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PROGRAMME APRIL - AUGUST
2007 Matt Liggins April 20th – 22nd 2007 Yorkshire
Three Peaks bunkhouse weekend with Keith & Michele. May 5th 2007 Mendips
with Keith & Michele. May 9th
(Wednesday) Committee
Meeting. Open to all. May 17th – 21st
2007 Blair
Atholl backpacking weekend with Matt. May 25th – June
1st 2007 Canoeing the River Spey with
Andrew. June 15th – 17th
2007 North
Wales camping weekend including instructor lead scrambling and climbing. See
Andrew for details. July 13th – 15th
2007 Lake
District weekend in Keswick with Len. August 10th – 12th
2007 White Peak
weekend or day trip. Cycling and
walking with Eileen. September 2007 Dates TBA Trip
to the Mediterranean? See Debra for
sun, sea and mountains. September 2007 Dates TBA Cairngorm
backpacking? See Matt. October 18th 2007
(Thursday) A.G.M. at the
Liberal Club, Bull Street. Other Events - all welcome! Summer camping, barbeque
& brewery trip in the Cotswolds. Date and venue TBA. And there’s much more than
this going on. Visit us on a Thursday evening
from 8.30pm at Attleborough Liberal Club, Bull Street for impromptu activities,
or ring Andrew on 01827 717 648 or Matt on 024 76 758 322
if you can’t get down. And don’t forget our website at www.nunmc.org |
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BMC DUAL MEMBERSHIP Eileen As you know Nuneaton
Mountaineering Club is affiliated to the BMC and £8.75 of your NMC membership
is paid to the BMC for this membership. If you are affiliated to more
than one club or have upgraded (pay full BMC Membership) you can claim back a
refund from the BMC. You can do this by
writing or emailing to: office@thebmc.co.uk
indicating to which clubs you belong. The Club Membership Number is No
910467. The BMC provides compulsory
Civil Liability protection for Clubs and Individual Members and Personal
Accident disability cover for Individual members. If you would like to see what this covers please let me know and
I will provide you with a copy of the information sent by the BMC. |
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COMING-UP YORKSHIRE BUNKHOUSE WEEKEND APRIL 20th – 22nd
2007 Keith & Michele The bunkhouse cottage at the
Station Inn at Ribblehead.(www.thestationinn.net)
has been booked for the Friday and There are 11 places so it is
first come, first served! Michele is
taking bookings now - £10 deposit required to reserve your place! The total cost for the accommodation will be
£18. |
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COMING-UP THE MENDIPS WITH KEITH & MICHELE MAY 5th 2007 No cunning plan for this day
trip to at present but one will emerge in due course. See K & M for details.
Don’t let the following story
put you off. The little slithery things
are much more common than you may realise and you’ve probably stepped
alarmingly close to more than a few in your hillwalking career. |
|
ADDERS
IN THE MENDIPS From BBC News via David (14th
March) Verge parking endangering adders Motorists
are being urged not to park on road verges in the Mendips to avoid squashing
basking adders. The
recent mild and sunny weather is said to have brought the snakes out into the
Somerset hills. Jim Hardcastle, Mendip
Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Development Officer, urged drivers to
stick to the roads wherever possible. "Wide
verges are part of the Mendips' character and are also part of its natural
habitat," he said. "People
would be amazed at the animals that live in our verges," Mr Hardcastle
added. "There
are lots of tarmac places for drivers to pass each other, which mean that cars
don't need to use the verges." The
adder is Britain's only venomous snake. |
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COMING-UP BLAIR ATHOLL BACKPACKING MAY 17th – 21st Matt The
basic plan is to travel up on the train arriving at Blair Atholl at
approximately 8:00pm. From here we walk
out to Allt Sheicheachan bothy about 6 miles away with roughly 450 metres of
ascent. This will involve night walking
but I have it on good authority that it's all on a good track. We stay the night at the bothy and in the
morning head off to the wilds via Beinn Dearg. There will be a possibility to do 1 Corbett and 4 Munros on the
trip, mostly without a heavy backpack. We
will be wild camping for two nights at a height of between 400 and 600m so a
good sleeping bag and tent will be required. You will also need to carry enough food for three days. The last night will be spent at a B&B or
on the campsite at Blair Atholl. Just
to re-cap: Travel
by train Thursday 17th. Spend night in
bothy. Friday
18th wild camp. Saturday 19th wild camp. Sunday 20th B&B or campsite. Monday 21st travel home by train. If
you would like to delve into this trip a little deeper then you will need OS Landranger
sheet 43. The hills you are likely to
encounter are Beinn Dearg 1008m, Beinn Bhreac 912m, Cara an Fhidhleir 994m, An
Sgarsoch 1006m, and Carn a' Chlamain 963m. If you decide this trip is for you please contact me or David so
we have some idea of numbers. We will be booking the train and expect the fare
to be approximately £70 return. |
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COMING-UP CANOEING & WALKING IN THE SPEY
VALLEY MAY/JUNE The dates I have free are
from Friday May 25th to Sunday, June 3rd. I'd plan to go for about 7 days
in all during that period. UPDATE Rough dates: Friday May 25th – Friday 1st June. This is starting to firm up now. If you are interested please contact Andrew or Nick as soon as possible. Don’t miss the boat. |
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COMING-UP SCOTLAND FEBRUARY 2008 Matt We have been discussing
possibilities for next February's Scotland trip. Colin suggested we might try in the Aberfeldy or Glen Shee areas. The distance from home is similar to
Crianlarich and the roads are very good. Aberfeldy is well placed for the Ben
Lawlers and many other mountains within a short drive. Glen Shee has a similar range of mountains to
choose from, but also can offer skiing if anyone would like to have a go. All the places in question can offer a
mountain guide/instructor if required. Cairnwell
mountain sports also offer ski hire/instruction and several other sporting
activities. All seem to offer a good
level of accommodation. We can get
exclusive use of a bunk house for up to 25 for the cost of £50 - 60 pp for
4 nights depending on numbers. Please
view the web sites below and get back to me on the following questions. Would you be interested in a trip to Scotland
next Feb? (no commitment). If so which,
if any of the venues would you prefer? Dates
available 14th - 17th Feb 2008 inclusive.
If you have any other ideas please let me know. I know it's a long way in the future but
these places book up very quickly. www.cairnwellmountainsports.co.uk |
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THE ARANS March 3rd David Colin, Matt &
David. After a two hour drive I
managed to park the car in a pile of mud and it took sometime for the others to
push me out. This set the tone for the
rest of the day. We then made the steep
ascent towards Glasgwm and on reaching more level ground we were into
cloud and very strong winds which were pretty cold. There was a threat that the sun might come out a few times which
did not really materialise all day (whereas at home it was a sunny day, if not
cold). Thereafter we made our way to
Aran Fawddwy 905m and descended to Dysgol and down a good path back to the car.
The return was memorable for our
discussion on the meaning of "life, the universe and everything",
followed by Colin being savaged by a wild beastie of the hills (farm dog) and
suffering puncture marks to his leg. The
farmer replied, "He does give the occasional nip!" Colin's immediate response was to embark upon
a number of expletives never before heard from him. The return was via some very pretty countryside and a trip to the
pub at The Four Crosses, which is definitely not recommended. 6 ½
hours |
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SNOWDON
HORSESHOE March 10th David Colin, David,
Keith H, Steve F, Tim & Ryan B and Eddie The weather
forecast was not too good with predicted steady wind of 40+ mph gusting to
80-90 mph. On arrival the car park was
virtually full at 9 am, a lesson for the future to arrive earlier. The weather was overcast and certainly windy,
water proofs were need straight away. There was a straightforward walk to the base of Crib Goch and
immediately into cloud, which only left us when we descended onto the Pyg Track
sometime later. The rock was wet and in
places slippy. The wind as anticipated was
strong and positively dangerous going over Crib Goch which was beyond my
comfort level. There were a few doggy
moments especially bearing in mind that only two days before there was a
fatality at this point. One point of
note was that the eye sore of the café has now been removed from the top of
Snowdon and it remains to be seen what it is replaced with. Colin
decided to descend directly from the summit and had an early cup of tea. We then proceeded to the southern arm of the
horseshoe. At the col I separated from
the others and continued to the top of Y Llwedd on a defined path (not made
up), the others apparently did not find this route. The descent was easy as well. In the past there were one or two awkward places with reasonable
drops on slimy rock. Now there is a
well defined path which is easy to follow and is almost good enough to take
your granny. It was so straight
forward. A power walk back to the café
and a hot cup of chocolate was in order with the others coming down half
an hour later. We then went to the pub
where Keith lamented on the change in the smoking laws which come into effect
in April in Wales. In summary, a really
good day out. 6 ½ hours 1330m. |
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CADAIR IDRIS March 17th Colin Andrew, David, Eileen and
Colin parked up at Minffordd on what was to be a half decent day. Eddie was there to meet us and we set off up
the steep Minffordd path at 9.45 am.
Any suggestion of an improvement was half hearted and by noon on Craig
Cwm Amarch it was misty, very cool and positively blustery. Any suggestion that Eileen was improperly
equipped (without map and compass) would be ungentlemanly, but not entirely
without foundation. On the final climb
to Cadair a ranger who we had passed and chatted to on the ascent took Andrew,
Eileen and Colin to see the evidence of undersea volcanic activity in the form
of football sized and shaped lumps of basalt.
On the summit in the shelter we found David and Eddie and there just
happened to be a drop of the good stuff in David’s pack to liven up the
coffee. A misty and blustery walk
followed across to Mynydd Moel before we turned to descend to the valley. We took a line slightly to the east of the
path and ended up on steep uneven ground in the mist but corrected ourselves for
the final wet walk back to Minffordd for 3.35 pm. A decent walk and thanks to Andrew for driving. |
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STRANGE ENCOUNTER IN THE
WOODS Richard I was merrily wandering
through Bentley Woods, near Atherstone one Saturday afternoon in February when
the peace was disturbed by a loud panting noise and thrashing through the
undergrowth. I stopped dead in my
tracks and what appeared before me, sent a shiver down my spine. It was an animal but not
one I have ever seen before, even on David Attenborough’s shows. The first part I saw was the head which was
round with a light stripe along it and I thought “badger” but it had a snout
like a pig. The body was very much like
a pig but had long brown/ginger hair so I thought “wild boar” but then as it
ran away from me, thank god, I noticed it had a bushy tail which it held erect
like a meercat and most of it including its bum was white. I know what most of you are thinking, that I
had just come out of the Horse and Jockey and had a few too many of the many
fine real ales on sale there. Well you
are wrong because it would be another 10 minutes before I reached there. When I got home I checked
out badger and boar on the internet and there is one animal called a hog
badger, but these only live in Thailand.
There were a few pictures of them but none of the tail, which was the
most unusual bit. I suppose it could be
a zoo escapee or even a hybrid. PS. Check out hog badger on the web. |
|
THURSDAY 15th
FEBRUARY David writes No doubt Colin
will fully describe the accommodation and location and therefore I shall not
bother to do so, except to say that it was in a good location, and that
Crinanlarich is probably a good location for future visits, as there is still
plenty to do in the area. On Thursday,
Colin, Paul and myself set out at 4.50am from Atherstone arriving at Ardlui for
about 10.15am. The journey was good but
hard work during the night with plenty of heavy traffic and pouring rain. We started to walk at 10.40 am across the
open moorland in what was an effective bog. Struggling up to the col which took two hours Paul decided to turn
around. At this point the weather
forecast seemed to be true to form with a very cold strong wind. Colin and myself continued to ascend Ben
Vorlich. This was not easy as the
conditions were very poor. Near the top
we both agreed that if we had been on our own we would have turned back as
things were taking a turn for the worse. The strong wind seemed to attack
us in the most vulnerable positions. On
reaching the top we immediately turned around. As a measure of how bad it was Colin did not want to press on to
the trig point which was only 200 metres away. The descent was walking through water. The snow was melting rapidly and mixed with heavy rain caused the
streams to turn white. The boots leaked for the first time in such
extreme conditions. This was a
particularly hard walk which took a lot out of us for the remaining days.
5 hours 30 minutes. 1180m.
Dinner was at the Drovers Inn. Tim writes Mo,
Les and I set out from Nuneaton at about 1.30 am and arrived at the hut about
8am. The weather forecast was set for
high winds and rain. We decided
therefore to do a low level walk and check out the reported long walk in to Ben
Lui and hopefully get a look at the start of Central Gully. We
parked at Tyndrum lower station, about 10 am and took the good track through
the forest into the valley, passing the farm and arriving at the end of the
track in an hour and half. We then
walked up the mountain in heavy rain and mist arriving at the bottom of the
snow field in about another hour. You
could not see the gully but we noted the evidence of avalanche debris and
patches of ice on the lower snow field, all of which were frozen solid. The walk back was a long slog in the heavy
rain, arriving at the car around 4.30 pm. FRIDAY 16th
FEBRUARY David writes Friday - Parking
at Dalrigh. Colin, Steve and myself set
out at 9.30 am. This was to tackle the
abortive walk from two years ago when we had to turn around in a whiteout. After trudging through woodlands we made it
to the north east shoulder of Benn Dubhchaig. The weather was not good - being very cold and windy, although not
as bad as the day before. At the
lochans Colin elected to ascend Beinn Dubhchraig directly whereas Steve and
myself headed for Ben Oss. (Missing out Ben Oss was a sad omission but
right as I was running out of steam and would have delayed the others. Colin).
There was a steep descent to join a contouring path which seemed good. On crossing a stream the pathway petered out
and left us surrounded by steep slopes. Continuing on this took us in ever steepening ground and was
becoming more dangerous. However, we
then hit a snow field which although hard work provided a better degree of
security, upon which we kick stepped our way to the top for photos. We came down the ridge to rejoin the
contouring path before ascending Benn Dubhchaig. Rather than going back to the lochans we went down the east ridge
and back though the woods to meet Colin for 6.15 pm. It was well dark by this time. 8hrs. 45mins. 1270m. Tim writes The
objective for the day was the West Gully of Beinn an Dothaidh. (Scottish grade one, 300m). Mo, Les and I drove to the car park at the
end of the track at Achallader, setting off about 930am. The snow line was very patchy and high
up. The start of the snow in the gully
was about 200m from the summit. Lower
down the snow was quite firm, but broken with rock bands at a few places. The higher we got the more sugary the snow
seemed to get. At 15 metres from the
summit the snow steepened to about 70 degrees and with no evidence of another
party for sometime we were forced to kick steps in the soft snow. As
we neared the cornice it became apparent that it was in a very unstable
state, luckily there was an escape
route left away from the immediate danger to an area that had very little
overhang. This we took to the top. From the summit we found the ridge down to a
col and a nice easy angled snow slope to loose height quickly. The gully had taken about 2
hours to climb and we arrived back at the car about 4pm. A great climb but with some scary moments at
the top due to the steep soft snow. On
route we saw deer, mountain hare, ptarmigan and grouse. Colin writes Meanwhile Keith,
Michele Tony, Len and Debra set off for Grey Heights and Cruach Ardrain form
the hut. Debra had to return feeling
unwell but the others continued. Here
the story gets confusing as their team seemed to get mixed up with the other
group on the same hill. Nevertheless
they got to Cruach Ardrain though the descent into Glen Falloch and through
fire breaks in the forest is about as clear as mud to me. The others - Ian,
Matt, Paul, Steve and Alastair met the other group near to Grey Heights but after
Cruach Ardrain tried to navigate to Beinn Tulaichean. In the mist and confusing terrain a complete hash was made of
said ascent but from somewhere in the area of the col they managed to extricate
themselves in the less than ideal conditions. SATURDAY 17th
FEBRUARY David writes Saturday - I felt
as though I needed an easier day and therefore we travelled by train to Corrour
Halt. This time there was myself,
Colin, Paul, Debra, Steve, Tony, Len, and Alastair. We had a nice easy ascent
of Beinn na Lap encountering one snow storm. The top was fantastic with good views all around. I was able to take plenty of photos of the
hills from the May 2006 trip as we are still waiting copies! Whilst the others went off around the
loch I sat on top in the sun for ages, albeit with a cold wind. Eventually I went down which only took just
over half an hour meeting Paul at the bottom as he had also done his own thing.
We then went to the station café for a
coffee and two pints before the others returned and then caught the train back
to base. 6 hrs. 650m. Colin adds Colin, Alastair,
Tony, Len, Steve and Debra descended the far side of Beinn na Lap where
eventually a safe snow slope was found for abit of ice axe breaking. The ground was very broken and it took a long
time to reach the far end of the loch.
The walk on the track was a bit of a march but we did get to the station
in time for drink. Tim writes We
needed an easy day after the gully so decided to do a valley walk from Victoria
Bridge to Loch Dochard. Steve, Mo, Les
and myself set off from Victoria Bridge about 9.30am in a heavy rain
storm. The valley was really beautiful
with mountain views to left and right.
At midday we found an old wooden sheep pen to shelter in. A lot of the graffiti was from people on
Duke of Edinburgh walks. The whole day
was a mixture of sunshine and showers but very enjoyable. Went to the end of the high ground on the
valley track and retraced our steps about 1pm. Colin
writes Keith,
Michele, Matt and Ian parked at Bridge of Orchy and made it to Beinn
Dorain. The morning was cloudy but
later there was sunshine but also a snow and hail shower before it cleared
properly. SUNDAY 18th
FEBRUARY David writes Sunday - Colin,
David, Matt, Tony, Paul, Michele and Keith went to Victoria Bridge. Matt and myself left the party to go up Stob
Ghabhair going up steeply next to a spectacular waterfall and on to the Aonach
Eagach (the notched ridge - this should have been a bit of a clue!). We gained height very quickly as our fitness
levels were increasing. We then hit the
ice and snow line taking really good photos. We then arrived at The Notch - which looked a bit hairy to say the
least. Being reasonably narrow and
clearly a grade 1 summer scramble it was mostly covered with snow and hard
packed ice. At this point Matt decided
to turn back and I went on. Beyond the
ridge there was a snow field where I regretted not taking my crampons. I was alone on the top and I must say that
for me this was the best mountain of the holiday. 6hrs. 1050m. Colin adds Keith, Michele,
Tony, Paul and Colin continued up the valley to a col and ascended the mountain
on the right hand side Stob a Choire Odhair.
There was hardly any snow but the views were fine including close ups of
a group of para gliders. The descent
was straightforward and we met David and Matt in the valley for the final walk
back to Victoria Bridge. Tim writes There
had been a hard frost over night and the weather forecast was good. Mo, Les, Ian and myself set out for Central
Gully on Ben Lui (Scottish grade one, 200m) from the car park at Dalrigh at
about 9.15am. The track walk seemed
even longer this time round. At the
farm I tried to persuade the farmer to give us a lift in his Discovery but he
was having none of it. Ian
noted that the end of the track was at 300 metres elevation, only 800 to
go. Half way up the slog to the snow
field we were caught up by two lads from the Killin MRT. They had managed to get permission to drive
the whole track in their MRT Land Rover despite being on holiday rather than
official Mountain Rescue business. At
the snow field we stopped to gear up.
There were two teams ahead of us, a party of three first, followed by the
two Mountain Rescue lads. They donned
harnesses, racks and carried a rope. We
wondered if they new something we didn't, but half way up the snow field they
stopped to construct a snow bollard belay and it became apparent they were
training as they went up. The
snow was in perfect condition and it was comforting to hear the crunching sound
as your crampon points bit in. It was
too hard to place the shaft of the axe safely so we decided to climb with two
axes using the picks as placement. It
was hard going in the gully but made easier by using the steps of the previous
teams. We felt justified in this, as
they had taken a vehicle to the end of the track. The whole gully was at an easier angle than West Gully Beinn an
Dothaidh, so we stopped a couple of times for photos. The
cornice was straight forward and Mo pulled over first with shouts of, "You
should see this". We realised from
his description that he was looking at his own shadow of a brocken spectre. Les was next, followed by me then Ian. Les wanted Mo to take a photo as he emerged
over the lip and wanted the angle of the photo to be right. All I could hear was Ian saying, “Tell Zippy
and Bungle to get a move on". The
broken spectre was amazing, a first for all of us I think. I took a photo and am pleased to say it has
come out, where you can see the shadow and the halo effect. After summit photos we dropped down the East
Ridge in glorious sunshine following snow fields to make the descent a bit
easier. We managed a short section of
glissading. The
gully had taken about an hour and a half, and after a steep descent we arrived
back at the track to where the MRT Land Rover was parked. They had left the keys in a hole in the rear
bumper. We were very tempted. The last few kilometres were hard on the
feet but then we managed to get a lift back to the car from another member of
the MRT in his pick up. A long but
rewarding day in perfect weather. Back
at the car for 4.30pm. Colin
writes Len
and Alastair had a modest day on the hill somewhere in Glen More. I expect feet up, newspaper and a pub might
also have been on the itinerary. ROUND-UP David writes On the way back
we made a detour for Colin to view an elusive "Greater Spotted Stroller
Duck" which normally lives on a remote island somewhere near The Great
Bear Constellation. Needless to say it was a bit too elusive and we missed it.
(Actually it was a Barrow’s Goldeneye) The good things
about this break were - 5 Ptarmigan, 5 Munro’s, the Paramo top and
trousers which were waterproof and warm with only one base layer underneath,
three excellent meals provided by Debra (curry), Matt (haggis with bottles of
whisky) and Alistair (three courses which I have never had before-
recipes are awaited). The only downside were the boots which leaked! |
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CRIANLARICH RECIPES Alastair Here
by special request and popular demand is the first instalment of Alastair’s
‘Crainlarich Recipes Special’. Future
editions of this publication will contain further recipes so that you too can
put together this very collectable three course meal and amaze your friends and
family. Requests
for deluxe gold trimmed menu cards or autographs should be addressed to Mr.
Alastair Galloway with an enclosed fee of at least £159.99. (It was probably an expensive wedding). SPICY INDIAN MINCE AND RICE
(Simon Holst) Serves
4. 2-3
tablespoons canola oil 1
large onion 2t
curry powder 2t
ground ginger 1t
chilli powder 1t
ground cinnamon 1t
whole cloves 1t
black peppercorns 2
bay leaves 3-4
cardamon pods, crushed (optional) 400-500g
lamb or beef mince 1C
long-grain or basmati rice 400g
tin whole tomatoes in juice 2C
hot water 2t
instant chicken or beef stock 2t
garam masala 1t
salt ¼C
toasted whole or slivered almonds (optional) ¼C
currants (optional) 2-4T
chopped coriander Heat
the oil in a very large pan (an electric frypan is ideal). Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook,
stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion begins to
brown. Add the next seven ingredients
(curry powder to bay leaves), and the cardamon pods if using, and cook for 1-2
minutes longer, then stir in the mince. Continue
to cook, stirring frequently to break up and lumps, until the mince has lost
its pink colour, then add the rice, tomatoes in their juice, the water and
stock. Break up the tomatoes and bring
the mixture to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Cover
and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until the rice is
tender. Add the garam masala and salt
to taste. If
using them, brown the almonds and 'puff up' the currants by heating them in a
little oil in a small pot or frypan, then stir them into the mixture with the
chopped coriander leaves. Cook
for 1-2 minutes longer before serving as is, or accompanied by poppadums or
other Indian breads. |
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CALLING
ALL YOU MUNRO COLLECTORS (That means
you!) By
popular demand (well David anyway) the next issue will see a list of members
and their Munro totals. So, don’t be
bashful, now is the time to get your records into shape and before the next
issue ‘out’ yourself for that all important league table. No total is too small so prepare to be quizzed. Evasion
will lead to all concerned (eg Tony) being chased across Mount Blair (OS Sheet
43 167629) by David leading the Cameron Highlanders, followed by incarceration
in the dungeons of Castle Menzies (OS Sheet 52 837497) with no chance of rescue
as the Campbell’s are definitely not coming. |
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ADVERTISEMENT Paul FOR SALE Paramo Alta jacket, 2002, men’s size medium, excellent condition, clean
and re-proofed, blue and forest green. £50 to a good home. On sale because I had a weak moment at Go Outdoors before the
Crianlarich trip. Anyone interested catch me at the weekly meet. |
