Walking Group

The Church Walking Group

Invites all walkers, keen or otherwise, to join them on all or any of their walks.

Dates for the next few months for the Walking Group.

3rd March

Walking planning meeting 30th March with food at Rising Sun, Abbey Lane.

Next Walk

The next walk is on Saturday, 11 February 2012 - meet at Banner Cross Methodist Church at 10.00 a.m.. We will be going on a easy, flat 5 - 6 mile walk from Victoria Quays to Blackburn Meadows. Bring sandwiches. All day parking at the Quays costs £3.00. Lifts may be available. For mors information ring Jonothan Rowe on 2686691.

The Pickering Pioneers; or, Danger! Walkers on the Loose in North Yorkshire!

In September, 15 walkers and strollers enjoyed a wonderful weekend break based in the ancient market town of Pickering, the Gateway to the North Yorkshire Moors.

Most of our party stayed at the quiet and picturesque Vivers Mill which had been converted from a water mill to a 4-star guest house by the present owner. It has a very interesting history. There had been a water mill on site since 1198. It was originally a paper mill and then a flour mill. Many of the original features, such as heavy beams and exposed stonework are still visible. We admired the cast-iron undershot wheel visible from the dining-room. The large lounge, where we congregated in the evenings, has, as its centrepiece, the original millstone.

We arrived, in various cars, on the Friday afternoon and “did our own thing”. For example a few of us went up to Pickering Castle. In the early evening everyone met together in the lounge. The evening was spent at The Black Swan in Pickering where we all enjoyed food, drink and lively conversation. Our stay was much enlivened by “The Girls” – Lorna and her friends Sue and Irene who continued their celebrations into the night in the nearby karaoke bar.

After breakfast on the Saturday, we split into three groups according to how far individuals could walk. One group walked around the town. The highlight of their walk was a visit to Pickering Parish Church, which was holding a flower festival based on C S Lewis’s enchanting story The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In fact, they were so enthusiastic about this festival that the rest of us visited the Church on Sunday morning and were all astounded by the scenes from the book all depicted in flowers and other products of nature.

A second group, unable to walk far, were driven across the North York Moors to Whitby by Richard.  The weather was very good and we had a lovely day strolling around the town and tucking into the traditional fish and chip lunch, watched by tourists and seagulls alike. Richard very kindly took us on a tour by “4 by 4”.  The highlight of which was a heart stopping drive down very tight, narrow lanes in Robin Hood’s Bay when we all breathed in every time a vehicle came the opposite way.

The third and largest group, consisted of the keen and able walkers. These intrepid explorers spent the day walking in the countryside and back to Pickering – a total of about 15 miles. They reported that the views were beautiful, especially when they caught sight of the steam trains every now and again. There were dangers on route, however, and this group managed to survive Danger of Death! as well as a couple of bulls and their harem within the field they were crossing. The highlight for Kathryn was spotting a brightly coloured toadstool, which was exactly the same as the Brownie Guide toadstool she’d known as a girl and Brownie Guider.

After our different routes and experiences, we all met in a café-cum-gift shop in the town centre and sat down together to revive ourselves with cups of tea (and scones for some).

The Saturday evening was spent all together at another restaurant-cum-pub – The Black Bull where we continued in the same vein, that is, eating (one of our number ate three big meals that day!) and enjoying fellowship and fun. The helpful and friendly staff were not fazed at all by our large party.

On Sunday, after our last breakfast together, we all went for a final stroll from the mill to the town, where, as mentioned already, the highlight of this walk was the visit to the flower festival. When we returned, we made our farewells and went our separate ways back home to Sheffield.

The “walking weekend” was a huge success, thanks to the fine weather, great fellowship, fantastic food and, above all, the excellent organisation from those who made it possible, namely: Ann, Bob and Paula. Thanks also to Lorna for suggesting this unusual, interesting guest-house.

Alison Russell