And it's raining, raining in my heart, and my boots, and everywhere else.
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| TWO ROSES WAY – Stage 3 – Lothersdale to Linton – Wed June 17th 2009 18 (very) hardy souls!!! We always abide by the saying “it isn’t often in this country, despite what people opine about our weather, that you get a day when it rains all day long”. Well we found one! It rained, it rained and it rained. This proved the fallacy of another well known walking term “waterproof”. We can now vouch that there is no such thing! Not a one of us could confess to a single dry bit at the end of a hard day. What a shame because this is a truly beautiful and demanding stretch of the walk. From Lothersdale we ascended to the peak of Burnt Hill before dropping down into the picturesque town of Skipton, on the day a hive of activity as the market was in full swing. After taking our refreshments under the arches of the castle entrance (by the kind permission of the lady ticket-seller but not it transpired with the acquiescence of the tour guide!) we trudged along to Embsay, home of the steam railway, past the reservoir and up Crook Rise Crag Top. On Hellifield Crag Norman cheered our spirits somewhat with a tale of the four Yorkshire “fairies” trapped under the massive stone. On a better day the two war memorials of Embsay and Cracoe would have taken the breath away but they were still impressive in the driving rain. Dropping down into the delightful hamlet of Thorpe we made our way back to Linton Waterfalls and the welcome haven of our waiting cars. Well done Norman, Chris and Reg for leading a walk on such an horrendous day. THE DAD’S ARMY VERSION Cast :- Campaign Leader – Captain Mannering (Norman Thomas) Second-in-Command – Sergeant Chris Langabeer Mutineer – Sergeant Wilson (Reg) There can be absolutely no doubt that the enemy was confused by this campaign. As not a man jack of us on the walk had a clue where we were going or where we’d been it can safely be assumed that no “spy” could keep tabs on us! Not often are military leaders witnessed deciding who is right on which path to take by indulging in “pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, baker’s son”!! At one point Captain Mannering was desperately trying to find a hole in the wall – not to draw money out and buy us all drinks but to get us back on the right footpath the other side of it! As we crept into Skipton under the cover of driving wind and rain Sergeant Wilson decided enough was enough and mutinied. As he disappeared off into the Yorkshire mist he was heard to mutter “blithering idiot” but we are fairly sure he wasn’t referring to Captain Mannering! In this delightful market town the purpose of the campaign became clear – we were to take and hold Skipton Castle until reinforcements came through. Having successfully breached the outer wall and made it into very entrance of the stronghold itself our attack was repelled. Admittedly it was a little galling, not to say embarrassing, to be rebuffed by a chap carrying a clipboard! As we regathered our forces we made our way back to the safety of our vehicles with several of us secretly wishing we had gone AWOL with Reg!!! Stupid Boy |
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