Thursday, 5th January – A man from K.T.D. called to install my new colour printer.
Friday, 6th January – Chris Butterfield called with some books for me to sign. I gave him a large Snowdon panorama in case anyone wants one and a disc containing my favourite scenes from television programmes broadcast in 2022. He enabled me to watch songs that I had downloaded to my computer and to copy images from the internet to my computer documents.
Saturday, 14th January – Received an electronic version of Old Buckwellians News, which mentioned several people that I remember from my schooldays.
Friday, 20th January – Finished going through the 82-hour version of my collection of scenes from television erasing the scenes that had been spoilt by interference. If I hadn’t done this people might think that the discs were useless and throw them away.
Sunday, 22nd January – Discovered a video about a walk in the Great Hallingbury area in the internet. It showed the path from the church to Woodside Green and the path from Hallingbury Street to Hatfield Forest, neither of which I have seen since I left the area in 1950. I also found a photograph of Snowdonia from the Dublin area.
Monday, 23rd January – Listened to the first instalment of Jamaica Inn on the radio. It was produced in 1991, but it was just as good as the version I heard in 1975.
Thursday, 26th January – Finished reading a book about the history of libraries, a subject I have not read about before. As often happens I was the first person to borrow it.
In the last few days I have encountered two identical problems. I am trying to buy copies of Happy Memories from the printers, and I am trying to renew my subscription to the Ordnance Survey so that I can continue to view their maps on my computer screen. In both cases I can’t get the people concerned to accept any payment or to answer the telephone or to reply to my emails.
Saturday, 28th January – Finished listening to an interesting radio series called Science Notes by James Burke in which he tells stories about inventions, many of which I haven’t heard before.
Monday. 30th January – Repaired the corner of the bedroom ceiling with small pieces of masking tape. Then I took my old colour printer to the tip and came back through the woods, where I took two photographs of fungi growing on logs.
Tuesday, 31st January – Finally succeeded in phoning the Ordnance Survey and renewing my subscription. Received an email from the Wainwright Society saying that they may be reissuing Pennine Way Companion this year.
Wednesday, 1st February, 2023 – Sent some messages published in the Wainwright Facebook Site since July 2020 to Designworks for uploading to my website.
In the evening Chris Butterfield called with Andrew Nichol. Chris showed me how I could search for a word in his Facebook site by clicking a symbol that looked like a magnifying glass. The blog I submitted this morning was based on the assumption that this couldn’t be done. On the other hand he was unable to help me to order copies of my book from the printers. I showed them the video of Mark Richards in the Cotswolds.
Thursday, 2nd February – Found a link from the Wainwright Facebook site to my latest blog.
Friday, 3rd February – Found five photographs of Andrew and myself in the Wainwright Facebook site.
Saturday, 4th February – Posted a copy of the video of Mark Richards to Chris.
Sunday, 5th February – Received an email from somebody asking for my video of Flight over Spain.
Tuesday, 7th February – Finished joining my selections from Flight over Spain together on a d.v.d. and posted it to Chris McHugh of London. Got out a library book with photographs of over a thousand kinds of British fungi, but I couldn’t identify either of the ones that I photographed.
Wednesday, 8th February – Gave up trying to order copies of my book at the author’s price and ordered copies from Amazon at the full price of £10 each. I tried to order twenty, but I could only get eight.
Friday, 10th February – Took a photograph of Sepulchre Lane on my way to the shops.
Sunday, 12th February – Finished reading a book about the origin of consciousness called Metazoa by Peter Godfrey Smith. In the notes at the end of the book I learned about the vast amount of information that is found in journals that I have never heard of.
Sent an email to the Department of Media and Communications of the London School of Economics asking if they can help me contact other people who have collections of their favourite scenes from television and if they can suggest a person or organisation to whom I can bequeath my collection. I sent the index to the 28-hour version as an attachment.
Monday, 13th February – Received a very promising email from the London School of Economics.
Wednesday, 15th February – Chris called with some more books for me to sign. He said that he first heard about me through the maps I provided for Mike Hardings’ book about the Peak District. Received an email suggesting that I offer my collection of scenes from television to the Reuben Library of the British Film Institute [but it wasn’t accepted].
Friday, 17th February – Found an article by Chris about Walks in Limestone Country in the computer. I was very interested to learn that 6000 unrevised copies were ordered in 1992 and 1900 in 2005, when only 393 revised copies were sold in 2014-17. I was able to submit a comment on this that other people can read.
Saturday, 18th February – Started to select passages from my letters to Frances Lincoln for my website, but I gave up after a quarter of an hour. Later I tried again and kept going for an hour and a half.
Tuesday, 21st February – Dreamed that I became Prime Minister at the age of fifteen.
Thursday, 23rd February – Found a photograph of myself on Castle Crag in the Wainwright Facebook site.
Friday, 24th February – Noticed a photograph of Chris on the back door of the Kendal public library. Went to a second Wainwright evening in the council chamber of the town hall. Found some beautiful wooden carvings dating from the 1890s. Someone said that he bought my book recently and liked it.
Sunday, 26th February – Went for a walk in the village of Dent and along Flinter Gill Outrake with Chris and Priscilla. On the way back to Kendal we had a look at three houses featured in Westmorland Heritage: Middleton Hall, Killington Hall and Bleaze Hall. The wing of Killington Hall that is described as ruinous in the book has been restored, with new battlements that look as old as the rest of the building; and the blocked windows in Bleaze Hall have been reopened. Chris noticed the Lye-kiln near Bleaze Hall that I had forgotten to look for. I gave him a video of Andrew Nichol from the 1980s.
Monday, 27th February – Sent my most interesting letters to Frances Lincoln about The Eastern Fells to Designworks for uploading to my website.
Tuesday, 28th February – Bought a second-hand Kia Piconto car for £6000 at a showroom in Mintsfeet Road. I chose it because I liked the colour and because it was cheaper than the other cars. The man in the showroom was most helpful: he even arranged insurance.
Wednesday, 1st March – Ordered a copy of the book about Hadrian’s Wall from Amazon.
Thursday, 2nd March – Received the book I ordered.
Friday, 3rd March – Dreamed that I met Jennifer Holloman, whom I knew in 1962, and I hoovered her carpet to please her. A few days ago I dreamed that I met my brother, whom I hadn’t heared from since 1994, and I said ‘You’re doing all right’, as if he needed reassurance on this point.
Took my mobile phone to the Carphone Warehouse to arrange for me to be able to use it for making phone calls, and I was told that I have been able to do this since I bought it four years ago!
Wednesday, 8th March – Typed in ‘Peter Crew’ in the internet and went to ‘images’, but I found no mention of his books, which means that I am very lucky that my books are mentioned if I do the same thing with my name.
Friday, 10th March – My car arrived. This is the first time I have had the use of a car for ten years.
Saturday, 11th March – Walked along the Pennine Way from Hawes to Gaudy House Farm. I chose Hawes because that is the nearest place on the Pennine Way to my home. The only signficant change I could find was that the misleading signpost has been corrected. Took a photograph of a snow-drift from Gaudy Lane. Three times I lost things, and twice people found them for me.
Tuesday, 14th March – Collected a shirt from the Tailor’s Workshop and found that the frayed cuffs have been satisfactorily repaired. I didn’t know that this was possible.
Saturday, 18th March – Went on a Wainwright Society walk on Whitbarrow. There were more people on it than usual. The man with a Glasgow accent gave me a 2½” Harvey’s atlas of the Lake District.
Saturday, 25th March – Went for a walk to Kendal Castle with Chris Butterfield.
Monday, 27th March – Walked along the Pennine Way from Horton in Ribblesdale to Hull Pot and from Water Houses to the top of Malham Cove. I came back from Malham Cove by the original route, which was less interesting than the new route, but much easier. When I got back I worked out that I had walked for over ten miles. If I had known that when I started the walk I would not have attempted it.
Received an email from Chris McHugh saying that he has at last been able to watch my selections from Flight Over Spain.
Tuesday, 28th March – Washed my boots in the River Kent. I have never thought of doing that before. Met Jan Nicholson in Garth Heads and she said that I could put a note in her letter box.
Friday 31st March – Put a note in the door of Garth Heads Cottage saying where I mentioned the house in my website and asking why the name-plate is hidden by vegetation so that nobody can ever find the house or deliver letters there.
Received an e-mail from Ken Pestell, who was my predecessor as Editor of the Bumff Board in about 1961, and I sent him twenty of my editorials.