2013 Winter Spring Newsletter

WINTER/SPRING NEWSLETTER 2013

Future Activities

13th January 2013 Sunday B & C New Year lunch walk from The Maid’s Head, Wicken. The 6 mile walk is followed by a 1, 2 or 3 course lunch for £14, £16 or £18. All prices include a hot drink at Upware after 3 miles, tea or coffee after lunch and the tip. Please contact John on 01223 843717 for a menu. Cheques must be received by John by Christmas

Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th March 2013: Coach Weekend, Webbington Hotel. Loxton, Somerset. 10 places are still available in twin en-suite rooms at this manor house hotel which sits on the southern slopes of the Mendips. It is well placed to explore highlights of the local scenery.  We are planning a choice of three walks both days to enjoy it.   The total cost, including the coach and all gratuities, for 2 nights dinner B&B, is £143 for a shared room. We have filled our original allocation of single rooms (£173) although additional single rooms may be reserved at a cost of £193.
We plan to depart from Cambridge RUFC, Grange Road  at 10:00am on 22 March (with a prior Ely pick-up if required), returning to Cambridge late on Sunday evening. To guarantee your place please send a non-refundable deposit of £30 per head (payable to the CRC) to Alex as soon as possible. The final payment will be due by 31st January.  The price for parking at the RUFC will be £10 for the weekend; please add this to your final payment if you wish to park there. For further details on the hotel, please visit   www.webbingtonhotelandspa.co.uk. Offers to lead B or C walks to David please.

London walk(s) Saturday 27th April – & also Saturday May 4th. Following the appeal in the last newsletter, David (01763 242677) has offered to lead a walk of a maximum of 8 miles in the Hampstead area which will include a visit to Kenwood House. David wishes to keep numbers to a maximum of 25 and will lead the walk on Saturday 27th April 2013, repeating the same walk a week later on Saturday 4th May. If you are interested, send an email to david.allard@ntlworld.com or phone, stating which date you prefer and full details will be sent to you.

Sunday 23rd June: Summer coach outing to north Norfolk coast. The cost is £15; please send cheques, payable to Cambridge Rambling Club, to Angela. Offers of help with leading to Angela, please.

7th July 2013 Sunday B bring and share meal and walk. The Sunday B walk will be followed by a bring-and-share meal in a garden in Cambridge. Please put the date in your diary and contact Victoria on 01223 573813 or Miranda on 01223 881588 for details. Please let Miranda know if you would like to come and what food you will bring.
Friday 13th – Friday 20th September 2013 Lake District Week – Patterdale The club Lakes Week will have a new format this year. In the past it has been largely hostel based but more people have expressed a wish for a variety of accommodation so it will be up to individuals to book their own accommodation this year. Details are available on the club website with some suggested accommodation or from Norman (01223 870121) if you don’t have access to the web. If you are looking for someone to share with please contact Norman who will coordinate this. Transport as usual will be arranged personally. The week will be based in Patterdale allowing us easy access to the north eastern fells. This location offers a great range of walks to cover all walking abilities, from gentle strolls on the shores of Ullswater to the challenges of the Helvellyn Edges. As usual it is hoped to provide a full programme of guided walks at moderate and harder levels and of course you have the option of doing your own thing if you wish. Offers to lead ‘A’ or ‘B’ walks are very welcome. To keep numbers to a manageable level the week will be limited to 30 people so please contact Norman first before booking any accommodation.
Friday 1st November to Sunday 3rd November 2013, Coach Weekend, The Pines Hotel, Swanage, Dorset. We are planning another stay at this spectacular location, with its glorious panoramic views of Swanage Bay on the south coast of Dorset near the historic village of Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck. See www.pineshotel.co.uk There are great walks along the coast to both Lulworth and Studland Point, as well as attractive downland walking near Corfe. Meg has provisionally booked 48 places and the total cost for 2 nights dinner, B&B and coach travel, including gratuities is £176.50 per person, with accommodation in twin and double rooms now remaining. To reserve your place, please send a non-refundable deposit of £40 per head to Meg, cheques payable to Cambridge Rambling Club. Offers of leaders to Meg, please.

Coach week-ends in 2014: Advance notice of a coach trip to Llangollen, north Wales in early April 2014; more details in the next newsletter.

Hostel (& similar) Trips: Hostel trips are informal affairs and, if a long way from Cambridge, are often for 3 nights or more. ‘A’ walks are guaranteed; ‘B’ walks depend on a volunteer leader – please do offer! Travel is normally in cars and we try to arrange car sharing. All bookings are handled by Jill Tuffnell, with cheques payable to ‘E G Tuffnell’. Please book with deposit or payment well in advance as the full balance must be paid at least 8 weeks before the trip. Offers to drive or requests for a lift to Jill please. You are very welcome to book your own accommodation and join us on walks.

*Blaxhall YH near Snape, Suffolk, Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd February 2013 (2 nights). We have sole use of this spacious self-catering hostel close to the Suffolk coast. We will include walks to Orford as well as Aldeburgh. The cost is £30 a head for the weekend. It’s a great area for bird watching if you don’t want to walk!

*Losehill Hall, Castleton YH – Peak District Friday 8th to Sunday 10th March 2013 (2 nights). We have booked 14 dormitory beds at £40 per person and 2 two-bedded rooms at £47 per person for the weekend at this new hostel on the edge of Castleton, with fabulous walking on the doorstep. The balance is due January 5th 2013 for those who have already paid a £15 deposit. Meals available as well as self-catering.

*Clun YH on Offa’s Dyke Path – Easter 2013 Thursday 28th March to Monday 1st April (4 nights). We have booked 15 beds at this former watermill – an intriguing building in the ancient Shropshire town of Clun near the Welsh border. The hostel is self-catering, but there are pubs nearby; walking is very varied in this quite unspoilt countryside. The cost is £65 per person.

*Tremadog, north Wales: Snowdon Lodge – Thursday 2nd to Monday 6th May Bank Holiday 2013, (4 nights). We have sole occupancy of this 35 bed private hostel one mile from the sea; it is the birthplace of Lawrence of Arabia! Close to the Lleyn Peninsula, Porthmadog and Snowdonia there will be opportunities to walk on the new Welsh coastal path as well as in the mountains. You can even be a tourist, with Harlech and Portmeirion nearby. The accommodation includes 3 double and 3 twin bed rooms – with a cost of £100 per person. The price of a bed in 5 and 6 bedded rooms is £90. The charges are based on 25 people; if we get more booking there will be a price reduction! Please send a deposit of £20 to secure a place, with the balance payable by 1st March. Lower charges for anyone booking 3 nights Friday to Monday – call Jill if interested. The hostel is self-catering, but with pubs in the nearby village. See www.snowdonlodge.co.uk

*Mini back-packing trip to North Yorkshire, Friday 24th to Wednesday 29th May 2013, (5 nights over the Bank Holiday). We start with 2 nights at Malham YH in Airedale, giving us a Saturday walk locally. Then we backpack over to Kettlewell YH for a two night stay, exploring Upper Wharfedale for a day without a pack. On the Tuesday we will walk back by a different route to our final night’s stay at Malham. Both hostels provide meals or there are pubs nearby. There is one two-bedded room available at both hostels. The cost is £90 per person for a ‘dorm’ bed & £102 for the two-bed; please send deposits of £20 now with the balance payable by 20th March.

*Port Eynon, the Gower, South Wales Thursday 8th to Monday 12th August 2013 (4 nights). We have sole occupancy of the new 34 bed YH Bunkhouse on the Gower at Port Eynon, for 4 nights in August. It is self-catering, with a pub nearby. There is glorious scenery and walking available straight from the door – by the beach. The accommodation includes 3 single rooms (cost £120 pp) and 2 double rooms (cost £100 pp). Dorm rooms, with 4 beds each, cost £90pp. Anyone interested in a short extension to the holiday in south Pembrokeshire should let Jill know ASAP.

*Eastbourne YH, Friday 27th to Sunday 29th September 2013. We have sole occupancy of this new hostel just west of the town, only 400 yards from the start of the South Downs long distance footpath and close to the Seven Sisters. If you don’t want to walk there are regular buses into Eastbourne – just a mile away. The cost is £35 pp for the 2 night weekend.

*Youlgreave YH, Friday 8th to Sunday 10th November 2013. Again, we have sole occupancy of this very well- appointed hostel in the former Co-op department store in the lovely village of Youlgreave, close to Bakewell and Chatsworth House. The walk along Lathkilldale must be one of the highlights of the Peak District. Although self-catering, there are shops and pubs nearby. The cost is £35 for the 2 nights.

News and Notices

AGM: There was a good turnout and some lively discussion. In recognition of their great contribution to the Club, Life memberships were awarded to David Peel, Margaret Stephens and David Cook. Alex joins the Committee as organiser of the spring coach weekends. Rita has also joined the Committee. We had a very interesting talk from Luther Phillips about the work of the River Cam Conservancy. Finally, the new venue was voted a great success – so we plan a return next year.

Wednesday ‘C’ walkers: Sheila writes: ‘I hereby give notice that as from the November 2013 AGM I no longer wish to compile the programme of walks for the Cs but will continue until that date. No doubt someone much younger than me will take on the mantle. I have enjoyed my stint very much and hope to continue walking as long as possible’.

Sunday ‘C’ walkers: Shirley writes: ‘Sunday Cs have enjoyed some lovely walks recently, and numbers have been boosted by new recruits, mainly from the website. People choose our shorter walks for a variety of reasons, including time constraints due to work or family commitments. We walk at a pace that allows time to admire the scenery, and whether we want to walk to maintain, re-gain or develop our fitness, it’s more enjoyable to do so in the company of others’.

Update on ‘George’s bench’. We reported our wish to remember George Brewster with a bench on the Coton Countryside Reserve in an earlier newsletter, but it has taken some time to work out the details. Now we have met with the Head Ranger, Jon Gibbs, and selected a wonderful site on a hillside overlooking Coton village. Hopefully the bench will be in place by the spring.

The Walking Partnership: If you are going on a Ramblers Worldwide Holiday the Club can benefit. Just contact RWH by phone or online, give your holiday booking reference and say you are nominating Cambridge Rambling Club under The Walking Partnership scheme. The Club receives £10 for every UK holiday, £20 for each European holiday and £30 for every long-haul trip. We earned £190 in 2012, thanks to Club members’ nominations!

Broken or missing signposts. Please report these to Cambridgeshire County Council – along with other Rights of Way problems in the County. Roger & Janet Moreton would like to be kept informed. Please email: rogerandjanetm@cambsandpeterboroughramblers.org.uk

For sale: Hi-Tec walking boots size 5; good condition, with blue/grey leather uppers, man-made material lining and rubber outer soles.  Price £20.00. Please contact Rita on 01223 292196.

Next Committee Meeting is on Tuesday March 12th at the Wesley Church, King Street, at 7.30 pm.

 

 

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