Hadrian’s Walk organiser Dan Hughes has started a new website for community news and events in and the Colne Valley.
So that’s nice.
Geocaching with RandomGoat and DisgruntledDave
For one reason or another I’ve not been geocaching for absolutely ages. So last week when I got a text from fellow Hadrian’s Walk alumni Craig asking if I fancied an outing I thought it was about time I dusted off my GPS app and got back on the saddle.
We decided to tackle one of the stages of an epic geocaching series up in the wilds of Todmorden. We already did one part of the series around springtime, and if I’m honest it nearly killed me. However time is a great healer, and the misery of doing it had faded enough in our memories for us to contemplate the next bit.
What’s more, we even managed to persuade another Hadrian’s Walk veteran, Dave, to come along (although he was very pointedly NOT geocaching. He was just there for the walking.
Before I could consider a day out on the boggy moors of Northern England however I needed new walking boots. I’ve been wearing the same boots since before Hadrian’s Walk. In fact I think I may have even used them for the Cumbria Way the year before, so it’s no big surprise that they have pretty much given up the ghost and let in more water than a colander.
A quick trip to Go Outdoors in Wakefield soon sorted me out and I picked up some rather nice Hi-Tek boots for under £40, which I was pretty pleased with. I even got the chance to play in the field full of tents that they have up permanently there, always a lot of fun.
To be honest I could have done with breaking the boots in a bit more before attempting a 14 mile trek in them. But on balance I think I’d rather put up with the blister I developed by the end of the day than having to walk all that way with sopping wet feet.
The day was a lot of fun. I think. We bagged thirty two geocaches in all. Most of them were pretty easily found but there were one or two that gave us a bit of grief. We spent around 30 minutes scrabbling around in the dirt for one particular cache with no joy. Which is bad enough in itself but just this afternoon I noticed that someone had found it and written:
Nice and easy find. Thanks!
Nice and easy my arse.
Dave was very tolerate of Craig and I leaping off the path and rumaging in the undergrowth every ten minutes or so. But the longer searches did disgruntle him slightly. Ever seen a disgruntled Dave? It looks like this:
The other cache that gave us trouble was one where you had to wade into a stream to retrieve it from under a bridge. While we had a pretty good idea where the cache was, the stream was very swollen and we were six or seven miles away from civilisation. The prospect of us slipping and ending up on our arse in a rushing torrent of water made us decide that discretion was the wiser side of valour.
All in all it was a good day, and my new walking boots held up very well. But it’s not something I’m up for repeating any time soon. I enjoy caching – but 14 miles of it is a little wearing, especially when you have difficulty finding some of the caches. Maybe in six or seven months time.
Cleveland Way
This year many of the Hadrian’s Walk alumni tackled 45 miles of the Cleveland Way. Here’s a few photos from the trip:
Cable internet gets in on the act.
It’s over a year since the end of the walk, but still the donations keep rolling in, this time it’s from the very nice people over at time warner cable internet.
So if you are in the market for a new internet, cable, or even phone provider why not take a look at their site and give them a whirl.
And you know what’s the perfect accessory for watching TV or looking at the internet? A Buff! Plenty still available should you want one. Just go here and give us yer money.
Thanks to the guys at Bingoport online bingo
It’s been a year since the walk, but we’re still attracting donations. A big thank you to Bingoport No Deposit Bingo who have made a very generous donation to the Joseph Salmon Trust.
Bingo Port run one of the UK’s favourite Online Bingo Communities and are particularly proud of their Bingoport Free Bingo Bonus section.
Thanks very much to all at the company and may all your houses be full ones (or is that poker? I forget.
Charity casino and poker tournaments
It’s important to keep on coming up with inventive ways to raise money in order to fire the imagination of potential supporters. One way the Joseph Salmon Trust has done this is by holding regular casino nights. These kinds of events, alongside poker tournaments and the like are a great way to raise money for charity and put on a great evening for supporters.
Of course there are rules and regulations surrounding poker tournaments, and in the UK in order to keep within the rules of the gambling commission people aren’t allowed to play cards for cash at an event without specific licenses which would be far too complex a process to go through for a mere charity evening.
Generally at charity casino nights supporters will buy a number of chips at the door, and there is a small prize for the person with the most chips at the end of the night. The same principles can apply to charity poker tournaments or other gambling events.
The casino night is always a popular and profitable event for the Trust, raising around a thousand pounds each year. If you are looking for an way to raise money for your own chosen charity then why not give a casino and poker nights some consideration
Joseph Salmon Trust expands into Halifax
In rather exciting news it’s just been announced that the Joseph Salmon Trust has now expanded to cover the Calderdale area. This means that the Trust will be able supporting even more parents going through horrific tragedy, and hopefully go some way to taking some of the burden from them.
This move was made much easier by the fact that the Trust’s resources were greatly boosted by Hadrian’s Walk and is yet another reason to feel proud of our achievement.
You can read more about the Trust’s announcement here.
Incidentally, we still have some Buff’s for sale. If you would like to buy one then go here:
Ellie’s at it again!
Just to let you know, Hadrian’s Walk veteran Ellie has signed up for another charity walk this year.
This time Ellie and her hair dryer are walking 21.5 miles in the Lake District on the 7th and 8th of May 2011 in aid of Mencap – a charity that supports people with learning difficulties.
It’s a worthy cause and a difficult hilly walk, so if you want to support her you can do so on her justgiving page:
http://www.justgiving.com/theco-operativemilesformencap/
A New Direction
We’re looking to have a bit of a redesign and repurpose here on the Hadrians Walk Blog. The walk may be over but it seems that the website still has the ability to help the Joseph Salmon Trust.
Yes, we’re talking paid blog posts baby!
I’m also going to start highlighting various charity walks that are going on around the UK.
In addition, I’ve got vague ideas of organising yet another walk for 2012 (I am an idiot). This time the Thames Path – which is a 184 mile long walk from the Thames source in the Cotswolds, through the heart of London, and ending up at the Thames Barrier in Greenwich.
I’m not sure if we’d do it all in one go, or just do half.
It’s very early days yet, but my initial thought was that we’d operate out of two or three hostels rather than walk from accommodation to accommodation – so we’d basically be getting a coach from the beginning and end points – which means no heavy backpacks containing everything you own.
Nothing is certain, nothing is organised, it might not even happen.
But it might. It might.
I’ll be giving details of any plans over on my blog at allthatcomeswithit.com rather than here. So if you feel that the new direction for this blog is not to your taste then feel free to unsubscribe :)
