21/10/12 - Boggy and Foggy

Distance - 7.4 Miles
Geocaches - 3
Walk From - Walk 13 from The Severn Valley, Peter Kerr


Need a local walk so pick up one of the first books that I bought.  This the eighth time that is provided inspiration but the first time that I have looked at it since 2005.  I didn't blog then.  I'll have to go back and repeat the other 7 walks.

Busy day, so out at 8am.  Decide to look for free parking in Bewdley.  An impossible challenge.  The high street allows parking for 1 hour and the lane I need to go down at the back of the boat club had lots of warnings about clamping.  Oh well, it was only £2.30 at the main car park, although this did eat into my post walking bacon sarnie money to such an extent that I had to make my own on my return. 

Eerie start once I do get going, with a low mist over the river.

Hardly likely to challenge Lindsay Pulley for best photo this year

Over the bridge, through the caravan park and then up steepley over the SVR line.  Pick up country lanes on the way to Grey Green Farm and then have a muddy tramp through a boggy quagmire.

Squelch

New highlight of the walk is Wassell Wood.  There is a geocache in the middle but no marked paths on the OS Map.  All is revealed when getting to GZ and its a nice, steep uphill walk through the woodland to pick up the bounty.

9 years serious walking and still finding new places within 4 miles

There is a hillfort marked on the map but Peter Kerr assures me that it was built in 1250 to provide a moat for medieval houses.  I'll take his word for it, it now just an earthmound.  On normal days, it would provide decent views but not today.

Pick up lanes around Trimpley which are a touch scary as the cars don't slow down for the fog.  Maybe a black jacket wasn't the cleverist idea at all.  I was going to go through Bite Farm to get a closer look at the horned ones but the stiles were most dog unfriendly.

More unusual animals

This means more roadwalking and I take an extension to pick up cache number 2.  Rewarded with a Travel Bug.

Retrace steps and more excellent walking downhill on a new path through the woods to Trimpley resevoir.  Turn left and follow the river downsteam all the way back to town.

The path alternates between a lane and the river edge.  As I pass a house I can here a tremedous row from inside.  I stay for a while to make sure no-one is being murdered.  Its a right humdinger between a teenage girl and her mom.

How pleased I am that we didn't bring up a tantrumer.  Ours is known for a footstomp when hairstyles don't go to plan for we don't get that level of abuse.

Soon back in town, wet footed with a lack of photos.  Cache 3 is a drive by at the SVR station.

The fog does lift for this afternoons football games where we get to see Alex's trademark "dink down the wing pass" in all its glory.

20/10/12 - Storming Norman

Distance - 3.5 Miles
Lunch - Robert Raikes House
Geocaches - 4
Walk Inspiration - BBC History

I blame Sky Atlantic.  Their new show about the British had me looking out for Roman inspiration a few weeks ago and the second episode was about the Normans.  Couldn't afford the diesel to get to Hastings, so I looked locally and determined that Gloucester was a major Norman City, once rivalling London.  And its only 45 minutes away.

After Severn Trent Water had blocked the roads by laying new poo pipes, we eventually managed to park up at the Kings Walk.  This sounded regal enough, but in reality was an old 70's car park designed for tiny little cars.

Rather than take the shops, we took our lives in our hands and went back down the ramp to pick up London Road.  The first photo opportunity had nothing to do with the Normans and plenty to do with dead catholics, at St Peter's Church.

London Road was a largely uneventful walk, with strange looking locals passing the finest pub in Gloucester. It was, of course, far too early but we took a look.

Glorious England

A short walk took us to the first stop on the tour.... an old leper hospital at Hill Field Gardens.  Sonia may have plenty of reason to complain about me but excitement at the weekend can not be one of them.  I even allowed her to find the first geocache of the day, whilst I sparked up the camera.

How to show a lady a good time

By posing in a pagoda

We look for an exit from these nice gardens and fail, having to go all the way around to pick up Denmark Street.  Sonia is moaning about the lack of Norman Architecture and then I manage to spectacularly top trump her by finding a proper archaeological at Kingsholme - which was only the site of the Doomsday book.  How much more Norman can you get?

Civilisation can be determined by an old sandal.

Not much evidence of the Normans as we walk south through a housing estate that has more than its fair share of wailing children.  We do pass Gloucester Rugby Club and a pub that is perhaps a little too close.

Howzat?  Wrong sport.

We then come across the priory and into the old town in all its historical glory.  Quite impressed, lots of old streets, dominated by the cathedral.

Why we are here.

Sadly the town centre has been decimated by a high number of poundland shops.  Lunch provides monumental respite as we tentatively enter Robert Raikes House.  He was a 16th Century Merchant and now his house has been turned into a very posh looking pub that does meals cheap enough that not to have a pudding would be rude.

You can only imaging how impressive this would be to vistors away from these shores.  A proper slice of history where you can have sticky toffee pudding for three quid.

Get home for the pub where I hope the paupers from West Brom will hold their own against the multi millionairres from a City good enough for precious princesses on an International Marketing Degree. 

We get very, very close to making back page headlines.

13/10/12 - Kempsey Caching

Distance - 3.4 Miles
Geocaches - 14
First Cache


With climbing peaks and investigating the romans, geocaching has been sadly ignored for the last couple of weekends.  This changed today by taking on a relatively new round on Kempsey Common, surprisingly, an area that I haven't walked before.

Busy week at work, Ellie coming home for the weekend and needing to pack for a business trip means that I head off in not a totally relaxed frame of mind.  Something is bothering me and on the round, I realise what it is. 

I need to go shopping for Smart Casual clothes.  I can do Smart (in a Boris Johnstone style) and I can definately do casual, but what the hell is this middle ground.  Two good pieces of news, a fashion marketing guru is back from Uni for the weekend to assist and house of frazer have a sale on.

Head off into the mist and park up near the Green Street sign for the first cache.  I was going to get a photo of this on the way back, but it was guarded by a man with a stick, so thought best not to.

Head down the lanes, picking up the next one and meeting the gateway to the common.

Common Land Lies behind

Open the gate and we have great views over the Malverns and Worcester, where the cathedral is an impressive land mark.  Meet the only two dog walkers of the day immediately and they are impressed by Molly's squirrel hunting prowess.

The walking is excellent, following the perimter of the common around picking up the caches and a couple of outliers that are not connected to the trail.  A lot of thought has gone into the variety of containers and a couple do make me laugh/admire the ingenuity.

Recent rains have left some impressive puddles, which Molly likes to blast through at full pelt.

Early Bath for Molly

Malverns behind

More Malvern views

Despite having sartorial issues on my mind, I do get 100% on the round, which is unusual for me when I am alone.  Thanks Chickowee for a nice little round, perfect for my needs and bringing a new location to my attention.

Off shopping now.

06/10/12 - All Praise High Raise

Distance - 10.3 miles
Geocaches - 1
Pubs - Three
Bed for the Night
Wainwrights Climbed - 2 (Sergeant Man and High Raise)

High Raise

Our bi-annual, boys only walking weekend in the Lakes comes around again.  This was booked 6 weeks ago, with immense trouble finding a hotel that offered accommodation for one night only in the lakes.  Three of us looked and eventually, I found something in the next village along from Ambleside (scene of the last trip out) that probably was a little out of budget at £131 for a twin room. 

Still, the breakfast was nice.

And so was the weather.  What a stroke of luck to have been rewarded with such gorgeous walking weather.  Sunday may have provided the first frost of autumn but the perfect clear skies more than made up for it.  But this was Sunday.... we did the walking on a Saturday.

Bad news earlier in the week (get well soon Moria) meant that the four became three.  You may have missed the hills Gav, but I guarantee you won't have missed my post pint snorefest.

Alarm goes at 5:50am and we are away and up the M6, arriving in the hotel carpark 3 hrs 15 minutes later, having been robbed at the Costa Coffee at Lancaster services.  Boot up and head down towards the town, picking up a path next to the river Rothay and then up the Easedale Road before picking up the wilds. 

Waterfall, first photo opp.

I am following Rocket up the hill, noticing that something is pouring out the bottom of his rucksack.  It's either his giant bottle of lucozade (how middle class, he's not even ill), his water supply or even more worrying, his hipflask. 

Its OK, the Whisky is safe.

At Easedale Tarn, we pick up a solo half polish-half grimsby lady walker who asks me "if we are there yet".  That rather depends on where you are going and she genuinely has no idea or no map.  She does have nice sandwiches which she is prepared to share, so not all bad.  However, she can't keep up with us.  With no destination in mind, I am sure she had a fine day out.

Easdale Tarn.  Geocache on other side of water.

Ewan correctly identifies that the hard work is about to start and he is right.  Bit of hands on rock is required as we climb up past Belles Knott - The Matterhorn of the Lakes. 

Hard work begins

Matterhorn Mobot

First peak is Sergeant Man.  Rocky climb and we meet a middle aged ladies rambling club.  This provides opportunities for camera sharing, with Rocket taking conrtol of an iPhone and me handing over my camera. She did half a decent job.

Sergeant Man - Good First Attempt

But take your finger off the button when handing it back

High Raise requires no extra climbing and from Sgt. Man looks uninspiring, with just the shelter of stones to pick it up.  Once arriving there, we are rewarded with stunning views that make it a great place for lunch and my one and only geocache of the day.  

I hadn't realised how boring geocaching is to non cachers.

Having a) soaked in the views and b) waited for Rocket to moan about the cold, we head off to Greenup edge, where we turn right for a long, long walk down the valley back to the pub.  Ewan waits until he is right next to an elderly couple eating lunch before he completes the day's most spectacular fall, leaving his creamy trousers decidely more mud splattered.

All the way back

Nearing the end of the walk, I look behind me to be reminded of just how lucky we have been with the weather.

Never gets better than this

So back to the hotel, a couple of pints to confirm Albion's best start to a season since 1911 (when we won the title) and shower, change to see what Grasmere offers for entertainment.

Two pubs in town, with the pick being Tweedies Bar.  This had a bit of everything - 5 real ales, a wedding, decent food and a band that came on at 9:30pm.  We could only stay awake for their opening two songs and a walk back home to look at the stars and attempt to stay up for match of the day.  I caught it on Sunday morning.