November 2011 Newsletter
November 2011
The after dinner walk. Hope Dale 2010
Editorial. (Last Date for Dec/Jan edition 25/11/11)
November is in my opinion the low point of the year, Trees have lost their leaves, the weather leaves much to be desired and everyone has a few months of wall climbing instead of the great outdoors. There are highlights of course, we have our dinner, the Bonfire Meet and the Dovedale Dash. As some of you will be aware I am giving up the editorship in March and I we will need a replacement. There is also still a position vacant for a Winter Lectures organiser. These jobs are important and if you want your club to be dynamic and modern then step forward and volunteer, if you leave it to others it just will not happen!!!!
Winter Lectures at the Royal Oak 1st November 2011
Members Evening
Come along for a look at what our members have been up to during the year, Mike Hayes will be showing us what the Biancograt looked like on the Bernina and a selection of other Alpine Meet pictures. We have the usual format of no more than 10 minutes for each member. If you would like to show us your pictures please give Chris a ring on ##### ###### or ##### ######. We shall have either digital or slide projectors available and look forward to a great evening in a great pub.
Heathy Lea Bonfire.Sat 5th Sun 6th November 2011
Mike Hayes.
We will once again be holding our annual pyromaniacs convention at the Derbyshire hut in celebration of all things rebellious and none conforming!
This annual event is ideal for bringing together the varied membership of the club and usually provides great entertainment for friends and families. On Saturday afternoon we will be building the bonfire and once the sun has gone down we will light the fire, start the Barbeques (Please bring your own food and drink) and set off the fireworks.
Our esteemed President has kindly volunteered to sort out the fireworks but please feel free to bring your own as well. We now have an area at the back of the old barn to set them off so hopefully it will be slightly safer than previous years.
Saturday and Sunday sporting activities will depend on the weather but there will no doubt be a number of Oread’s wandering over our local crags in addition to a sprinkling of bikers / gear shoppers and tea shop visitors etc. Steve Bennett will also be leading a mountain bike ride on Sunday starting at the hut.
Club members are encouraged to bring with them their musical instruments / home brew concoctions etc.
There will be a £2 charge per person to cover the Fireworks and the normal hut fees apply for those staying the night. Please let me know if you are planning to go and especially if you are staying the night. Tel: ##### ###### #####@######.##
Dovedale Dash Sun 6th November.
Rob Tresidder.
This year's Dash will start at 1100 prompt on Sunday 6 November. Old stagers will need no reminding of the details. Thorpe Pastures CP is free so arrive early! Entry is £5 (£3 for U14).
Newcomers may find useful info here:
http://www.dovedaledash.co.uk/
This really is an event open to all abilities, so why not come along and dip your toe in a piece of Oread history? I notice one new piece on the website:
People who climb the fence on to Thorpe Cloud will be disqualified.
No names; no pack drill!
62nd Annual Dinner.
Saturday The 19th of November 2011.
Richard Hopkinson.
Please refer to October’s newsletter for full details of the Dinner. If you haven’t replied yet and intend coming please do it soon as I need to know by Monday the 7th of November.
In summary, this year’s annual dinner will again be held at The Bluebell Inn, Tissington, on Saturday 19 of November, 6.30 onwards to sit down at 7.30. The cost is £17.00 per person for 3 courses (a cheese course can be included for an extra £1.50 per person)
After Dinner speeches - Pete Scott and Chris Radcliffe have kindly agreed to do a short "double act" reminiscence. I'm sure we'll all find this entertaining and more relevant than a talk by an "outside" speaker. I haven't had many responses yet so please get your replies in soon, they don't want to be talking to an empty room.
If anybody has any questions please don't hesitate to contact me, my home
telephone is ##### ######, I’m also emailable at #####@######.## .
Re accommodation if anybody wants to stay overnight there is plenty in the area although not at the Bluebell. Camper vans can be parked discreetly overnight in the car park.
Tony Howard is leading the Sunday walk. See details elsewhere in this Newsletter.
After Dinner Walk. Sunday 20th November 2011
Tony Howard.
The walk will start almost outside the Bluebell restaurant door, though not till the following morning! I suggest meeting at 10:15 in the Tissington Trail car park for a 10:30 start. We will pass through Tissington village, bisect an angle, cross fields, go through Isaac’s place and use the LNWR route to reach Alsop-le-Dale. Thence emulating the Grand Old Duke of York, we will arrive at The Sycamore in Parwich for lunch. Sandwiches and hot meals will be available along with – I’m told – good beer. Once refreshed we will return to Tissington via a devious route. Non-deviants could follow the Limestone Way, which offers the shortest way back. I will declare my own deviancy on the day.
The landlord at the Sycamore is keen to know how many of us to expect, so if you think you will eat at the pub, please let me know whether you are likely to go for a hot or cold meal. If you let me know at the same time as you fill in your Dinner form, I can give him plenty of notice.
Bullstones 2011 9-11th December
Pam Norris
This year’s Bullstones will be in the eastern Yorkshire Dales starting and finishing at the village of West Burton.
Meet me on Friday evening in the Fox and Hounds GR 016867, and after consuming a suitable quantity of ale we will venture into the night, to stumble about in the dark en route to our eventual bivvy site on the slopes of Harland Hill.
Saturday will see us heading over Miry Paddock/ Braidley Moor/ Brown Haw and Buckden Pike, before descending to cross the B6160 north of Cray (optional detour for liquid refreshment at the White Lion involves an additional 80m of descent and subsequent re-ascent!). Here we pick up the bridleway over Stake Moss and thence via Stalling Busk to Marsett where I have booked our accommodation for the night (Marsett Barn GR 907860). The barn sleeps 15, has gas lighting and cooking (pots/ plates provided), woodburning stove and shower and costs £9 per person.
On Sunday we will initially retrace our steps to Stalling Busk before heading over Stake Allotments and Heck Brow whence a choice of routes leads to Thoralby and your car at West Burton.
‘Phone or email me to book your place – final numbers needed by 1st December please.
Tel: ##### ######
Email: #####@######.## Please note that I will be away between 31st Oct & 14th November.
Biking with Bennett.
Steve Bennett.
Something new for this winter! I intend to offer a series of biking meets on a monthly basis. The aim will be to find a blend to interest a variety of members with on and off road riding. However the bias will be towards bridleways and byways as opposed to clocking up the miles on busy roads. Whatever your current ability or fitness level, you will be very welcome. Almost any bike will do and I promise that you will never be required to carry it. Venues/areas will be chosen to allow scope for a number of route lengths to be achievable so as to offer the less fit and the inexperienced some bale out options whilst not holding back those who require more of a challenge. There will usually be more technical off road options for those who are up for it. The first Sundays of each month have been chosen for the second and third events in the lead up to Christmas and these will be:
- Sunday November 6th, Heathy Lea, meet at 10am. (the day after the bonfire meet).
- Sunday December 4th, Buxton Railway Station Car Park, Grid Ref: 058737.
Middleton Top Car Park – The Start! Crossing to Long Dale
Two very welcome people decided to forgo the prospect of warm rock in the unexpected, early October heat wave and joined me at Middleton Top for the first of the monthly biking meets. We enjoyed a very pleasant ride in the dappled sunshine; making good use of the trail for the outward and return legs, the highlights of this day were the ride down to Grangemill via Griffe Grange, the short descent to the top of Gratton Dale and the brief though excellent climb out of Long Dale. I will try to address the lack of a coffee opportunity for later rides but really it is all about the activity and the company; I am already looking forward to the next one. Many thanks to Mike and John for their support.
If you are considering attending and would like a chat before hand then please feel free to get in touch and if you are interested but find that you cannot make some or all of these dates would you please let me know? This will allow me to assess overall interest levels within the club.
Steve Bennett
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News, Articles and Reports from Meets.
Lundy Meet 2011.
Derek Pike.
Fourteen Oreads destined for the Barn plus four more destined for more salubrious accommodation ten yards nearer the pub gathered on the quay at Ilfracombe to await the passage to the island on the M.S. Oldenberg. It was forecast for the sea to be a little rough and so it was, but most seemed to enjoy the crossing although a few heartily wished themselves elsewhere.
After landfall and a stiff walk to the top of the island, booking in and leaving gear at the Barn teams set off to search out the first climbs of the week. Joan and Chris went shopping and Jan did a circuit of the island. Strong westerly winds and consequently rough seas affected the climbing on the west side of the island for half the week. Montagu Buttress was the scene of the first climbs and after a long abseil and your arrival at the foot of the buttress you were greeted by a preliminary soaking. More soakings were to follow as the tide was coming in. James and I did Cableway Severe, followed by Roy and Pam Norris. Nick and Pam Storer did Sundance H. Severe. Eventually all reached safer ground out of the reach of the sea and returned to the Barn to find that others had been defeated by the sea conditions. Sunday dawned and after the usual mornings faffing about, the decisions on the day’s activities would commence only to be interrupted by the morning coffee break. Eventually the teams set off on what was to prove a fruitless attempt to access any climbs on the west coast due to the heavy seas. All eventually drifted over to the east side to see what the Knights Templar rock had to offer amongst the bracken and grass. Routes done were Twelve Bore V.S. 4b with horrible grass filled crack to finish, fortunately the grass was of a tough variety suitable for pulling on. Another route just to the right the name of which escapes me and that of my old guidebook at about H.V.S. 5b led by Snod followed by Chris, Richard and Gil. Bideford Ridge V.D. I think was ascended by all parties. Nodge, Pam N. Chris and Joan spent the day exploring. Monday owing to a slight deterioration in the weather put a stop to climbing and two large teams set forth to search out the Lundy letterboxes,. There are around thirty letterboxes hidden around the island including one on the Oldenberg containing clues to the whereabouts of the next one. One of the boxes proved elusive but after great detective work by James there were sighs of relief that the teams had not been defeated. The rest of the party had an easy day. On Tuesday the sea and wind were still high so climbing was again confined to the east side. The Logan Stone V.Diff was ascended by just about everybody, Flake Crack, Severe, Saladin V.S. 4c and Crusader V.S. 4c all good routes but by this time the east coast was just about worked out and fortunately the sea conditions were about to change for the better.
Its all uphill on Lundy!!! Nick Evans climbing
Wednesday, the Devils Slide became a popular venue all parties completing the classic route up the right side and Nick and Roy did Albion V.S. 4c. A short journey to Three Quarter Buttress saw ascents of Quadratus Lumborum and Ligamentum Flavum both Severes by Nick the two Pams, Roy, James and myself. Chris, Snod, Gil and Richard went to Grand Falls Zawn and ascended American Beauty E1. Thursday the good conditions continued with a trip to Beaufort Buttress for ascents of Stuka V.S. 4c, Force Eight, Severe, Capstan Arete, V.S. 4b. By Nick two Pams, Roy, Jan, James and myself, Snod,Chris, Gil and Richard did Shamrock V.S. 4c and Albacore H.V.S. 5a. Joan, Nodge and Chris took a five pound trip around the island on the Oldenberg and were rewarded by the sight of some Dolphins.
Friday a slight deterioration in the weather but a mass ascent of the route Integrity Severe, on Needle Rock was undertaken. Getting to the Needle consumes an hour or two of abseiling and boulder hopping. The ascent in a wind that was getting stronger by the minute and the abseil off the summit with the wind trying to wrap the ropes around the Needle made for a most entertaining day. Saturday the last day and all expecting to return to Bideford by the six o’clock boat but the powers that be decided otherwise and we were returned early to the mainland by helicopter and onto Ilfracombe by bus.
I would like to thank all those on the meet, Chris and Jan Wilson, Nodge and Pam Norris, Roy and Chris Eyre, Richard Hopkinson, Dave Helliwell, Gil. Male, James Pike, Nick Evans, Pam Storer and Joan Pike. the four who were not roughing it in the Barn Simon and Maggie Pape, Roland Smith and Angela Pingram.
I had a great time I believe you all did too.
P.S. The barn is booked for September 14th-21st 2013 - I am now taking bookings. First come first served.
Chris Wilson in action. Above the sea on Montagu Buttress.
Slovakian Tatras – August 2008
Chris Radcliffe
Early in the year Gill and I decided to join a group from the Climbers Club, led by Trevor Langhorne, to the Slovakian Tatras. Our original plan was to first go elsewhere in Eastern Europe and then join the meet in Slovakia. However, as we then decided to get married on July 31st, this became our honeymoon by default!
From our early correspondence with Trevor we got the impression this was a small group of friends who had already arranged accommodation, so we independently made our own arrangements. Hence we were a little disconcerted to arrive at Luton Airport and find that there were about 18 other people, all booked into the same apartment building and travelling on the same flight to Poprad. Our base was the village of Tatranska Lomnica, about half-an-hour from Poprad by train or taxi. We only had sketchy details of our accommodation, but with the help of the taxi driver we eventually found it – a new property quite spacious and comfortable, only 5 minutes walk from the centre of the village. This worked out well for us as the others had much more cramped (and cheaper) accommodation that involved sharing a single bathroom and kitchen. This wouldn’t have worked well as a honeymoon suite.
Lomnický štít Gerlachovský štít
The Tatras are a range of rocky peaks up to 2600 metres rising abruptly from the plains, not dissimilar to the way the Rockies do in America. There is a belt of forest on the lower slopes and above this the mountains are quite steep giving excellent walking and climbing. In winter there is extensive snow cover and tough conditions that have provided a training ground for some hard alpinists from Poland and Slovakia. In summer they are more benign, perhaps on a Scottish scale rather than alpine. The area is nothing like the Alps, with picture postcard alpine meadows – you go straight from forest onto rock and scree. As in any mountain area the weather can be variable, but we enjoyed good weather for most of our two week trip and the poor days were well forecasted so we could align these with rest days.
The walking trails are comprehensively way marked with colour schemes. The colours do not reflect difficulty, but simply differentiate one route from another. Most of the trails are carefully graded and engineered but we found the wider trails that traversed the hillside quite unpleasant to walk because they had a surface of assorted stones chaotically laid, requiring constant vigilance to avoid turning an ankle. The steeper, narrower trails were generally very good. Certainly this was early August and therefore prime holiday time, but we were amazed how popular some of the trails were – it seemed the whole of Slovakia turned out for walking holidays. Some trails went into quite adventurous territory, some with cable or chains for security or assistance. Because everything was so accessible there were some walkers who were clearly not used to the steeper terrain and some looked like accidents waiting to happen.
By contrast, as soon as we left the walking trails and headed for the rock climbs we were completely alone. There were no other people on any of the routes that we climbed and we spotted very few other climbers. I personally found this wilderness aspect an attractive feature of the area. In part this arises from the totalitarian background of the nation. Anyone venturing onto “easy” climbs, say Grade I or II, is required to have a guide – but harder climbs are OK as self guided objectives. I presume this is to keep crazy walkers from putting themselves at risk, but otherwise if you are going for harder climbs you are assumed to be a competent climber. On advice from Trevor we carried our Alpine Club cards to prove we were “real” climbers, although we were never challenged.
The 1:25,000 trail map was excellent and we had no difficulty in using this to get around the area. I found the language completely incomprehensible and couldn’t put my tongue round many of the names on the map. Not much English was spoken locally, although we had no problems in the huts. I had obtained a climbing topo guide through the internet and this was adequate to point us to the main climbs in the area, although all the notes were in Slovakian so we just had to rely on the diagrams.
There is an excellent electric railway line that runs parallel to the range that terminated in Tatranska Lomnica (TL) where we were staying. It was very cheap and we could use this to move to different areas. The furthest point we went to was about an hour’s journey and cost the equivalent of £2. TL is also a ski area in winter and there is a gondola which goes up to a mid station and then a cable car to the top of Lomnický štít. We endured a long queue to get onto the gondola once and never used it again. However on several occasions we took a short train journey to Stary Smokavec and from here there is a very modern funicular to Hrebrionok, a good starting point for a lot of the trails. Even with this assistance there is still a long way to the climbing routes and it is most convenient to start from a hut, although at the end of the trip when we were quite fit we did do a route from the valley and back again.
It was quite cloudy on our first day, so we walked from TL through the forest and then a traverse line below the main peaks before descending on a long circuit back to the village – about 6 hours. Not spectacular but it gave us a feel for the area. We also had first hand evidence of the impact of the “Tatranska Bora” from 19th November 2004. Without warning a gale measured at 125mph tore through the forest areas including several villages, causing considerable devastation. This is a rare local climatic phenomenon and the last time it occurred was in 1922. Most of the damage to the villages has been repaired but large areas of forest had been razed to the ground.
Porter - Tatra style Teryo chata – Tatra hut life
After this warm up we wanted to get onto a climb so next morning I “booked” beds at a hut we planned to use for several days. “Have you got a sleeping bag?” asked the warden – imagining there would be blankets and in line with the guide book recommendation, we had brought inner sleeping bags. This was the occasion we used the gondola – not only long queues to get on it, but it broke down several times as well, so it took ages to get to the mid station. Then we had a 1:40 hour walk up the delightful Studena Dolena valley to reach the Teryho Chata at 2,015 metres. En route we passed a porter carrying an immense load to stock the hut. We learned later these porters were probably training for an annual race carrying these phenomenal loads – a truly masochistic sport.
The hut was in a great position, but only had beds for about 25 people whereas we eventually had about 75 people staying there – no-one was turned away. Now we understood the reason for the question about sleeping bags. There were 4 of the guys from the CC group also at the hut and two of them actually managed to be allocated a bunk. One of them, Joe Curley, chivalrously offered this to Gill and joined me on the floor – fortunately there were enough blankets and tarps to make for a reasonably comfortable night. The next night the warden said I have a bunk for you – great I thought, then found he meant there was one bunk for Gill and I together! Another couple also bunked together but the bunks were small and it was a very hot and stuffy room, so not withstanding our newly married state I’m not sure it wasn’t more comfortable on the floor.
Despite the crowding we were served a meal of Goulash soup and stew, together with plentiful cheap beer and there was an excellent atmosphere in the hut as we made plans for our climb the following day. We had decided on a six pitch route in Sikoka Veza (2461 m) which was reached by a steep way marked trail to a col then a descent and traverse to the foot of the peak. The climbing was on excellent granite with the crux at V- so very enjoyable. We descended easily to the col only to find that there were “dozens” of walkers now spread out all up the approach trail (which had extensive chains) and what we didn’t realize was that this had been decreed to be a “one-way” trail. Reasonable given the terrain and the numbers using it, but since we wanted to get back to the hut we had no alternative. It was straightforward for us to scramble down away from the walkers, but that didn’t stop many of them remonstrating with us. We just played the “dumb English” card.
We did another six pitch grade V route the next day on Maly Ladovy štít (2602m), but tiring of the crowed hut we went back down to the valley to our comfortable apartment and took a rest day to get our bearings for other objectives. We knew that rain was forecast for the end of the week, so we had just one day to get something done and opted to take the train to the other end of the line at Strbske Pleaso. From here we did a strenuous walk to the summit of Krivan (2,495m) an isolated peak that has great views and is a national symbol for Slovakia. This was a climb of 6,200 feet and a round trip of 6 ¾ hours.
After the wet day, we had a forecast of several fine days so we planned to walk to another hut and use this as a base for several climbs. Sleasky Dom was completely different from our first hut – an equally fine position, however this was no alpine hut but a rather ugly hotel. It was very comfortable with excellent food and as this was our honeymoon we had no hesitation in checking in. Next day after a dawn start we climbed Gerlachovský štít, the highest peak in the Tatras at 2655 metres. Having wasted some time trying to make the features of the complex west face fit the topo description of our planned route, we eventually opted for an easy route much of which we could climb moving together, ensuring we got to the summit. There was quite a complex descent involving a via ferrata and then a 2 hour walk back to the hut (hotel) making for quite a full day. The previous evening we had chatted to the hotel manager and explained a bit about ourselves. Hence we were delighted to find when we got back to our room that we had complimentary champagne on ice to celebrate our recent wedding. Although we only had hill food during the day, we despatched the whole bottle immediately – hence we were rather light headed when we went down to dinner.
Requiring a more leisurely start next day, we had a walking day to the summit of Vychoda Vyspka (2,429m.) which also gave us an opportunity to check out the start of our next objective – a six pitch grade V route on Velicka Stena (2,100m). This paid off as the route finding was quite complex and our recce had helped ensure we started in the right place. Again this was superb granite climbing – all to ourselves, apart from 5/6 chamois making tantalizing easy work of the initial approach slabs. We also had some dramatic cloud scapes as the weather began to deteriorate.
We descended to the valley to sit out the wet day. We made a diversion by traveling to Poprad (a rather unprepossessing town with many “Eastern Bloc” concrete high rise buildings) to indulge in “Aqua City” a modern complex of thermal baths and some pretty impressive water slides.
Baranie rohy summit 2526m – Chris Baranie rohy summit - Gill
Now we had just two days left before our flight home. We felt fit enough to do a route from the valley, so getting the first train of the day to Stary Smokavec we took the funicular to Hebrionok and walked in to Baranie Rohy (2,526m). This slightly lower peak had a 5 pitch grade IV route which we could climb easily and then walk out to get the last funicular of the day back to the valley. There was slightly dubious weather for our final day, so instead of climbing we linked together a run from Hebrionok up to the Zbojnicka Chat hut, over two quite high passes, then down to the Sliesky Dom hotel and back to the valley. This involved ascending 6,500 ft. and descending 7,400 ft. We almost bit off more than we could chew as we were hit by a thunderstorm crossing the Prielom Pass and running kit and shorts was a bit inadequate for the conditions. We warmed up with a soup among similarly soaked walkers at Sliesky Dom before our final descent to the valley.
We felt that we had made full use of our holiday and gained a good feel for the opportunities in the Tatra Mountains. The climbing was excellent – quite long routes without the seriousness of an alpine setting. The area is better known for the walking – there is an excellent guide published by Cicerone – but the main trails are very busy. Our focus was on the rock climbing so this wasn’t a big issue for us but others might want to select the more remote areas, such as the White Tatra’s. We certainly enjoyed generally good weather in an attractive mountain area while the deluge continued back home.
Kriván summit 2395m On Gerlachovský ští
First Aid / Improvised rescue weekend.
Pete Lancaster.
Last April we ran a weekend training course at Heathy Lea: Saturday was first aid training with a slant towards outdoor situations and the Sunday was improvised rescue with climbing in mind. The first aid was taught by Rick Cotgreave who is not only an excellent teacher, as those who were present will testify, but fully qualified to teach and assess first aid, in fact he teaches and assesses potential instructors. Rick is also a member of AMI and fully qualified MIA trained as is Guy Wilson of ‘Pure Outdoors’ (check him out on his website) who joined us for the improvised rescue training on the Sunday – climbing instruction is based on a ratio of 1:6 whereas the first aid can be done on a ratio of 1:12 which dictated the maximum number of people who could attend.
Mike Hayes as the injured party. Team briefing.
I think I can safely say that everyone who attended found the experience extremely valuable and eye-opening yet, at the same time, enjoyable. Gaining knowledge like this is empowering and real boost to one’s confidence in being able to deal with situations that can and do arise. Last year, while climbing at what I regard as a ‘shitty hole in the ground’ but which others regard as a quality sport climbing venue, Mike Wren fell while leading because the rock gave way. Falling rocks very narrowly missed his belayer, Roy Eyre, luckily, but Mike ended up with broken bones and was very badly shaken by the experience. Thankfully he has recovered physically but I am sure he will have mental scares for a long time. There were quite a lot of people climbing there that evening and luckily for Mike there was someone who knew what to do: it could have been very different, let’s say the injuries were worse and that Roy was badly injured too and there had been no one there who knew how to deal with the situation: imagine yourself as the injured party and think what you might feel. Our very own President was at the scene of a similar accident the same year at Harpur Hill quarry where the injuries were greater and how relieved was he that some there also knew what to do and took over?
Mike and Annie. Prussik practise
Stuff happens! In these instances the injured parties could be lowered to the ground but had similar things occurred on a big crag or up a mountain, what then? Maybe you have led a pitch past an overhang and your second falls off at the overhang, is hanging free and a bit to the side, has no prussic loops, could you get him/her back to safety? Or perhaps you are crossing a glacier and you go down a big crevasse, you are dangling and you know your partner hasn’t a clue how to rescue you… When I climb with Rick or Guy I know that if something happens to me my chances of survival are greatly increased but I cannot say the same for everyone I climb with. It is also good to know that, because I have had the basic training that I have a good chance of being able to help any climbing partner of mine who ends up in trouble. Ever since Rick gave myself, Chris Wilson and Snod a day’s training on improvised rescue 5 or 6 years ago, I realised that we owe it to our climbing partners to get up to speed on these things: it is more that ‘just useful’ it is an obligation. Doing all the stuff again emphasised that one forgets and that these techniques and procedures need refreshing.
It is for these reasons that I am intending to run another similar weekend next September, obviously a lot depends on the availability of Rick and Guy re the precise dates but as soon as I know these for certain I will publish them and it would be good to let me know early if you are interested in participating - last time we were booked out. It could be that demand is such that some of those who attended last time might want a refresher/enhancement course, if so please let me know and I will try to make it happen. It is down to numbers in the end because these guys do this stuff for a living so are not able to afford to offer these services as a charity although they both charged less than they would normally do, as a favour. If we do not get many takers the price is split between fewer people. Last time we all paid, I think £45, which is considerably less than a similar course run by one of the outdoor centres which would be well into 3-figures.
Information on Member Activities.
We have sadly lost one of our long standing members. George Fowler died at 20.00 on 11th October in the Whitworth Hospital. He will be greatly missed.
Membership applications have been received by the committee from Esther Bott and Aleksandra Karolina Stepien (Ola). They will be accepted unless anyone has any objections.
Hut Bookings for November.
Please note that hut fees should always be paid to me and no one else. Colin Hobday.
TAN-YR-WYDDFA HEATHY LEA
Nov..4/5TH. T.C.C. 6 beds. Oread meet.
Nov. 11/12th. Mercian MC 16 beds. Yarm School cottage/barn.
Nov. 18/19th. Loughton MC 16 beds.
J. Linney 3 beds Oread room.
Nov. 25/26th. Scunthorpe MC 10 beds. Uni. East Anglia cottage/barn.
Dec. 2/3rd. Lichfield MC 16 beds. Birmingham Wayfarers cottage.
Forthcoming Meets
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November |
Tues 1st |
Evening Meet at Royal Oak Ockbrook |
Committee |
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Sat 5th Sun 6th |
Heathy Lea Bonfire |
Mike Hayes |
##### ###### |
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Sun 6th |
Dovedale Dash |
Rob Tresidder |
##### ###### |
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Sun 6th |
Mountain Bike ride |
Steve Bennett |
01332 516367 |
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Tues 8th |
Committee Meets Royal Oak Ockbrook |
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Sat 19th |
62nd Annual Dinner |
Richard Hopkinson |
##### ###### |
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Sun 20th |
Post Prandial Walk |
Tony Howard |
##### ###### |
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December
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Sun 4th |
Mountain Bike ride |
Steve Bennett |
01332 516367 |
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Tues 6th |
Evening Meet at Royal Oak Ockbrook |
Committee |
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Sat 10th Sun 11th |
Bullstones Meet. |
Pam Norris |
##### ###### |
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Tues 13th |
Committee Meets Royal Oak Ockbrook |
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Wed 14th |
Black Rocks Meet |
Rob Tresidder |
##### ###### |
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24th Dec – 1st Jan 2012 |
Christmas at Tan yr Wyddfa |
Rock Hudson |
##### ###### |
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January 2012 |
Sun 1st |
New Years Day Walk |
Rusty Russell |
##### ###### |
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Tues 3rd |
Evening Meet at Royal Oak Ockbrook |
Committee |
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Tues 10th |
Committee Meets Royal Oak Ockbrook |
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Any Weekend |
Scotland/Wales Snow & Ice |
Derek Pike |
##### ###### |
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Sun 15th |
Winter Walk |
Chris Wilson |
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Copyright – Oread Mountaineering Club.
Editor: John Green, Ivy Cottage, Church Lane, Morley Derbys. ##### ######
Email – #####@######.##