Goodbye to Vahid

I supposed the whole reason my colleague Vahid features on this blog is that he is leaving. He wanted to take off some of the highlights of North Wales of his list before starting his new and permanent job in Bristol. And that is why we went doing Crib Goch. We didn't do any other trips in the weekend since. There was always something getting in the way. But time wasn't waiting for him.

His new job has now started. So we had a small goodbye ceremony for him on his last official day at work. There were scones and lots of hugs.

He is actually making the transition in a gradual way. He is not quite upping sticks. We will still see him in the coming weeks to months! So I hope we can fit in another hike before he really relocates to the south-west. Stay tuned…

Rubrics

I think everyone who works in higher education has come across rubrics. They are matrices with all the marking criteria on one axis and the marks you could get for it on the other, and then all the cells filled out. So, for instance, for an oral presentation you might have the ‘delivery’ marking criterion, listing that in order to get 100% for that, you need to speak clearly and engagingly and with appropriate vocabulary and suchlike. And if you get progressively less clear, engaging, etc., your mark will drop via 80% and 60% towards a fail mark if people can’t hear what you’re saying, your sentences are mostly consisting of ‘ehm’ and ‘like’, and you’re boring everyone to death. And then that for all criteria. You easily end up with a 8x 6 matrix, and 48 cells to fill out. 

The sheer number of cells to fill would already put one off. But I have a bigger problem with this. It tends to be easy to fill out the extremes, as there are not many ways in which you can be either totally exemplary or totally rubbish. But there are so many ways in which you can be in between. Just take, for example, the introduction to something like an essay. A perfect introduction, in my view, first provides some background to the topic, gives its relevance, and then formulates a clear research question including how it will be answered. The background should be sufficient to make the reader understand the research question. And then all of that needs to be well-written. 

What about a lower scoring introduction? That could be limited background, spurious relevance, unclear research question included how it will be answered, and all that not very well written text. But it could also be that it has excellent background and relevance, beautifully written, but there is no research question formulated. Or everything is present but it is written in such wonky language it is very difficult to follow. Or so many other permutations! And that is my problem with rubrics. And that's why I am reluctant to use them.

 

An example rubric, from Gutiérrez and Juárez-Peñuela, HOLOS 2019

 

Every year, the students want more guidance on what is expected of them. And every year, the external examiners say that we should use rubrics. And now I have given in. I have been writing rubrics for my entire dissertation module. They are a bit conditional! I use the words ‘may’ and ‘might’ more than average. Because you just don't know. The background might be insufficient. The research question might be badly formulated. Or maybe they are both only just ok. You don't know!

You could argue that that just means I need to have more categories in my rubric, but could you imagine? If you specify everything in such small compartments? You would already need five categories for the introduction alone. How many would you need for the abstract? The results? Discussion? I don't think it would be workable. So I did what I think is right. I will try to find a volunteer to go through them to see if they can suggest some improvements.

And once I started, I suppose I should go the whole way. And make them for all my assignments. It sort of means I won't have to be bored this summer! Even though there was no fear of that anyway…

Bethel 5k

I was looking forward to the second of the two 5K races in the club road championships. The first one has been fun, but I had made two mistakes: one was to eat too much too late, and the other one was to set off too fast. And if you can try to improve only if a few weeks later that's nice.

This time Chris was also going to run it. So we travelled up together. I don't think we've raced each other before! And he has local connections. We drove to the village, and he parked in front of his mother-in-law's house. And we went to say hello. She was really nice!

As it was registration on the day only I figured we shouldn't linger. Chris's mother-in-law even offered to drop us off at the start, which was at the edge of the village. That was really kind of her! And then we could get registered. And then we still had enough time to go to the loo and do a bit of a warmup. And chat to other runners. If you race loads, and you do things like the Tuesday Track and Thursday Hill, you get to know quite many of them!

Then it was time to line up at the start. And we were off. And in the first kilometre or so, I really made sure to keep an eye on my watch. My aim was to run about 4:15 per kilometer, but in the beginning when you are still fresh it can be tempting to go faster. I didn't want to make that mistake again! So in the beginning, I was making myself slow down a few times.

Before I knew it, I already saw the first runners come the other way. I had expected the turn around point to be at 2.5 km, but that wasn't how it turned out. It was not a there and back; there was an extra loop at the end. But a turning point always gives you opportunity to cheer at other runners, and to get an overview of the field. There was a bloke running with a buggy in second position! That is impressive.

On the way back I started to struggle. I wanted to keep up my pace. But it was a challenge! I was counting down the kilometres. And wasn't quite sure what sort of loop they would have added to make the course 5k long. But at least the field around me was stable. Nobody seemed to be in a position to overtake me. And I did manage to overtake a few people in the last mile. There was a bloke who did attempt to get past me shortly before the finish, but that didn't work. And with my very heavy breath I finished! It was within 22 minutes, but I was not sure by how much. Faster than Llanrug, anyway.

On the way back. The bloke in black wouldn’t manage to get past! 

I now wanted water. And my recovery drink. And cheering for the other runners. Soon enough, Chris appeared. Together we cheered on a few more people, but then Chris wanted get his recovery drink as well, which he had left in the car. I wanted to know if I had a category win, but it looked like they would only find that out when they would compile the results. I think they were timing it Parkrun style: one person notes down the running order of the race numbers coming in, and another one writes down at what time the first, second, third etc runner come in. Only afterwards will they then combine the two lists. And only then will they combine the times and the race numbers with runner information, such as name, gender and age. 

Dyfed and Rhian were doing the timing, and they said there was going to be no presentation. They had just handed the first three runners of either gender their prizes and that was it. Okay then! I could go home. I headed for Chris's car. 

Back at the house we reported back to Chris's mother-in-law. And the cat showed up. She was really sweet! So it was mainly Chris doing the reporting, while I was petting the cat. A fine distribution of labour if you ask me. And then we went home. Time for a shower! And my next race would only be two days away…

The next day I found out I had done it in 21:29, almost a minute faster than Llanrug. And a lot more consistent. My fastest kilometre was only six seconds faster than the slowest. In Llanrug that had been 33 seconds. 25 if you take don't compare the fastest km with others that had more uphill. Clear improvement! 

Strava said that was my third best time on the 5k. My best and second best time had been in the two 8k Borders League races I had done. One of these had been pretty much flat as a pancake. The other one had had 98 m of ascent, so also of descent, and I suspect my fast 5k time incorporated the descent. I don't know how (or if) you can make Strava tell you that. On the flat course, my time according to Strava had had only been two seconds faster. So I suppose this was pretty good!

Quality assurance

Such a catchy title! And it is also a very catchy topic. At the end of the academic year, we have to engage in a quality assurance process, and reflect on all our teaching. We have to reflect on how the changes we made last year worked out, how things went this year, and how we are going to improve in the next year. And then our Director of Teaching and Learning will take all that information and feed it into one big quality assurance document for the whole School.

We are working with the metrics of all modules, as I recently already discussed within the context of our exam board meetings, and also the module evaluation forms the students are asked to fill out. And it is difficult to get the majority to do that. I suppose everyone on the planet gets requests to give feedback on absolutely everything all the time! And quite often you get the impression it is only those who have an axe to grind who are motivated to fill out the form.

Altogether I do think there is a fairly high level of arbitrariness in the process. If you check, for instance, how the resources offered have been appreciated through the years, the fluctuations can be massive, even if the actual resources haven't changed. And, of course, you also just get different preferences; it is quite typical that you get one student saying they want more of a thing, and another student saying they want less of the same thing. Then you basically can’t do much other than just what you think is right.

An entirely different issue is that typically, students want more guidance in their assignments. But if you give them as much guidance as they would like to get, you are basically doing the work for them. Our degrees have to be worth something. So even if all the students are anonymous in that they want more guidance, you can only take this so far. 

In spite of the arbitrary nature and lack of statistical robustness, sometimes there is feedback that is just very useful. Things you hadn't really thought of yourself. That is where the process is at its most valuable.

I've filled them out now. I saved them all as drafts. If I still think of something to add that I still can. And when the deadline approaches I will just submit them all with a mouse click. That's another job done for this summer!

A Climate of Truth

I should now know how to thrive in the Anthropocene. Last year, there was a public lecture with that title, by Mike Berners-Lee. I was a bit unsatisfied at the end of it, but his lecture had partially been a plug for a book that was about to come out. He said that if people wanted to know more, they could just read the book. You can put a lot more information in one of those than you can in a one hour lecture. So I ordered the book.

I've read it now. Does that mean I know how to thrive in the Anthropocene? Well, not really! He does provide an easy checklist at the end of the book, after he's explained in detail what he thinks is wrong with the world in what could be done about about it, and you can just start there, I suppose.

This checklist is six pages long. I can't repeat all of this! But he starts with politics. And I've been trying to vote in people who are kind to the planet since I was 18. So far it hasn't really worked. And I think most people I know vote along these lines as well. I don't think I live in a diverse world!

Next is media. He says you have to be very careful about which media you trust and fund, but my choices tend to get his OK. 

Then he gets to work. Here he turns a bit Rutger Bregman: he figures you should use your talents and energy for the good of the world. So don't get sucked into finance or corporate law or that sort of destructive jobs. I suppose that working at the university and telling young people about climate counts as the sort of job that at least tries to make a difference.

Next is activism, volunteering and giving. I try to do all that as well! I support a number of charities that I think actively try to make the world a better place, and I am active in the local sustainability movement. It hasn't quite had Greta Thunberg levels of effect, but well, most people are not Greta Thunberg.

The second last one is sustainable personal lifestyle. I actually sometimes get some shit for that! But I do my best. I take the train to get to the Netherlands, and I bike to work. I am a bit infamous for my cold house. 

He ends with: look after yourself. He says "enjoy and appreciate life where you can, because there is no point saving a role that's no fun to live in."

I suppose it was to be expected that me reading this book would be him preaching to the converted. Is there anything new in there? I suppose the most novel thing he does is bring out social pressure and calling people out. That is so un-British! He wants us all to give people who don't do what this book advises you to do a lot of stick for that. I'm not quite sure if that would help. Will they not just dig their heels in? And quite a lot of people live in social bubbles. I suppose I have "lefty" written on my forehead, so I am not likely to have friends who read the daily mirror, watch GB news and vote Tory or worse. So there won't be many people I could call out. But I will keep his words in mind next time I do hear a rightwing voice.

Even though I am not British, I am a bit hesitant about the calling out thing. I suppose you need to know when and how! I vividly remember calling out the misogyny in the underground community. That didn't work at all. I suspect it made things worse. You don't want that to happen if what is at stake is the planet. But I suppose someone needs to do it. Someone needs to start. Societal change does happen! The example I always use was that when I moved to Amsterdam, it was decidedly uncool to have light on your bike. When I left Amsterdam, it had become decidedly uncool to NOT have light on your bike. Did people call each other out? How did this change happen? I actually don't remember! But this is the sort of thing that we need to see when it comes to the planet. Flying for frivolous reasons is still socially accepted. Buying loads of stuff you don't need is still socially accepted. Having a regular bath is still socially accepted. Voting against the planet’s interest is still accepted. So many things are still socially accepted. And it takes us to hell in  a handcart.

Anyway. The next thing I should do is lend this book to someone on whom it might have a positive effect. I will keep an eye out for opportunities! It is a good word, so let it spread. Maybe it is not too late...

Camping with Kate and Bryn

I hadn't seen Kate in a while. We both wanted to do something about that, and she suggested we might make that an overnight thing. That sounded like a great idea! My tent hadn't been out enough yet this year. So far only with Henco and Maaike. But then the country entered a heat wave, and we had to seriously consider how we would make that happen. Bryn is not made for hot weather.

The day before we decided that we would leave on Saturday late in the afternoon, when the day would have cooled down a bit. We could camp near where she lives; she had a beautiful location in mind. We had been before. And the next day there was rain forecast so there was a little risk of the dog overheating.

I drove up after lunch. We first had a cup of tea. That was fine with me! I still felt a bit tired. And the weather was all over the place. Hot sunshine one minute, rain the next. At some point we decided to go to the local shop so we could festoon our cup of tea with something nice. It also meant we could try out the weather. It was definitely still too hot for black labradors!

By 5 pm we decided we could change it. We drove up to Cwm Penmachno, and from there we walked. It was still a bit warm, but doable. As soon as the path came close to the river, Kate had the dog play around in the water for a bit, to cool him down. And then he was fine. And quite soon we got to our destination.

Cooling Bryn down along the way 

It is quite a magical place! It is a remote area of the Rhiwbach quarry, with some flooded mine workings in the woods, and with spoil heaps and some ruined buildings on the other side. We look forward to getting into the water ourselves, but we were barely there or a cloud came over the hills. And it was not stopping! Soon we were in fog. We hadn't expected that! At least none of us would get overheated now.

Notice or tents in the distance

We walked around the area a bit to spot the best camping places and then pitched our tents. Then I wanted to get into the water Kate wasn't sure. And right by where our tents were, the water was very shallow, so safe. (flooded mind workings can be very dangerous because they are often very deep, so very cold, with very steep sides. On the side, that wasn't the case.) So I got in and realised just how shallow it was. It was nice though! That inspired Kate to go as well, so she headed for the water while I started cooking. I had put on most of my clothes. I was glad I had brought them.

Dinner duties

When Kate got back she did the same. And we had a little sip of whiskey. We put Bryn on a lead as we were afraid he would knock over the food, set himself on fire, and eat something that would be unhealthy for him. It would be entirely in character. But with him at a distance, dinner was soon ready.

After dinner we had a cup of tea and a little walk, and then called it a night. We are both early sleepers! And the dog was up for it. It was his first camping trip since reaching adulthood and he was probably tired. So much excitement.

Leaving traces

I didn't sleep well, but I don't know why. My tent was comfortable! And my sleeping bag was good for the temperature. But sometimes one just doesn't sleep well. At some point during the night I went out for a wee. There is something about beautiful places at night. That was just enough moonlight coming through the clouds to show the surroundings! 

In the morning I could hear a lot of rain falling on the dent. Oh well, we had expected that. And when I opened the tent I saw the full girl still there as well. But I got out and made breakfast. We didn't really linger! We knew we were close to Kate's house, and we could get another coffee in comfort there. So after some porridge and two marks of coffee I packed up. When we set off again. It was foggy, but not raining, when we walked back. It was all right! And when we got staircase she offered to make pains au chocolate. She had barely eaten breakfast, because she had counted on doing that at home. She had only brought some porridge oats, but not even powdered milk, let alone raisins or sugar girl or whatever, so it wasn't very tasty and the dog ate most of it.

Damp breakfast 

Going home 

The pains were lovely! And so was the additional coffee. Bryn was too tired to make any valiant attempt to steal any of the food. But after a few coffees I decided to go home. More things to do!

It had been a nice little adventure! I had never camped with a dog, I think. And I like these mini adventures when you're away for less than 24 hours. In cooler weather we would definitely have set off earlier, and in dry weather we probably would have lingered longer. But as it was, we had been completely away from normal domestic life, and had slept in a stunning environment. A big success as far as I am concerned! And we also had enough time to catch up on everything that had happened since the last time we met. Totally not a weekend as I had expected it, but a good one!

English Stonecrop in bloom

 

Module websites already in the make

I was just looking for one of my module websites when I realised that sites for next academic year are already up. That is amazing! We can already start populating them. And I suppose we shouldn't prioritise it; the first thing we need to do is rounding off the old year. There is a deadline for processing the feedback we have received on our modules from the last academic year, and officially declaring what we are going to do with it. But I always want to have my dissertation module website up and running as early as I can. So we haven't even had the last exam board meeting yet, but that website is already mostly there! 

 

I want to try to get that sort of stuff sorted fairly early on in summer. And then there is not much stress towards the end. That would be nice! Stay tuned to see if I manage…

Thursday Night Hill: race recce

I had seen on social media that this week's Thursday Night Hill session would start in Llanberis again. And then later there was even information about where we would go: a picture of a triangulation pillar appeared. I took that to mean we would go up to the summit of yr Wyddfa (aka Snowdon). That is quite a run!

What I expected we would do is that we would bushwhack to the summit, and then run down the Llanberis path, which is quite civilised. Dyfed is not one for taking the well-trodden paths. Except at the end of a long run when people are tired and it is getting dark.

It was the hottest day of the year so far, and that means something in mid June. I had put the big water bag into my running vest, and I made sure I had a lot of jelly babies with me. Not everybody had seen the post about the trial angulation pylon. Not everybody was prepared!

When we set off it became clear we were actually going up the Llanberis path. And I figured it was a recce for the upcoming race! The next week, the Snowdon Twilight race would take place. It's basically is a run from the village to the top, over that very path. And after you have finished on the summit you have to get down as well, of course, but that is not part of the race.

There it is, in the distance 

I might not have pointed out on this blog that I managed to register for this race! I had tried last year, but failed miserably. This year has gone better. I am very excited about this!

I wasn't overly keen on recceing this race on the day as hot as this one, but then again, it could be just as hot on the day of the race itself! So I had better be ready for that. 

I was drinking like a fish because of the searing temperatures. But I seemed to remember from my hike with Vahid that is water along the way. I really hoped I was correct!

The first part of the path is quite easy going. We got to Halfway Station without problems. But there were already a lot of people worrying about water. However, we continued going, and before we move underneath the train track I heard a trickle. That immediately got my attention! I traced it, and filled up my bottle. I felt a lot better. Not very much further there was actually water right by the path. My bottle was still rather full, but I had a big gulp of fresh water, and threw a lot of it into my face and neck. That was lovely! I had been a veritable sweat waterfall.

Soon after the underpass the path gets so steep you can't run it. And after that there is another easy stretch, that leads all the way to where the bath from Crib Goch/Miners’ path joins. And from there it is only the steep bit to the actual summit.

Not far now

By the time we got there, temperatures had dropped to a rather pleasant level. Thank God! We took some pictures and admired the view. There was also some filming; there was something going on I didn't fully understand, but which had something to do with an upcoming wedding by people Dyfed and his wife Rhian knew. 

On the top

Me just below the summit

Then we started the way down. I knew I was going to be slow! And I also knew I was going to fill up my water bag again on the way down. And it was lovely to have a new stock of fresh cold water, but everybody else has finished from site. When I trundled further down I found Dyfed waiting for me. That was kind of him!

Together we went down further, and we had a stop by the café by the path. The person running it had left the door open so people could get some bottled water. Not everybody wants to drink water from the hill, and there might have been people who didn't even realise there was water available. Some people were very thirsty by now!

Waiting for a straggler 

From there we headed straight for the cars. It had taken us some two hours to get to the summit, and more than an hour to come down. Normally, we only run for two hours. People were also hungry. And everyone was a sweaty mess.

I had imagined we would end up in the lake after the run, but it was so late that everybody basically jumped into their cars and went home. And that included me. It was bedtime!

As the traffic trouble because of the tunnel fire hadn't quite been solved it took me longer than normal to get home, but it wasn't too bad. And then I ate some bread, I had a shower, and went to bed. I was tired! And that would stay that way the whole next day. 960m of ascent on a scorching day is not to be sniffed at! But I am now better prepared for the race than I was, and that’s great.

Tunnel fire causing gridlock

The main road in and out of North Wales is the A55. If something goes wrong with it, the area is in trouble. I remember one Christmas period when it was so wet that it flooded. It also flooded the secondary road: the A5. Oh dear! Luckily that was sorted before I tried to return home from the Netherlands. 

I also remember that someone high on drugs once stole a car and crashed it in one of the tunnels. Chaos ensued! 

With that in mind it is remarkable that when I glanced a headline about a vehicle fire in the Conwy Tunnel I did not think too much more about it. I just got through my working day and then set off towards home. 

On a small country lane I ended up in a traffic jam. A van tried to get past a car, and that only just worked. And on both sides there were vehicles waiting. You never get that much traffic there! Still I didn’t put 2 and 2 together. 

Unusual levels of traffic on the little country road

I proceeded to Bethesda. And the through fare was gridlocked! It wasn’t so bad for me, as I could also use the pavement, but the motorised vehicles were pretty stuck. I put this on the local chat, and Martin then pointed out that must've been because of the tunnel fire. Of course it was!

Too much traffic in the village. Picture by Chris Owen.

It turned out that a crane lorry had caught fire. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the tunnel was now closed in both directions. And now all the traffic was trying to find alternative routes. And then you are quickly reminded of that we are on the route between London and Dublin. All the lorries that go to, or come from Holyhead normally use the A55. And now they were trying to squeeze through the village!

Susan was actually on annual leave, so she didn't have to negotiate the traffic. Martin later mentioned it had taken him 1:45 hours to get home. That is so frustrating! It should be half an hour. Colleagues living even further east seem to have taken 3:45 hrs to get home.

I sort of figured I had hit this traffic at rush hour, and that later on it wouldn't be so bad. And I had to get to Llanberis in the evening, for the Thursday Night Hill session! By car.

When I had to leave I pointed my car in the land inward direction, but traffic was stationary. And then I figured I might as well go the other way around, and that was fortunate; the road was clear in the other direction. And it was such a long run I was fairly certain the problem would be solved to such an extent I would be able to get home without trouble, but I was wrong. I approached the village from one side, thought the better of it, went to the other side, and then had to stand in a traffic jam for a bit. I had decided that if I would approach the A5 and it would be gridlocked I would just drive to the vicinity of my house on a parallel road and just park up, walk the rest. But I didn't need to.

As I'm writing this, half of the tunnel has now reopened, so there is one lane of traffic in either direction. That's better than nothing! But it is still very detrimental to local traffic. I hope inspections will reveal that the actual tunnel hasn't suffered any significant damage, and that they can reopen the entire thing soon. It is a bit of a bottleneck, and the area is just not the same if it's not fully functioning!

 

Second Track Tuesday

I had quite enjoyed my first Track Tuesday. So I was looking forward to the second. I had checked online: this time, after the warm-ups, we would do 1 x 1000m, 1 x 600m, 1 x 400m, and that three times. 

I felt better prepared this time. I had an idea of what was coming! And I enjoyed the warmup, and then we started. I now knew roughly where in the lineup I belonged. It was a slightly different group this time, but I recognise some people with whom I had been doing some running in a small group the last time. So these were my people.

I did the first two series with them. Sometimes I felt I could have sped up. But we run single file! So I figured I would do the last series on my own. Then I could go as fast as I wanted. And that's what I did.

I'm not timing my individual laps, or half laps or whatever; I just Strava the whole session and in the end it will tell me how far I've run, and if I have run any particular bits faster than before. And things such as pace and heart rate. But I should probably start using my watch to find out if I am actually making progress. I'm turning into a running nerd! Or rather, an even bigger running nerd than I already was!

He didn't make us do strange things in the end, and I did a little cool down lap with Chris. It had been good! And this time I had run no less than 11 km. And in the last series, I had really given it quite a lot. So I felt satisfied. And it has been really nice as well, I'm getting to know the group a little bit better. I like this!

WWIII

I remember the end of history. What a good time that was! Things were generally fine, and they would only get better. Maybe not very spectacular, but very comfortable.

I don't know if you've noticed, but history didn't actually stop in the 90s. It inconsiderately trundled on! We then had Bush and Yeltsin and Rabin and it wasn't perfect, but nobody thought any of them would start a third world war, and after all, everything would only get better. Fast forward to now, and we have Trump and Putin and Netanyahu. Israel is engaged in a hot war with both the Palestinians and Iran, and the USA sees absolutely nothing wrong with that. Putin with his army is marching into Europe. There's war in Yemen and Sudan and Ethiopia and Myanmar. The US have been threatening Canada and Greenland. 

It is not difficult to imagine that these conflicts might spread even further or ignite in new places, and it doesn't have to get an awful lot worse before it meets the criteria for a world war. Is it unthinkable that the US decides that when Israel is already bombing Iran anyway, they might as well join in? Is it unthinkable that at some point the Chinese decide to pick a side in one of the conflicts and throw the Red Army at it? Or maybe they just figure that armed conflict is totally in fashion and invade Taiwan. With whatever consequences that will have. 

It is weird realising that a world war might not be far. And it feels a bit powerless. What are you going to do when a whole host of nations with nuclear arms are battling it out? I don't know! I'm just continuing with my life. Everyone around me is doing the same. But these are worrying times. I wonder how I will look back on them in five or 10 years’ time. Would the world still be recognisable by then? Only time will tell!

Joining a caving club

The day after I left the cave rescue team I joined a caving club. I don’t think that is necessary contradictory. In order to be a cave rescuer you have to have a bit of a muscle memory for the underground, I would say. I lost mine. And just joining a club won’t bring it back. 

I joined as I had really enjoyed the ladies trip recently. And the same people were organising a weekend in Derbyshire. In order to be allowed in, though, you had to be a member of UCET. So I became a member of UCET. 

I had a quiet day after the AGM, and I hit their website. I found a membership form, and a way to pay the fees. I was in! 

After the AGM I had decided to wash my kit. Not in the river this time; in the actual washing machine. I suppose it is easy to see symbolism here: start this new chapter with a clean slate! Or caving suit. Next month it will start…

Last time with NWCRO: AGM 2025

It would be my last activity with the cave rescue team. I thought the AGM would be a suitable occasion to bow out. I would hopefully be able to hand over my tasks to my successor. And I had to be there, as this would also be the moment we would have a medal ceremony. The king did what his mother had done before, and had issued medals for volunteers with a certain track record. And I was a little bit apprehensive; how many ThursdayNighters would there be on the day I bowed out? And how unpleasant would that make that? But when I got there I wasn't a single one. Excellent!

We always first do a training. If we organise only an AGM, nobody shows up. And what we started with was a presentation about mental health. It can be important for us! I know that the mountain rescue teams already have serious dealings with that, as they have to retrieve people who have died on a fairly regular basis. Only recently, two ladies died in the Watkin pools, and it was mountain rescue who pulled them out. That can be difficult to deal with. We rarely have traumatic call-outs, but we can’t take that for granted.

When that was done we did an exercise in stretcher packing. That's a standard! And when that was done we had lunch. After lunch, we would do another exercise in stretcher packing, but this time in the artificial cave. It is always a lot more difficult to do such things in a constricted space. And we had a bit of a clunky bloke volunteer as the casualty. But we did it. 

 

In the artificial cave

Then it was time for the medal ceremony. The previous time it had just been me handing them out, whenever I bumped into an intended recipient, but this time we had made a bit more of an occasion of it, and invited a special guest. This was Liz Saville Roberts, the leader of Plaid in the House of Commons.

She gave a brief speech, in which she managed to make a credible connection. She knew of some of the venues, and she said that she probably knew some of the people we had had to rescue. And then she handed people their medals. We also had some Long Service Awards for people who had been in the team for 25 years or more. And we had a fair number of people who have been in it for 40 years! If I remember correctly, four of those present got one of those awards. Impressive.

We also took a few pictures of the people who had been recognised with a medal or an award. And then we did a picture with the entire team, as far as they were present. And some of the veterans said that this was the first time ever we had tried to take a team picture. That's quite remarkable if there are people who have been in it for more than 40 years! It was about time. Quite funny, actually, that I'll be in the first team picture ever. And a few hours later I was out no longer a member.

All medal- and award-recipients, plus Liz Saville Roberts

With the pictures taken and we could launch into the AGM. Our chairman tends to keep these very short. I would say that the most important general matter that we discussed was the status of our team. There are two issues with it. The first is that there is a bit of a dichotomy in mountain rescue, with teams that only do cave rescue (which still falls under the umbrella of mountain rescue) by default being some sort of second tier member of the general organisation of mountain rescue teams. And we can apply to become full members, but there are quite some requirements you have to then meet. And only if we make the transition, will we have voting rights.

The second thing is insurance and liability. With the status we currently have, the trustees (that is the committee members and the controllers) being personally liable if something goes wrong. If we change the status of our team, then the team becomes a legal entity, and that creates one level of distance between the individual members and, for instance, claims for damages if something goes wrong. And I think there should be one. Is it fair that a volunteer ends up financially ruined if some other volunteer in their team makes a mistake? Just because they were extra kind and willing to take on a role with more responsibility? And on the other hand; if it is, it might become increasingly difficult to find people who are willing to be trustees. There are scary stories from the mountain rescue world of volunteers actually getting injured, so things do go wrong sometimes. Although it is of course a lot more likely if you have, say, 320 call-outs per year (as Llanberis MRT did in 2024) than when you have 7, like us. But with these things taken together, we clearly have a case for changing our status, and that means becoming more professional.

The other big thing was to fill all our committee positions. Most committee members were standing for another year. I obviously wasn’t, but some young chap that we had only recruited in the last year, but who had already been part of South Wales cave rescue so wasn't on his first rodeo, was willing to take over. Success!

That was us done. And quite uncharacteristically, there was a call to go to the pub afterwards. It was still quite early! So I thought why not. And with some eight people we went to the pub in Dolwyddelan. It turns out to be a lovely pub! And we had some fruitful discussions.

Then it was time to really call it a day. We all went home. That's it! No more cave rescue for me! But I wish the team well. Especially with their new drive for professionalisation. I suppose it's inevitable in this day and age. I'm sure I'll sometimes hear how it's going if I am on another ladies’ underground trip…

Admiring Martin’s new house

Martin had moved house. It was all very exciting. His new place sound decidedly regal. We were keen to have a look! And that would also mean we would get to meet the animals, or at least the proportion thereof that wanted to be met.

We drove up and found it. You have to negotiate some tiny roads to get there. It is quite out of the way! And when we rolled up to the courtyard we started recognising things. He had sent a few pictures through. And he was there to greet us. Sarah was still busy with the horses.

Martin showed us around. That took quite a while! They basically have regal living quarters, working space for Sarah, and two future B&Bs. And then there is the courtyard, the outbuildings (stables, the old forge, and whatnot), the garden, the horse fields, the manège… I suppose living there is a full-time job. Will they manage this without staff? Time will tell!

The horses were in their field, and one even seemed to come up to greet us, but they were both wearing fly masks, so any interaction was limited. We passed the oldest cat on the stairs, but he didn't want to have anything to do with us. We found the middle one on a bed, and she was quite happy to be petted. The youngest was nowhere to be seen.

The house is quite old, and it had lots of quirky bits. The previous owners liked to incorporate both trees and horseshoes in everything. And there were chandeliers, trapdoors, enormous gilded mirrors, low-ceilinged mezzanines, slate sinks and all sorts of idiosyncrasies. What a place!

Tom arrived 15 minutes late, so we did some of the trip twice. And then it was time to have a drink while food was in the oven.

When dinner was ready they immediately decided on their next purchase. A bigger table! We did manage to fit, but not with an awful lot of space to spare. And Siobhan was abroad so wasn't even there. And I suppose that if you have a house in which you can host an almost unlimited number of people, you might as well have a big dinner table.

The food was excellent, as expected, and there was even an additional presence. The youngest cat appeared! I wanted to sit on Martin’s lap. And Sarah's lap. And my lap. I was so chuffed! He is a super sweet soft little cat. And I remembered having Pwd on my lap and not taking a picture, and that wasn't going to happen to me a second time. This time I got my camera out!

Martin and Sarah’s youngest cat on my lap

After dinner we went back to the living room and caught up some more, until we decided it was bedtime and we left. I hope to visit a lot more often. And I hope they will live happily ever after in this house which in a way is a dream house, but also has some clear down-to-earth implications. Regal with a side serving of horse shit shovelling…

Exam board meetings

It's that time of year! Teaching is done, marking should be done, even academic integrity cases should be dealt with by now. It is time to reflect on how it has all gone.

What we tend to do is first have an internal meeting in which we go through all modules, and check their metrics. Did any of them have worryingly low grades or high grades? Is there a reason for that? Do any grades need adjusting? How have the students done? Are there unusually many or few who are getting a first class degree? How many requests of special circumstances were there, and how were they dealt with? (You can apply for special circumstances if, for instance, you are ill, you have a family bereavement, or similar things that might affect your performance, or your ability to even engage in academic work.) How many cases of academic integrity problems did we deal with, and how were they dealt with? And we nominate students for prizes.

When that's done, we have the big meeting with the external examiners. These have the ungrateful task of going through everything we do. All the modules, all module websites, all the assessments, the marking, the feedback: everything. And then they have to tell us what they think could and should be done better.

I always have something to do in these meetings as I am the academic integrity officer. And as well; the dissertation module always gets name-checked. We have three different external examiners for the three different directions we teach in, but they all, of course, look at the dissertation module, as that is done by everyone. And it is a tricky one as you are dealing with literally the entire academic staff. So that means a lot of herding cats! And some of them are not notoriously difficult to herd. So there is always an issue with consistency. And it is the most independent work the students do, and there are always students who really struggle with that.

The examiners tend to come with very useful advice. They have an outside view. Sometimes you are standing so close to the subject of your own module that you can't see anymore how else it could be, but they can. They were from three different universities (Liverpool, Southampton and Newcastle) so they all do things differently there. And we might as well steal their good ideas! Just as they steal ours I'm sure.

We have done the exam board meetings for the finalists, so the 3rd year BSc students and the 4th year students on the integrated masters. (There are also MSc students who do a project over summer and graduate in winter.) We'll have another exam board meeting for the non-finalists the week after.

When that's done we basically have the summer to implement all the changes that arose from these meetings. And then the whole circus starts again in September!

TNH

Yes I am doing it again. Blogging about the Thursday Night Hill session. This week it was going to be Waunfawr. I love that area! But I was a bit apprehensive. Last year we did a run there too, and it had been the only time someone had to pull out injured. She had slipped on mud and hurt her knee on a rock. And since my spring knee sprain, I have been more scared about injuries than usual, and my usual levels are already quite high. Additionally; the forecast for that day was rubbish. So all slipperiness would be extra slippery.

I drove up through quite heavy rain. When I arrived at the parking lot which was the meeting place, I saw there was an issue. A van was trying to negotiate the height barrier. It was either going to just fit, or just not fit. But nobody could get past while the trying was ongoing. A lot was attempted, including having three runners standing on the bumper, but in the end we gave up. The van parked outside the barrier.

Now we could get past and get ready. And when we set off I saw we seemed to be doing last year’s route backwards, with a steep bit first. Steep uphill is fine, though. And soon we were by an outcrop, in rain and strong wind, that overlooked last year’s incident site. Ominous! I was extra careful on the downhill. So much so Dyfed gestured at me to take a shortcut, together with the ladies who had the dog. Good idea! 

Running past ruins

Some bits were on asphalt or gravel roads. That worked for me! No fear there. But I stayed careful on the more precarious bits. And there was one descent on so much slippery mud I made everyone wait. Oh well! Better that than getting injured. And we had even had to wait for a bit for someone else on Moel Tryfan. Nobody minded. So I know it’s ok. 

In the fog at Moel Tryfan

We did one bit northeast of the road from Waunfawr to Rhyd Ddu. That was entirely new to me! It was pretty. But it was getting late and I needed the toilet. Fortunately, at least I had jelly babies with me this time (after forgetting them last time). 

Some route I was unfamiliar with 

When we were back I was relieved I had managed another week without incident! I hope I will get some of my fellow running confidence back over time. I never had much, but now it’s really low. Time will tell! Hopefully another step in that direction next week…

Tuesday track

When I became a member of the Eryri Harriers , I saw that there are lots of training possibilities. There is the Thursday Night Hill sessions I regularly attend, and the Monday training and Wednesday training I each did once. The Monday training wasn't really fit for me, but the Wednesday training was. I just did not want to have another evening commitment after my Tuesday Welsh class and Thursday runs. There was also track training on Tuesday, but obviously, that clashed with Welsh class so was out of the question.

Welsh class has now finished. And I had bailed out of the Tuesday night fell race series anyway. So I figured I could do Track Tuesday! And it would help that I knew that my colleague Chris would be there too. So in the office I changed into my running kit, and biked to the track. There I figured I could start doing some laps as a warmup. In the blazing sun. 

When it got to 6 o'clock I asked some loitering people if they were also there for Track Tuesday, and they were. So I was at the right place. And then I saw Chris appear. I joined him for another lap of warmup. And at the end of that, he introduced me to the instructor.

Picture from The Track Tuesday Facebook page

Soon we started. We first did some short drills, where we moved a few tens of meters in a particular way; doing walking lunges, or skipping with knees high; that sort of thing. And then we got to the real training. It had been announced on the app what the drill would be: 2×800 m with a two minute break, then 4×400 meters with a one minute break, and then 8×200 meters with a 30 second break. We were expected to do that in single file. People started to line up, and Chris pushed me in somewhere and said "I think you should be about here”. And we set off! 

I was a bit uncertain about it all. We had been warned against racing each other. No looming at someone’s shoulder as it might stress them out. And I had people behind me! Now I had to go fast enough for them to not get frustrated. When I had done the 800 m I saw there had only been one person behind me. Not a whole train! Phew. And when I wanted to get further towards the back nobody would let me. It turned out Chris had placed me perfectly! 

Picture from The Track Tuesday Facebook page

Then we did the rest and I relaxed. But also made some effort! That was the whole point, after all. I ended up in a fairly fixed position. It was good! I enjoyed it. 

When we had done the last 200 m the instructor told us to take off our socks and shoes, and line up, flat on our bellies on the grass in the centre of the track. He had a last trick up his sleeve: when he blew his whistle, we had to jump up and run as fast as we could to the other side of the cone-demarcated field. We did that ten times. Then we were done! 

It had been good! I had run some 8km in total, but quite differently from how I normally run that distance. I chatted a bit with some fellow runners and then headed home. 

I intend to be back next week! This is useful and fun, and logistically easy, as the track is only half a mile from my commute. So this might be a regular occurrence from now on…

Taking all day to marshal for half an hour

When I was car sharing with Anna, who is heavily involved in the organisation of the Eryri Harriers, she asked if I was available for the Welsh Castles Relay. It would be in early June. I doubted it. At the time, it wasn't quite clear when the annual family reunion would be, but that weekend was a serious contender, and in addition, that would also be the weekend in which Jaco would turn 60. These two things in combination were already worrying me! And plans for Jaco’s birthday hadn't been made yet, but it was very likely it would get in the way. So I said no.

The family reunion in the end was the weekend before. And while I was in the Netherlands for that, I received a message from Marjan: the birthday dinner she had planned was cancelled for reasons of a funeral. Oh no!

With all that, I certainly was available that weekend, but it was too late to register to run. But then a message came through from the Harriers. Two marshals had had to pull out. They desperately needed replacements. So I volunteered. And it would be all day, but well, so be it. 

The marshalling came with car sharing with one of our two chairpersons: James. I didn't know him very well. I figured that might change that day…

At 7:30 I was ready to roll. So was James, who picked me up from home. So we set off. It's a long way! We had to go all the way to Merthyr Tydfil. And that took about 3.5 hours. A lot of talking about running took place. And about a few other things. Time went by quite quickly! 

We were heading for the start of the leg of the relay race we would be marshalling. We had been given a postcode and a 'what three words' code. We got to a rather full car park, but it didn’t seem the right one. There was another one down the hill where we found a spot. It didn’t have the right name, though. But we were deep in the Bannau Brycheiniog and there was no signal of any kind. We walked to the other parking lot to see if that helped. And then we just settled on the other one, waiting for the others to turn up. 

It was a long time since breakfast and I was ravenous. I sat down for combined elevensies and lunch. James went to the other car park again to catch any Harrier ending up there. I would stay put and catch those coming my way. 

Making myself comfortable while waiting for the other marshals

By the time everyone had reached ‘our’ car park the race was about to begin. We had to hurry! And we got an escort from a local. Probably just as well. We dropped the various marshals at their stations. James and I were towards the end. We would guide the runners over a T-junction. They would come charging down a tiny sloping road onto a flat, much bigger road. We were there mainly for safety, but also for showing the way, and general encouragement. 

After a while we saw the first runner. It had begun! We cheered and clapped and pointed. We barely had any traffic to deal with. 

We were about a mile from the finish, so the field was quite spread out. And there was one runner we actually knew: Eryri Harrier Sam. There were only 61 runners in the race, so even spread out it didn't take very long for all of them to pass. I think we were only on station for half an hour! And then our job was done again. We had driven 160 miles for that.

Sam coming around the corner 

We convened with the other nearby marshals. There was some handing out of T-shirts and thank-you presents. The latter from Anna! That was very sweet of her. I got some lovely chocolates.

Then we all had it off. We obviously had a long way to drive back. And it was even longer than the way down, as there was more traffic on the road. I got a rather yawny, and James said he would've struggled if he wouldn't have had a passenger. That made me feel a bit better about having sacrificed my entire day to half an hour of clapping.

I was home by about 6 pm. But I did find good news when I got there; there was a WhatsApp group with people involved in the race, and Nia-Meleri, the other chairperson, had talked to the race organisation, and negotiated that next year, the Eryri Harriers can do all their marshalling tasks in the north. That will save us the soul-destroying and climate-destroying slog all the way down to South Wales! Excellent. 

So what about next year? Well! If our family reunion ends up in that weekend I will probably be ok with that. But if it isn't, I'd like to run. And that doesn't exclude marshalling; you can do both. I think there are six legs on each day, so as long as they are not consecutive, you can run one leg and marshal another. But we'll see! It is a long way away. But I must admit I have been slightly bitten by this bug…

Hiding my ugly chair better

When I lived in Amsterdam I bought a comfortable chair from a secondhand shop. It wasn't very big; I could just carry at home. It was very ugly, but if you drape a throw, or something that functions as such, over it you can't see that. It served me well.

It travelled with me to Norway and then Britain. And it obviously came to me in my current house. Where it fulfilled a very important function. Namely: comfortable chair in the living room. And that sounds obvious but it isn't. My living room has a notoriously narrow door. There's not that much furniture you can actually fit through that! But this chair did. And I appreciate a comfortable chair.

I kept these pieces of fabric over them with Celtic knots or trees of life or that sort of stuff; I suppose we all recognise them. You can buy them on open air markets and such. Are they ideal? No! They're not the prettiest, and they are also a bit too fragile to actually put your weight on. They rip. But they do the job for a while.

Then I ended up at Moel y Ci for reasons of bread. And they also had some sort of blanket on sale. It was handwoven and beautiful and even affordable. That was a chance I couldn't let's slip. I bought it!

It is not quite big enough to cover the entire chair, but it covers the bulk. And it does it beautifully. I'm really chuffed! I should sometimes go back to see if they sell more. I have two comfortable chairs in my living room, after all.

Sometimes it's a good thing that I can be a bit slow. I hadn't really made a particularly strong effort to replace the ripped throw with the Celtic knots. And that allowed me to still have the chair covering vacancy when I bumped into this local product. Excellent! A small purchase, but a conspicuous positive change in my living room.

Success! 

My camera just wouldn't capture the vivid colours of the blanket. This is an attempt to use a filter to make it happen after all. Still not a success! The red comes out now, but the green and yellow don’t…

Vanity project with medals

I had run myself another finishing medal. And the silver medal. Since my first medal in the 2011 Plymouth half marathon, I had just put my medals in the box and kept the box in a cupboard. But the box has become too small. And I have been thinking about just finding another box. But is a box really the best place to keep them?

I wondered if I should just hang them somewhere. And I considered if my storage space would be a good place. I could just all hang them from a bamboo stick; I have lots of these for garden purposes.

The next Saturday I started on my plan. I picked my biggest stick, and got my box of medals out of the cupboard. I figured I could for now hang it from the pipes running along the wall. That would have to be temporary, but it would do as a proof of concept.

I started to hang them up. Obviously, in chronological order. Soon I had to go up to my computer to get out my spreadsheet with all my races. I didn’t know off by heart in what exact order they came! Most medals give a year, but not even all of them. And if it's many years ago, you might have forgot when in the year. And one metal didn't give any information at all. Luckily, I remembered which race that was. 

Starting with 2011 and 2025, for balance

I managed to get them all in order, and it fits without effort. I know there will be still more coming in, but I can always shuffle them a bit closer together. For now I left a gap between Plymouth and Wales, and a gap for lockdown. My year in York did not result in any medals! I didn't find many races, and the ones I did find must have not done medals.

 

 

Concept proven! Races displayed…

 

I figured I probably should add the podium medals I have won as well, to go with the finisher medals they are associated with. That already means some shuffling around. But it makes sense to display them together.

I also should just drill two holes in the wall and put up fixings just for the bamboo rod. That's for the next weekend. I think it will be quite tidy in the end! And if I do so many races I run out of space, I might just have to choose another wall for an additional rod…

Taking a break from bread baking

My battle with my bread machine has not seen any progress. The bread still comes out too flat. And I was a bit tired of it now. I decided to take a break and buy a commercial loaf. If it would have been a working day I would've bought it from Dylan’s; they sell good stuff. But I'm not in Menai Bridge during the weekend, so I decided to go to Moel y Ci instead. I seemed to remember they sell good loaves as well.

Moel y Ci

When I got there on an overly wet Saturday morning I saw the only bread they had was from Becws Môn, who also stock my corner shop. But I think these choose different products to sell. I got a seeded sourdough, and I don't think my Londis sells that. So, still worth biking through the heavy rain for that.

It’s a big loaf so it will keep me going for days. And then I’ll be back at it. I will resume my baking and my battle. My next plan of action is to contact the manufacturer. I am also considering seeing if I can just buy another secondhand one. Clearly not all bread machines make bread to my liking, but if they don’t, I can sell them on. I might also bake another loaf in the old machine as a short term fix. This is not over! But at least I now had a weekend off normal-sized sandwiches…