Sunday 15th May 2016 - Langdales, Lake District

This month our walks are based in Langdale in the Lake District. The coach will leave school as usual at 8.00 am prompt and travel to Burton Services for a toilet/boot up stop.  Boots are essential on all walks. The C walkers will be dropped off at Skelwith Bridge for a linear walk.  The other  walks which are circular start at New Dungeon Ghyll.  All the walks finish at New Dungeon Ghyll where there are a variety of refreshments available.   We plan to leave at 5.30 pm to be back in Formby about 7.30pm

The cost of travel will be £10.00 for members, £13.00 for non-members and £5.00 for Leaders, children and students in full time education. Please make your cheque payable to Range Walking Club and ensure it is signed as it is inconvenient for the Treasurer to chase up such omissions.

Please send in your return to the Treasurer before 5th May; places will be booked on the coach by the treasurer on a first come first served basis.

Cancellations: if you need to cancel or make a late booking, please contact the Treasurer on 01704 809287 or by email monicatuk@yahoo.co.uk who will endeavour to substitute your booking from the waiting list.  If you cancel after 10th September and it is not possible to fill your place on the coach, regrettably, we will not be able to give you a refund as coaches will have been booked on initial returns.

Club AGM Monday 11th July
The Club AGM will be held on Monday 11th July at Range High School.  Membership cards will be issued from 7pm onwards and the meeting will commence at 7.30pm.  The AGM papers will be circulated nearer the time.

The Club Weekend Great Malvern Friday 3rd – Monday 6th June 2016
The weekend will be based at the Abbey Hotel Great Malvern.  On Friday 3rd June  there will be an afternoon walk starting from the Abbey Hotel at 2pm.  The dinner for the group will be served at the hotel at 7.30pm followed by a meeting to discuss the walks arranged for the weekend.  Each day there will be two walks offered.

‘A’ Walk Distance: 10 miles Ascent: 3000 ft Leaders: Lynn Smith Claire Lyons	‘A’ Walk We will take the path from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel up Stickle Ghyll and on to Stickle Tarn. We then go up to Pavey Ark and continue on to Harrison Stickle. Paths are steep in places, but we will take the ascents at a measured pace. Our highest point will be Pike of Stickle (709m). We then meet up with the Cumbrian Way and return back to our start point through the valley.
‘B+’ Walk Distance: 9.5 miles Ascent: 1900 ft Leaders: John Hughes David Neale	Starting from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, the first objective is Blea Tarn. To appreciate this gem from all angles, we will walk most of the way around it!  The main climb is on Lingmoor Fell  with a short detour on indistinct paths to discover Lingmoor Tarn (which on the recce looked very atmospheric in the mist).   After the tarn, the route rejoins the main path up to the summit of Lingmoor Fell in order to bag the Wainwright at Brown How.  Paths are better on the descent to the village of Elterwater, with views over the valleys of Great Langdale to the left and Little Langdale to the right.  The return route is via the Cumbria Way which follows Great Langdale Beck, first on one side and then the other. Earlier this montb the Sunday Times Good Walk featured this route.
‘B’ Walk Distance: 9 miles Ascent: 1100 ft Leaders: Trevor Ludlow David Wake	We first ascend 560 feet, to reach the best viewpoint into Great Langdale, before we descend into Little Langdale, via Blea Tarn and Blea Moss.  This leads us to River Brathay at Castle Howe where we pick up a hillside path on the southern slope of Lingmoor Fell to walk down the valley, admiring the views.  At Howe Banks we have our second ascent of 350 feet to return to Great Langdale. Our route back to the coach is downhill to Elterwater and then on the flat, following the Cumbria Way. Some sections of the upper paths are rough underfoot, but not more than expected for the Lake District.
‘C’ Walk Distance: 7.5 miles Ascent: 1000 ft Leaders: David Willis Barry Whitby	There is a lot more climbing in this walk than usual but it’s a very enjoyable exploration of hill and tarn, and one that will be taken at a gentle pace.  Walkers will have to be ready to leave the coach at Skelwith Bridge, from where we ascend to Loughrigg Tarn. We then follow the contours to Redbank Wood (with excellent views across Grasmere) before descending through the wood to the lakeside, which we follow for a little while before climbing back up to Huntingstile Crag.  After lunch it’s downhill into the Langdale valley, through Walthwaite to pick up the gently undulating Cumbria Way, with its fine views of the Langdale peaks, back to the coach. Distance:        7.5 miles                                                          Ascent:           1,000ft Leaders:         Barry Whitby  and David Willis