Newlands Valley weekend away

The Harriers had its first weekend residential trip for some time on 21-23 August, staying in the Fylde Mountaineering Club hut at Stair in the Newlands Valley.

Weekends away used to be a frequent club feature, usually the ‘Easter Jolly’ at various locations but generally somewhere in the Lakes. So, thanks to Andy L for booking the accommodation and restarting what hopefully will become a new tradition.

There were 10 of us staying over on Friday and Saturday night and Loz joined us for the main run on Saturday as a day tripper. Friday night dinner was fend-for-yourself although Dominique turned up with catering quantities of pasta bake and tiramisu which were much appreciated.

Plans to visit the Swinside Inn that evening were scuppered by a private wedding function taking the place over – but luckily we’d taken enough beers to support a six nations rugby final after party. So we partied in that evening and the main agenda item was an acrimonious debate about the route for the next day. “No way am I going over Catbells again”, “your route makes as much sense as Trump at a MAGA rally”, etc, etc. In the end a proposal for a 22km/1600m circuit of Causey Pike, Grasmoor and Grizedale pike won out, taking in a few subsidiary tops to make a 7 Wainwright day in what became The Coledale Caper.

Inevitability the wheel fell off from the get-go with Alistair mysteriously heading off in the opposite direction from everyone else. He was obviously bitter that we weren’t heading for Catbells. With the eye-brow high bracken on Rolling End hampering visibility, it was a marvel when the group was reunited before too long.

Suffice to say it was an excellent day out in great running weather. From Hopegill Head we did an out-and-back trip along the airy ridge to Whiteside with great views down towards Crummock and Buttermere. Back at Hopegill Head again, Phil and Helen opted for the Coledale Caper Pro extension out to Ladyside Pike while the rest of us ambled over Grizedale Pike slowly enough for them to catch us on the descent.

At Braithwaite we were about 4km from home but took an instinctive right turn into the bar of the Coledale Inn for refreshments. Oz didn’t seem to be tuned in to the group vibe. “What? We’re stopping at the pub now?”, he said incredulously as we lined up the pints. Scoffer happened to be in the beer garden too and gave us that “this is why Settle Harriers can never be taken seriously” look.

The beers caused all discipline to evaporate and the group split again. The “stick to the plan” traditionalists took the leisurely valley route home to Stair while the splitters (Phil, Helen and Loz) took on Coledale Caper Pro Max over Barrow for a sting-in-the-tail finish. Oz seemed to have been broken by the unexpected pub stop and being unable to resist the FOMO of the Pro Max variant set off with the splinter group up Barrow but soon thought better of it and cut off for a session of bracken bashing and a more direct finish.

The biking party of Andy and Martyn arrived shortly after, having completed a gnarly circuit round the Back O’ Skidaw. The usual post-mortem over whether Trailtalons would have been better than Thundercross was drowned out by bickering over tyre pressures and top clip tension.

After hot showers, snacks and aperitifs we wolfed down the great chilli Hilary had sent up and adjourned to the pub. The Swinside Inn was a bit of a disappointment. On Andy and Simon’s recent visit a few weeks earlier their critical evaluation of the beer quality had obviously been influenced by the 65km they’d just completed. A pint was enough and we went back to the hut for wine and whiskey to accompany Martyn’s Mastermind quiz – specialist subject: Lakeland Fells. “Which classic race might you be on if you found yourself skirting the Tarn at Leaves?” Or things like that anyway… Slowly folks slunk off to bed leaving Andy and Martyn scouring the hut for the last dregs at the bottom of discarded glasses.

Sunday’s activities may have been influenced by the wine and whiskey but mostly involved some excellent sausages while we tidied the place up and then argued about the best place for morning coffee. The Threlkeld Village Hall got the vote and most of the party headed off there. Helen and Martyn might actually have done something outdoors and were rumoured to have gone up Catbells. If only Alistair had known…

Great weekend – let’s do another one real soon!

Participants: Andy, Phil, Dominique, Oz, Nick, Simon, Martyn, Helen, Alistair, Joe, Loz