In a week that started with me being offered the seat labelled “for disabled, pregnant women or people less able to stand” by a young lady on the tube in London,  I should perhaps have been more wary of Lorton Gully. We started with the crisis of John forgetting his daily fix of Christmas cake (he did discover it later but the psychological shock was quite severe) we then went across Lanthwaite Green to the foot of the gully. This is the sort of loose stone territory that the SAS used to train on before it was banned for health and safety considerations, but that Neil,  who had just returned from the Picos de Europa, took great delight in inflicting on more ordinary folk.  That was the section leading up to the gully, and the gully itself was steep, rocky, slippery and rather hair raising in parts. We had a new member, Mike, who normally lives in Nepal not far from Annapurna,  and even he was muttering about whether he should have gone out with the B party. We all made it to the summit,  there were no mishaps, and it was the sort of exhilarating experience that we will talk about for some time to come. Lunch on Grassmoor, then a steep but  easy climb up to Hopegill Head and the ridge along Whiteside was a doddle for veterans of the earlier adventures. – (despite Alison moaning about every incline that exceeded 10 degrees).Great walk,  thanks Neil.  

Peter Flynn

Photos from Lauren and Fred

(Peter lost his camera but thankfully not his pen)