Nent Hall Weekend

We had the whole of the Nent Hall Hotel booked for the weekend of the 8/9/10th of September and 33 members of the Durham and South Yorkshire clubs joined forces for the weekend that was organised by Reg Barrett, Dave Sandersfield and Steve Overall. The Saturday Run was over to the coast and down to Whitehaven for a visit to the Beacon Museum situated on Whitehaven's attractive harbour side and it is home to the town's heritage collection. It traces the social, industrial and maritime heritage of the area, using local characters, audio-visual displays and fascinating museum pieces. It features the Sellafield supported the war effort and, afterwards.

Steve Overall trying his hand as a weather man (or should I say Hands)

The story and looks at how West Cumbria supported the war effort and, afterwards, how new technology was pioneered right there to give the UK a nuclear deterrent. There are exciting, interactive exhibitions, warts and all, how that early weapons programme grew into a nuclear industry which has supported Cumbria’s economy for the past 60 years, and looks at what the future might be for energy.

The museum has unrivalled panoramic views of the town and coast. After seeing the exhibits and a nice cup of coffee with the obligatory cake in the coffee shop we had a leisurely drive back to Nent Hall.

On the Sunday it was overcast dull raining so Maureen and I elected to go to the Reghed Centre near Penrith. This is named after the ancient kingdom of the dark ages. Rheged is an all weather, all year round visitor centre. It is in Britain’s largest grass covered building and at its centrepiece is a six storey high cinema screen. The centre is well worth a visit if you are in the area, it is fascinating as it is built on an old limestone pit, We spent a couple of hours there before moving on to Keswick and lunch at The Chief Justice to the Common Pleas pub. This pub is the old police station and law courts, the inside still has a lot of the original features and fittings and it is well worth a visit if you are looking for refreshments in Keswick. Suitably refreshed we left Keswick and headed South down to Ambleside before turning North and up over the Kirkstone Pass and then following Ullswater up to Pooley Bridge, we then returned to the Hotel via Hartside and Alston. We enjoyed the weekend break and many thanks must go to all who helped in the organisation of it particularly Reg Barrett, Dave Sandersfield and Steve Overall.