May Day Bank Holiday Camping, Cycling, Wild Swimming and Walking Weekend 2022

–

Clitheroe and Blackpool Clarion

The last day offered early challenges with the first twenty miles providing leg testing climbs. Names of the villages are a clue, Spinkhill, Harthill. We did recover during a stop at Nigel’s house for coffee and cake, thanks Dianne. Onwards to Maltby and then, just outside Doncaster, we fell off a cliff to the flatlands and easy riding. Using the Doncaster Greenway saw us ride through the town and into countryside riding alongside the River Don. At Braithwaite we joined the New Junction Canal tow pay and competition anglers with gear spread everywhere. It’s got to be the same outlook as cyclists. How many rods do you have? The answer, identical to our formula for bike ownership, has to be N+1. Each to their own. Continuing into East Yorkshire and through Snaith we crossed the River Aire into North Yorkshire.

We avoided the busy A1041 as much as possible as we continued north to Selby, doglegging as we went. A few miles north of Selby and we were back at our start point.

Riding through the heart of England gave us a chance to see the variety of landscapes on offer. The urbanisation and industry of major towns contrasted with serenity of birdsong and scenic views in the countryside. The decision to curtail the ride in the extreme heat of the opening day was a good one to make. We didn’t see any mad dogs outside in the midday sun, just mad cyclists.

A YouTube video of the trip can be found at www.youtube. com/watch?v=N76GFZCw9-I friday evening: After work we drove the 110 miles to Barrow House, aka Derwent Water Independent Hostel, which for many decades was part of the YHA. It’s an amazing place, a couple of miles south of Keswick, with Ashness Beck flowing through the spacious grounds between the waterfall, known as Barrow Cascade and the Lake. is sure!} taking the minor road from Grange, along the flanks of Catbells, one of Alfred Wainwright’s favourites, which while modest in height, offers splendid views. We rode on to Portinscale, then over the suspension bridge and into Keswick for the night. then to walk to the summit, Skiddaw being one of the three ‘Munros’ in the Lakes.

Saturday: We awoke to blue skies and a heavy frost on the tents, so hastily we headed into the hostel for breakfast.

We accepted Bear’s wager that he could run the whole route in less time than we could cycle and walk to the summit and back to Barrow House. If he won, we’d have to pay Bear’s bar bill at The Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, aka Keswick Wetherspoons, that evening.

We booked our breakfasts, pitched our tents and as campers, we still had full access to all of the hostel’s facilities. After a brew we rode down to the Lake, where there were many wild swimmers, who were also staying at the hostel. Then we continued around Derwent Water, to the Bowder Stone {Fallen Rock or Glacial Erratic? Nobody

We were most surprised to find that one of our party, an archetypal, or as the day transpired, an erstwhile, hardened, globetrotting, fell running ‘Bear Grylls’ had found camping in the early Cumbrian Spring rather too cold for his liking and had taken refuge in the common room during the early hours.

As we consumed the wonderful multi-course breakfast, including copious amounts of orange juice and tea, we formulated our plan to cycle the first five miles to Skiddaw, leaving the bikes at the top of the Latrigg Road and

After readying the bikes, boots {“Spurs!”} and rucksacks, we took a closer look at the magnificent waterfalls in the grounds, which we had seen from our breakfast table. >>