Waxathon - Macmillan Cancer Support Fundraiser(s)

 

I'm not sure if blog readers are aware of this but I am secretary of Crook and Weardale Ramblers and for those pieblog readers who don't know what the Ramblers do, it's a UK charity which concerns itself with protecting and developing access to the countryside for everybody. This tends to manifest itself in the eyes of the public, and quite a lot of our members,  mainly in providing programmes of guided walks and social events. Our group has around 125 members and we have programmes of around 80 walks each year, some short , some medium and some stupidly long. 

Recently, a few of our members have had the ill-luck to be affected by cancer - not all the same kinds of cancers, but quite scary for those involved, and their loved ones, I should expect.

So, we're raising funds to support Macmillan Cancer Care (aka Macmillan nursing) . Macmillan Cancer Care provides free support to anyone with a cancer diagnosis, at any stage of treatment, whether it is palliative or active on-going treatment. So, it's a very important organisation and is partly supported by charity monies.

Which brings me to the waxathon. This is a daft event. to be held in Crook on the evening of 30 October 2026. Ten quid will get you a ticket and in which victims  volunteers will have various limbs, or back and or chest brutally depilated using wax strips without let or mercy and whilst laughing in an evil manner. And they will pay for the service. There will also be music, food and a fairly posh tombola involving supplies of plonk.

Most pieblog readers will live too far away to attend this event, so there's an opportunity at the foot of this blog post to donate as generously as possible. There is good karma to be had as well....  just sayin'

For those who can't make it, whether through sheer fear (ooo that rhymes!), geography or their aunty's birthday bash diary clash ( oo that rhymes as well)  there is a Justgiving charity fundraising page in which you can donate some of your hard-won spondoolies. Any amount is acceptable. Just click the link and cough-up.It's the bit of text in blue below....

Thank your for your attention to this matter (I read that somewhere)donate to macmillan cancer care

Great Tommy Sleepout - What Happened

 

What happened was this:

We (me and Ringo) parked prettily in Kirkby Stephen which is a good place to park for a couple of days because the car park is free and there's never any issue with leaving the knipemobile there for a while. And we marched off manfully and dogfully in a generally Eastwards direction along the Alf Wainwright Coast to Coast Path. It seems that everybody in Kirkby Stephen is friendly and wants to chat - especially the dog walker we met who enquired what I was doing and seems to have left a donation. Bless 'im. And his dog and Ringo got on very well too and would probably have played all day give the chance

I should also just mention that Ringo is named after Alf Wainwright's favourite drummer

So we heaved our winter-conditioned (i.e. not very fit) bodies up over Nine Standards Rigg where the new stone  slabs had tamed the place since I was last up here - and we turned left at the signpost and descended into Whitsundale. The stone path soon ends and we were left with a typically North Pennine splodge-fest into Whitsundale.

Whitsundale has a superbly remote feeling to it. Apart from the slightly intermittent Coast to Coast route, there are no paths and it feels a long way to anywhere. We dropped off the soggy CtoC path, crossed a fence and soon found a flat spot next to the beck. The curlews called, the sun was warm on the tent, Ringo began his marathon snoozing session on his woofbag and all was well with the world - even the white noise from the little radio reminded me of the Highlands of Scotland where bringing a radio is a complete waste of time. We had our tea. We had a nip of 40% (Ringo is not old enough for 40% by the way, so I left him to his running about barking dream) We snoozed. We (just me , really) watched the glow of the moon on the hill and the strange shapes and movements of what I assumed was the edge of a bank of fog, rising and dissolving. The the moon rose over the hill, apparently quite suddenly.

In the morning there was a slight frost on the grass and, with not too far to walk today, we had a lazy and relaxed sort of start, heading down the Dale on the Coast to Coast Path and, just before Ravenseat Farm, turning West back towards Kirkby Stephen. I had intended to climb over High Pike to a camping spot in a sheepfold I knew, but the lack of conditioning kicked in and some way up Uldale Gill I began to search for a discreet camping spot, which I found just above a waterfall and in a little corner mainly out of sight of the main road - I had noticed that my stumbling and blaspheming  progress up Uldale Gill was being monitored by a keeper in a long wheelbase landrover so I was keen to be out of sight.

At half past five, just about teatime, it started to rain quite heavily. We tucked ourselves in for a wet and breezy night.

In the grey dawn of the next morning, the tent had shrunk significantly and as I shook off the drowse it was obvious that we had been covered by several inches of fresh, wet snow which I pushed of from inside, without getting out of my cosy bag. And it was till snowing, much to Ringo';s delight. This put paid to my plan to climb up to Mallerstang Edge - so I packed up and returned to the road, getting back to the car  on bits of the Coast to Coast route.

Things that went right:

1.Random donation and everybody being friendly and one chap made a donation,

2.The weather on the first day - warm and spring-like

3.The activities of the moon and the mists rising from Swaledale.

4.Corned beef and peas for tea on Day 1 and a chicken curry on day 2

5.Undisturbed nights.

6.Whitsundale is a superb place for a temporary retreat from the hurly-burly - not that I have much hurly or burly nowadays . Anyway - most enjoyable.

Things that went not so right (i.e. wrong):

1.One of the arms fell off my stove so I had to hold the pan on the top during a brew-up.

2.A big bubble appeared in my thermarest. Grom experience, this can only get worse and the sleeping mat is probably doomed to turn into a very good impression of a football. (Thermarests are expensive to replace, but the dog has always had an unreasonable fear of the sleeping mat anyway, so a new one might not be such a bad thing.)

3.My underpants elastic failed. This is not very comfy for walking.

4.Grim weather on the morning of day 2.

I've bought a new stove and I'm considering taking out a mortgage for a new Thermarest.

Great Tommy Sleepout

It might be like this

Me and Ringo (Ringo and I, are taking part in the Great Tommy Sleepout at some point in March, the some point being to raise spondoolies for rough sleeping veterans by ..er... sleeping reasonably roughly. But, as regular readers will probably know, I'm fairly experienced at this sort of thing, so I'm not really expecting a huge amount of discomfort. I could make it more challenging, but I'd have to leave the dog behind and he'd sulk for ten or twenty minutes, so he's going too. I'll take a book a radio (which will probably only emit white noise) and a small free bar serving only a limited array of 40% proof..

Wish me luck and, if you have a spare penny you can donate here Mike and Ringo's Great Tommy Sleepout