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…

TNH Foel Gron

Am I going to blog about yet another TNH? Yes! It was bonkers as usual. 

On the parking lot there was a new lady who introduced herself. And she asked Dyfed where we were going that night. It was clear she was new! Dyfed is notoriously tight-lipped about what he has in mind for us. But I thought that whatever he would throw at us, I wouldn't have to face it alone: there was a lady who said she was terrible at going downhill. I found a soulmate!

We set off in the same direction as the last time, but quite soon we veered a bit further west this time. We crossed the valley to end up on the path to Maesgwm, but we immediately left it in order to stomp straight uphill. Typical! We followed the ridge to Foel Goch. There isn't much of a path there. And we also walked into the fog. But we reached the path that connects the various summits on the main ridge, and where I had been marshalling a few weeks ago. The views are amazing! 

Stomping straight up the hill

Good views though

By that time I figured we might go down over Moel Eilio, but I was wrong. We reached Bwlch Gwyn, and from there we just headed straight down. One of the guys asked "did anybody bring a cheese?" (For those who don't get this: we only recently had the cheese rolling competition in Gloucester.) In spite of all of us being careful, they were quite many people who fell over. There was one case of bruising, but I think that was the worst that happened. Fortunately! And indeed, the lady who said she was slow on the downhill indeed was. Together we reached the others who were waiting on a path on the west side of Llyn Dwythwch. And from there we were mostly on a path, and mostly not very steep. And then we got back to the cars.

Little ant people vanishing into the fog

The crazy descent

I, like several other people, had forgot to bring my snacks (jelly babies in my case), and was keen to get some sugar into my system. I was glad to get back to the car and reach my recovery drink. I also had water and electrolytes, but I decided not to bother with these. The midges were out! And we were all eaten alive. So we all went home quite quickly!

Another night of wild Dyfed ideas survived without injury! Success…

Llanrug 5k

I hadn’t done a regular 5k in ages! Only the recent Parkrun, and the Sbrint 'Stiniog which was so hilly it is quite in a different league from the more typical quite flat 5k. And the last one in that category I had done had been the Awyr Las race in 2014… and that is a bit of a pity, as it is quite a nice distance.

When I became a club runner I became aware of more races. One source was the club championship races. There are mountain and road championships. I am ignoring the former! But very interested in the latter. And there were two 5k races on the list of races that count towards it. And the first of the two was the Llanrug 5k. As soon as registration opened I made sure to get on that list.

It was an evening race, after work. And that meant one complication: food. You have to make sure you eat well before the race so you're not lugging your stomach content around. That can get quite uncomfortable! But work also has a say in when you can get around to sitting down for dinner. I ended up home a bit later than I intended, so also eating later than I intended. And I tried to eat a sensible amount, which wouldn't be much. I'm not quite sure if I managed it!

I drove up, got my number, and did a little warmup. I was burping proficiently! That's what you get if you have eaten too recently. I also saw many familiar faces: Sam and Anna, and Tinka, and Nia Meleri with her whole family, from the club. And more. Some of my warm-up I ran with Mary. And then it was time to gather at the start.

At the Parkrun I had started too far in the back, and had been surrounded by slow people. I didn't want that this time. I went off quite fast. Sometimes it pays off! I had had the same strategy at the Felinheli 10k. 

I might have overdone it. I was getting tired quite quickly! But then it was just a matter of just keeping going. I think I was breathing heavily for about 4.5 of the 5 km. Oh well! That will teach me. And in the meantime I was just taking in the route. It was nice!

Early on in the race

I was glad when I got to the 4 km sign. Only 1 km to go! I really had to drag myself along now. And when I got really close to the finish I heard something behind me. I half-turned and saw something green. Probably an Eryri Harrier! If you have to be overtaken just before the finish anyway, then the best people to do it is them, but I still try to avoid it. I managed to squeeze out a bit of an acceleration.and stayed ahead. 

I was so tired when I crossed the finish. And it's not as if I had been fast! My time was 22:24. I had been faster on that Parkrun I didn't take seriously! I had clearly misjudged this. Oh well. At least it felt good that I had thrown out everything I had.

The green shirt behind me had been Arwel. I think we have a bit of rivalry going on! I tend to finish quite close to him. And if I'm having a good day, I finish just before him. Three seconds faster at the Ellesmere Port Borders League! I suppose this time he might have just had a worse day than me...

I found a bunch of other Harriers behind the finish and had a little chat. But then it started to rain. Time to go and get a jacket. But by the time I had come back to my bag, and drank my recovery drink and a bottle of sports drink, I figured I might as well stay put. Probably, pretty much everyone would have finished by now, and everyone else would be coming in as well for the prize ceremony. 

There was plenty of opportunity to clap for fellow Harriers. The top three of women consisted entirely of them! With Anna first and Tinka third. I had been so slow I wasn’t even close to a category win. But that's okay. And I just drank a second bottle of recovery drink. I had once won several tubes of these tablets you can just chuck in water and le voilá, electrolytes sorted; might as well use the time for avoiding the next day’s dehydration headache. 

Immediately after this ceremony there was another one. This was by Welsh Athletics. I didn't really know what it meant. But they started handing out lots of medals, quite many of them to people I knew. And then I got a silver medal in my age category. That's nice! No idea what for but I was chuffed.

Happy with my cryptic medal

(The next day it became clear that this race was the North Welsh regional 5k championship, and I had been the second fastest club runner in my category.)

By then it was time to go home. I really wanted a shower! And it was getting late. On the way to the car Tom came by in a group of road bikers. That was a surprise! He didn't really have nice weather for it. But I could now go and have my necessary shower…

Back into the marking and the academic integrity work

I had said the marking load this semester was quite manageable! And that is true. But that didn’t mean it was quiet when I got back from the Netherlands.

One thing that I had to quickly get back to was my academic integrity cases. I had to try to get these dealt with asap. We need to know by the exam board meetings what the final grades are, so also grades affected by penalties for breach of university regulations. But this was a busy semester for it. So busy that I even managed to deal with two cases in one goal. One student had been flagged up with the same issue in two different assignments within such a short timespan we might as well deal with them in one go. And we did!

I was wondering if we have just reached a moment in time when a large proportion of the students is familiar with AI, and might use it, but that quite a lot of them are not familiar enough with it to make sure they don't end up committing academic malpractice with it. If I'm right then the students will only use it more in coming years, but at least use it better.

But anyway. There wasn't only academic integrity to deal with. Also some managing of other staff. Not everybody had finished their dissertation marking, not everybody had filled out the right forms, not everybody had remembered to give their students a grade for their dissertation journal. And our external examiners were already on the scene; they needed to have access to all this information as well. 

It also turned out to that quite a lot of us had failed to sort out moderation for all assignments. Some of them don't lend themselves to moderation; some are MCQ tests marked by computers, and others are double marked. However; even these need to be moderated. And I had not asked anyone to moderate some of the assessments for which moderation is counterintuitive. And I was told that one of my moderators might have done the moderation, but not filled out the paperwork, so there was no paper trail of it. So more work to do!

In the end, academic integrity was clearly the big issue for me this week. And next week we will have the first exam board meeting. Hopefully it will all have been sorted by then!

Government fallen over

When the current Dutch government came into being, I don't think very many people thought they would sit out their term. I surely didn't. It didn't look particularly stable. The biggest party was Geert Wlders’ PVV, and that is one of those typical opposition parties that likes shouting from the sidelines, but doesn't appear particularly ready for government. Another participating party, the NSC, was so new it still had the price tag on. Would they be ready for this? And then there was the farmers’ party, the BBB, who only had existed for a few years, and had never been in power. So three out of four coalition partners were rather untested. The best bet seemed to be Rutte’s VVD, and that says something. 

When I was in the Netherlands I did chat with some people about politics. Wilders had been shouting things again. He wanted something related to immigration, and if he wouldn’t get it he would leave the coalition in July. But he seems to have shouted things like that before, without following it through. 

Then I got back. I arrived in the early evening. I snuggled the cat, went for a run (I was dying for exercise after 12 hours in a train), unpacked my bag, and went to bed. 

The next morning I got ready to go to work, and I noticed there was news. The government had toppled over! Wilders had pulled the plug early. What? I was only early June. What was that? Suddenly our cabinet was demissionary. (No, I don’t know if there is such a word, but there should be.) I saw that the leader of the VVD had said she figured that by pulling out right now, Wilders had handed government back to the left on a silver plate. I do hope she’s right! I’ll be flexing my voting muscles again. They’ll be needed quite soon! 

Back to Wales

By the time I booked, the trains at reasonable times had sold out. I could get a ticket for the 7:10 from Amsterdam. That would have to do! 

My last activity would be my sister’s birthday, so it would make sense to sleep there. And one of her sons would leave that night for his student digs in Amsterdam anyway, so there was a bed free. I would need to get the 6:15 train, and it’s only just short of half an hour’s walk to the station. So I was just going to get up and sneak out of the house. I would have breakfast in the train or something.

It worked out that way! I didn’t sleep well, as is typical for someone who knows they have to get up exceptionally early, with unpleasant repercussions if that fails. I woke up even earlier than planned, and decided to just go. 

I had a coffee on the platform, and ate a sandwich. In Amsterdam I used a public water tap point for filling up my water bottles. And then I went on a wild goose chase. Eurostar says you should go to the UK terminal, which is on the south end of the station, whether you travel via Brussels or not. An information sign at the (then closed) terminal said that no, the Eurostar to Brussels leaves from platform 15a, on the north end of the station. Platform 15a said the train would leave from platform 8. Is this a practical joke or something.

The rather new UK terminal

Once I was at the right platform things became more straightforward. The train arrived on time, and wasn’t too busy. I got some work done in comfort, and got to Brussels on time. There I got through security and passport control without issues. I had cheese in my bag (oops, had forgot that isn’t allowed anymore) but they didn’t notice. And I didn’t have to prove my settled status. 

The train left some 10 minutes late. That still allowed for catching my connection in Euston. Easy! I also went to the loo and bought a newspaper. I could have done a lot more; the train from Euston ended up half an hour late. Annoying! But at least the train was comfortable. And the train terminated in Crewe rather than Chester. Altogether I had a 1 hour delay, bringing travel time to just over 12 hour. Not too bad, really! But I was really glad to be home again…

Rest of trip to the Netherlands

That was it again! My spring visit to the Netherlands. In addition to the family day I also visited my mother, Monique, and Roelof, and I went to my sister’s birthday. At my mum’s I did a nice run. And we did the usual catching up over coffee and wine.

When I was at Monique’s, her (our) old friend Jasper was there too. He lives in Amsterdam, but they joke he has a holiday home in Drenthe. He’s at their place so often!

At Roelof’s we had an additional Erik. And we started thinking about the next swamp hike, the previous edition of which Erik couldn’t make. It looks like we at least have a date! Not quite yet a destination. 

My sister’s birthday was lovely. I know her friends (and relatives of her husband) a bit so I am not among strangers. And the ones I don’t know always turn out nice as well. So that was good! And an outdoor occasion. The weather was lovely. 

My sister’s cat. I didn’t take many pictures while I was in the Netherlands! 

That was it again for this spring! And the next thing to do once home is booking my next trip… 

Family reunion 2025

This year’s family reunion would be a bit of a re-run of the 2015 edition. My dad’s youngest brother would organise it, in the far south of the country. And the main activity would be to paddle down the river Meuse. 

I had organised to travel down with my sister and her family. It’s nice if you can use the travel time as social time as well. That worked fine. But the roads were full of holiday traffic. We would clearly be late. And we imagined we wouldn’t be the only ones. 

We got there in the end. And coffee and cake was waiting for us in my uncle Karel’s garden. He lives in such a gorgeous place! He spent decades doing up an old farm and he made it idyllic. And we could start catching up with those relatives we knew well, like my cousin Sandra’s family (she visited twice!) and we sometimes meet up between family reunions. And with those we didn’t, like the Canadian branch of the family. My cousin Jelleke aka Caroline (long story) moved to Canada a long time ago, got married there and had some kids, but now lives in the Netherlands again. We don’t know for how long. 

Detail of Karel’s house 

We weren’t the only ones who were late. We therefore had to get to the kayak/canoe/raft place a bit later. But we distributed ourselves over the vessels and set off. I ended up with Jelleke, two of her kids, my dad, and my other cousin (Jelleke’s sister) Sandra’s son Booker. A stellar team!

Getting started

Our raft in action

We weren’t overly coordinated. We did a fair number of unplanned pirouettes. But it didn’t matter! I had a good time. And we did get to a spot where we stopped for a picnic. 

After the picnic we made our way to the end point, where we pulled our vessels ashore again. From there we would go back to the start by e-scooter. (Except the very young and very old.) for most of us it was a debut. Speed preferences varied! But we were just following the river, so I didn’t think it would a problem to spread out. 

The whole family, and the Meuse

I got the hang of it! And made my way back without issues. There we had to wait for the stragglers. And it turned out some scooters had run out of battery power, and one of us had managed to take a wrong turn after all. Oh dear. We already were late! It got worse now. 

Scootering back

When we were all back we quickly made our way back to Karel’s. He sorted out lasagne for all. And we had more time for catching up. But it’s a 200 km drive or more for everyone, so we didn’t linger too long. Luckily, the roads were much quieter than on the way out. I went back to my mum’s. And this time, I went straight to bed! It was late. But it had been a good day! 

Getting to the Netherlands

Taking the train to the Netherlands is a bit of a gamble. Often it all works smoothly. Sometimes it doesn’t.

This time my trip started in an unusual way. I first met up with my cat-sitter. She didn’t mind that meant having to show up at 7am. I showed her the house and the cat, then we had a cuppa, and then I left. 

All went well to London. I read some book, read some newspaper, did some marking. And spent quite some time on email, sorting out dissertation marking-related issues. And that way I also got to Brussels. And then it stopped going well. My onwards train was delayed! Bummer. First by a bit. Then more. And more.

For a while I just sat on an open air part of the platform, reading. The good thing about a delay in Brussels on the way out is that you are free to suffer it wherever you want. On the way back it doesn’t work like that; once you’ve gone through passport control you are legally, but not physically, in the UK, and they can’t let you roam free on Belgian territory anymore. Only some airless lightless waiting room is at your disposal. Later I went to an information screen to keep an eye on progress. My mailbox and the screen didn’t agree! 

Riding through cloudy Wales

Too much time to admire Brussels

I got chatting with a family from Colorado who were even more confused than me. At least I could understand the platform announcements. They were on their way to Amsterdam and appreciated some (outdated) insider information. And in the end the screen admitted defeat, agreed with the mail, and announced our train. It appeared 1:20 h late.  

Things had been a bit tight as they were. I would initially get to Amsterdam at about 9. Then I can be at my mum’s at about 10. And I would already have to be in the train towards the family reunion at 9 AM the next day. With the delay I had I knew it would be WAY beyond my bedtime by the time I got to a bed. Oh well! 

Hollands Diep from the train

I made good use of the rest of the journey as well. And apart from realising I had forgot my train card, bought an online ticket, and totally failed to import that into the Dutch Railways app, all went well from there. And my mum was still up when I walked in. Delayed success, but success anyway! 

Pre-cat sit clean

I was planning on coming to the Netherlands again. I had to book it a bit late; the reason why I would travel then and not at any other date was the annual family reunion. And first my uncle was a bit in denial about that he had volunteered to host it, and then he was a bit in two minds on which weekend he would do it. But he had decided, I had booked, and the next thing to do then is to sort out arrangements for the cat.

I put my trip on the trusted housesitter website. And then nothing happened! I figured I was going to have to do without and I already asked the neighbour, and Susan, and Chris. Chris is the colleague/fellow Eryri Harrier/fellow cat person in the neighbourhood I had already done cat sit duties for.

Then I got an application after all. And I video-called with the lady. She seemed nice! And we agreed she would take on the job. So I could call off the other people. But now I did have to make my house look acceptable. I am barely a domestic goddess! But there was suitable rainy weekend day, and I made the whole ground floor and lower floor look impeccable by my standards. I didn't quite get to the top floor! But on one side that's just the bedroom she wouldn't sleep in anyway, and on the other side it is the office. She might very well use the office, but I hope she can work in a room that hasn't been hoovered in a while.

Look! The plank some of my bathroom plants live on, without dust!

I did consider to have it done professionally, but decided against. I should probably just get used to doing more of this myself. And telling other people what to do also takes time. 

In the end, I was happy with the result. I hope the cat-sitter is too. Let’s hope this works out well again!