Frodsham Weekend
Frodsham Weekend Sun/Mon March 11th & 12th 2012
Base – The Forest Hills Hotel & Country Club, Frodsham
The team – Viv Lee, Helen Ditchfield, Ruth Redmayne, Mary Robinson, Jeanette Howard, Dave & Alma Walsh, John Jocys, Steve Blackshaw, Viv Pike, Geoff Halliwell & Louise Lagan, Paul Banks & John Bullen
We could not have had a better base than the Forest Hills Hotel – even Mary was happy with it! This was our second stay and again we were delighted with how well we were looked after. To finish a walk and fall into that swimming pool and hot tub before revelling in the wonderful restaurant is heavenly!
Walk 1 - Forest Footprints Sunday March 11th
21 people and 1 dog 18 miles
Guests for the day
Michele Tynan & Pete, Neil Smith, Norman Thomas, Diane Livesey, Angela Hall, Chris Greene & Ellie
We set off promptly somewhere between nine and ten o’clock, ah well, we are on holiday after all! Norman, Neil and Diane, Michele and Pete, Angela and Chris all came down just for the day’s walk so we made for quite a happy little bunch. After traipsing down into the town centre we headed off up the southern bank of the River Weaver before cutting across to Kingsley and having our coffee break on the triangle of the village green. A couple of miles over rolling agricultural land brought us into Delamere Forest and we had lunch at the superb visitor’s centre. As we set off again our leaders John and Norman decided we would investigate a little bit of the forest and then another little bit of the forest and then another little bit of the forest and then a little bit of the forest that someone pointed out we had passed three times already! Oops! Soon (well about 45 minutes actually) we were back on the right path and we headed across to laugh about it over massive pots of tea and absolutely delicious scones at our old friend Whendie’s! Talk of getting taxis back had to be nipped in the bud and we set off along the Sandstone Trail for the most rewarding part of the day’s walk with the forest, the ancient rock and the superb views from Frodsham Hill. As our day visitors headed off to the pub we grabbed our “cozzies” and hit the leisure facilities!
Walk 2 – Longster Trail Monday March 12th
15 people 16 miles
Guest for the day – Stephanie Hefferan
Stephanie was waiting for us in the hotel reception when we reluctantly left the breakfast table to start walking and what a star guest she proved to be. She is a ranger with the Cheshire Countryside Service and even though she joined the LDWA eighteen months previously family commitments made this her first outing with the club. Her previous employment was in Cornwall looking after sections of the South West Coastal Path so she was able to really whet our appetite for our April visit down there. The Longster Trail (named after a stalwart of the Cheshire Footpath Society) actually starts on Helsby Hill so “Sherpa” Redmayne (Ruth) had the opportunity to display her superb navigational proficiency to get us to the start. In doing so we passed a quite breathtaking ultra modern eco-friendly “green” house (see photo). Again we were blessed with the weather and we were struck by how rock hard and dry the Cheshire ground was, a blessing really as we had quite long sections over ploughed fields which could have been a bit of a nightmare if wet and muddy. The going still took its toll and it was a rabble of tired and aching legs which made its way to Chester railway station and the train ride back to Frodsham. Before tackling “that hill” back to the hotel we were able to sample the refreshments in the Camra Cheshire Pub of the Year, the Helter Skelter. Impressive it was but there was swimming pool and restaurant which was begging for our attention!
Well done everyone and Stephanie we hope to see you again soon.
John Bullen
