Banchory Veterans' Hill-walkers

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ Extracted from Ken's e-mailed suggestions for the mid-September weekend - a few of us received it, but I thought I'd let the wider group of BVH-W see it as well: "Thurs night  Keswick Friday   Taxi to Paterdale and walk to Grasmere Saturday   Walk in the Grasmere area Sunday    Walk to Borrowdale, bus to Keswick The Red Lion hotel in Grasmere would be ideal, having stayed there several times previously." If you are interested in joining the group of 5 (Dave, Colin, Ken, Ian and I) who are planning to go back to the Lake District again this year, and want to be kept in the loop on the plans, please let us know asap. 

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ We missed a bit of an opportunity for most of the group to get together last night when Dave appeared at the Legion - I had certainly thought that he wouldn't be around this weekend, but he was. Nonetheless, although Ken and Ian weren't there, we did discuss next year's plans again, and Dave confirmed that the plans that Ken, Colin and I discussed last Friday, would be OK with him too. As a reminder, these were: 14th - 17th September, 2012 - Lake District October, 2012 - Torridon or Ullapool - to tie in with beer/music festivals It had originally been suggested that we could finalise everything when Dave's next back - but that's not until 24th December and, knowing how difficult it was to get suitable accommodation in the Lake District this year, perhaps that might be leaving it a bit late? Ken had offered to make the bookings again next year and I think we should take him up on that offer - does everyone agree? Inc...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ When we were down in Newcastle, the subject of where and when to go next year was raised. As regards timing, I think the weekend we have done both the WHW and the Lake District would work well for me again next year. That would imply leaving here late on Thursday 13th September, 2012, and returning on Monday 17th September. How does that work for everyone else? As regards location, I'm open to suggestions, but I rather liked the fairly civilised ways in the Lake District, where there was  always a tea/coffee/scone shoppe just around the corner - and even a surprise pub or two for a pit stop! I'm not necessarily advocating we do the exact same again however, but I did come across this on the web: http://www.macsadventure.com/pdf/hadrians_wall_brochure.pdf Walking Hadrian's Wall would be relatively civilised too - and having a company who arranges it all for you might take some of the hassle out of the booking as well. Just a...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ I awoke to the sound of Dave's car crunching along the gravel drive at 5:50 am. Ian and I had breakfast at 7:45 am and, having been thoroughly confused by the local bus services timetables, we had booked a taxi to take us to Keswick at 8:15 am, to ensure we caught the 8:55 am bus to Penrith. 8:25 am came and went, and it was pretty obvious that the booked taxi wasn't going to show, so we got the hotel to phone another one. The only problem is that the nearest taxi services are in Keswick, some 6 or 7 miles along a twisting lakeside road. However, it was with us by 8:35 am and you should have seen the driver's face when we told him we had to catch the 8:55 am bus - he couldn't have been more excited - we had made his day. It was as if we'd said "follow that car". We got there in good time - in fact, the bus was slightly late anyway. That gave me time to check the bus timetables again: Yes - it definitely s...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ The forecast for today was better and it was certainly very pleasant when we headed off from Rosthwaite back to Keswick. The first bit of the walk was straight upwards, which meant there were plenty of "photo opportunities". We climbed above various cloud layers and reached the first valley top of the day, where we posed for yet another team photo: We were advised that there was a coffee shop at the foot of the hill, so, in keeping with the casual spirit of the weekend, we stopped off for scones with gooseberry jam - lovely - and we weren't the only ones to think so. Soon there were birds swooping everywhere, looking for a nibble - you could feed them by hand. We finished our scones and put the trays on an adjacent table to allow the birds to finish off the remaining crumbs: Chaffinch, I'm told We moved on and eventually came across Derwent Water: Our tour guide's confidence in his map-reading skills had o...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ It had poured down all night and it was still lashing as we had breakfast. The forecast indicated that there was a possibility of it relenting a bit later on, so it was a fairly simple - and unanimous - decision to postpone our departure. Fortunately, the Australia - Ireland World Cup match was just about to start, so we settled down to watch it - great game it was too - and when it was over, the rain had eased off, so off we trotted along the valley floor. After 4 or 5 miles, the stroll ended abruptly - the only way was up, to get out of one dale and over to the next one. As we climbed up a path adjacent to a mighty waterfall, the sky started to lighten and there were even glimpses of the sun. We took a last look down the valley before going over the top: Ian had been showing a slightly unnatural interest in sheep all weekend - he said it was his upbringing on a farm coming out - and insisted I photograph the rather pretty white faced ...

From http://bvhill-walkers.blogspot.com/ Thursday morning was a bit overcast with prospects of showers as we set off from our hotel: We walked down to the bus station to await the 9:30 am bus that would take us down to Ambleside: Like little kids, we all clambered upstairs in the double decker and fought for the front seat. This was the view as we hurtled through the narrow lakeside roads: Well, that part of the journey was easy - there must be time for a coffee before we head for the hills. Ken took us to one of his favourite tea shops, the Apple Pie, where we all indulged ourselves. Eventually, it was time to leave the quiet surroundings of Ambleside and head for the hills - lead on, Ken! We hadn't got 100 yards before our leader was seen scurrying around trying to find the village's out door: Yes - a map's a good idea, Ken! The first bit of the climb out of Ambleside is relatively steep, but on decent track. We soon stopped for breath and f...