Michael: Ok ok
could you tell me John then
about one of your favourite hobbies
just tell me a little bit about it
why you enjoy them.

John: One of my favourite hobbies at the moment is
er hill-walking
climbing
and I am not sure why I feel so strongly about it
I think I read books when I was a kid
it's to do with adventures and adventurous people and I suppose it's tied-up with travel as well but
erm once
the other thing is when we were kids we were taken to the Lake District
sometimes I think what happens when you're kids. (interruption)
So when I've when I've been abroad for a period of time I come back and go up to the Lakes
I have a very strong feeling and it's the same with my brother and my sister
we had some good family holidays up there as well

Michael: So are there any
if it's connected with family
are there any particular places
other places
the Lake District obviously?

John: Well there are
we used to go to Grasmere but Grasmere 's changed a lot since we were there
for example
we'd stay in an old teacher's cottage.
he would teach at a public school somewhere
he had this cottage and would go climbing
he would rent it out when he wasn't there.
It overlooked Grasmere sports field and I think in August they would have Grasmere sports
they'd combine wrestling fell-running and training all that kind of stuff
really exotic
it become a bit more commercialised since then
there's a famous painter
Heath Cooper
he's got a gallery there
built a perfume factory and so on so
it's changed a lot but it's still kind of
combines a certain ruggedness and it's also quite small and lush as well
around the lake it's very pretty lake but subsequently we've travelled further afield so
we've spent
you know
maybe a period of up to 4 or 5 years just returning to a given valley or a given area like Wasdale or Patterdale.

Michael: Yes.
That's what interests me in terms of do you go back to the same areas all the time
some people
it's like holidays
some people go back to the same places
some people go back to different ones

John: Yes
I'd say we have
because it's such a hassle finding accommodation
that when you find a good place you tend to return to it.
So we
there's a place in Ambleside that will sleep about 15 people so that's good for a family thing
when we go with my brother's kids
my sister's kids and girlfriends and so on
and then there are places that Wendy and I will go to
but what we tend to do is to return to a given valley.
We'd go maybe 5 or 6 times a year for long weekends
keep returning to that valley and then maybe go to another valley
and one nice thing is coming to the top of a mountain in a valley and looking over and seeing how everything connects up.
And there's nothing nicer than coming down off a wet and windy hillside as it's going dark and just getting in and opening a pub door and that kind of warm air hits you and you have your first beer
then your first whisky and then you order a nice meal.