Contents of memory page:

Memories of Gate building - SELECT

Memories of Spain May '10 - SELECT

Memories of Dartmoor - '08/'09 - SELECT

Orienteering June ‘10 - SELECT

Memories of Pembrokeshire Coastal Path - 1 - SELECT

Memories of Pembrokeshire Coastal Path - 2 - SELECT

Memories of Pembrokeshire Coastal Path - Final Stage - SELECT

Memories of Gate Building

The 100th Gate at last

What an achievement, the 100th gate was installed on Friday 25th July '09. The 100th gate day was good fun but the weather was not kind. The RWP and Sue ( Rights of Way Officer) who walked with us on her day off, walked to the gate and Paul Hendry ( Chief Officer - Country and Environment), Sallie ( Rights of Way Officer), Gary ( Ranger ) arrived at the same time..  When we left to walk back to the pub it poured and thundered. The gate group had a hard time because there was concrete which had to be broken up. So despite some early prep. by Colin and having three 'boys' they had to work on in the rain to finish. The pub celebration went well. A sort of informal chaos with food being served up during the presentations. The cake was cut and a good time had by all. (of course we are now well in excess of 100 gates installed)

As you will have read on the "Work Party" page, Colin's team of gate installers have been hard at work but as we see here, installing the "Nelson" gate on the 200th anniversary of Admiral Nelson's death wasn't all strenuous activity. But hey I guess they deserve a break!

I think someone forgot the hip flask when the 50th gate was installed in December 2006. Serious stuff this gate building. And just in case you are thinking, this gate building looks fun, how about building mud pies instead.

Memories of our holiday in Spain - May '10

Memories of Dartmoor -  '08/'09

"DARTMOOR'S GREATEST WALK" - THE PERAMBULATION OF 1240 - Established by a jury of twelve knights of Henry III to determine, by perambulation, the Boundary of the Forest of Dartmoor. WBR Memories from the 7 stages - total Perambulation 50 miles.

The second section consisting of stages 5, 6 and 7 was completed on Sunday 10th May 09 with the group being awarded their certificates of completion by Ian Kirkpatarick, Chief Bounder, and his wife Caroline. Brian Atkins was lucky enough to have his certificate number make him the 1100th  Bounder.

Orienteering June ’10

Memories of Pembrokeshire Coastal Path -  1

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Memories of Gate installation

SPAIN AGAIN – RETURN TO GRAZALEMA NATIONAL PARK    

Wednesday 21st April - Spain 2010 our "final flourish" and by jove it started off with a trauma which hopefully will never be repeated.   A final "go ahead” was given by the airline at 01.00 hrs with our Mini Coach on standby for either go ahead or reschedule - it was on time at 02.45 !!!!!   The hotel was on standby awaiting an email saying we were departing - a lot goes on here at "all hours" !    In between time our Malaga transfer coach had to be used for taking a group of stranded passengers to Paris.   However, our host,  Andy Chappell, had a contingency, a 4x4, a local bakers van, two motor cycles and a couple of tandems !  we were very pleasantly surprised to find a full size luxury coach awaiting us at Malaga !  We arrived at Molino del Santo full of the joys of spring and in good holiday spirit to a wonderful greeting of tea and home made cakes served outside on the hotel’s verandah prior to our introductory tour of the village.

Thursday - Walk No 1 - From historical Ronda (reputed to be Hemmingway’s favourite Spanish town) in its dramatic setting to one of the Sierra de Grazalema’s prettiest white villages Montejaque.  There’s always something satisfying about a point-to-point walk, even more so when the views along the walk were superlative, birdlife rich and diverse and wild flowers in abundance.

Friday, We repeated our 2005  “Walk of Mr Henderson’s Railway”  –  re-titled by the English host of a local hostelry to the ‘Walk of David Cameron’ !  An easy walk which followed along a delightful riverside path linking the sleepy village of Benaojan with the sleepier still village of Jimera de Libar, a tapas lunch enjoyed by all before returning to our hotel, some on foot,  and others by the local train.  

Our FREE DAY optional walk ‘The Walk of the Hidden Valley’ without doubt one of the Sierra’s most special walks into the heart of the Grazalema Park.  The long walkers striding out from the hotel with the short walkers being taxied to the top of the pass El Puerto del Boyar. 

“THE WALK OF THE GOATHERD'S LEAP”  was the choice for Day 4:   An outstanding walk with magnificent scenery connecting two of the prettiest white villages of Andalucia (Grazalema and Benaocaz) taking in the famous  “Salto del Cabrero” (Goatherd’s Leap ) which in fact is a great cleft in the limestone rocks of a ridge .   We witnessed masses of Griffin Vultures perched on the rocks, circling above us and overseeing a very large herd of goats with their new born in one of the goat farms en route.  The wild flowers were unbelievable from Paeonies to Blue Iris to Bee Orchids etc……

THE  'WALK OF THE BAND0LEROS' another of the great walks in the national park albeit a very enduring one!  We started off along an old drovers path before picking our way through rocky terrains and snaking our way around the flank of the Sierra de Benaojan with great views back to Ronda, climbing ups and downs to the most beautiful Libar valley.  It was very easy to see how 19th century bandoleros and later persecuted Republicans were able to give the authorities the slip in this wild and rugged terrain.  A long but fantastic walk with spectacular scenery and magical flora landscapes.

Our final walk, for which we had to obtain a special permit,  was  the LA Garganta Verde Walk  (the green gorge) – A 400 metre deep limestone gorge with Europe's largest Griffon Vulture colony at the top and at the bottom ‘La Ermita’ a pink cave which was compared to a “landscape from another planet”.  Some descended to the bottom whilst others climbed to a very high viewpoint to witness the impressive birds returning to and from their nests.  Not only did we see vultures which have an 8 ft wingspan but many choughs and Eagles.  A truly memorable day and a grand finale to our holiday. 

Mention must be made to the hospitality extended from our host Andy Chappel and his wife Pauline of the Hotel Molino del Santo,  Eva, Paco, Victor and all the staff,  the attention, the wonderful dinners and two special evenings.   One being our St George’s Day Celebration on the 23rd complete with national flags, a delicious cake, beautifully iced in white with the red cross depicted in strawberries and several of us being dressed in red/white.   Colin commenced the readings with “I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start. The game's afoot: Follow your spirit, and upon this charge Cry 'God for Harry, England, and St George! '  followed by a rendering from our two chums from ‘north of the border’ who raised the roof with a Flanders & Swan “English are Best” and many more readings all adding up to a splendid evening.   Finally, our last night was celebrated with the “Parade of the Paella” which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Our special thanks to all, past and present Spanish walkers,  we have enjoyed making our contributions, coming up with the ideas, planning, writing the scripts and most importantly a thank you to you all for playing your parts with enthusiasm and the great camaraderie amongst all.      Pat & Colin

Memories of Pembrokeshire Coastal Path - 2

Orienteering – FUN with Map & Compass

 It’s never to late to learn and whether you are a regular rambler or a newcomer, Colin  makes everyone very welcome on his fun days out with map and compass.  A small group of us recently had a most enjoyable day at the Look Out Country Park, Bracknell.  The centre is set in very pleasant surroundings and offers an amazing range of facilities for outdoor pursuits but we were not there to whiz through the tree tops on a zip wire our feet were firmly on the ground and our eyes glued to map and compass !

Our leader was very patient and soon the beginners amongst us had mastered the arrows on the compass and able to take a reading.  We practised our newly learnt skills in a group taking turns to lead and Colin was on hand to give individual advice as required - some of us needing more help than others!  We soon realised that map reading is not easy but as we followed the orienteering course and located the numbered posts we learnt to match our large scale orienteering map to the ground around us. We discovered it is all about observation and attention to detail !  

The excellent cafe provided welcome refreshment at the beginning, middle and end of our satisfying and thoroughly enjoyable day out.

Colin hopes to organise more of these fun days out to suit our varying abilities.  Do come and join us to improve your orienteering skills and get so much more out of a walk and, of course, hopefully not get lost !       

Thank you Colin - Gill K

Walking the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path

On a beautiful sunny afternoon in September a group of West Berkshire Ramblers triumphantly strode past the plaque at Amroth advising the end, or beginning, of the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, having walked the 186 miles from St Dogmaels.

The group had started the walk in September 2009 and accomplished it in four stages of 5 days each:

St Dogmaels to Pwll Deri

Pwll Deri to Newgale

Newgale to Hundleton

Hundleton to Amroth.

The whole expedition had been masterminded by Pat and Colin Honeybone who, over the years, have organised and led a number of wonderful holidays for West Berks Ramblers.  They organised our accommodation and the coaches which transported us to and from our daily walks. We all had a wonderful time marvelling at the glorious scenery and the diverse wild life to be found all along the cliffs.  

We saw dolphins playing in Cardigan Bay, seals at various spots along the way where they not only swam for our entertainment but also basked in the sunshine in beautiful bays, way below us. And the birds! Such a variety of seabirds – guillemots, razorbills, cormorants and the fulmar which, although they are extending their territory in Britain, are still confined to the Pembrokeshire coast - as well as the more familiar crow and humble little house martin.

The Path has recently been recognised by World Heritage which voted it third in a list of the world’s top national trails, the only one in Britain. Before that the National Geographic magazine voted Pembrokeshire the second best coastal destination in the world.  It is easy to see why, the land is ever changing, from wild, desolate and craggy to soft, domesticated farmland or pretty, gentle little villages. There is even a stretch of Path giving views of our urban, industrial heritage. Milford Haven, one of the deepest natural harbours in the world, causing Nelson to declare it “the finest port in Christendom”, is still a busy ferry terminal. Despite recent closures two oil refineries remain and a new power station is planned.

This last time, though, produced an experience of a totally different kind when, because the start of our walk crossed the path of the bicycle leg of the Ironman Wales Triathlon, our coach was escorted part of the way by a motor cycle outrider! We felt like royalty.

Our thanks go to Pat and Colin for providing us with such a memorable experience and for all their hard work in bringing the project to fruition.

Memories of Pembrokeshire Coastal Path - Final Stage