Two Reports
Combined A & B Walk
Sunday 28th July 2013
Orton Area
With torrential rain throughout the night and in the morning it was no great surprise that only fifteen people turned up for the walks. Some debate was held as to cancelling the walk and it was eventually decided that it should go ahead but we would change buses and use the sixteen seater minibus.This meant a trip to the old Bowmans Coach yard where the minibus was parked. I’m not too sure where it was, somewhere near Southwaite I think, A strange place, a graveyard of old cars and buses tucked away at the end of a dirt track, real “Hillbilly” country, I expected a blind banjo player to pop up at any minute. We swapped buses and set off on the very “cosy” trip to Orton.When we arrived in Orton the weather had changed, the rain had stopped and the sun was out, it was perfect. As there was only ten of us for the A & B walks we all set of on the A walk. What a lovely walk it was, delightful countryside and no hills to speak of. Within the first half mile we had to cross a fast flowing and deep stream. Everyone managed to get across ok except Neil who resorted to just wading across and did the rest of the walk with wet feet. We had a very pleasant lunch stop and carried on at a leisurely pace back to Orton and the coffee shop. We did have a light shower about one o’clock but it only lasted about ten minutes. A great walk, many thanks to Graham for leading and a special mention for Heather, the only female on the walk. I don’t recall football being the topic of conversation at any time so I think she enjoyed it too.
John McKay
Storms, floods and torrential downpours scared off all but the 16 hardiest club members, and after solemn looking discussions at the Sands between Neil, Graham and Chris the bus driver, it was decided we would collect a smaller - 16 seater - bus and do the walk with that. We eventually arrived at Orton, the 10 strong A party disembarked and we immediately headed through flooded fields, along very flooded footpaths, and across a very healthy looking stream which should normally, apparently, been a trickle. The amazing thing was that apart from about half an hour after lunch, we actually not only had no rain, but it was a lovely, warm and pleasantly breezy day. There were no dramatic crags or mountains to climb, just a gentle ascent of the limestone terraces above Orton, in stunningly beautiful countryside with superb views towards the Howgills to the South and the Dales to the East. We had a new member, Frank, who seemed to get on really well with everyone, and Heather used the walk in her efforts to conquer her nervousness about going through fields of cows and calfs. Her grim determination struck terror into all the cattle in the area and made it safe for the rest of us. This was a walk where the chat was important. Domestic problems in the Bell household vis a vis orienteering practices were revealed. We learnt that Neil was planning a slightly unorthodox move; the owner of the targeted house was totally unaware that it was up for sale, but just in case he persuaded the person that it was, we arranged a series of lessons from fellow club members to help him cope with the sartorial, financial linguistic and social consequences of moving up in Carlisle society. Many thanks to Graham for planning an unusual but really interesting walk.
Peter Flynn
Carlisle & District Rambling & Fellwalking Club
Orton Walk