If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together
In a couple of weeks we are off to St Petersburg.
Its a place we have wanted to visit for a while now.
But looking at the weather out there today, we are going to have to pack a lot and drink Vodka I think to keep warm
Still hey we have snow gear…. Continue reading “It’s cold out there”
Well the CDR will have to wait. Some of the group dropped out and it was going to work out about £400 each plus food etc for a weekend. It was getting too expensive just for a weekend.
So we are off to Malam Cove in Yorkshire instead for that weekend. This is a trip that has been on the list for a while and looks a beautiful area with lots of walking.
Meanwhile St Petersburg is getting closer. And at -9 today, we’ll need our thermals
Since June sent Bob a photo of the
Camino del Rey in Southern Spain it has become a bit of a thief of time for him.
With a few posts on FaceBook and a few emails it appears that there are a few others interested.
Let the planning begin.
This weekend, thanks to a Groupon offer, we managed a deal at Baskerville Arms Hotel Clyro near Hay on Wye. The intention was to walk up Hay Bluff and then onto Twmpa and then to Waun Fach. However the weather was against us with warnings from the Met Office.
So we decided to go to the Mynydd Du Forest and bag a few geocaches. This forest lies in the upper reaches of the Grwyne Fawr on the southern side of the Black Mountains. Bob has many very special memories anchored in this valley ranging from a Mountain Leadership course in the early 1980s to a fundraising event in 1990 for a special girl called Sally. Most of the activities that Bob carried out here involved a great friend and mentor Bernie Jennings (BJ). Sadly BJ is no longer with us but his memory lives on.
While taking part on the Mountain Leadership course Bob and BJ, with the rest of the group, woke up to heavy falling snow in the valley and by the time camp had been broken the snow was knee deep. Thankfully after a few hours of walking they managed to break into a Navy outward bound hut called Ty Isaf. Here they stayed for several days unable to get out of the valley.
It was a great chance to poly bag down the hills and dig snow holes in the 6 feet deep (yes it really was that deep in the bottom of the valley).
Another time in the forest was a fundraising event for Sally, a family friend who was quite ill. Sally needed a special piece of computer kit to enable her to talk to her friends and family. This was 1990 and the kit cost thousands. Bob got 12 cops together from the Witney area and BJ (see, he is involved again) arranged a ‘survival’ weekend. The Long Plod. It was a brilliant weekend involving climbing, map reading and bivi making (and then having to sleep in them). This weekend is still the first topic of conversation when two or more of the team bump into each other.
Back to this weekend. In the forest now there are quite a few geocaches. There has been an orienteering course here for 30 plus years so I guess there was always going to be quite a few caches around. We found 10 in all. Including one hidden in a plastic pigeon. The day was quite a wet day but not as wet had we walked in the clouds on Hay Bluff.
Back to the Baskerville Arms Hotel for our evening meal…. Not a bad place. A little tired, but the staff were very friendly and helpful and the food was good. We would use it again without a deal.
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It’s been ages since we have been out on the hills of Wales. Probably over a year. All change now though. This coming weekend with the help of one of Bobs boys looking after the house and a Groupon stay in a hotel in Hay on Wye we should be able to crack a few peaks. Hay Bluff for one and then Lord Herefords Knob (just had to use that) and on to Waun Fach I hope. The forecast is cold and showery.
Maybe Sunday it will be a geocaching session in the Mynydd Du Forest. This will always be a special place for Bob. He did a huge fundraising event in the 90s with a group of colleagues and raised a nice little sum for a special girl called Sally. It was a great weekend, a real boys only weekend helped by one of his best mates BJ. Bernie Jennings. Sadly no longer with us. BJ taught Bob and so many others a huge amount about the great outdoors and life. It’s almost certainly BJs influence that caused Bob to end up working for the Prince’s Trust. Thanks BJ. You are a star and will be missed always.