CYHA News

Piracy in Littlehampton!

July saw us taking a trip to the seaside and the lovely town of Littlehampton, down in West Sussex. The hostel is only a few years old and forms part of the town’s visitor centre, complete with viewing tower, down by the quayside - and opposite the pub.

For Saturday’s walk we decided to take a boat inland to Arundel and then walk back along the river. As we set out from the hostel to find a boat to take us, we little expected to be taken aboard a pirate vessel complete with Jolly Roger! The crew told us not to worry, they’d bought the costumes on ebay last week, and the boat was thrown in for free. The captain declined our offer of taking George as a slave, but accepted half rate for a one-way trip.

The boat trip was leisurely as our pirates were very law abiding when it came to the speed limit, however they couldn’t resist shouting some jocular threats to a flag waving Scot we passed.

Arundel was gorgeous with its beautiful cathedral high on the hill overlooking the town and the castle dominating the riverside. We spent an hour looking around the town before setting back for our walk along the river. After a little while we stopped for lunch, and it being a lovely sunny day we couldn’t resist stretching out for forty winks. All very peaceful and satisfying, concluded by some haranguing from our old friends the pirates as they made their return trip.

Ali

Activity Evening

Our Wednesday evening visit to Belchamps Scout Centre in Hockley started at the indoor climbing wall. It looked like a long way up! Once we were set up with our harnesses, helmets and belay ropes, we all had a few goes at some of the routes up the wall.

Mike ran up like a monkey, and Doug made it to the top (obviously having had previous experience). Jim did pretty well too, but Clive and I were left dangling not far off the floor – more practice needed I think!

We then moved on to the rifle range. This was somewhat less strenuous, and I thought I was doing quite well – but it turned out I was aiming at the wrong target.  Soon we all got the hang of it, and were hitting the right target most of the time.

Thanks to Jonathan and Neil for organising an enjoyable evening.

Dave P

The Essex Monsoon

You may remember that we arranged for Tony from Chelmsford museum to give us a guided wildlife tour of Hylands Park on 9^th July.  You may also remember that it was just about the wettest July day ever.  A few dedicated people turned up and spent a little while wandering about the gardens in the rain, but we decided it wasn’t worth going ahead with the planned walk, so Tony kindly agreed to postpone it until Wednesday 6^th August – see programme.

A Fenland Stroll

Thanks to James and Marion for leading a lovely walk along the River Great Ouse and Fen Drayton Lakes.

And we especially enjoyed Marion’s homemade cake, scones and jam!

Walk the Essex Way

The Essex Way is a long-distance path stretching right across the County of Essex from Epping in the south-west to the port of Harwich in the north-east. Following footpaths and ancient green lanes, it covers a distance of 81 miles.

It was opened in 1972 after a competition won by a group from Chelmsford Technical High School. Relays of scouts carried a replica of a Roman Standard along the way to Dedham where the walk originally ended.

The path leads you through ancient woodlands, open farmland, tree-lined river valleys and leafy green lanes, unveiling historic towns and villages along the way.

Cressida has proposed that we could complete the Essex Way in eight sections as occasional Sunday walks over the next year or so, finishing with a celebratory weekend at the hostel in Harwich.

We’ve pencilled in Sunday 12^th October for the first leg – Epping to Willingale.