A Glow in the Dark

June and July have been wonderful months for weather. It has been largely hot and dry with only the odd thundery shower. Great for our picnic in Hylands, but heavy rain and intermittent power made our evening at The Compasses with Chelmsford Morris all the more memorable.

Of course dry weather isn't particularly good news for glow worm spotting (they prefer it damp), however it did make for a very jolly evening in the beer garden at the Prince of Wales, Stow Maries, with us enjoying a pint and some grub as we waited for the sun to go down. As it turned out about a dozen of us were gathered for a bit of snooping about in the dark, looking for tiny insects. Tummies filled with tasty nosh, we strapped on our Petzls and headed off into the dark for the local nature reserve. We hadn't gone more than a few yards when we saw our first glow worm - bright as a green LED and glowing in the roadside verge within sight of the pub. At this point I was very relieved. Having persuaded all these people to come, it would have been a sad affair if we hadn't seen any at all. I expected to see more along the disused railway line (a classic glow worm location), and we did see a couple including a female getting some action under the railway bridge, but most were by the golf course with more along the roadside as we returned. At least 10 females in total and three males - a very satisfying haul for an evening's stroll.

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. As planned, I submitted our findings to the glow worm survey and got a lovely thank you note from Robin, the guy who runs the web site, asking us to report any more we see. So if you are walking around after dark and see a glow in a hedgerow, be sure to visit The UK Glow worm Survey. July is the peak month, but glows can be seen May to October, so keep your eyes peeled!

Ali

Bye Bye Badby

Badby hostel is up for sale and due to close in August, so this was our last chance to stay in this 17^th Century thatched cottage, the only hostel in Northamptonshire.

On Saturday a pleasant walk in the rolling countryside of the Northamptonshire uplands followed the Knightly Way through Badby Woods and Fawsley Park, through attractive villages with orange-coloured ironstone cottages, and returned to Badby on the Nene Valley Way, for a barbecue in the hostel garden.

Sunday's visit to Stoke Bruene beside the Grand Union Canal had something for everyone: the Canal Museum in a restored corn mill, watching narrowboats negotiate the flight of locks, a stroll along the towpath, a boat trip into Blisworth Tunnel, pub with morris dancers, and a tea shop with the most splendid strawberry cream teas.

Wendens Ambo in the Wet

A rather grey Sunday saw 17 of us gather in the Common car park in Saffron Walden under ominous skies. True to form, we hadn't gone more than a hundred paces when it started to spit with rain. Never the less we soldiered on, out of the town and through the fields and meadows surrounding Audley End house. By the time we came round to the front of the house it was raining quite steadily and the last of us gave in and pulled on our waterproofs. The rain grew heavier as we wound through St Marks College and the fields round the back of Wendens Ambo, and it was with some relief that we arrived at the pub, with the opportunity to dry off a little and try some of their real ales. Needless to say it immediately stopped raining, only to start again as we pulled our coats on for the return journey.

The second half of the walk was, if anything, wetter than the first, but good fortune was on our side as we were saved from tea deprivation by the worthy ladies of the United Reformed Church Hall. Having at least doubled their customer numbers for the afternoon, the ladies were very pleased to see us and kept us well supplied with tea and cakes. Thus fortified, we managed to struggle the last quarter mile back to the car park, damp but satisfied with a walk well done.

Cycling in the Wet

Equally inclement conditions greeted the 5 hardy cyclists who turned up on Wednesday for the ride to the Viper. Perhaps we'll do it again in November - the weather might be better.

CANADA: PEAKS, LAKES AND BEARS

(and BIG BREAKFASTS)

Aka Planes Trains and Automobiles

Following the pioneering trips by Tom et al years and years ago and the Plummer/Warner trip five years ago Mike, Jim Ian and I flew to Calgary on the 30 June for an action packed trip to the Rockies.

As tradition demands our first full day started with a piggy breakfast at the top of Calgary Tower with fine views over the city the, prairies to the east and the Rockies on the horizon to the west. That was the highlight of the day as we struggled to find enough to occupy the day whilst being eaten by mosquitoes.

Next day we cleared out of the city via a Denny's for an even bigger pig out breakfast which none of us finished and would even defeat our treasurer.

Our 80 mile drive to Banff was interrupted by a 5 minute heavy hailstorm which forced us to stop the car - about 6 inches of hail fell! Then we had to dodge a tyre which came hurtling towards us having detached from the car in front.

To recover from the drive we retired to the Banff Springs hotel for afternoon tea served in traditional English style. This a fine building in the style of a Scottish baronial castle and a bit posher than our accommodation.

The highlights of our stay in the Lake Louise area were a splendid walk from Lake Louise into the wilderness of the valley of the six glaciers with some superb and huge views of peaks and glaciers. This was followed by an equally stunning walk around the valley of the ten peaks.

This now gets repetitive as ALL views from herein involved combinations of the following words: stunning, huge, lots of peaks/ranges of mountains, pretty lakes, big sky, snow.

The drive along the majestic Icefields Parkway became the Barf-way as Mike and Jim succumbed to the Rockies bug which laid me low the previous day. Whereas I threw up in the majestic Emerald Lake they were both sick at regular (but not simultaneous) intervals along the 150 mile route so giving Ian and I extra photo stops which was good as we can show the photos to Jim and Mike who did not appreciate the views fully at the time!

The Jasper leg of the trip was marked by two superb walks - Sulphur Ridge and Bald Hills - which were quite short but rewarded us with fine views of mountain ridges in all directions.

A trip up the Jasper cable car at 9pm gave us some spectacular views of the mountain studded skyline at dusk. We now want to climb up mountains at night as the view at that time are so atmospheric and Middle Earth-ish.

Our final walk was around the Mt Edith Cavell glacier system (3 for the price of 1!) where we got up close and personal with glaciers. Same adjectives as used before apply here.

Common themes to date were Ian's insatiable need for tea, T shirts and to tell dreadful jokes.

Wildlife seen: elk, marmots, chipmunks. Although there were frequent bear warnings on our walking routes and at all the rustic (outside toilet) hostels we only saw two bears (from car) although Ian saw a family of them on one of his train journeys.

We flew back to Montreal and Quebec City to see French Canada. Montreal was a bit seedy. The French Canadians drive like the French (for our linguistic readers: homme de camion blanc!) - fast and terrible which made the drive in and out of the city a bit hair raising!

Quebec City was excellent, the only walled city in North America and a UNESCO heritage site. It was very French and there was a festival on at night which enlivened the atmosphere in the evening. The St Lawrence river was impressive - very wide even though Quebec is on a narrower section and is still 600 miles away from the sea!

Dave J