1. Nine of us gathered on a damp Friday evening at this unique hut. Originally built as a Gamekeepers cottage in 1862 and belonging to the Swythamley estate, it is now managed by the BMC and is a memorial to Don Whillans.

It has a fantastic position overlooking the Merebrook valley and nestling right below the Roaches lower tier, with the kitchen area built into the rock. (This was originally a cave where Bess Bowyer lived for nearly a century, until the early 1800’s).

With a cold forecast for Saturday and the rock looking damp and green expectations for climbing were low. However, Dan and 5 coats Brayshaw and Dave and his guest Chris did manage some climbing. Shirley, Barbara, Dick, Martin and Chris went for a good walk. This took in the Roaches ridge, Luds Church (a narrow gorge), the Hanging stone and a delightful small brewery in Wincle. (The combination of beer sampling, beer drinking, good coffee and a log burner meant it was a bit hard for the team to get going again!).

On Saturday night there was the usual superb communal meal, organised by Shirley. Thank you to her and to the preppers, chefs and washers up.

Sunday was again cold, but Dan and John, Dick and Martin and Dave and Chris aimed to climb again on the Roaches. Barbara aimed for a walk over Hen Cloud. Shirley and Chris headed off to Windgather and did 3 routes before the cold persuaded Chris to suggest an early finish.

Routes climbed over the weekend at the Roaches included Black Velvet, Maud’s Garden, Damascus Crack left hand, Right Route, Saul’s Crack, Technical slab, Yong, Breakfast problem, Alpha, Alpha Arete and Sennapod crack.

It was one of those weekends where it would have been easy to stay at home ( and that was my plan at one point), but going was worth the risk of bad weather and in my case was rewarded with a great walk and climbs on Windgather, a small but perfectly formed crag and new to me.

Chris Heald

A sociable and enjoyable hut meet.
Some had arrived in time for a walk on the Friday and by mid evening eleven of us had assembled in the hut.
Saturday had its share of rain and was especially wet on the ground. We all set out (at different times) to Keswick by bus  having avoided the mass demonstration against the proposed Zip Wire. A select few walked from Keswick via Ashness bridge and Watendlath to come back to the hut over High Tove (only as boggy as expected) by soon after 3pm. The other walk left Keswick after retail possibilities and pies were exhausted. We walked back to the hut via Friars Crag, Castlerigg Stone Circle and some of the finest mud experienced for some time. This was exhaustingly slow and provided the time window for the people on the other walk to slave away and peel and chop many kilograms of carrots, swede and potatoes. A valiant effort.
The Burns Super went to plan. The Selkirk Grace; Cock a Leakie Soup; Piping in the Haggis to be addressed by Pete; Plates as full of tatties, neaps and haggis as could be consumed; a monumental Marmalade and Whiskey bread and butter pudding by Barbara; toasts to the haggis, chef, pipers, The Immortal Memory of Burns, the Lassies and as many other toasts as could be fitted between the poetry.
Sunday was not an encouraging day but the option of more plates of haggis and then pudding persuaded most to go for a lakeside walk out with a hillside return.
Those members not able to attend should try hard to attend next year. The Whiskey and marmalade pudding made the bogs, mud and poetry all worthwhile. It is better not to let ones thoughts dwell on the fact that Dick liked wearing a rug pretending to be a kilt. Not a pretty sight.

Please add any suitable photos you may have. That probably rules out the rug/kilt in case children look at the website.

Eleven of us (plus 3 dogs) set off from Sedbergh and as we made our way along the valley towards Cautley under grey misty skies those of a pessimistic nature may have thought it was not a day to be on the hills

however there was no such thoughts from CMC and shortly after the ascent up the hillside by Cautley Spout the skies started to clear and blue skies appeared.

Various lines of approach were made to get to the top but most seem to involve deep snow at some point.

Once reformed and with lunch on board we headed up to The Calf trig point.

Upon leaving The Calf the mist had rolled in and we headed along the ridge in atmospheric conditions with the sun threatening to break through

which it kindly did after the top of Calders.

We followed the ridge passing Arant Haw by which time the sun was begging to set

After a brief stop we left the main ridge and headed down to Sedbergh getting back before the necessity of a headtorch was required. Many thanks to John for organising the walk. T’was a grand day out.

A few more photos are on my facebook page (you don’t need a facebook account to view them)

Click here to view

Our Christmas meet in Patterdale took place on a rather special wintery weekend. Heavy snow on Thursday night didn’t impact journeys, and some even braved the Kirkstone Pass! Wardy kept his eyes closed as Sylvia negotiated the slippery sections, reaching the George Starkey before dark. It didn’t take long for the log burner to warm the hut and by late evening, eighteen of us had made ourselves comfortable for the weekend.

Clear skies and freezing temperatures added to the enjoyment of activities on Saturday. After the usual morning faffing, groups with differing agendas went on their way.

Wardy, Janice and Barbara caught the bus to Pooley bridge and walked back along the lakeside, Flo and Sylvia headed to Place Fell via to Hartsop, Hayeswater and Angle Tarn, dropping down to the lakeside at Scalehow Wood. Peter and Deirdre, Dave and Gill took a more leisurely walk and the rest of us headed for Helvellyn via Striding Edge in fabulous winter conditions.

Parties separated at the summit. Dick and Paul chose the longer descent walking along to Dollywagon Pike and down the Tongue. Andy, Anne and I dropped to Red Tarn via Swirral Edge – we unanimously chose not to follow Bruce and Dave over the misty top of Catstye Cam preferring to head back to the hut and get stuck into the mulled wine and mince pies.

Before too long the kitchen was buzzing with activity and preparations for our Russian banquet, were under way. The festive table was set for 18 and folk tucked into mince pies, and an amazing selection blinis dressed with smoked salmon, caviar, herrings, and crème fraiche – all prepared by Janice and Flo from Sylvia’s pictures. Despite being offered the opportunity to join us, the two Alpine Club members made a hasty retreat to the pub !

Homemade soups (Borsch and leek/ potato) were followed by delicious Chicken Kiev’s served with a surprisingly tasty roasted red pepper sauce and selection of veggies. After a short break (guys in kitchen) we were ready for desserts. Kutia, a traditional sweet berry pudding that Dave Wilkinson had spent a lot of time researching and preparing, winter fruits and of course a flaming Christmas pudding with all the trimmings. Only those with healthy appetites managed cheese and biscuits.

Pass the parcel was thrown from one to another with Sylvia singing along in the background and Bruce, the lucky winner of a harmonica, demonstrated his musical talents …… but will practicing for a festive sing-along next year.

After a more leisurely start on a lovely Sunday morning, a few of us took an enjoyable walk to Lantys Tarn which looked stunning in the misty light…reflected in Andy’s photo competition winners (and carefully directed by Flo)! Dick and Paul went to Red Screes, Dave went up Place Fell from Boredale Hause then onto the, not so high, High Dodd and Hallin Fell, and Bruce headed for High Street arriving back to the hut long after we’d all departed.

It’s the communal spirit of members and guests that make the meets fun and successful and this was no exception so big thanks to everyone who joined in.

After a somewhat changeable day weatherwise the sun came out for us for this evening ride. So with blue skies around John, Shirley and myself set off from Boss Moor and our ride took us over a serious of Bridleways before the first lung buster that took us to Weets Top.

John and Shirley approaching Weets Top

From Weets Top our efforts were rewarded with a lovely downhill section to Winterburn Reservoir. Alas what goes down soon goes back up and so it was a final push that saw us back at Boss Moor. A short (8 miles) but most enjoyable ride out with all the downhills in the right place. Thanks to John for organising it.

Click here for a satellite view of our route

The vital statistics!!