Boscastle – April 2024
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Ten of us travelled to Boscastle towards the end of April and found our home for the next few nights - two attached cottages high on a hill to the west of Boscastle itself. The accommodation was very comfy with freshly laid eggs provided for our breakfasts each morning which worked well with the Merry Meals menu, and one cottage had enough room for us all to cook and eat together.
Madeira - March 2024
Five very excited members met at Gatwick airport for our foreign trip to Madeira. We picked up our hire cars from the airport and made our way to the hotel Bio Hotel Quinta da Serra. A complete change to our usual digs this is a 5* hotel which grows most of the fresh vegetables used in its kitchens.
After a hearty 4 course diner we all hunkered down for a good night’s sleep in preparation for first day walk.
Our destination today was the Pico Grande 9.2km with 875m of ascent. We all thought that this was quite a short walk given our normal average of approximately 16km but the altitude and the terrain made the going a lot slower than normal.
Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) 22nd - 25th February 2024
Ten of us returned to Chichester Youth Adventure Trust’s cottage and bunkhouse just in the southern boundary of the National Park.
Last time we were there in 2022, there was a red weather warning for wind and amber for rain (Storm Eunice). Surely it would be better this time. And it was.
The Wild West on Friday in The Black Mountain starting from Criag y Nos Country Park was a challenging walk. During the walk we saw one farmer and two dog walkers but no-one in the open country. Thanks to Richard Boulton for the back-up that we needed to successfully navigate this area where paths are generally indistinct or non-existent and point -to- point navigation required. We passed through old mine workings around Cribbath (423m) before descending to Afon Giedd for a sustained climb to Carreg Lem. What wind there was, was on our backs and the sleet/hail showers were short-lived. The sun even came out at times. We went past Sinc Giedd (Swallow hole) over Carreg Goch (558m) – couldn’t locate the WW2 Wellington Bomber Crash site, before returning via some enormous sink holes and share holes.
The circular walk to Henrhyd Falls from Craig y Nos proved more challenging than expected for Chrissie Dixon and Jeannie Worsfold, not held by the fact that the guidebook description was quite old.
It was a treat to walk on Saturday past waterfalls to Fan y Big with up to 6” snow on the highest ground. Early low cloud had given way to sunshine and extensive vistas, and the sound of crunching through fresh snow was a joy. We returned via the Canadian Memorial where we had lunch in the sun (another crashed WW2 bomber) before dropping down to Blaen y Glyn (stream) and more waterfalls to complete the walk.
Nostalgia, Bluecoats and a Castle - Day walk Saturday 3rd February 2024
Nine of us met up at the disused West Grinstead station, all prepped and ready for unpleasant weather after all the rain, but in fact were pleasantly surprised that we remained mainly dry throughout! The walking was fairly flat and easy along the old railway track bed which has a pretty good surface, and we sped along to Copsale where we re-grouped and agreed to slow down a bit!
From here we passed along wooded and slightly busier paths towards Southwater and under the A24, stopping briefly just north of the village centre on a green overlooking a pond with bulrushes for our coffee break. Heading north on the Link we soon turned off to negotiate a couple of muddy and wet fields that led us in a circuitous route to the playing fields of Christs Hospital which we crossed before rejoining the Downs Link and going south this time for our lunch stop at the Bax Castle pub. The landlord had indicated that we could use his benches for our picnic so long as a few of us bought drinks, and in fact several of us ordered the rather delicious home made soup!
We then retraced our steps on the track back down through Southwater village, chatting away and enjoying the views in the opposite direction, finishing at around 3pm, with a total of 10.5 miles walked.
Walk Leader
Anthony Waton