Day 1 St. Bees, the breeze and one cheery Englishman

Day one got off to a promising start.  No sooner had I got out of the car than I was approached by a disturbingly cheery Englishman who just happened to be out on his morning walk with his dog.  The dog, like his owner, was slightly on the portly side of rotund and unlike his owner had a full set of white teeth.  'Nice morning for it!', was the greeting offered. 

English optimism at its best. 'At least the rain has stopped,' I returned while the tubby canine slapped my leg with a decidedly damp tail.

'Oh, a bit of water and some wind.  Nothing to worry about, really' Standing there grinding with his teeth like tombstones in a seriously over stretched white shirt and a blue jacket, I thought maybe this man knows something. Afterall, he's holidaying in a prefabricated box at a seaside resort on the west coast of England that doesn't even have a beach, more a Seawall and stones arrangement.  That sort of experience is bound to teach you a thing or two about something...hopefully weather.

'Have you thought about taking a walk? There's loads of good walks around here you know.'

I thought the water proof jacket and the hiking boots, the backpack and the 'very stylish' hiking poles might have been a bit of a give away but apparently this had been missed by 'tooth man'.  'Actually, we're heading off on the coast to coast. Right now.' I waved my hand vaguely in the direction of the bluff at the North end of the ironically titled 'beach'.

'Well I hope you don't end up killed like those fellows in Wales did yesterday?  Three of them struck by lighting as they were walking along. Two dead and the third one seriously injured. The two dead ones were struck twice. Who'd have thought?'

As it turned out, I would. Or to be grammatically compliant, I was. I was thinking that lighting wasn't supposed to strike twice in the same place. I was also thinking why would you tell somebody this as they were preparing for a hike on a day with dubious weather credentials. To be perfectly frank, I was also thinking about my travel insurance and whether it had an act of God clause.

'You don't have to be dead to be stiff,' I suggested, breaking the silence that had developed as we both eyed off the 'stylish' walking poles. I wonder if he was also doing a quick calculation of the conductive properties of aluminium.

'Yes,' he replied. 'Still, I'm sure you'll be right. As long as you've got good food and good drink.'

And with that he moved off with his dog towards his little slice of paradise at St Bees caravan park. As I watched him go I felt certain that he knew quite a bit about food and drink. I also hoped that he knew something about the weather.