January 15th

Today was a Coach Ramble day. We were picked up in Bradford and transported to Pateley Bridge in North Yorkshire.

It was very cold, frosty but lovely and sunny - a perfect Winter's day.

We set off out of the town and straight up a hill. My legs have just about forgotten what hills are about so they did ache a bit but got there okay. The views from the top were fabulous. Everyone was well wrapped up and in good spirits. There was some interesting chatting going on.



There were three new girls on the walk and I made a point of talking to them to make them feel welcome. They all seemed very nice.

At lunchtime we stopped to eat by a derelict mining building which was down the side of a hill. However one of the guys suddenly slipped down the frosty hillside and landed awkwardly. He said he was okay but was uncomfortable when we were eating.

After lunch we set off again. The weather was being very kind to us.

One of the other guys, Peter had literally just got back from New Zealand the day before and I think the jet lag was beginning to catch up with him. Alan, who had hurt his ankle earlier was struggling too so they decided to take a shorter route back to the town.


Meanwhile we carried on with our circular work and got back into town a bit later on. It was only 8 miles in total but what a glorious day it had been.

We then went back to the coach, got changed and headed for a pub where we had a carvery meal. Being on a diet I was very good and only had a few syns.

Christmas Coach Ramble 2011

We always used to go on the Coach Rambles but they got more expensive and Peter got three slipped discs and we got a major dose of CBA where these were concerned so we got out of the habit.

However Isobel has been nattering at me to join in again so I got my (very late) finger out and booked to co on the Christmas walk. Last Friday I almost wished I hadn't as it was snowing and sleeting and hailing all day and Saturday it rained, a lot!

Sunday morning I had got everything sorted and off we went. There were several people who got on the coach in Bradford and we were warmly welcomed back after an absence of err 11 months!

Isobel decided she was going to do the A walk which was about 10 miles but I wasn't confident about walking so far at the moment so opted for the B walk of 6 miles especially as when we pulled into Giggleswick Station car park it was raining cats and dogs. The A walk set off from there and we were dropped in Settle car park. It was still precipitating it down when we set off and boy was it wet and muddy underfoot!

When we got to the weir we were amazed at the amount of water coming over it and the force of it. I was glad I was NOT canoeing over that one.



The river coming down from the top of the picture is normally just a small beck.

The walk was pleasant but uneventful. I got to talk to lots of different people about lots of different things. I caught up with peoples lives in the last year and as we plodded back to Settle I was glad we had done the walk.

I got changed at the side of the coach as I am not shy that way! We then went to the Falcon Crest Hotel to start the festivities. We usually have a meal and a dance but this year was a new venue and we didn't have dancing facilities. Oh well never mind.

The meal was nothing special but nothing awful either. The we had a multiple faceted quiz. This descended into much chaos as we were supposed to swap the picture quiz with a neighbouring table and we ended up with it going all wrong! One of the tables didn't swap correctly. What a scream. Then we ran out of time as the coach driver had to be back for a certain time.

Oh well in terms of exercise I walked 6 miles so it's all good. We booked to go on the January walk. No idea where we are going but who cares.

Day Sixteen. A Wet Walk

Today was a coach ramble day. Once a month our Ramblers Group go for a walk somewhere further afield so we go by coach.

There is a choice of three walks the main one being approx 10 miles, the next being 6-8 miles and for the ones who like to go faster and further there is one that is usually 14-16 miles. After the walks we all meet up at the coach again and go to a pub for a pre-arranged meal.

Today we went to Kirby Lonsdale in North Yorkshire which is also close to the Lake District. It's been raining all weekend and it was raining this morning too. The planned walk today was supposed to be 11 miles but because of the rain and over- flowing rivers the leader rearranged it so that it was 8 miles.

We set off from Devils Bridge in the rain and soon encountered our first obstacle - water! The bridleway was deep in water and so we turned back a little way and followed the small road instead. Then we came across another problem - water again. The road was flooded and no-one fancied going ankle deep in it so we changed our route again.

We stormed up some hills and down again and then encountered some.....water! (Are you seeing a theme here?) We eventually took shelter under some trees and had our lunch standing up.

Setting off again we followed a track which had large, sometimes deep puddles all along it. After a while Isobel and I gave up trying to keep our feet dry and just walked straight through whatever water came our way. Several times our leader tried to get us across fields but where there should have been just a trickle of water it had turned into torrential rivers (okay slight exaggeration, torrential streams) or water would be gushing from walls.







At one point we did cross a very swollen stream and I put my foot right in the middle of it so I really couldn't get any wetter after that. I think it should be counted as cross training as my boots were so sodden that they must have weighed a kilo each.

The leader eventually conceded defeat and set us back on the return journey early. We got back to the coach having done 6.5 miles of walking, slipping, sliding and paddling. The strange thing was that no-one was miserable and moaning about the weather. Everyone enjoyed themselves and most went to a nearby town to celebrate with a hot drink in a cafe.

The coach took us a few miles to the pub and a superb meal was soon disposed of. There was plenty of banter going on before hopping back on the coach for the return journey.

A busy weekend.

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Saturday morning I had an appointment with the training group starting in Otley. Didn't dash round as I thought I had everything sorted ready to go. When I was getting ready tI couldn't find my long-sleeved t-shirt so made do with a short-sleeved one. Then as I was about to leave I couldn't find my gloves. Thankfully i remembered they were in the dryer, phew. However I was late setting off and got a phone call on the way there asking if I was coming.

Arrived at the car park in Otley to find no spaces either for myself or any of the rest of the group. Not only that but one of the support riders, Richard, hadn't been told it was Otley this week so had gone to Guiseley. So we all drove to the outskirts of Otley and set off from there.

Richard brought Haley with him this week. She is the only other female rider this time so we will be sharing rooms. The morning was glorious but cold. We eventually set off about 10am and took the lanes out towards Knaresborough. Hell, the first hill we went up my legs felt like they were made of wet paper. I struggled up and was puffing and panting like Darth Vader. Then I discovered I hadn't brought my drink with me. Lucky for me Richard shared his drink with me.

We took an off road course at one point, an old railway line that has been adapted for walkers, horse-riders and cyclists. Not long after that Peter got a puncture.
While they were fixing that I was chatting to Mark who I discovered had got through prostrate cancer and was still beating me up those goddamn hills.

We eventually got to the cafe in Knaresborough and had a cuppa and a bite to eat. When we were about to set off back, Mike discovered that he had lost his sports glasses. They were nowhere to be found. I also got to know Haley a bit. She seems like a really nice lass, a scouser.

Then he tried to fix Mark's bike seat and foud that it was actually broken. Some gaffer tape and ingenuity later Mike decided to ride that bike and Mark rode Mike's bike. Mark had to get back for work so Mike, Mark and Mark's mate (I think he's called Phil?) took off together and left Richard, Peter, Haley and myself to ride back together.

Again I was struggling with the hills and Richard stayed with me and Peter headed off at the front with Haley.

As Peter didn't know the route back he went straight on at the place we have normally turned off at and headed straight for the roundabout at Pannal. I was secretly relieved to not have to do more hills. So we headed home on the normal Otley to Harrogate road.

We arrived back at the cars not long after Mike and co. Really disappointed with myself today as I have really been flying the last couple of weeks.



Sunday. Coach Ramble - Ilkley to Bolton Abbey. Not long after I got up I realised there was already a covering of snow and it was still coming down in huge flakes. This could be interesting.

Isobel and I set off and not far from arriving at the pick up at Jacobs Well I tried to turn right but the car went straight forward. Luckily there was no problems with this and I was eventually able to correct this and arrived just in time. However the bus was running late so we had a little wait.

Peter Dawson arrived and parked behind me and we noticed that he'd had a bit of a bender on the way there. He's hit a low wall and caused quite a bit of damage to the front of his car.

It continued snowing heavily all the way up to Ilkley, via Addingham and Silsden. Everything looked so pretty. However we got on some tracks that were downwards sloping and very slippery so a few of us decided to slide down on our backsides rather than slip and fall on them.

We arrived at Bolton Abbey and Arnold was going to add a loop on to the walk but we were later than expected so we didn't have time to do that so he said we could do what we wanted as long as we met the coach in the car park at 3pm. Some of us walked the paths climbing high above the river. Going up was slippery at times but coming down was a nightmare. At one point some strangers lent me two walking poles so that I could get down the hill. One of their party was at the bottom so I passed him the poles so that he could get up the same hill. I had to do another descent on my bottom as it was too slippery to attempt standing.





We then walked across the ford and past the Cavendish Pavilion back up the hill and met the coach. Altogether we had done about 8 miles but it felt like more to be honest.

We went to the Craven Heifer for a carvery afterwards. We were home for about 6.30pm.