Photoshoot – Fleetwith Pike no 50
It was the call I had hoped for; Cumbia Life were interested in my story. Not just the Spin A Round challenge but the whole back story, the where the Spinning and Weaving business idea came from, why I was spinning Herdwick, how the business was growing. Interview behind me and a first aborted attempt to stage the photoshoot postponed due to the uncooperative weather not playing ball, late on a Saturday afternoon I met Phil the photographer at Honister Slate Mine with Ane, (my volunteer gardener with the Wwooff UK scheme, with her own portable spinning wheel – I was not alone) Mark and Bheinn. Starting at the slate mine may seem a soft option but trying to keep up with Phil who seemed to fly across the rocks up the mine tracks made this one of the quickest ascents I have made – and possibly the fastest photoshoot on record! If you look closely at the photo you can see the thousands of flying ants which have settled on the bag. They settled in our hair, in the wheel bag, on the cameras, the lighting equipment, down our clothes and swarmed the summit cairn.
Running away from the summit, we re-convened about 20 m down to try again. Scafell Pike and Great Gable forming the dramatic backdrop for the strange sight of a victorious spinster.
On the way down we disappointed Phil by being a family of very poor Sheep rustlers trying to sneak up on the resident Herwicks to turn them into media stars.
Following the excitement of modelling on a mountain top, and ticking off my 50th spinning Wainwright, strangely, I could not sleep. Despite a career in marketing and promoting somebody else’s business I felt self-conscious promoting my own. The sleepless nights were short lived. Now I am excited to see how my strange venture will be portrayed and what other calls will come…