Carlisle & District Rambling & Fellwalking Club

Walk & Event Reports

A Walk 27th April 2014

Haydon Bridge to Hexham

 11 Miles Grade 3

Leader: Morven Burden

Reports by John McKay & Peter Flynn

Photos by John McKay & Peter Flynn

John's Report   ​

Thirty three on the coach today. We drove to Housteads and dropped off the B party and carried on to Haydon Bridge, the starting point for the A group. Fourteen of us set off led by Morven, all suitably dressed for the light drizzle which would last for all but the last hour of the walk. It was a fairly gentle climb for the first mile but then it settled down to a flattish walk, a good mixture , open fields, woodland paths, riverside paths and the odd stretch of minor roads. We had in our party Lauren’s son Steven and his girlfriend Sophia from Sweden. I hope they enjoyed their day out. They were out in front most of the time, setting the pace, how wonderful it would be to be young and fit again. Just before lunch we passed by a remote house, which was just as well, I wouldn’t want to be their neighbour. The very loud sound of drums and guitars boomed out and I thought I heard someone trying to sing. It was a group practising and it sounded like they needed all the practice they could get. We stopped for lunch not far from the house and could still hear them pounding away. We had lunch under the shelter of a bridge beside a very nice little river. We carried on alongside the river and over the railway line and made our way into Hexham and coffee in Costas. Some great crack along the way, the most interesting being a discussion which took place outside a public toilet as we arrived in Hexham. Shewee or not Shewee, that is the question. After having watched a demonstration on You Tube I am very pleased it’s a question I will never have to answer. A great day, great company, great walk and brilliantly led. Thank you Morven.  Apologies for my singing along the way, I just have an irresistible urge to sing sometimes.

John

Peter's Report

When the cows are mooing for their calves and the birds are chirruping to warn predators off their nests and the sibilant musings of Alison with her travails and achievements waft through the group, one can tell that summer is here.  Lovely to see Alison back and to have a different slant on life as it should be lived.  Welcome also to Steve and Sophia and it was good to have a different area to explore courtesy of Morven.  The weather was miserable – drizzle and cold – and it was waterproofs from the start,  but apart from a couple of  Sundays recently,  what’s new?  We went along several minor roads with some very expensive real estate,  and eventually came to a house – detached,  thank the good Lord – where there walls were bulging with the deafening sound of a pop group who sounded as though they were practising for service on the Ukrainian border to repel the Ruskies purely by sound.  We could hear it about half a mile away: it deadened the sound of a woodpecker long before we reached the house,  and the occupants had,  with the consideration and kindness that such groups all too often demonstrate,  opened the doors and windows so we could appreciate what was going on.  The conversation in the group varied from alternatives to toilets for ladies,  through the conditions of work in Sophia’s new job – “you are not allowed to bring to the place of work such items as guns,  knives longer than one inch and rocket launchers” – and on to Spanish and South American literary giants.  The usual chit chat for Sunday mornings.  Lunch was taken in a tunnel under the Newcastle – Carlisle railway,  and we made it into Hexham in plenty of time to have a cup of tea and a few cakes. Lovely walk, many thanks Morven.

Peter