The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Thursday 3 November 2016

The Last Weekend in October - A Weekend in Leyburn

I should have written this when I was still in the land of power and internet. Alas, other things occupied that time, so I now find myself tapping away on a tiny, virtual keyboard whilst out in the wilds of Crawley. Accordingly, I'm going to be brief (moreover as other accounts of this weekend can be found at Martin's blog (phreerunner.blogspot.com), Conrad's blog (conradwalks.blogspot.com) and Alan Rayner's blog (alanrayneroutdoors.blogspot.com)).

It was Martin who very generously laid on this weekend, based at the excellent Colletts (colletts.co.uk) Eastfield Lodge in Leyburn. He did the same last year, but we missed the walking then due to having to dash off to a family emergency. This year all family members refrained from having heart attacks and thus we walked on both days.

Saturday involved Castle Bolton:


A stuck-in-the-mud motorhome that we tried at length, but failed, to free (and of which I didn't take a photo).

Some tumbling water:


A big arachnid (not to mention quite a few skulls and skeletons):


Some more tumbling water:


Later there was a good meal at Thirteen in Leyburn before five people squeezed onto the three-seater sofa back at Eastfield Lodge:


On Sunday I took even fewer photos than on Saturday (I haven't been selective above; I've included all that I took), but I did snap the castle at Middleham:


It was just after the castle that everyone else headed off to a tearoom for sustenance and hydration, whilst Mick and I strode with purpose back to Leyburn, to make tracks homewards for Mick to prepare for his last couple of days of work and for me to prepare for our next trip away.

It was an excellent weekend. Thank you Martin, for inviting us, and everyone else for making it a good time.

1 comment: