The Case For A Climbing Wall In a Redeveloped Sands Centre

Recently it came to our attention that the new management of the Sands Centre here in Carlisle, were about to push through changes that would see the Sands’ current climbing wall demolished with no plans to replace it in the new facility. For the City’s growing climbing community it represents a real loss. Pete Gunn, has organised a petition through Change.Org to try and get a rethink on this short sighted decision (IMHO). It’s the only decent sized leading wall in North Cumbria and for those living in the Borders. Kendal’s massive wall is 50 miles away and it’s 60 miles to Newcastle the nearest alternative large lead wall. Under Pete and Davina’s stewardship, it’s open to the public 7 days a week and these two...

Climate, Science and the Scourge of the Denialist

Who Do You Put Your Faith In For Climate Change Reality Checks? In the Climate Change and Global Warming debate, human beings are getting very tribal again.  The debate is polarising into the Greens and the Denialists. I have to say right at the outset I am a Green (ish). My ire was triggered by the report from climate scientists, publicised on the Mashable blog, that the atmospheric CO2 level has already passed the 400 parts per million (0.004%) this year, weeks earlier than its first recorded 400ppm+ reading last year and its showing now sign of slowing down.  (0.002% was more or less the textbook norm that we were taught as young Chemistry school students 40 odd years ago). In my Google Plus feed I noticed that Mashable had put the post out publicly and as...

The Best Plumbers Know This Science All Too Well!

My forays into plumbing have been pretty limited.  A bathroom rebuild, a kitchen refit and a few plumbed in appliances are about it!  What’ll be keeping our plumbers exercised this winter will be the consequences of  the good old frozen pipes.  As we all probably know, it’s not the freezing spell that gives the biggest headache, it’s the thaw that that unleashes all the water over your best furniture and carpets.  Where I live now, is a nicely insulated little semi that escaped any real problems last winter.  This coming winter though…  the weathermen seem to be predicting gloomy cold times. In a previous lifetime, I was a Science teacher at one of the local secondary schools.  I was a little infamous for bangs, smells and shocks!  One of...

SEO Chemistry; a Periodic Table of Search Engine Ranking Factors

Chemistry and SEO Ranking Factors? I bet chemistry isn’t the first thing that springs to mind when an Internet Marketing Expert starts discussing SEO!  However Search Engine Land, the guys at the forefront of ethical SEO research and knowledge, have just published a chart which they describe as the periodic table of Search Engine Ranking Factors. What is a Search Engine Ranking Factor? Search Engine Ranking Factors are those signals and attributes which the search engines seem to give weight to and which are found to affect the ranking of individual web page in the search engine results.  There is a growing body of experience and commercial results which say that SEO is an essential ingredient in anybody’s marketing mix.  What makes understanding of...

A Short Winter Climb to Revive Jaded Spirits

After a night out in Penrith and with winter still having its icy grip on the Lake District; what better way to take advantage of a low pressure day than to grab a quick trip up one of the classic little ice climbs around Thirlmere.  I couldn’t track down anyone to come out to play, so it had to be something fairly easy going and quick to access.  This was clearly the excuse I needed to have a look at Launchy Ghyll.  This is one of those under rated mini classics that I’ve been meaning to get round to for years, but had always been tempted by higher places. Launchy Ghyll is rated grade III but is one of those amenable climbs that lulls you into thinking it will be perfectly OK for a quick morning solo.  As Launchy is an SSSI (Site of Special...