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.

Berwick upon Tweed 4-6 May 2013

Saturday

We set off from Bradford on Saturday morning in the sunshine and had a good journey up to Northumberland arriving about 1.00 pm. Three walks were on offer, two along the river and one along the coast. The Northumberland coast is renowned for its beautiful beaches so this was my choice of walk for the day led by Ray, 8 miles into Berwick. It was an excellent walk on sand dunes, the beach and the promenade at Spittal before crossing the The Old Bridge into Berwick.

Brian's photo of the group

Maureen's photo

Maureen's photo

Maureen's photo

Maureen's photo

On the beach

Paddling time

Brian's Photos

Rocky in places

Three bridges across the Tweed

Brian's photo

We reached Berwick about 5.00 pm and collected our luggage from the coach before making our way to the youth hostel and various B&Bs around the town. I stayed in the YHA as usual and it was very comfortable and had a well equipped kitchen for the self caterers. A lovely fish supper with a few friends finished the evening off well.

The Walls

Now some of you may not have had time to walk the walls but because I am an early riser and I make my own breakfast I have some spare time in the morning before we depart for our walk and this holiday I managed to walk the complete circuit of the walls and also the pier to the lighthouse and the river walk as far as the railway bridge. Here's a few photos of what I saw.

The main Guard

A seat with a view over the walls.
The seats along the walls are supported on cast iron snakes.

View of the pier and lighthouse

Along the pier

View of Berwick from the lighthouse

Path marked with solar lights

Lions House

Very tidy allotments

The Barracks

The moat

A well hidden car boot sale

They were good at hiding guns too!

Oh look, there's our coach arriving.

Mute swans on the River Tweed

The Royal Border Railway Bridge with 28 arches

Plenty of trains stop here

Lady Jerningham statue.

Castle Gate

The Town Hall

Room for three in the stocks!

Sunday

We awoke to a lovely sunny morning and after my morning stroll along the walls I boarded the coach at 9.30 am to travel into Scotland for today's choice of walks, all of them coastal. After some deliberation I chose the 'A' walk led by Ian, from Cockburnspath to Coldingham mostly on the Berwickshire Coastal Path. This was an interesting walk and we learned about James Hutton, the founder of modern geology and had time to look at Coldingham Priory.

Torness nuclear power station

The Cove

Pease Bay

Coldingham Priory

Ray's group also walked along the coast in the opposite direction taking in Fast Castle en route.These are Maureen's photos from that walk.

And these are Brian's photos from the same walk.

 The 'B' party started at Cockburnspath and walked to Dunbar and the 'C' party walked from St Abbs to Eyemouth. Everyone had a great day in the sunshine.

Monday

Our last day so bags had to be packed and on the coach by 9.30 am before setting off to do inland walks today in Northumberland. I chose the 'B' walk along part of St Cuthbert's Way finishing in Wooler. Some parts of the walk were very good with a visit to St Cuthbert's Cave and then the Cheviot hills rising up in front of us but there was rather too much road walking so Stuart added his own variation towards the end and impressed everyone with his map reading by finding hidden tracks taking us through fields, a caravan site and woods instead of walking down the road into Wooler.

St Cuthbert's Cave

A well-earned rest

Cheers!

We had plenty of time in Wooler for refreshments before setting off for home and arriving in Bradford in good time for buses home. 

Thanks again for all the people involved in organising the weekend and the walks leaders who all did a splendid job. This extra weekend has become a firm fixture in our walking calendar and Berwick-upon-Tweed was a great place to visit especially in the sunshine!