but it didn't seem as incongruous as the steelworks of Workington or other industrial sites. Even as I came near the plant was hidden behind the dunes, refusing to spoil a good walk by the sea.

What I learned today is that this is just an illusion. Looking back over my shoulder at regular intervals the site loomed large and threatening over the village of Seascale. Further on at Drigg the low-level waste storage site is another huge reminder of the nuclear industry's impact on the area.

That's not to say this hasn't been a beautiful walk. All day I've had a clear view of a snow-topped Scafell, and as I reached the end of the walk the sun was setting over the receding tide.

The real lesson is that if you want to walk this stretch of coast, make sure you do it anticlockwise. The view is much better that way.

Angels

Portmeirion

Angel is one of the cottages in the curious village of Portmeirion.

Personal

Yesterday evening

We went to the beach.

I asked:

Emma answered:

And then - somewhere behind the clouds - the sun set.

Coastwalk , Llŷn Coastal Path

Pwllheli → Porthmadog

Distance: 18.0 miles
Ascent: 399 metres
Duration: 5 hours 10 minutes

Walk, swim, climb
« Abersoch | Harlech »

Walking out of season heightens the differences between landowners who care about walkers and those who consider us worthless riffraff. An early part of today's walk crossed through heath and gorse which had been especially cut back which regular poles pointing out the path. In contrast towards the end I found myself facing a seven foot high security fence where the public right of way should have been.

The Llŷn Coastal Path currently under construction is responsible for the former condition and will presumably eventually eradicate the latter. But even then natural obstacles will still appear, such as the flooded fields and eroding cliffs which marked the mid-section of today's walk.

Personal

Five

You know the deal.

• relieved
• changing
• anticipatory
• hope
• full

Personal

Curiosity wins

There seem to be mixed opinions on this one.

So at the risk of opening myself up for potential abuse, take look at the photograph and tell me: yes or no? That is, keep it or ditch it? Or to put it another way, does my head look like it's the right way up?

Be assured I may not follow the majority verdict.

Walks

Pig farms and power stations

Ah, Suffolk. You give us power and pork. This photograph of the two Sizewell nuclear power stations isn't at all typical of the county but for me it captures the essence. It's also the Suffolk I first knew and the Suffolk I walked through this afternoon.

Distance: 6.19 miles
Ascent: 60 metres
Duration: 1 hour 54 minutes

Walk 16: Thorpeness from Leiston

This is a circular walk I've completed many times before. The stretch of low cliff south of Sizewell is delightful; the heath and farm-land around Aldringham and Leiston always deserted. But the highlight - as ever - is Thorpeness.

When I finally move from Suffolk I'll miss this quirky village. The architecture here doesn't stand describing. It has to be seen. Take for example The House in the Clouds. Would any words do it justice? This is just one of several dozen absurdities built around the village Meare.

Pigs, power and preposterous property. A county to be proud of.

Personal

The office

I'm continuing to find coffee shops are the most productive environment for working. Is it that I'm around more people this way? Is it that a home doesn't have the buzz of an office?

Personal

Patterns

I'm beginning to get the hang of my new life. Beginning to see where things fit. For example, when should I get my hair cut? With infinitely flexible hours easy decisions like this become full of possibilities.

As it is I still have much to learn. "Lunch break?" the hairdresser asked. "No, I don't have a job at the moment," I said and he kept his mouth shut from that point on. I'll soon find better words. "I'm self-employed" or "I'm developing a new business" would be less brusque and more accurately convey what I'm up to.

Personal

Another conversion for Jesus

What do you see in this photograph? "A church"? Right, but ask the church what they see and they'll tell you otherwise.

According to a planning application recently submitted by Beaumont Baptist Church, they see the building becoming a single house. They see five bedrooms, all en-suite. A detached triple garage with office, spa and sauna. They see a private cinema, a study and ancillary rooms surrounding a large open-plan living space. A dining table set for ten. Six three-person sofas.

Oddly for the conversion of a Baptist chapel just about the only thing missing is an indoor swimming pool.

I presume the church don't intend on undertaking the conversion themselves but are applying so as to prove the value of the land when they come to sell it. I won't object to the application - I have no grounds on which to do so - and I don't know what will happen to the congregation. But it'll be sad to see the inevitable eventual renaming of the road to Old Chapel Street.

Greenbelt

What Steve did next

Whatever happened to Steve Taylor?

You know: the guy first seen on these shores satirically encouraging Greenbelters to become clones and last seen hyperventilating on-stage while fronting the rather good but under-appreciated Chagall Guevara. The one who went on to produce Sixpence None the Richer (hmm, what happened to them?), created and sold a record label and then said he'd to return to his first love: film.

It looks like he's stuck with cinema. His first film, The Second Chance is coming up for release in a week or so.

I'd like to wait until I've had a chance to see it before I come to any conclusions, but I'm full of prejudice. Michael W. Smith is the leading actor; the website tells you how to organise a church group trip, provides a study guide and even includes an endorsement by George Bush.

I'd hoped for more from Steve. But who knows? If it ever crosses the Atlantic maybe I'll give it another chance.

Arts

Film: The Producers

Going into the cinema I had the advantage of having seen neither the original 1968 version of this film nor the recent stage production. I gather this remake doesn't live up to either. Still, it's good. A few moments of genius interspersed with okay padding.

The film centres on the production of the most offensive play possible. In places the film is a little smutty. If those moments were supposed to offend the cinema audience (in an echo of the play) they didn't go far enough, although two elderly people sat next to me did walk out. Perhaps 1968 offensive is 2006 cringe. On the other hand, perhaps I missed the point.

I'm pleased to have seen an adaptation of such a famous screenplay, but I'm in no rush to see the other two versions.

(For those yet to see the film: hang on right through the closing credits for a brief cameo by Mel Brooks.)

Tech

Taming the dragon

Occasionally I wonder whether I should go into technical writing.

That feeling's never stronger than when I read an absolute gem. Take for example Apple's description of the notoriously compex Kerberos protocol:

A Kerberos ticket is like a press pass to a jazz festival held at multiple nightclubs over a three-day weekend. You prove your identity once to get the pass. Until the pass expires, you can show it at any nightclub to get a ticket for a performance. All the participating nightclubs accept your pass without seeing your proof of identity again.

If you've been wading through technical documentation all day, to stumble across a paragraph like that is a joy. And isn't that the impact we all want our work to have on others?

Greenbelt

Unexpected

Champion of all things tabloid in IT, The Register this morning pointed out the opening of an online sex shop run by Christians. The surprising thing is that's it's run from these shores, and not those across the Atlantic.

Question of the day then: Would Wholly Love fit in more with Greenbelt or Spring Harvest?

Arts

Film: March of the Penguins

The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday so it's time to start swotting up on the contenders. March of the Penguins is nominated as Best Documentary Feature and you don't get much more documentary than a nature film in part produced by National Geographic.

The picture itself is beautiful but completely let down by the dour, banal narration. The voice-over tries too hard to be poetic with curiously bad analogies such as "balancing their eggs like tightrope walkers". It also glosses over death, preferring to talk about penguins "fading into the white" or "disappearing".

I gather the original French soundtrack is very different in style which begs the question, which version is nominated for an Academy Award? If the film wins on 5 March I'm sure it won't have been the English one.