Tuesday 2 December 2014 – Shutlingsloe

Yesterday I popped up Shutlingsloe on a recce for a walk that takes place a week on Sunday – a lovely route that I’ll report on in due course.

Vienna and Adam, at the Cat & Fiddle, told me the pub had spent the last ten days in a cloud, so I was lucky to get clear views, like the one above towards The Roaches.

It was a shame that Gayle couldn’t join me, as she’s failed to find clear days on Shutlingsloe on recent visits to the area. Actually, today would have been even better, with perfectly clear skies after a frosty night.

But I’m glad I went yesterday as I had the pleasure of bumping into someone I hadn’t seen for over ten years (though we have been friends for around 45 years). It was lovely to see you, ‘Posh’!

Shutlingsloe…. come to think of it this is one of my most visited hills, at the top of the list along with The Wrekin and with Beinn Alligin. Views from both are pictured below; I’ll leave the reader to work out which is which!

Happy Days!

Sunday 30 November 2014 – Another Visit to Center Parcs

This is another regular entry that’s been an annual event since the year dot. Sue and I had already been participating for some years, for the whole weekend, but a trip to Madeira in 2004 meant that we had to miss out, and our places were taken by more worthy participants. Since then we’ve joined the same (I think) eight friends by way of a day pass that seems to be awarded to regular visitors. Whilst earlier visits weren’t diarised, this blog has enabled a brief record to be retained since 2007. It’s of little or no interest to anyone else, but those attending can view all my relevant blog entries here.

This year Sue and I set off on Sunday morning into a lovely sunrise that slowly developed into a blinding low sun. The header photo was taken through the car windscreen as we passed through Wythenshawe.

Once at Center Parcs (Sherwood Forest, as usual) we joined the others (Robert, Lyn, Jim, Peggy, Louise, Chris, Roger and Stuart, as usual) at the squash courts.

Rather energetic.

Then it was over to the badminton centre, where I failed (as usual) to make much contact with the stupid object that one is supposed to hit but which generally reaches me some time after I’ve swished the racquet.

The presence of a stalker didn’t help.

The Sherwood Forest site is quite spread out. Some had bikes. I enjoyed the walks through the forest.

After an exotic lunch that didn’t involve any half-baked potatoes, we enjoyed a bit of table tennis. The stalker had by now mutated in ‘Elbow Man’, recovering from a recent ‘near death’ event on his bicycle.

Then most of us went for an underwater bike ride (yes!) – sadly I didn’t risk even my waterproof camera, before adjourning to the outdoor tennis courts for night tennis, distracted slightly by an owl display that was taking place in the next tennis court. The barn owl was particularly noisy.

A firework display, which has become traditional at Center Parcs on this particular Sunday, was the final outdoor event before we could adjourn (after American Pool in our games room) to the sauna in our excellent chalet, to unwind and relax with our pre-dinner drinks.

The catering team, led I think by Lyn, produced a superb meal, which was followed by our own ‘Surprise Pudding’ (as usual), and a showing of our current slideshow presentation – Hut to Hut and Day Walks in the Dolomites.

Mansfield’s Travelodge provided its usual efficient service prior to this morning’s easy drive home after this most enjoyable day out.

Thanks for having us, everyone. We had a really brilliant day out. We hope to see you all again soon, though a ‘Project in Progress’ may mean that we can’t join you next year.

There’s a short (17 images) slideshow here.