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Making fellwalking fun
THEY’RE a dedicated lot, the Lancaster Fellwalkers.
Come rain or shine, every other Sunday they go out walking, mainly in the Lakes and Yorkshire, covering anything from nine to 18 miles.
On the day I joined them it was the sunniest, warmest day I can ever remember in October and walking from Pooley Bridge to Patterdale following Lake Ullswater was a real pleasure.
I have to admit that getting up on a Sunday morning for a 8.30am start was a bit of a wrench, but many of the other members of the club said exactly the same thing.
After being picked up at Dalton Square (there were other pick ups at Bolton-le-Sands, Morecambe and Carnforth) many of the fellwalkers said it was the discipline of knowing they had agreed to go on the walk which spurred them on, particularly when it was cold and raining.
The club, formed in 1938, has a seasonal programme of walks which are planned following suggestions from the 100 or so members.
There are four different walks each Sunday (from A plus through to B group).
Each group leader outlines where his or her walk will go, a rough estimation of distance and the height which will be climbed. Then the club members decide which one they want to go on.
I was on the B walk and any new members are advised to start on this one.
There were a few inclines but not too many and the distance was more like 12 miles than the nine originally stated.
At the other end of the spectrum the A plus team walked 15 miles and bagged three Wainwrights, but most came back looking surprisingly energetic.
It’s a very sociable club with the majority of walkers in the 20-70 age bracket.
Many have been there for decades but there’s plenty of new blood too.
My walk was led by experienced walker and keen birdwatcher Jim Shepherd.
At 72, Jim has been a member of the club since 1978 when he saw a poster on the wall at the Moor Hospital where he worked.
And now 30 years later he regularly goes out with the club and enjoys taking pictures for the society’s website which he also updates.
Committee member Diana Coman, who both walks and leads many of the groups, is the second generation of her family to join the club.
Her parents Audrey Shaw and Jack were both members and were on the committee in the 1960s.
“They did not start until they were in their 40s, that’s when they moved up here.
I was in my 50s when I started really,” Diana said.
A former lung cancer specialist nurse at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, Diana added: “We have this core of members who have been in for quite a while, but we have been getting a few new members too.”
Their youngest member is 19 and there are a few in their 70s - most of the ones I met were extremely fit.
Club membership costs just £5 a year and every trip costs an additional £7 to cover coach travel. Under 18s and over 64s have a reduced annual membership of £2.
One walker, who’s been with the club for a year, said it was very organised and friendly.
“Some people think you’ll be climbing mountains if you join but if you have a reasonable level of fitness then there will be a walk for you.
“Nobody thinks any the worse of you if you only want to do B walks.That’s been one of the nice things,” she said.
Many on the walkers on the B route were women with the majority of the men heading out on the harder hikes including club president David Ward who led the A plus walk.
But at the end of the walks all the members got together for a chat in one of the pubs in Pooley Bridge – before getting on the coach for the trip back.
It was a lovely day out and a good stretch of the legs.
If you like walking this club is a great way to see and explore new areas you may not have encountered and getting a lift there and back at the end of a long, exhausting day is definitely a bonus.
A big thanks to all the walkers on the B team who made me feel so welcome – Diana Coman, Jim Shepherd, Helena Nixon, Hilda Preston, Shirley Balshaw, Sheila Rae, Mary Peckham, Janet McLarney, Frank Dennis, Mike Ross Jennifer Kingsley, Maureen Leach and Rosemary Atkinson.
n For more information about the group and to join check out their website at www.lancasterfellwalkers.co.uk
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Weather for Lancaster
Wednesday 22 February 2012
Today
Heavy rain
Temperature: 8 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 38 mph
Wind direction: South west
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Cloudy
Temperature: 8 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
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