Weekend Walks

The club aims to put on local walks every weekend
and where possible on both Saturdays and Sundays.
All the walks are led by a leader who will guide you
along footpaths and bridleways through the countryside.
In recent months we have enjoyed walks in the Chilterns
around Hambledon, Henley, Marlow, over the Berkshire Downs, along
the Ridgeway and further afield in Surrey, Hampshire and Oxfordshire.
There is usually a morning coffee stop on all walks.
On longer walks there will also be a lunch stop (bring packed lunch).
We generally try to arrange the lunch stop near a country pub, so
that those who want to can enjoy a sociable drink.
Weekends Away
We arrange club trips away to the hills and
along the coastal paths around Britain . About twice a year we have
a weekend in some good walking country. We usually travel by coach,
around 30 of us, and stay together in a small hotel.
There is a choice of walks at two or three grades
each day, varying from gentle strolls of about 5-6 miles (with perhaps
a visit to a place of interest) to more energetic walks up to 9-10
miles, or even 12-15 miles if some of our mountain section members
are on the trip.
Exmoor, Dartmoor, the Quantocks, the Cotswold Hills
and the Cornish Coast Path are all popular destinations as are the
Brecon Beacons, the Gower and mid-Wales.
Sometimes we arrange a week's holiday further
afield to the Yorkshire Dales or the Lake District or even the Canary
Islands.
Taking it easy in Tenerife
With the weather set fair on the first day of our
trip, we grabbed the chance to get within a cable car’s ride
of the island’s highest point, the snow capping Tiede’s
looking like icing on a cake. A chocolate cake, perhaps, for the
ruddy brown, volcanic rocks we passed as we made our descent resembled
dried-up chunks of the stuff.
Not so tasty, though, was the dishwater thinly disguised
as tea served up at the Parador de Las Canadas café, our
finishing point. But nothing could spoil the view as the sun kept
on beating down.
We had the added pleasure of Henry’s company
on the following day’s walk from Erjos and, although the going
got a little tough for him halfway down, he at least had the consolation
of arriving in the quiet village square of El Palmar with a lady
supporting him on each arm. I should be so lucky.
Once again starting high and heading downhill on the
third day, we set off from Casa Carlos and, after initially slipping
and sliding down damp, moss-covered steps, the path opened out to
reveal spectacular views of Toborna, a mighty rock sticking out
like a giant sore thumb, as well as tiered cultivation and villages
that seemed about to topple off the hillsides. It’s called
living on the edge.
Day Four featured a short walk from La Caldera to
Aguamansa during which we were suddenly confronted on a quiet country
road by a herd of about 70 goats. While most of them squeezed and
wriggled past us in a panic, one bedraggled old stager sauntered
along at his own pace. He wasn’t in a hurry and neither were
we.
A walk back along the coast from
San Vicente to Puerta de la Cruz was next on our agenda, giving
Beryl an unexpected chance to demonstrate her soccer skills as she
boldly joined in a children’s kick-about. Such was
the power of her shot – like that of a latter-day John Charles
– that the football sailed straight over the wall onto wave-lashed
rocks about 100ft below. A 10-euro note, however, soon restored
the smiles to the stunned boys’ faces.
Our final day’s walk began at Fleytas where
we strolled through Tenerife’s own version of the Lake District,
a series of small pools surrounded by burn-out trees whose eerie
silence was broken only by a solitary robin singing. Weaving our
way up a winding path, we eventually reached a viewing point where
the outline of the island of Gomera could just be made out in the
haze, a mystery waiting to be explored.
On the way back we got off the bus early at La Paz
to look down over the harbour before walking down through the town
and along the seafront where a doting dad sent his delighted young
son, strapped to a bungee-jump machine, soaring skywards. And so,
like all of the trips organised by Tessa and Henry, a thoroughly
enjoyable holiday had ended on a high.
Steve Thomson
For forthcoming weekend trips, see the Walks
Programmes.

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