Youlgreave 10 - 12 October 2014

A Friday evening departure this time and what with the traffic and diversions it took 3 hours to travel from Bradford to Youlgreave. Most of the group stayed in the YHA which used to be a Co-op. The rooms are named after the various departments and I was in Savings and Dividends. Some were dropped off in Bakewell and some stayed in B&Bs in the village.

Sheila's group photo

Dining Room

Member's Kitchen

It was situated in the middle of the village opposite the well. There is quite an interesting website by the Youlgrave Well Dressers that explains all about the origins of well dressing. Follow this link to explore it.

There are two alternative spellings of Youlgreave or Youlgrave but local people use Youlgrave and this is how it is pronounced.

Saturday

We awoke to a misty morning and after breakfast set off on three different circular walks around the village. Before we left the electricity went off. Luckily breakfast was over but there was some concern as if it wasn't fixed we would have to find alternative accommodation for the night. Health and Safety wouldn't let us stay there without electricity even though the hostel had emergency lighting in the main areas and bedrooms. However you did have to take a torch to the toilet!

The 'A' party left first as their walk was the longest. Val was leading the 'C' party and was delayed due the road closure between Bakewell and Youlgreave so Frank started off the walk and she caught up later.

I did the 'B' walk led by Brian and it was a very interesting walk.

It was very atmospheric as we descended into Bradford Dale and made our way to Robin Hood's Stride.

A short distance from here we left the path to explore the Hermit's cave.

There are some more interesting details about the hermit if you follow this link.

After exploring this area we emerged into the sunshine and apart from a short shower after lunch the sun shone for the rest of the day. The downside of the shower was that we were rewarded with a view of a beautiful double rainbow.

Brian's rainbow photo

You can read more about double rainbows here. Apparently this was a very spiritual moment!

We also experienced quite a lot of mud in Gratton Dale which we haven't had to contend with very much this year. A timely reminder of what might be in store over the winter. 

'B' Party

Fortunately as we returned to Youlgreave via Bradford Dale we were able to clean our boots in the stream before ending the walk back at the hostel. The electricity was back on and all was well.

Sunday

Sunday started off misty as well. We loaded our luggage on to the coach and set off for Bakewell to pick up Val's group before heading for the Monsal Trail.

Our View from Monsal Head

What we should have seen

A pity we missed the great view but at least it wasn't raining. This time the 'A' party was led by Margaret, the 'B' by Keith and the 'C' by Frank. I opted for the 'B' again and first of all we explored the Headstone Tunnel on the Monsal Trail that is now open to the public.

The views from the trail were a bit muted because of the mist but by the time we stopped for lunch the sun had come out again. 

We had lunch at Millers Dale station which once saw hundreds of visitors arriving by train. Dr Beeching soon put paid to that and you can read more about it here. The 'A' party were lunching here too. They had walked along the trail and then taken a diversion via Cressbrook Mill.

Lime Kilns

Abseiling

 We saw a group of people abseiling off the bridge. Here is a link to a Youtube video giving you an idea of what it feels like. Health warning, don't watch this if you suffer from vertigo!

 After this we left the trail for a while and headed uphill

 And then downhill very steeply

before joining the trail again just before it ends and descending to the Wye Valley..

I couldn't resist a selfie!

A final tea stop before the last section over the fields and into Buxton and a welcome break at Wetherspoons while we waited for all the walks to finish.

'C'  Party

We were a few minutes late setting off for home but we made good time on the journey back and were back in Bradford in under two hours.

All it remains to say is a big thank you to Frank and the committee for organising the weekend and all the walks leaders who volunteered to lead the walks. Also thanks to Sheila and Brian for some of the photos. I think everyone enjoyed it very much and will be sending in their booking for Coniston in March. See you there hopefully!

Ambleside 14-16 March 2014

Friday

After a lovely spring like week we were looking forward to more of the same in the Lake District but it wasn't to be. However we did stay largely dry, apart from those who took to the highest hills! And it was certainly much better than last year's weather at this time so we mustn't grumble.
We set off from Bradford on Friday morning picking up along the route and Steve took us to Grasmere where the A and B/C walks began. Ron took the A walkers over the hills to Ambleside and I joined the B walkers to walk beside the lake and through the woods to Ambleside.
First of all we had half an hour to 'do' Grasmere and have lunch. A visit to the Grasmere Gingerbread shop was a must for me followed by Wordsworth's grave and lunch amongst the daffodils.

Grasmere Gingerbread Shop

After lunch we set off for a pleasant  walk around the lake.

The walk was only 7 miles so we had plenty of time for a tea stop before leaving the lake and passing through the grounds of Rydal Hall and Ambleside Park before dispersing for drinks, coffee, shopping, or in my case a cup of tea and a piece of cake in Hayes Garden World.

At 6.00pm Steve took us to the YHA Ambleside with our luggage and we were pleasantly surprised by its size and position overlooking LakeWindermere. 

There were more of us in the hostel than in B&Bs for a change. I was doing my own meals as usual and the self catering kitchen was adequate but not terribly well equipped. It was good to see several families with very young children using the facilities. The bedrooms were clean and the beds already made up which was a bonus and I was lucky enough to be in a room with a view of the lake.

Saturday

The dining room had two large tables in the window that were very popular with the group.

 The forecast today was for grey cloud and windy on the mountain tops. Quite a few people who are not regular A walkers decided to give the Langdale Pikes a go. They all managed the difficult ups and downs but one member slipped on the way down towards the end and had to be helicoptered to Barrow in Furness hospital to have a pot put on a broken ankle. It just shows how easy it is for an accident to happen but the leader wasted no time in calling for help and all's well that ends well.
I opted for the B walk to Loughrigg and Silver Howe. There was a lot of up to begin with but we soon came across a lovely view of Windermere and the YHA and the whole of Ambleside set before us.

We were quite slow doing the walk so a breakaway group went off to do Silver Howe and the rest of us did an impromptu walk around the lake and along the coffin road to Grasmere. A stop by the lake gave me a chance for a quick paddle and it wasn't really as cold as you might imagine. Very refreshing for the feet!

 As we approached a large pond on the right of the path we could hear a strange noise which turned out to be frogs calling to each other. The pond was heaving with frogs doing what frogs do at this time of year!

Once in Grasmere again some of us went to the garden centre for tea and cake and then pottered around the shops until it was time to go. We discovered a shop called Barney's Newsbox that had the largest collection of jigsaws that I have ever seen. There was even one with 32000 pieces. The upstairs room was stacked high with piles and piles of jigsaws.
As has become the custom on the March weekend there was an evening celebration of Frank's birthday. This started in Llanberis 2011 when he was 79 and has continued in Whitby 2012 (80) and Stow on the Wold 2013 (81). the party seems to have got larger every year with more and more food on offer. Where next year I wonder?
The celebration didn't go on for too long as Pauline, with her broken ankle, was in an adjacent room trying to get some rest.

Sunday

The sun was shining this morning and I took the opportunity after breakfast of having a walk in a nearby park and taking some photos of the lake.

We left the hostel at 9.30 after loading our luggage on to the coach and split into several groups, the A party was down to 4 as they were going up Helvellyn and doing a more strenuous walk, the A-/B+ was going up Red Screes and the B party was going over the pass from Ambleside to Patterdale, which just left the C party who had a lovely day walking to Troutbeck and having Sunday lunch in a pub!
I joined the B party and we made our way steadily upwards in the sunshine to High Sweden Bridge

Here we had a coffee stop before going up and up and up over the pass.

Once at the top we were thankful to stop going up and had lunch before tackling the downhill to Patterdale.

The downhill section was quite tricky and one or two slipped and fell but fortunately there were no injuries today and  all groups arrived safely in Patterdale where we consumed moderate amounts of beer and chips and tea and toasted tea cakes in The White Lion before setting off for home at 5.30 pm.
Once again thanks go to all those volunteers who helped to organise the weekend and lead the walks and thanks to Steve for transporting us safely. It is good to see many more people using the hostel and I discovered that if you are a member of YHA you get a free internet connection. They don't have it in all hostels yet though.
See you next time hopefully.