Cotswolds Revisited

Our March trip was a return to the delightful Cotswold town of Stow-on-the-Wold. We last visited back in 1999 and were delighted to find that it really hadn't changed at all!

Unfortunately poor Geli was too sick to come, but Helen & I were more than happy to pass her germs on for her. Sometimes the best thing for a cold that doesn't actually have you bed-bound, is a bracing walk in the fresh air and Saturday morning we set off from Stow to the picturesque town of Bourton-on-the-Water. If your health is particularly perilous, you could feed your beautifully hand-crafted CYHA sandwiches to the ducks, and buy something really tasty instead. But I'm sure Helen would never dream of doing such a thing!

Apart from the opportunity to purchase sandwich replacements, Bourton is a beautiful town built from warm, yellow Cotswold stone. Through the centre runs a shallow, but wide river, criss-crossed by low stone bridges (about high enough for a duck to swim under without bashing his head). It is a magnet for tourists, and even in March there were quite a few. Luckily where there are tourists, there will always be tea shops. Bourton was very well provided for in this respect!

After Boughton we headed for the village of Lower Slaughter. This is like a smaller, quieter cousin of Bourton, still as beautiful but no teashops and fewer grocklers.

After taking the prescribed photographs it was time to head back to Stow. This was a lovely walk through rural Gloucestershire, but right at the end we realised why they call it Stow "on-the-Wold". By the time we had toiled up the hill we were more than ready for our last tea shop of the day.

Sunday saw us heading out to Bibury in convoy for the start of our walk. Once considered by William Morris to be the most beautiful village in England, Bibury is still lovely with its greens, squares, 17^th & 18^th century cottages and mill. The star in it's crown has to be the unbelievably picturesque Arlington Row - one of the most photographed rows of cottages in Britain.

From Bibury we walked along the river to Coln St Aldwyn, another very pretty village. Here we sat outside the pub whilst being served by uniformed waiters. I think they probably heaved a sigh of relief when we left - we were definitely lowering the tone!

We returned to Bibury along a slightly higher route and were just in time to join Claire & Ian at the Mill teashop for some Earl Grey and delicious homemade cakes.

As you can see it was a tough weekend that required a substantial amount of eating and tea-drinking. Luckily we're CYHA and we can take that kind of punishment!

Ali

Get Well Soon

Roz is recovering at home after being hurt in a road accident at the beginning of March. She's got a fractured collar bone and pelvis, so it's likely to be a couple more months until she's out and about.

We wish her a speedy recovery.

Crime Prevention Pays

Many thanks to Marion for organising a visit from our local Crime Reduction Officer. A very informative evening which had us wondering if we'd left the lights on at home. I expect an Essex-wide boom in burglar alarm sales.

Shotley Ship-Spotting walk

Some of us did have our suspicions about Georges motivation for organising this walk. Shotley Marina, and much of the peninsular, give excellent views of the mighty docks at Harwich.

We started the walk late as George had found us cowering in the bar at the "Shipwreck", huddled over steaming cups of coffee. The icy cold winds also ensured a fairly speedy return to the bar for our slap-up lunch. Portions were pretty generous: George had to ask for a doggy bag and Tom seemed to have been served a small whale. Thus fortified we continued our walk, although we were hampered by landslides, loss of light and some very smelly esturine mud.

So were our suspicions realised? I can confirm that George was sighted, note book in hand, peering through binoculars and muttering about something being "interesting" - but I can't see it catching on.

Marathon Woman

Back in September someone said "you're going to do the Leicester Marathon half? Oh." "Its quite tough & hilly". Hmm.

The Leicester Marathon was on the Sunday of the Tanner's Hatch weekend.

I'd been feeling washed-out on and off for a week, though I went out to do 4 miles uphill and down dale (along the main road, measured from the map) on Friday evening, and that felt OK. But getting back from the supermarket on Saturday afternoon I could feel my quad muscles just by going up two floors by stairs! Well, really! So I was feeling none too bright on Sunday morning but nonetheless set off to the speedway track taken over for marathon runners for a day. Fortunately it was clear and almost still air, so perfect for running.

Birstall Running club organised the event. I've been training (and drinking) with them on Fridays so it was good to see quite a few familiar faces. They were all tremendously encouraging and full of practical tips, which was a good start.

I'd started asking for sponsors when it began to look like I might actually manage the 13 miles and decided to run in aid of the Tuberous Sclerosis Association. My niece Lizzie was born with TS (tuberous sclerosis) - epilepsy and learning disability. I ran in a scarlet TS T-shirt.

When the gun went off I was flaffing about near the start (looking for Mum & Jamey) so I dumped my sweatshirt & TS poster, vaulted over the barrier and jogged gently along at the back. I fell in step with Julie and Mark. Mark was listening to the rugby (on a walkman) and keeping us updated with the scores. I walked up the hill, and so had more energy on the flat, and soon we were in Desford village 3.5 miles out from the start and more or less into a rhythm, jogging along in the sunshine along Leicestershire lanes. A chap fell in step and asked "what's TS?" and we jogged most of the next 4 miles in conversation. Brian from Derby was raising money for his friend who has developed advanced Parkinsons at 41.

At the second hill I fell in with Julie again, who had been abandonned by Mark and dropped to a walk with me. I stayed with Julie until the last mile - she was struggling while I was still going OK, slightly to my amazement. At 12m I excused myself and pushed on ahead, determined to do what I could in the last mile. Round the bend and there was another hill! Shucks, go for it, last blast etc.

A little further on and it was onto the racetrack again, round a left-hand bend and belting downhill towards the finish gantry, marshalls box, and possies of applauding supporters. Yo! I'm here, I done it! I'm even attempting a half-baked sprint - hill-assisted. The big digital clock on top of a van said 2.24. I've done it!

I was jolly pleased with myself. I saw Julie come in and shook her hand and Mark remarked on how I'd come galloping down the hill.

Donations for Tuberous Sclerosis Association gratefully received - forward to me or Dave.

Lorna

(Leicester Marathon website has the full results, including pictures of Lorna looking determined and athletic!)

Keep your Hatton!

Part 2 of the skiing survival exercise

So, what happened. To recap, our hoods and hats are struggling to stay attached, the wind is strong and communication is only achieved by shouting, Michael has failed to join us at the top of the drag lift, the temperature is -15C, and there's no attendant or phone. Visibility is reasonable.

We agreed to split the remainder of the group in two. Dave and myself would stay at the top for 10 more minutes. Jonathon and Andrew would travel down and across to the lift station at the bottom of the red run that crossed the drag lift part way up. Mike would have been able to get to if he'd seen that run from where he fell off.

So, Jonathan and Andrew skied off down, Dave and I stayed windswept at the top, sheltering from the wind behind a snow dune, keeping an eye on those getting off the lift. Using broken French we had established that someone had seen Michael fall off, but we could glean no more, using our inadequate French.

Whilst standing next to Dave, looking at our watches after 15 minutes, getting ready to give up…….Michael appeared!

My, were we glad to see him. So what had happened?

Michael did fall off - three times! The first time, he fell off soon after the start, and so "walked" back. The second time he was nearly half way up, so he walked back again (quite a distance), the third time he was near to the top and so he took off his ski's and walked up.

It taught us a lesson or two. After that when skiing, we always ensured that a more experienced skier was bringing up the rear. It also showed us the hazard involved in hazardous sports. The only one limping at the airport was me, but that's another story!

Graham