Holidays

Hi everyone,

Well, I'm back from both my holidays now - yes that's right both: I actually went on holiday twice! Last time I teased you with a couple of photos and asked where you thought I'd been: there were a lot of good guesses: Ana Paula was close when she guessed a zoo, but Hania, Anita and Rabail were spot on (oh, and of course James, who guessed "on the earth"!). Actually, I never left England: I drove to Dorset, which is a county in the south west of England. On the way I took the scenic route via Longleat and visited the safari park there. Back in 1966 it opened as a drive-through safari park: it was the first one of its kind in the world (outside Africa), where the animals roamed free and the visitors were in cages (cars!!). Lord Bath, who owned Longleat House had already opened the house to the public, but he needed to raise more money, so decided to introduce lions to the English countryside. Of course, they do not roam completely free, but are in large enclosures. I wonder what the locals thought back then, when they heard there would be lions living on their doorstep? Nowadays you can see not just lions, but tigers, rhinos,



giraffes, wolves



and monkeys. Apparently the lions are very adaptable and have no problem living in England! What do you think about zoos and safari parks? Do you think it's right to take animals away from their natural habitat?

Back to the subject of holidays! So, for my first holiday, I took my Mum with me and we had a lovely time exploring the countryside and being real "grockles". Here we are at a beauty spot called the Blue Pool.



We stayed in a self-catering cottage. British people have plenty of choices when they go on holiday here: hotels, guest houses, B&B, camping, a caravan or holiday camp. Personally, I prefer self-catering : it gives you the freedom to come and go whenever you like: to eat when and where you want to and gives you a lot more space to call your own! Where do you stay when you go on holiday?


Talking of beauty spots (can you talk in a blog or should it be "writing"?): for my second holiday I spent 5 days in Cornwall. Lovely weather and nice long walks, which are a good time to think about what to write in the blog! Actually, I was also thinking about what subject to choose for the crossword next week. Someone suggested "holidays", so if you look here on Friday 12 June, you should see a crossword about the language of holidays! * I was trying to decide which words to include in the crossword and "beauty spot" seemed like a good one - it came to me when I was sitting here eating my lunch....I wonder why? ;-)



Looking forward to hearing about your favourite beauty spot and where you go on holiday!

Take care

Carrie

spot on: absolutely right; correct
scenic route: to take the pretty, quiet, back roads to get somewhere. You can also make a joke if you get lost: "Of course I know where I'm going - I'm just taking the scenic route!"
safari park: a park where wild animals are allowed to roam free and visitors can see them from their cars
locals: people who live somewhere that tourists visit (a "local" is also another name for a pub)
grockle: a word from the south and south-west of England used by locals to mean a tourist or holidaymaker. It's not particularly polite!
beauty spot: a very pretty place. It can also mean a dark spot or mole on a woman's face
self-catering: accommodation where you cook and clean for yourself
B&B: short for "Bed and Breakfast": a guest house that provides a bedroom and breakfast each morning. Full board means that all the meals are provided.
holiday camp: very British! This is a resort for families that includes accommodation, entertainment and other facilities. Visitors stay in chalets or caravans.
it came to me: I had an idea


*if you have any suggestions for subjects for the crossword, please send them in: there's a link on the front page of each crossword.

Just to tease you...

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your comments on my last couple of posts: I've loved hearing about all the traditions. Our Minister has read all the comments and is really excited that some of you are going to suggest using the "Christmas tree to Cross" idea in your own churches. James: she said thank you for saying she's quite a guy....but she definitely a "gal" ;-)

Cheikh: there are certainly lots and lots of superstitions in the UK: probably the most common one is saying "Touch wood" when you hope that something will happen e.g. "I'll be home by 7 o'clock, touch wood" - and then making sure you do actually touch a piece of wood when you say it. If they can't find a piece of wood to touch, people will often touch their own head (implying it's made of wood!).

Lena: we have a female minister in our church: the Methodist Church was one of the first to accept women as ministers, so for us this is nothing new. I think male and female ministers bring different characteristics to the job. In the Methodist church, we don't have the same preacher each Sunday - our own minister has two churches, so she preaches at our church one week and on the alternate week she preaches at the other church. In between we have visiting preachers - that way we hear different things each week. Women had a different role in society when Jesus was alive, so all his disciples were men. Nowadays, I think he would have chosen some women too. What do you think?

Anyway, this is going to be a short blog, as I have just come back from holiday. I noticed that Callum hasn't written yet, so I thought I'd get in! Here's the teaser. These are a couple of my holiday snaps. Can anyone guess where I've been?





Take care

Carrie

gal: a girl/woman (US English) - guys and gals: boys and girls!
teaser: a question to make you think - to tease you
snaps: photos

My Dad!

Hi everyone,

Callum was going to blog today to answer all your comments and update you, but I've sneaked in. Callum and James will be back next week.

Today is a special day: my Dad would have been 100 years old today. He was born on 7 May 1909, in Essex, just to the north east of London. His father came from Essex, but his mother was Welsh: I often wonder how they met, because in those days people didn't travel very far - how did a poor young woman from Wales end up on the other side of the country? When my Dad was still quite young, the First World War broke out and his father joined the Royal Flying Corps as a mechanic (you might remember I mentioned my grandfather in an earlier blog). My grandmother and the 3 children (my Dad, his older brother and younger sister) all moved back to Wales to live with my grandmother's family in a small town called Penmaenmawr. My father loved the countryside and rambling, and I think this love of the outdoors probably started during his youth in Wales*. In fact, my parents met in the 1950's through a rambling club. They both belonged to different branches of the same club and the groups would meet occasionally for a joint ramble in the countryside around London.



My Dad had a wonderful sense of direction: I'm sure he wouldn't have thought much of satellite navigation systems: he would have stuck to his trusty maps. Actually, I inherited his love of maps: I'd much rather look at a map and find my own way than have an electronic voice telling me what to do. Just think about all the other amazing innovations that have happened in the last 100 years: the computer, the internet, man walking on the moon, the microwave, DVDs, CDs, rock and roll...the list goes on. What would be your favourite invention of the last 100 years?

After the First World War, the family moved back and my Dad went out to work, as he was the main breadwinner for the family (both his older brother and father had died). During the Second World War, he worked as a fireman in London, which was a hard and dangerous job.



He lived with his sister and her family not far from where I live now and seems to have been a confirmed bachelor - until he met my Mum that is!

Although I was still quite young when he died, I have wonderful memories of him. I was a real "Daddy's girl" and probably a bit spoilt ;-).





One memory that still makes me laugh is from one Bonfire Night (5th November).



In those days, most people bought their own fireworks and set them off in the back garden. We were sharing fireworks with some neighbours and my dad and I were getting really excited. We must have had cake for tea, because we were in the living room and on the table there were two big tin lids. My Dad picked them up and started using them as cymbals, banging them together over his head. Suddenly there was a loud crash and the room went dark. Can you guess what had happened? In his enthusiasm, he had banged the tin lids together.....right on the light bulb hanging from the ceiling and smashed it! My Mum was not pleased.

If he had still been around today, he would have received a card from the Queen. Anyone who is 100 qualifies for a card which says "I am pleased to know that you are celebrating your 100th birthday. I send my congratulations and best wishes to you on such a special occasion. Elizabeth R". If you reach the age of 105 you get another card and after that you get a card every year. Even the Queen Mother (our Queen's mother) received one of these cards when she reached 100!

Take care

Carrie

Welsh: someone born in Wales is Welsh. Welsh is also the language
to break out: to start
rambling: walking for pleasure in the countryside
sense of direction: knowing which way to go without using a compass or a map
breadwinner: a person who earns money to feed and care for their family
confirmed bachelor: a man that no-one expects to get married

*Penmaenmawr is close to Snowdonia where Kaz went walking earlier this year.

A great adventure

Hello everyone, how are you? My name’s Callum and I’ve been working for BBC English and BBC Learning English for over 10 years, but this my first blog.

Life is full of adventures and I want to tell you about my latest adventure. The greatest adventure I’ve ever embarked on. The adventure of parenthood.

Just over 5 weeks ago I had my first child. Well, I didn’t have him, my wife did – but you know what I mean.

At 3.40 on a Thursday morning James arrived into this world peacefully and quietly. I was expecting there to be lots of screaming and crying, but he was very calm.

The emotions of those moments after his birth were overwhelming. Physical and mental exhaustion, elation, relief and a tidal wave of unconditional love. He was so tiny and cute and helpless and he was ours, we had made him.

You realise at that moment life has changed forever; nothing will ever be the same. All your priorities have shifted because now this little baby is the most important thing in the world and everything you do from that point forward is for him.

As we’re discovering it’s not easy being the parent of a newborn. There are so many things you have to learn really quickly, like how to hold him, how to feed him, how to change him, how to clean baby poo from the carpet, how to get him to sleep and most importantly – how to stop him from screaming and crying!

There is so much advice out there and so much help available that it’s actually confusing. A lot of the advice is contradictory. So we’re trying to find our own way mostly and find our own routine. It’s still very early days but we think we are getting there. However, if you have any really good tips on how to get a baby to sleep I’d be interested to hear them!

Now he’s five weeks' old and getting bigger every day. He loves his food. He’s beginning to react more to his surroundings – following things with his eyes, for example. He seems to learn new things every day, as do I.

The next days, months and years will be a real adventure. I’m sure it’ll be a roller-coaster ride. I’m looking forward to his first real smile (he does smile now, but it’s more than likely just wind at his age!) his first words, his first steps etc etc.

But I have to be patient, these things will come soon enough, until then there’s a lot of feeding, cleaning, changing and cuddling to do!

Some vocabulary from this blog:

embarked on
started

overwhelming
so strong that they couldn't be controlled

elation
great happiness

a tidal wave of unconditional love
a very powerful feeling of natural love

your priorities have shifted
the things you thought were important are not the same

contradictory
saying the opposite

a roller-coaster ride
an experience with many emotional high and low points

Socks, superstitions and traditions

Hi everyone,

Thank you all so much for the comments. I don't know about you, but I found it fascinating to learn about all the different superstitions from around the world. It got me thinking about what the difference is between a superstition, habit and tradition. I guess a superstition is something you do to bring good luck or ward off bad luck. A superstitious belief can be personal or held by many other people in your village, city or country. A habit is something you do because you've always done it that way. It's personal: something you do. The book I read (the one which said that most people put their left sock on first) meant this was a habit, rather than a superstition. Nothing bad will happen to you if you put on your right sock first (which is just as well, as most of you put on your right sock first, it seems!) Like Happyma, I put my left sock on first because it's easier to balance on my right leg than my left. I'm right handed: maybe that makes a difference!

I guess all superstitions and traditions have to start somewhere. We tend to think that superstitions are old. I'm not sure. I've been trying to think of superstitions that involve computers or cars, but I can't! Do you think there are any new superstitions?

Traditions, on the other hand, can start at any time. As we've just celebrated Easter, I thought I'd quickly tell you about a new tradition we have in our church. I'm a Methodist: that's a protestant denomination: it's a breakaway church from the main Church of England. Instead of having a vicar or a priest, we have a minister who leads our church. The minister can either be a man or a woman. Every 5 years or so, the minister moves to another church, so when a new minister arrives, they bring new ways of doing things. Our current minister has started several new traditions in our church: this is my favourite:

At Christmas we have a real Christmas tree (as opposed to an artificial tree). It's a big tree, as you can see!



It stands in our church from mid December to 6 January, when we take it down. The branches are then chopped off and the trunk is stored in the garden until Easter. Just before Good Friday, the trunk is cut in to two pieces and made in to a cross, which is then taken back into the church.



On Easter Sunday morning, during the service, some of the children come in with baskets of flowers. Everyone in the congregation is invited to come up, take one of the flowers and put it on the cross



The cross is transformed from a bare, dead tree in to something beautiful, symbolising that from death comes new life. It also shows a link between the birth of Jesus at Christmas and His death and resurrection at Easter.




Finally, after the service, the cross is carried outside


and put up facing the street, so that everyone going by can see it



Don't you think that's a lovely tradition?

Do you have any traditions? Maybe a family tradition that is unique to your family? Or maybe a tradition from your school?

Take care


Carrie

DZungTran: What happens if you go back home, come out again and see another lady: do you have to go back home again?

Anita: Hmmmm. Not sure on your brother-in-law's logic ;-). I also believe that bad luck comes in threes! Thank you for your Easter wishes to us all.

Anita and Vladimir: isn't it interesting that you both have similar superstitions: Anita has to sit down if she comes back to the house and Vladmir has to look in the mirror.

Daria: Glad you liked the socks. As you can see, I've worn them so much, I have a problem. I've just washed them one more time and am now going to get the Rangers to turn them in to puppets!

Olya: Someone once gave me a horseshoe (made of glass) for the office and we had a long discussion about which way it should hang. He thought, like you, that the ends should be up to stop the luck running out. But someone else said should point downwards so that the Devil couldn't sit in it! Oh dear.

ward off: to protect against
congregation: the group of people who attend a church service

How do you put on your socks?

Hi everyone,



Last week I was reading in a book that, when getting dressed, the majority of people put on their left sock first, and then their right sock. It was something I'd never thought about before, but the next morning, sure enough, I put on my left sock first!

That started me thinking about other strange habits and superstitions. For example, did you know that at Wimbledon, Bjorn Borg (who won Wimbledon 5 times) wouldn't shave from the first day of the tournament until the day he was knocked out? But he shaved during most other tournaments. Goran Ivanisevic did even stranger things in 2001 when he won Wimbledon: he had 10 different rituals he had to perform before every match - one of which was to watch the children's TV programme Teletubbies. Apparently his favourite character was Tinky Winky!



I wouldn't say I was very superstitious, but there are some things I do without fail. If I spill salt, I pick up a pinch and throw it over my left shoulder (in the eye of the devil). If I see a magpie - just one magpie - I say "Good morning (or afternoon) Mr Magpie. How and where is Mrs Magpie today?" This makes me look a bit mad if there are other people around! However, if I'm with friends, it's OK, because they all do it too. By the way, it's fine if you see two magpies together, because that is supposed to be lucky. There's a rhyme about magpies that goes:

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told
Eight for a wish
Nine for a kiss
Ten for a time of joyous bliss



My Mum thinks it's very unlucky to put a pair of new shoes on the table and I have numerous friends who won't walk under a ladder (although that may just be being sensible, rather than superstitious.) Actually, the most superstitious person I know is my Auntie. If she sees a white horse, she has to lick her finger, mark a cross on her shoe and not look back at the horse! That has to be one of the strangest rituals ever: I wonder how it started?

Anyway back to my original question: how do you put on your socks? And do let me know about any strange habits or rituals that you have.

Take care

Carrie

a habit: something you do all the time, usually without even thinking about it e.g. she has a really bad habit of biting her nails
without fail: to make sure you do something every time; without chance of failure

P.S. Have a go at our crossword about superstitions here

Rubbish!

Hi everyone!

First of all, I'd better start with a confession. You know the photo of me tossing a pancake in Kate's blog? Well, actually I didn't catch that one....a split second later, that lovely pancake was a soggy mess on the floor! Oh dear.

As you know, we're right in the middle of Lent at the moment - a time when Christians give something up. Last year I gave up carrier bags. I know it is traditional to give up something like chocolate or cigarettes, but in 2008 (and again this year), some of the UK's religious and political leaders and the charity Tearfund have asked people to take part in a carbon fast and cut their carbon footprint. This got me thinking about other green issues. For example, do you read a newspaper? If you do, what do you do with it when you have finished reading? Put it in the bin? Give it to someone else to read? Use it to line the rabbit hutch? Recycle it in some other way?

Here in London we have a growing problem with newspapers. There are three free papers - one in the morning and two in the evening - that are given away to commuters at railway and tube stations. They are free because the printing costs are met by advertising. As they only take about 20 minutes to read, they are ideal for the journey to and from work and are a great way to catch up with snippets of news, gossip, sport or to test your brain with the puzzles. Almost everyone on my train is reading a copy (or reading someone else's copy over their shoulder). The problem is that most people get off the train and just leave their copy on or under the seat.



Now, this may not seem like much of a problem, but when you think that every weekday in London around 1.6 million free papers are handed out, you can see that something needs to be done. Stations and train companies are having to employ more cleaners just to deal with the litter.



The newspaper publishers, the government and councils are running poster campaigns to encourage people to recycle papers by providing special bins in and outside stations



This morning I heard on the news that they are now talking about fining people just as you can be fined for dropping litter in the street.

However, some people have come up with an inventive way of recycling the papers: they are turning them in to works of art. You can see some examples here. Apparently these works of art are worth £1,200 each! What a great idea, I thought. So last week I collected all my papers and took them in to Guides and set the girls a challenge to create a work of art in 20 minutes. Here are some of the results. What do you think?


created by Amie, Fae, Isabelle, Jordan and Sophie


created by Anna, Isabel, Sandra and Sharifah


created by Chelsey, Elizabeth & Lucy

Now I'm passing the challenge on to you! Can you make a work of art out of an old newspaper? I'm afraid I can't give you £1,200, but I will put up a gallery of some of your creations on a future blog. Just take a photo of what you have made and send it to me at learningenglish@bbc.co.uk and put "Newspaper" in the title. I'm really looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Take care

Carrie

split second later: immediately
carrier bags: plastic bags used to carry shopping
carbon footprint: the amount of greenhouse gases someone produces by their activities - for example travelling in a plane or car
green: to do with saving the environment
rabbit hutch: a small wooden hut where a pet rabbit lives
snippets: little bits
litter: rubbish such as paper, food wrappers and cigarette butts
fining: to make someone pay money because they have done something wrong

Pancakes!

Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself - my name is Kate and I’m a new member of the English Language team here at BBC Learning English. I’m really enjoying my work here so far and luckily I arrived just in time for the launch of the new improved site! What do you all think of it? We’ve had some very positive comments from you so far, so do remember to keep them coming….

For my first blog I thought I’d write about ‘Pancake Day’ or as it’s also called ‘Shrove Tuesday’. Earlier this week lots of people in Britain celebrated the day by cooking, eating and tossing pancakes.

A traditional English pancake is made from mixture of flour, milk and eggs. A small amount of batter is fried in a frying pan to make very thin flat cakes which are then served and eaten immediately.You can eat pancakes with a variety of toppings but my favourite is simply lemon juice and sugar. Delicious!

Do you have pancakes in your country? What toppings or fillings are your favourite?

Pancake Day takes place on the Tuesday before Lent, which is the period of 40 days leading up to the Christian festival, Easter Sunday. You may know that Lent is a time of abstinence, or giving things up, so traditionally Shrove Tuesday was the last chance to indulge yourself by eating up all the rich food that was in the cupboard.

Are you giving up anything for Lent? Often people give up doing particular things they enjoy for example eating chocolate or drinking coffee.

Today, lots of people celebrate Pancake Day regardless of their religion or whether they observe Lent. Maybe it’s because pancakes are so delicious and fun to make.



Why not have a go? They’re very easy….here’s the recipe:

Ingredients
100g (4oz) plain flour
1 egg
300ml (1/2 pint) milk
optional pinch of salt

oil for frying

To serve:
caster sugar
lemon juice
lemon wedges

To make the pancake batter, sift the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the egg and beat well. Then add the milk gradually and beat to make a smooth batter.



Heat a little oil in a large frying pan until hot and then pour enough batter to thinly coat the base of the pan.



Cook for a couple of minutes on each side.







Serve immediately while it is still piping hot. You can sprinkle it with sugar and lemon juice or alternatively drizzle with honey or jam. Or you could just eat it on its own…..yummy!




Part of the fun of making pancakes is tossing them or flipping them over. If you’re good at it you can toss them high up into the air above you and they will fall in one piece on the side you want them to. (If you’re not so skilled though, they could end up on the ceiling or the walls so watch out!)

Why not have a go when you try out the recipe?


Here are some pictures of people tossing pancakes...





..and here's Carrie having a go..





...don't worry, she caught it again!

As well as cooking and eating pancakes, many people also take part in pancake races which are held all over Britain. The object of the race is to get to the finishing line first while flipping a pancake in a frying pan at the same time.

According to tradition, in the year 1445 a woman heard the shriving bell while she was making pancakes and ran to the church in her apron, still clutching her frying pan. This is where the idea for the pancake race is supposed to have originated from. Now I think about it, this seems like a very strange tradition indeed!

Another bizarre tradition involving food which springs to mind is the 'Tomatina', the world's largest tomato fight which takes place in the Valencia region of Spain. Every year, thousands of people throw more than 240,000 pounds of tomatoes at eachother. Very messy!



It is thought this tradition began in 1945 when a fight started among two young members of a carnival crowd. A vegetable stall was nearby in the town square and everyone started throwing tomatoes at each other. I wonder if this is true...?


Do you have any food-related traditional days in your country? We'd love to hear about them and the stories behind how they started - the stranger the better!

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Bye for now!

Kate

tossing a pancake: to quickly lift the frying pan in which a pancake is cooking so that the pancake goes up into the air and turns over

batter: mixture of flour, milk and eggs

toppings: types of food that go on top of other food (eg. pizza) to give extra flavour

fillings: types of food that go inside other food (eg. a sandwich or cake) to give it extra flavour

Lent: (in the Christian religion), the 40 days before Easter, a period during which some people stop doing particular things that they enjoy:

abstinence: to not do something

giving things up: to stop a habit such as smoking, drinking alcohol or eating chocolate.

indulge: to allow yourself to do something enjoyable

pinch of salt: a small amount of salt

lemon wedges: thick slices of lemon

piping hot: very hot

sprinkle: to scatter a small amount on the surface of something

drizzle: to pour slowly

flipping them over: to turn quickly

watch out!: be careful

Shriving bell: a bell which was originally rung on Shrove-Tuesday. Many housewives used it as a signal for putting the pancakes into the frying pan.

clutching: to hold something tightly

springs to mind: comes into my head

Snow

My blog starts at my local fishmonger’s in East London.

As my fishmonger handed me the quarter of fine smoked salmon I had just bought for my breakfast he asked, ‘Not going to work today?’. It was, after all, the day when the national news was full of severe weather warnings. Heavy snow was expected and a repetition of the previous Monday’s ‘Snow Chaos’ across London and the South-East of England, almost certain.



In London these days we rarely see snow and although we routinely use expressions like ‘to be snowed under’ (by work) most people would hardly imagine ever being ‘snowed in’ i.e. unable to travel or to move about because of too much snow. Well, the past week allowed many Londoners to experience the full meaning of the term ‘snowed in’. Tubes and buses across the city were suspended. People were unable to get to work. They weren’t literally ‘snowed in’ because many of them were able to get out and make snowmen in the streets or roll gigantic snowballs while trying to estimate their weight but travel in and out of town was not recommended.
My fishmonger was therefore assuming that perhaps I was bracing myself for another day of snowstorms – at the mercy of Mother Nature.
Imagine his surprise when I answered his question with the casual reply of, ‘No, I’m heading for Snowdonia’.
‘You’re having me on!’ he nearly choked, ‘Have you heard the weather forecast?’
Indeed I had, but with a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and smoked salmon and some warm mountain gear all nicely packed in my trusty rucksack, I felt ready to face the worst that nature with her elements could throw at me.

Anyway, time to explain about Snowdonia and me. Snowdonia is a National Park in Wales. It is home to Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales. In Old Welsh the top of Snowdon is called Yr Wyddfa, which means ‘the grave’. The English name Snowdon comes from the somewhat unimaginative Saxon name ‘Snow Dun’ meaning ‘snow hill’. Perhaps it’s the rather ominous Old Welsh term that draws thousands of walkers, climbers and scramblers to the mountain each year. I fall in the walker/scrambler category and for the past six years I’ve joined a group of like-minded and like-hearted men, who take a stroll in the peaks of Snowdonia roughly at the end of January each year.

‘Why at the end of January?’ you ask. Well, because it’s a chance to experience some extreme weather – and to enjoy some classic male bonding, in the face of adverse conditions.

So it was, that my brother-in-law and I headed North and then West towards Wales, a journey that took us five hours by car, to join our group of mountain enthusiasts.

To our surprise we left most of the snow behind just outside London and we didn’t see much snow again until we reached Snowdonia itself. It was getting dark and a frisky snow blizzard promised that the next day’s ‘walk’ up Snowdon was going to be interesting.

We stayed in a charming hotel called Pen-Y-Gwryd,



the very place where the British 1953 Everest expedition stayed while training before their historic conquest of Mount Everest.





The rooms are comfortable, the food and hospitality excellent. In front of a blazing log fire our group made plans for the following day’s ‘expedition’ up Snowdon.

There are several ways of getting up Snowdon. The easiest by far is the Glogwin railway that takes you to the summit in comfort. One reason for going up the mountain in winter is that the railway isn’t operational, forcing people to try the various other routes.

Bernie, our leader, and an experienced mountaineer, told us that in addition to our warm weatherproof clothing, good quality boots, flasks of tea and sandwiches we’d each also need an ice axe and crampons, neither of which I had. Indeed I’ve never had to use them, as most of my mountain walks happen at times when there’s no snow or ice.

The members of our group were of mixed mountain experience and profession. We consisted of engineers, educational psychologists, managers, computer programmers and me, an English teacher turned broadcaster.



We decided that we would take the Pyg track up the mountain with a careful eye on the weather. Most of us had been on this route several times before but with mountains no two walks are ever the same.





Gazing out across Snowdonia the following morning we knew we were going to be in for a treat. A low howling wind blew flurries of snow into our faces. We braced ourselves and set out.



We weren’t alone. The mountain was swarming with people taking advantage of the excellent snow and ice climbing conditions. Many were fully kitted out but we also saw people without ice axes and crampons.

An ice axe is essential; I learnt, to stop yourself sliding over a precipice, if you slipped on the ice – quite easily done under the conditions we encountered. Once you take a fall it’s impossible to stop yourself going over a cliff or getting smashed on jagged rocks and boulders. The art of using an ice axe correctly is to dig it into the snow or ice to stop you moving and to hang on for dear life! It’s a kind of brake rather than a chopper for hacking up ice, which is, I must confess, what I thought its main use was.



As we steadily climbed, we saw a yellow mountain rescue helicopter hovering over the icy crags. Quite a sobering sight.



Three walkers had been killed in recent days and on the day we were on the mountain there had been six rescue calls.

Our group split half way to the summit – three decided to climb down and four of us reached the summit.





What I love about this group of guys is that it doesn’t matter – it’s being there which is definitely as important as getting to the top.
Conversations on the mountain range from family and kids and relationships to reasons for the global recession and politics. By the time you come down bonding is complete, at least for another year.
With mountains and snow there’s never a dull moment and as fellow walker Pete said, ‘Isn’t this great! All you have to do is put one foot in front of the other’.
I wouldn’t miss it for anything.

Kaz, Producer, BBC Learning English

severe weather warnings: warnings to people that bad weather is coming
Snow Chaos: problems with transport and daily life caused by heavy snowfall
to be snowed under: to have more work than we can cope with
snowed in: unable to travel or leave where you are because of heavy snowfall
snowmen: human figures made from snow
snowballs: snow rolled into balls!
snowstorms: heavy snow
Mother Nature: the natural world in the image of a woman
You’re having me on (informal): you’re joking or you’re trying to make fun of me.
warm mountain gear: warm clothing and footwear
the grave: a place where dead people are buried
ominous: worrying or frightening
walkers: people who walk up mountains or in the countryside
climbers : people who climb up mountains (with rope etc.)
scramblers: people who have to use their hands and feet to get up rocks
stroll: to walk slowly
peaks: tops of mountains
extreme weather: difficult weather conditions
male bonding: men getting to know each other better and feeling close as a result

My journey to work

Hi

I'm Nuala and I write The Flatmates every week.

Most folks in this office come to work by bus, train or tube but a few hearty souls ride their bikes in. Here are the BBC Learning English riders (from left to right) Helen - who works on the BBC China Learning English website , Callum, Neil, John – who works on the BBC Arabic Learning English website, me and Paul)



I thought this week I'd describe my route to work and post some photos of places I pass on my journey. And, to see how good your powers of observation are, I've got two tasks for you:
1. How many of the photos do you recognise from The Flatmates.

2. Can you guess which two photos I didn't take?

The first place of interest I pass on my journey is my local. Just about everyone in Britain has a local - a pub that's near your house, the one you go to if you want to catch up with your friends in the neighbourhood. And this is my local - The Nag's Head in the east end of London.



Next photo stop on my trip to work is a lighthouse! And no, I don't live anywhere near the sea. I'm not quite sure what a lighthouse is doing in the middle of London! Any ideas?



Another kilometre down the road, I pass the allotments. These are small plots of land that people, who don't have gardens, can rent from the local government. Allotments are becoming very popular in London now because more and more people want to grow their own.



Then I bike for about 20 minutes and arrive at John's house. I ring his doorbell, say hello and then the two of us ride on our merry way. Here's Johnny!



Johnny and I ride for about 15 more minutes and then join a canal path. The next bit of the journey is lovely - there's no traffic on the canal, only other bikes and a few pedestrians, so you can just relax and enjoy the view of the water and the ducks.



And the barges too!



Then we come to one of my favourite bits of the ride - this lovely piece of colourful art, done on the side of an abandoned warehouse a few months ago.



When we come off the canal, we've been riding for about 45 minutes and it's about time for a break. We stop off at this lovely cafe and have a well-earned cup of tea!



Then, we join the busy London traffic again. But we have one more burst of greenery before we finish our trip. It's the park in the middle of Lincoln's Inn Fields, which we ride around.



And then, before you know it, we're at Bush House and ready to start another day in BBC Learning English!



Happy cycling!
Nuala

folks (informal): people

hearty souls (informal): brave people

route: particular way or direction between places

powers of observation: how good you are at noticing things

nag (informal): horse, especially an old one or one that's too old to do any work

grow their own: grow fruit and vegetables for themselves (rather than buying the food from a shop)

canal: long channel of artificially made water which boats travel along

pedestrians: people who walk along pavements or roads

barges: long narrow boats which go along canals

abandoned: no longer used

well-earned: deserved because you have worked hard