Weardale With Crook and Weardale Ramblers

I’ve joined The Ramblers. This is a well considered decision for which I’ve made some space.

There’s been some intial communication difficulties, now all sorted out (I think!) and me and LTD joined a Crook and Weardale Ramblers group walk ooop Weardale on Sunday as a starter.

Our walk (that is to say, me and LTD’s walk) was a fairly neat six miles at low levels around St John’s Chapel. This was very nice as it happens and re-introduced me to bits of the Dale I’d neglected for a long, long time. I knew several members of the group already from Durham CC walks, or Wednesday Walkers Walking on Saturdays and Wednesdays groups, and everybody else was welcoming and friendly and all was quite pleasant.

We finished the day in the Chatterbox Cafe where LTD got to lick out the waitresses ears, as is his practise. I had a fruit scone which was probaly a lot more pleasant. This should NOT be mentioned to the cardiac nurse by the way. I’m not sure I’m allowed fruit scones….

But my enrolment with the Crook and Weardale Ramblers might well be a significant development. Many people attend Ramblers Groups walks and , it seems as if the Co Durham groups are yet more walking clubs. But they’re not really, are they? The history of the Ramblers is much more than this, being much more about access to the countryside for the general hoi-polloi. This is a political movement, however you might think about it. This is on the other side of huntin, shootin, wind farms, dressing as Edwardian gentlemen and being inconvenient distractions to farmers and whatever.

So, there you are. I need to make time for this. There’s walks and socialising to be done and a lot more.

In the meantime, there’s a walking programme wot they’ve got and there’s multiple other Ramblers groups in County Durham, all with their own programmes. And they allow dogs. And they’re really friendly.

We’ll see how it goes – I can always go back to the same-old-same old stuff if required.