14°C, little sun, grey later but the rain held off.
Walk 6 Y10 girls across Warwickshire to a scout camp. We walked for 7 1/2 hours under grey sky and slightly muddy ground. I’m feeling the effects of a few late nights. Last night was only 5 hours sleep. Those days accumulate and my head felt like a dull lump inside.
A landmark electricity substation on the route.
Day 2: checkpointing a circular route. I worked with Paul sharing 3 groups. One was the same group as yesterday plus a group of boys and another of girls.
The gaps between groups opened quite quickly as my group went wrong early on. They took a spagetti route and couldn’t tell where they’d been. Later their journeying got better and quicker despite being overloaded with uncomfortable packs. Other things went wrong for them too. The finish was changed while they were near the camp. An error had occured in comunicating with their parents who were to pick them up. All in all, that.l meant we didn’t finish until 17.30.
Day 1: transfer and setup. A sunny day to pick up the Gold group in the minibus and then drive to the sales, a 150 mile drive. All vehicles stopped at Charnock Richard services on the edge of Chorley. We all stayed at Broadrake bunkhouse in Chapel-en-le-Dale with a fine view of the Ribblehead Viaduct
Day 2:Acclimatisation day – Ingleborough Falls. Cold wet start with showers all day. We took 2 groups each for a circular route from Ingleborough via the falls. The aim was a refresher in navigation and of course – some dramatic waterfalls. I’m not normally impressed by waterfalls, but these were very energetic. With rivers in full spate, the water roared over every rock and even more over each cascade. So full of sediment, the fluid looked like beer. We talked about the colour and how it’s caused by tannin. One of the kids asked if it’s basically tea? You can tell when kids are bright and imaginative. These are!
Day 3: (day 1) for Silver groups). Middleton Fell.> Holme Farm. Beautiful day with a frosty start for campers. I bet those kids were cold.
Day 4: (silver 2): Holme Farm > Dent. Dull but calm weather all day. All went well but this was a late finish, I was so hungry, even before the drive back to the bunkhouse.
Day 5 (Silver 3): Dent > Widdale (finish). Heavy rain to start but it eased off by departure time at 8.
Here are my group, layering up after the climb. This is near the pass by a full gully that looked quite hazardous. I called for another ML to come and man this one while I took the crossing at the summit.
Later, another group who most were from my old tutor group arrived. They too were full of beans, and pleased to see me.
I love these places, in the hill fog more so. My spot was in a corner to hide from the chilly breeze. Here, the stone walls were covered in half a dozen types of lichen. My old tutor group team had lichens as their aim so I gave them a little tour of the varieties here. I love these bleak misty moorlands. The form of the land is laid out in layers in the fog. Perhaps caused by the contrast, the nearest ground appears the most vivid. On a clear beautiful day, your gaze is drawn into the distance. Today, you see beauty nearer to your feet.
Lichen near my checkpoint.
The end of the day was the journey back to Walsall. My job was to take the Gold group back in the 9 seat minibus. I took a moment to look at myself from the outside. In the driving seat, They sat in the dark, viewing a segment of their lives through the window of their phones. The rusty sun dipped down on the right horizon and the lane lines blinked in the headlight patches. They were contented, comfortable and had passed their Gold Expedition section. I glanced across at the kids in the front seats. I looked across and smiled to myself in the dark. A moment of satisfaction for me too. Onward, the miles rolled by.
Day 1: a group of 4 lads who walked east from Solihull. The first part was easy and I relied on their local knowledge. There are some insanely busy roads. Solihull it seems, has perpetual rush-hour. The boys had a habit of rushing ahead and he being tired. One in particular would sit down at every opportunity.
Though I had a tent, the forecast for the night was heavy rain so I and other instructors bedded down in the sports hall of the school. That worked well enough despite a noisy fan in the room.
Day 2: four girls on the same route as yesterday bar the loop.we spent more time in he classroom in before setting out. Partly to avoid the avoid the early rain, but also to cover some theory that would arise outside. We had a great day; the kids said it was fun and I did too. On the edge.of the M42, runs the beginning of the River Blythe which burst its banks after the overnight rain. We re-routed via a road and resumed a similar route to yesterday’s. The day went well from there. The group were very receptive and drew much from the day. I finished feeling like an expert tutor and delighted with each of these girls.
I can’t tell whether this canal is tidal. We have seen a huge amount of rain this week but the water level does seem to vary dramatically. Another factor is we’re approaching spring tides.
16°C, still and bright. High pressure is in control.
Well, it feels like I’ve been shot, not that I ever have. Okay, it only feels like I have. I pulled a muscle in my ribs last weekend while lifting floorboards.
EasyJet released their flights for next year. From now, the prices will quickly climb to unaffordable. This morning, I pounced. I have tickets to Corsica for next summer for a two week trip.
I can complete the GR20. This time, I will learn from mistakes and pack lighter. Fewer clothes, no stove, a lighter sleeping bag and lighter details.
Only the second trip out with the new bars fitted. You probably can’t see but they’re flared bars. It’s subtle but a definite improvement, there is a larger flat section behind the hoods to rest hands which is nice. The wider hooks section is not as dramatic as my Kona Jake’s but it still gives benefits. There is more leverage for times when the surface is poor, potholes or long grass.
The drop is more too. The original.bars we shallow such that riding on the hooks was not much lower defeating those fast descents when you want to get your head down.
The sea defences are made of muddy clay. Today the surface is firm gum and deeply rutted by cattle hooves. That’s quite a difficult surface for a ‘cross bike even with 38mm tyres. I had to walk some sections. If you have front suspension, you wouldn’t have any trouble with this surface.
It’s pumpkin time! Does it look odd to you that the fruit are all laid out evenly on this field but there are no leaves?
I have have a strangely sore knee. It’s awful when I kneel down on it, a problem because I’ve been doing DIY today. At least that job is done; I rewired the telephone point so the router is now at the centre of the house. Trouble was, that moved it a long way from the desktop computer. The solution was to run a long Ethernet cable under the floor and down to the router. All done now.
No really DofE but this in school activity days are meant to raise the school’s appeal to new intake.
We’re working with year 7 doing the kind of stuff we did at Bibby’s Farm. That includes bushcraft, orienteering, shelter building and slacklining. The slacklining was the most fun, especially when I consider how little experience I have with it. I had tremendous fun delivering this and some of the other sessions.
From the ending assembly.is sensed that the staff were bemused by us camping in their field. Our company are hoping to turn this activity day into a DofE contract. Let’s hope we clinched it.
Micycle 