End of the summer

I greet another milestone tomorrow. My youngest starts high school! He is going to Tottington High School, which is very close to home, and I'm hoping he has a great five years there.

The six and a half weeks of school summer holiday seems to have gone on forever. It was the last year where a holiday club was available though, and we will miss Christ Church Walshaw primary school out of hours facilities. In between various holiday clubs we managed to have two holidays...

The Eiger

H and I went to see friends in Basel, Switzerland for a few days. We are really lucky being able to go there on a budget (Easyjet fly to Basel!) and they have a chalet in the Alps too. This summer we spent most of our time in Inden, walking in the Rhone valley, swimming in the outdoor spa pools in Leukerbad and the highlight of my trip, seeing the Eiger. We saw the Eiger on a glorious day and sat on the terrace at Hotel Belvedere in Grindelwald to admire the amazing view. It would be great to stay there, but it costs a fortune. http://www.belvedere-grindelwald.ch/en/

Our family holiday week was spent in the village of Mundesley, about 8 miles down the coast from Cromer. I found the house on the Internet a few years ago, and didn't mind where it was; I loved the house! After a nightmare journey we found we could easily do without the car all week. Mundesley is a lovely village on the coast, and our house was at the beach. At the bottom of the garden was a glorified shed called The Lookout. This was a fabulous place to sit with a drink at night, the chiminea keeping us warm while we watched the ships through the telescope. The village had everything needed for the week; a butchers, deli, greengrocers, bakers, general store, chip shop, ice cream shop and three pubs (two of which had wifi).

I got quite excited (sad I know) at the public access defibrillators in the area. There were two in Mundesley itself, and it is a small village, and one in Trimingham, a short drive away. The one in Trimingham was in an old telephone box, which I had heard of but never seen in 'real life' before. We made enquiries and those hadn't been used yet either. The people in the villages were very positive about having them.

The other bit of excitement was the outdoor gym in the village centre. This had eight pieces of equipment so adults (or young people) could have a bit of an exercise session while they were out and about. It was well used too. A sign at the entrance directed people to healthy living walks. These were three walks, of one, two or three miles, set out for people. I think these are a brilliant idea and would love something similar in Tottington. This particular gym cost £10,000 so I think I'll be waiting a long time. That said, Bury Council recently beat off competition from around the country to secure £1.8M of Lottery Funding from Sport England. This was specifically to help women and girls become more active. http://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1840&FID=356. I have seen that three areas in Bury will have some outdoor gym equipment, but unfortunately Tottington isn't one of them.

Outdoor gym

This weekend is the official opening of Greenmount Station sidings. The ribbon will be cut at 10.30am on Saturday 7 September. There will be display on in the old school. At 11.30am there will be a guided walk to the site of Tottington Station.

On Sunday 8 September there is the World Black Pudding Throwing Championship. It starts at noon when the golden grid is piped in. I have a previous blog post on the history, and there is usually a visiting celebrity. I don't know who it is this year, but Chris Evans was invited.

Finally, for anyone who hasn't seen The Lady in the Bath, who appeared next to Tottington bus Terminus over the summer, the 'making of' can be seen on You Tube here. I hope she stays in good condition when the children go back to school.