All Day Breakfast in Santa’s Grotto

Santa. (Obviously)
There were rumours that a Mr Claus, an itinerant  magic reindeer herder and  trader of miscellaneous goods had some kind of depot or base deep beneath the Pennines just to the right of Alston….
I went over to Nenthead to meet Brian to join in with this jaunt, calling at Westgate to collect Charlie and Josh on the way.

Going in…..
And so, armed with supplies of sausages, black pudding, tomatoes, bacon, mushroom, eggs, bread rolls and beta blockers a bunch of Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue people and several guests invaded Browney Hill Leadmine just by the river at Nenthead.
After a substantial paddle through cold water, a bit of crawling and some light scrambling up to a higher level, Santa’s grotto was discovered.

COMRU Peeps start cooking on gas (and parafin)

Santa’s snowballs

The glittery roof decs (beads of water, actually…)



















Beta blockers are available…
Sixteen breakfasts of the Very Naughty kind (it would be best if one’s cardiac nurse didn’t hear about this) were duly burned, incinerated…. finely cooked and scoffed. Santa’s photo was taken as proof of his discovery and, with a promise to provide intelligence next Christmas on  exactly who had been good and who had been naughty, we left him to it and reversed the passage back to daylight and the warm scent of the outside world.

Some COMRU peeps
Cumbria Ore Mines Rescue Unit’s blog is here http://cumbria-ore-mines-rescue.blogspot.com/  for those interested in their work.
Don’t try this at home, folks!

Waiting for stragglers to catch up

Louise demonstrates the effect of crawling through mud

Louise and the Oracle.
It wasn’t me in the Santa outfit this time, by the way. It was somebody else although I will admit to performing “The Death of Santa” outside Nenthead First School at playtime on one occasion. Sorry about that…


COMRU members discuss their stents. Nurse Louise supervises.