Easter Tour 2007 - Buxton & High Peak, 19-22nd April
I arrived in the pub on the Thursday night to find four other Welsh Colleges members already there and four rather nice beers on tap. As the evening progressed more people arrived and more beer was consumed. Eventually though we were asked to drink up as 12 approached and we all made our way back to the hall, which after the chicken shed seemed like heaven. Tea and toast ensued with a lot of crashing from the kitchen as Minime realised the draws of mugs werent secured at the back and will fall out if you pull them. All to bed and apparently a chorus of snoring in the main hall.
We were all woken up to a very nice breakfast cooked by our new catering officers, clad in their new matching pink, frilly aprons. It was also rather a surprise to see some small children staring in at us as they arrived for playschool in the smaller hall. We fear that some of them may now be scarred for life after seeing some of our members in various states of undress. The first tower of the day was at Bamford in the Peak followed by Hathersage where Little John is supposedly buried. Lunch was also in Hathersage at a place aptly named the Little John Hotel. The break for lunch was over 3 hours so there was plenty of time to try the beers on offer. There were 3 more towers in the afternoon and all were sixes. The last tower of the day was Wormhill with a tenor weighing 1-1-19 and managed to confuse more than one of us when we had to hoist the bells into the up position (I think, but Im still confused!) before ringing. At least there were no stays to break! A few of us headed back to the Cheshire Cheese for dinner while most other people went to the other pub in the village and were to all accounts rewarded with free food! They did join us later in the evening though as the beer wasnt as nice. I decided to have an early night and unfortunately missed out on the opportunity to pour my own beer between 11 and 12.
The hall was be in use all day Saturday so we had to pack up our stuff and leave it in a pile in the corner. Again the third tower of the morning was unavailable so we had plenty of time to try the 6 or 7 beers on at the lunchtime pub (well hotel really). There were 3 more towers in the afternoon, including Hope, the one opposite the hall we were staying in. This was useful as it meant those cooking the evening meal could have a quick ring and go back to the hall and make a start. As Paul had gone home that afternoon Pete was left to do the dinner on his own. Fortunately there were enough people willing to help out for the opportunity to wear Pauls apron. Andy and I however didnt get a turn and cried most bitterly (though that could have been the onions)! The meeting took place in the hall and was accompanied by 3 polystyrene aeroplanes which starting strangely close to Malcolm soon made their way around the room. The minutes from the last meeting were read out and gave a nice chance for everyone to have a nap. The main interesting things were 3 new members being voted in, including Charlotte and James Mundy and the mention of the forthcoming UWASCR summer tour which will be on the 27th June to the 1st July (apologies for the blatant plug, especially as the tour has now already happened!). The food was then served and both the spaghetti bolognese and apple crumble were very nice. Most of us then headed to the Cheshire Cheese and had rather a late night yet again.
Sunday we were all woken up by a very nice breakfast again but unfortunately due to a small degree of confusion and a large degree of tiredness all managed to miss the first tower of the morning. Many more of us made it to the second one and afterwards some went home while others went to spoons in Buxton for a coffee. A small group of us headed a couple of miles out of Buxton to Pooles Cavern to do an aerial assault course called Go Ape. We were harnessed up, showed how to keep safe and then let up into the trees. It was brilliant fun and sparked some enquiries as to if Roger was a secret member of the SAS. However hard I tried I was completely unable to land from a zip wire on my feet, Roger however seemed to do it without even thinking. There were many different parts to the course including a Tarzan swing, stirrups on ropes and a tunnel hanging from the trees.
Many thanks to James for organising it and apologies for the lateness of this (even though I wrote it a couple of days after the tour).
- Eleanor Payne
Photos from the tour taken by Iain Scott are available on his website.
Wormhill, Derbyshire. Fri 20 April 2007 in 34 mins, 1320 Cambridge Surprise Minor: Georgina Barratt 1, Daniel Knight 2, Ross E Hartley 3, James P Mort 4, Martyn Owen 5, Stephen W Penney (C) 6. Rung on the Easter Tour. 100th quarter: 3.
