What a lovely day for walking in the Pennines

So, another weekend in Yorkshire – this time with some members of our support crew in the shape of Jocky and Stella. This weekend away was planned to coincide with the Oxfam prep session in Skipton.

The prep session was pretty interesting and highlighted the fact that even though we are ahead as far as a training schedule was concerned however, it was obvious that we were still focusing on the wrong things so we came away thinking of ….. down jackets, magic map gadgets, and especially loving our support crew, etc, etc. Jocky and Stella wrote copious notes so we hope they’ve captured all the more important information …..Pink Champagne!

After our prep session and the highlight of having our photo taken for the Oxfam publicity machine, Jocky dropped us off at Malham national Park car park, and as we pulled our boots on, with perfect timing, it started to snow. The walking today has been amazing, and the scenery stunning (when we finally got to see it), although we did have to put up with a number of obstacles – giant limestone pavements; huge slippery steps; rampaging sheep; limited visibility; new boots with not much of a grip; clothes that turned out to be not as waterproof as we thought; a twisted ankle and knee strain; a couple of hangovers; etc, etc.

Rachel came out with some cracking quotes – but to save her dignity, we will not repeat them here. Suffice it to say, WE all remember what you said, missus! And Steve has two scorch marks in the back of his neck from that look, and we all know “that look”

And we have NEVER been so pleased to see Jocky as we were at the end of the day, as we came down the hill in darkness to the pub (well Rachel in particular) – one of the speakers this morning told us that we must treat our support crew like the stars that they are – as, during the walk itself, we will become complete divas and abuse them unashamedly. So, with that in mind, we’re sharing the love around in advance of needing them.

We love you Jocky!

Even better than the zoo .....

“This is even better than going to the zoo” declared Rachel today on our nature walk – we’ve seen a peacock, some pigs, horses, Shetland ponies, hens, donkeys, sheep and a dozen or so wild boar. (Although, strictly speaking, they weren’t very wild at all – they were in an enclosure at the back of someone’s garden.)
Time went very quickly today – we managed a stonking sixteen miles in five and a quarter hours – we’ve come to the conclusion that it’s the walking and talking that does it. We covered any number of topics today: the state of the economy; how we would run big corporations; the construction industry; the demise of the car industry; and then we fell back to our old favourites – food and shopping. As we were very nearly running out of things to discuss – which to be honest I don’t think is EVER going to happen - we were met by Joanna and Harvey, the five year old boxer dog, to walk a stretch of the Weavers Way around where they live. We then had to stop talking altogether because we were going at such a pace that it was all we could do to keep breathing! Thank you Joanna for joining us!
Thank you also to my Mum who picked Rachel and I up from the Swan hostelry in Stalham and took us back to Blickling to collect our cars – after a quick stop in the farm shop for pork pies and sausage rolls, which we can heartily recommend.
So a very good day, very quick – and a challenge issued to the boys now – sixteen in five hours fifteen – beat that!

Kings Quiz Night 17th Feb

Well yet another fortnight and another Quiz night at Kings with a good turn out for our team and with no "Bitted and Twisted" to steal our glory, we sensed a chance to better our second place of last time out.

However despite using evasion tactic's by changing our name to "Meet the Meerkats". We came in third out of 7 teams with the Sport round being our nemesis as usual!

The biggest laugh of the night came when it appeared Tristan was the only person who knew the name of the Supermarket Curly worked for in Coronation Street. Realised the comments this would generate but for the sake of points total had to come clean! Why I knew and remembered this useless fact is a complete mystery?

At least the team name got us a prize for the best named team in the shape of a small plastic keyboard so along with the miniature snooker table from last time. The support crew will have plenty to do while waiting for the walkers!

Another welcomed £27 for Oxfam meaning we have broken through the £500 barrier :o)

A walk best forgotten .....

Well, probably the worst training walk we've had so far. Rachel was breaking in new boots, although they were changed for her comfy boots within two miles. (In fact, Rachel's boots came off four times for first aid that I counted - and I may have missed one or two episodes too!) My car had iced up so much I couldn't unlock it to get my walking boots, so ended up slip sliding along in my trainers. And Steve turned up without maps.

The paths were either very muddy or sheet ice, which didn't make for an easy day. And in fact Rachel nearly ended up in the drink - at Felbrigg while trying to see how safe the icy lake was! A missed photo opportunity there, I reckon.

The plan was to walk twenty-three miles, but after fifteen we decided to call it a day. Luckily, the support crew - in the shape of Stu and Amanda - were there to meet us at Blickling with sandwiches and cake and to take us to the pub when we declared that we were giving up. We were over an hour late getting to this "checkpoint" so our support crew now know not to believe any ETA's that we give them!

Good practice though - lots of lessons learned. And things can only get better!

Kings Quiz night

The fortnightly Kings Quiz night took place last night with the "Tears for Beers" team comprising of Susan, Amanda, Steve and Tristan coming a credible second. if only we had gone with Telford and Jordan!!! :o) Particularly impressed by Susan's and Amanda's tackling of the cryptic Pop group names.

Our Sister team "Bitter and twisted" won the night although we had decided as there were more of them than us, we wouldn't argue and better let them win!!!

More importantly another £30 donated to the Trail trekkers fund bringing our total to a pleasing £479 so far.

Have fun on the Saturday walk, can't believe I'm missing out on Tea and cake for work!

Three go mad, one goes shopping - Sunday 1 February 2009

Another big breakfast today and a quick recce around Crambeck, the village we were staying in, before the short drive to Castle Howard, the film location for Brideshead Revisited. Sadly though, only three of us were walking – Rachel had sustained an injury, so we left her in the car but pointed out where the café and chocolate shop was. It was only fair after all – we hadn’t let her do any shopping at all since Friday morning’s grocery shop – so she was having withdrawal symptoms. (And hallucinating apparently – she was convinced she’d seen a “shop” sign on Friday evening – until we pointed out it was a level crossing “stop” sign!)

So, I had what I’d like to think was an uncharacteristic strop and threw my toys out of the pram when my map reading skills were questioned. However, not being one to take criticism very well, I’m putting it down to the rubbish map we printed off t’internet!

So Tristan took over the map reading and got us round the seven miles of the Castle Howard estate circuit in a very creditable two hours forty. It would have been slower, had we not been in a hurry to get to the tea rooms and to find out exactly how much Rachel had spent in the shop in our absence.

Fortified by tea and cake, we said a fond farewell to Yorkshire but are looking forward to being back in a few weeks’ time when we will be making outrageous diva-like demands on our support crew. Bet they can’t wait!

Four go mad in Yorkshire - Saturday 31 January 2009

After a hearty breakfast this morning, we were up and out by eight thirty – on schedule apparently. Tears for Beers run a very tight ship – or so we like to think!

Despite being parked at Helmsley before nine o’clock – we didn’t start walking until nine thirty-ish. After a few delaying tactics – putting on of boots, debating the need for long johns, adjusting walking poles, needing to find a loo, etc, etc, we finally couldn’t put it off any longer and started our longest walk to date, anticipating that we would be walking even further than the twenty miles we’d planned. After all, it wouldn’t be a training walk if we didn’t get lost at least once!

The walk was really muddy almost immediately and we got caught up behind a group of Americans walking to Rievaulx – in the most inappropriate attire you’ve ever seen. (Being “proper walkers” now, we are allowed to comment on walking gear with some authority. We have, after all, spent a huge number of man hours in Cotswold Camping, Blacks and Milletts doing our research.) We soon overtook them though as they were engaged in a spot of sheep rustling in the first field they got to. At that rate, it would have taken them three days to get to their destination!

The scenery today has been stunning – we’ve done some good walking around Norfolk so far, but there’s really no substitution for hills and especially the views, not to mention the exhilaration on reaching the top. At the end of the day, I think we were getting a bit blasé about the whole hill scenario to be honest! Another one knocked off, etc, etc. The moors were amazing – although blinking cold, with the wind whistling around us and I think then that we were glad we were wearing so many layers. There have been lots of shooters out today – and the sound of gunfire accompanied us pretty much all day.

Had some good comedy moments today – Rachel desperate to find a sheep to take home with us for one, although they all kept running away from her. Steve’s comedy dance which he assured us was meant to keep morale up – although it just made us think he’d had too much fresh air and was doing the birdie dance. The sprint to the trig point was pretty entertaining. And it was actually at this point that we saw the only other walkers we’d seen all day – with precision planning, at the exact spot that we needed a photo of the entire group.

So, all in all a very good day – looking forward to the next one!