Ralph Battle's trip report
This trip began with a very early start for me and six others courtesy of Sam's car which was leaving at 06:20 for an additional day of walking in an unknown-to-me location. Nick shared an encrypted clue with me, Miriam, Grace and Chloe to solve to determine our destination, which I had speculated to be the North York Moors based on the photos Nick had shown me showing local geology. We worked in pairs to decrypt the cipher, discovering after two hours' detective work that the true destination was the North Pennines. We dropped off Oliver at a garden in the Howardian Hills, had a second breakfast at Kirkbymoorside and continued to Whitby for a walk along the top of the cliffs then back along the base, with a playground, a paddle and some fossils along the way. Fish and Chips in the marina carpark topped off the excursion. After picking up Oliver we did a short walk to the Kilburn White Horse for a view over Yorkshire and continued to our destination in Nenthead in the North Pennines. Arriving so early at the bunkhouse meant me and Nick had plenty of time to pitch our tents, and for everyone to play a game of sardines. Once Chris's car arrived, the fun continued with the moon in the spoons game and the dream game which promoted much laughter.
On Saturday, I signed up to a walk planned by Chris, along with James, Eva, and Ericka, to climb Cross Fell, Little Dun Fell and Great Dun Fell. We started by following the Pennine way snaking it's way through the moors, discussing topics as diverse as the healthiness of eating 100 bags of crisps in a day, the purpose of mysterious metal pyramids, the identity of some purple rocks and what a legally-set trap looks like. Our route took us to Cross Fell, the highest point in England outside the Lake District, where we had lunch sheltering from the wind on the summit. It's safe to say this was my warmest CUHWC trip, with temperatures into the low 20s, even at our elevation of over 800m, and we were starting to feel it with water being consumed at a prodigous rate. After lunch we continued towards Great Dun Fell with its distinctive golf ball-shaped radar dome on the top, then descended down towards the Tees. We finished our walk following the uppermost reaches of the South Tyne, covering what James' and Chris' watches tell us was between 32 and 35km.
We were the last car back and there was already a long queue for the showers. Fortunately for me, as all three cooks were on my walk no one had started cooking yet, and as the kitchen was small we agreed I would cook first, and that I wouldn't cook until I had showered and should therefore jump the queue, an argument which thankfully convinced those waiting in line. The now customary bangers and mash was provided for 13 with all parts of the meal miraculously finishing cooking at the same time. We completed the evening with another dream game followed by singing.
On this trip, I along with some others had volunteered to sleep in tents so we could bring more people along. I personally found the tent to be very restful, much more so than the bunkhouse, perhaps due to the unseasonably warm weather meaning not even a sleeping bag was required on Saturday night, or perhaps due to the lack of snoring when only sharing with one other person. The only issue is that when the sun comes up, you wake up, and on this trip only a couple of weeks before the summer solstice the sun is up at a very unsociable hour.
Most people on Sunday decided to do a shortish walk to see some waterfalls or to visit York, but I wished to do more hillwalking, so I signed up for Chris's walk again, this time to Meldon Hill and around Cow Green Reservoir, along with Dan and (at the last minute) Oliver. This walk was to be almost entirely off path, with the added challenge of crossing the Tees and the potential for deep bog, thunderstorms, ticks and hidden minehshafts! The ground was soft and uneven underfoot which made the upwards journey a long slow slog. Thankfully, the lack rain made the Tees more of a trickle than a torrent and the crossing was one of the easiest parts of the walk, and the thunderstoms, ticks and hidden mineshafts were not encountered. We saw mice and frogs which had made the heather their home, and a scarecrow that was so realistic we waved at it thinking it a person. Navigation was straightforward as the visibility was excellent, and the descent was much easier with the soft ground reducing the stress on our knees.
All in all a thoroughly enjoyable trip, taking in two areas of the UK I'd never been to before, and with loads of great friends to enjoy it with. I'm graduating in a few weeks, I hope this doesn't turn out to be my last official CUHWC trip, but if it does then it was certainly a memorable one.