We just walked a MARATHON

Keswick – Latrigg. Latrigg – Skiddaw House. Skiddaw House – Great Lingy Hut. Great Lingy Hut – High Pike. High Pike – Wood Hall. Wood Hall – Hesket Newmarket. Hesket Newmarket – Sebergham. Sebergham – Rose Bridge. Rose Bridge – Dalston. 26 miles in 12 hours.

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We’ve been building up to this long walk for weeks and now we’ve done it. An early morning start was a good idea because we saw two young deer on our way down to Keswick, as well as scores of rabbits. As we drove over the fell road round Caldbeck we had to slow down and go round a new calf feeding from its mother in the middle of the road. A lovely start to the day.

Keswick to Latrigg was a steep climb and we’d barely had time to warm up before we the ascent began, but we quickly gained height and beautiful views out over the peaceful waters of Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater. Once at the top we skirted round Lonscale Fell, heading towards Skiddaw House where we had a good rest and feed.

From Skiddaw House it was a pleasant 3.5 mile trek over moorland and peat bogs to a tarmac road before the arduous pull up to Great Lingy Hut. The path was hard to follow and although we didn’t lose our way there were times when we weren’t sure we were going the right way. Lee had enough energy to go on ahead and check that we were going the right way. Eventually we saw Great Lingy Hut, which looked like a glorified garden shed from the outside. Inside it was very cool with a wooden sleeping platform and a visitor’s book. We were feeling quite chuffed by now, at having done most of our climbing, when we saw a retired teacher from Caldew who put us firmly in our places by telling us he once ran the whole of the Cumbria Way in just two and a half days. We covered the 26 miles to Dalston in 12 hours; he did the 31 miles to Carlisle in about 4 hours!

High Pike was not far from Great Lingy Hut and we reached the top easily. Then we got lost. Not badly but we ended up going back to the Cumbria Way in Hesket Newmarket instead of Caldbeck. It gave us an excuse to get some much needed liquid refreshment at The Old Crown. From Hesket we covered the remaining 10 miles back to Dalston with increasingly sore feet and a bit of help from Abba, Michael Hutchens and Scissor Sisters. Now, where did I leave that foot spa?

Wednesday Walk in Wreay Woods

Our Wednesday morning walks are becoming a regular fixture now. We set off from Newbiggin picnic area where the sounds of the M6 almost drowned out our conversation. Followed the river Petteril through pastureland and then into lovely Wreay Woods. A sign at the gateway to the woods told us there have been woodlands there since the middle ages and they have been managed woodlands since the eighteenth century. We were certainly glad of the shade provided by the leaves and a chance to cool off from the heat of the morning. A quick climb up the hill into Wreay itself, a small village clustered around a very pretty church. St Mary’s Church was built between 1840 and 1842 by Sara Losh, described by Simon Jenkins as “a Charlotte Bronte of wood and stone”. From Wreay we followed the road back under the M6 and took a footpath along and over the main West Coast railway line, passing Newbiggin Hall before crossing the newly repaired bridge over the Petteril and back to the picnic spot. A 2 hour walk and between 5 and 6 miles I’d guess.

St Mary’s Church, Wreay

For more about walks in the Eden Valley click here.

Marsh-stomping on the shortest night

We were finding it difficult to find a time this weekend when all 4 of us were able to go out for a long walk. Out of this confusion sprang the idea to go at night – when we should all have been catching up on our beauty sleep. So here we are on Sunday evening in dire need of a good night’s sleep, but able to say that we walked from Abbeytown to Burgh by Sands in around 4 and a half hours on the shortest night. We stuck to the roads, and although there were long stretches with no street lighting we got used to the dark quite easily. Bats, owls and nocturnal sheep occasionally interrupted our conversation. There was also quite a lot of inappropriate giggling. This helped us a lot! During the final leg from Glasson to Burgh by Sands we could look across the Solway to twinkling lights in Annan and Gretna. It was a fine sight to be sure, but it didn’t stop the aching legs and feet or Diane’s huge blister. We only admitted to aches and pains after the walk though. Mind over matter will be our motto in July.

Alison wearing a halo – or had she just had a bowl of Ready Brek?

We are over halfway to our target of £2,500. Please sponsor us:

www.justgiving.com/judycarruthers

Another Bun Fight!

We sold more teas and cakes to parents and friends of children in class 2 at school this afternoon. The children entertained us with interesting facts about different types of minibeasts and a few parents braved the elements and found their way through the school garden to the school house and were served with teas, buns and scones. Many thanks to Polly, Claire, Emily, Amy, James and Anthony from Class 5 for helping to set up and serve and to Diane and Nadia for all their help with the washing up and clearing away.

We raised £36.60 today. This brings our total to £1,405.10. We are doing a brilliant job everyone - just another eleven hundred pounds to go!

Curry Night!

We held our first curry night at Church House, Dalston last night. Chicken tikka massala, creamed butternut squash, curried potato and mushroom, some sparkling wine, poppadums and pickles, rice and naan breads, strawberries, cream and meringues followed by After Eights to finish the evening. Some fairy lights on the wall, and Nepalese and Indian music in the background. And money in Oxfam’s bank account. What more could you ask for?

Thank you to everyone who came and helped us raise around £80 for Oxfam and the Gurkha Welfare Trust.

We will definitely be doing another one!

Afternoon Teas Rock (Buns)!

Serving teas and cakes to about 30 or so parents, grandparents and friends of Class 3 at St Michael’s yesterday afternoon was a pleasure . The sun was shining so we were able to use the school garden. James’ grandma sent in a delicious ginger cake which was added to 3 batches of buns and plates of sandwiches made freshly in school that afternoon. We sold squares from the Treasure Map and asked people to pay £1.50 for tea. Altogether we took £91.15, but we need to deduct £50 as prize money for the lucky squares. Many thanks to Claire, Emily, Polly and Rebecca from Class 5 for their help serving teas and biscuits.

Next Friday we’ll do the same thing all over again when Class 2 do their assembly for parents and friends. Meanwhile I’ll get my oven fixed!

Caldew Wanderers over half way to fundraising target! Yey!

Online and offline donations so far now total £1,261.87!! That is more than half of our target of £2,500. Our fundraising efforts so far have been very successful. Over the next few weeks we will be adding to this total. Check out our fundraising programme below:

Friday 12th June:     Coffee and cake sale – St Michael’s School

Sunday 14th June:    Curry Night, Church House, Dalston

Friday 18th June:     Coffee and Cake Sale, St Michael’s School

Friday 26th June:     Coffee and Cake Sale, St Michael’s School

If the curry night goes well on Sunday we will hold another one in July or August. We are also going to have a write-up in Dalston Parish Magazine which will come out at the beginning of July and go to most homes in the village. Thanks to Judy Rckerby for offering to write about us. A high profile poster campaign around Dalston is also planned and several shopkeepers are happy to keep sponsor forms for us.

Keep up the excellent work, everybody. We are doing a brilliant job!

Fundraising Update

We raised another £24 by selling lucky squares in Oxfam's Treasure Map at Saturday's coffee morning in Church House. We will be selling more on Friday after Class 3's assembly at St Michael's. We will have coffees and teas to offer to parents as well, and if my oven is fixed by then, a good selection of cakes as well.

Carlisle to Armathwaite (16 miles)

Lookiing north across the Eden from Stony Holme Golf Course

Our aim was to complete a 16 mile walk and we did it! It was a cool day with a strong north easterly breeze blowing in across the Eden as we set off at midday from the top of St Aidan’s Road. Within an hour or so we had gone under the M6 and emerged away from all the traffic noise into the peaceful countryside between Scotby and the Eden. After a short rest and lunch spent watching swifts and thanking our lucky stars that there was a large body of water between us and the cows rampaging on the opposite bank of the river we set off again, feeling much refreshed.

We left the Eden and reached Wetheral via Scotby and a footpath adjacent to the railway line. This stretch of the walk was pleasant and away from the windswept river bank so we soon warmed up and enjoyed a pleasant Sunday afternoon walk, reaching the half way point by 3.15 and very pleased with our time. A short rest again on the Green in Wetheral before setting off again.

Our third section took us through woodland and riverside meadows. The path through Wetheral Woods is very pretty and well defined and the air was filled with birdsong and the scents of river garlic and sweet rocket. The Eden is wide, fast and deep at this point and well stocked with salmon. A few lone fishermen stood thigh deep and still as statues in what must have been very chilly waters. The stretch along the Eden to Armathwaite is around 8 miles and we were all pretty bushed by the time we left the main river path, with its frequent ups and downs and headed for Drybrook Farm. From here we knew from our guide that we only had around 2 miles to go before reaching Armathwaite, and our spirits and pace lifted so that we had finished the whole walk by 7.30.

We achieved our goal of completing a good long walk and it was done in a very reasonable time. The 26 km stretch is just over a quarter of the total 100km we will do in July; we need to walk a little faster when we do the Trailwalker walk. But we still have 6 weeks training and who’d have thought any of us would complete a 16 mile walk and have so few aches and pains the next day? I wouldn’t have got off so lightly a couple of months ago! Next walk: Maryport to Silloth, Friday 12th June.