President's Hot Pot

The Walk

Members present, Dave Bish, Roger Daley, Joe Flynn, Dave Wylie, Iain McCalum, Alan Peck, Linda Crossley, Karen, Brian Street, Andrew Croughton.

Guest, Sarah.

 

Not much I can say about this meet really, it took place and was very enjoyable.

It was a wet and wild day that didn't deter the hardy group from eating ice creams, drinking beer and taking shelter when the rain stopped, in order to have food and drink.

Not sure if this was a walk or a social gathering now. A big thank you to those who braved the weather and completed the circuit almost as planned despite the horrendous conditions. Lets hope for better weather this summer.

 

The "Climb" - Castle Naze

Members Present: Dan O'Brien, Heather Brooke, Mark Ashley.

Guests Present: Graham Hasselhurst, Neil (journalist guy, sorry), Tim Howarth, Rhian Blade, Laura Bond.

 

Scene #1, Castle Naze. Weather looked awful and the wind was howling, but our enthusiasm would not be dampened. So with the barest minimum of dragging we arrived at the crag to find that most of the routes were wet. The two dry routes at the far left of the crag ("Double Crack" and "The Arête") were ascended by each member of the team and after receiving a soaking on the belay at the top we retreated to the cars.

 

Scene #2, The Beehive. With the rain in we headed for the pub. There was a nice open fire and Graham enjoyed Gammon and Eggs. The mistake was made when someone spotted in the guidebook that New Mills Tor would probably be dry in this weather. We abandoned the warm comfort of the pub and headed out into the maelstrom again.

 

Scene #3, New Mills Tor. Not quite as dry as we had hoped. The wind had been blowing the rain under the protective canopy of the road bridge and soaking the routes underneath. Seepage was moistening everything else. Undeterred, Heather began working a long traverse on the dryer part of the wall, Mark and Neil headed off in the direction of a grotty looking corner whilst Tim and myself attempted original route (VD). The rain by now was battering down ("Why on earth is he still going up?" - Tim) and I was pleased to hear that only one extra person wanted to second the route thus prolonging my misery on the tree belay. An abseil descent followed by a second retreat, to a second pub, followed by a third retreat, to a third pub and a lovely slide-show.

 

The Slide Show

This year's photo competition/slideshow had the benefit of a fantastic judge who not only carefully considered all entries, but honoured us with his charming presence on the night to present the slideshow. There was lots of quality as usual, and he had a very difficult job choosing the winners.

The photo competition/slideshow winners are as follows:

Rock Action
Winner: James Bouldering at Wimberry by David Bish.

Mountain Action
Winner: Lliwedd by David Bish
Close 2nd: Untitled slide by Colin Maddison.

Mountain Landscape
Winner: Untitled slide by Duncan Lee.
Close 2nd: Lliwedd View by Sean Kelly.

Human Interest
Winner: Untitled slide by Colin Maddison.

These pictures can be seen in the gallery

Both myself and the judge were a bit disappointed that there weren't more really funny human interest photos this year, so get busy with those shots for next year, the sillier the better!

Thanks go to Alan (H) Jones and Kevin Anderson for their efforts on the projectors. And Al Metelko for providing the emergency last minute judging venue!

(The awards are not being treated with the reverence they deserve? Apparently someone left their Cup / Award from the slide competition behind at the Swan. It is behind the bar awaiting collection by Sabina (kindly). Ed)

Andrew Croughton