Blog - Trip Reports

Scotland Trip May 2024

In May, 14 of us rocked up to the amazing Mar Lodge, near Braemar. It’s an old Victorian hunting lodge, liberally bedecked with stag heads and furnished in dark wood and tartan with some huge bedrooms and spacious bathrooms – this was sheer luxury! And slap bang in the middle of some stunning mountains.

The Munro-baggers set off on the first day to hire bikes which would enable them to cycle between 5-7 miles up the valley to access some otherwise hard to reach (in a day) mountains in the Southern Cairngorms. They were keen and the weather was very kind – Carn a’Mhaim, Ben Macdui and Derry Cairngorm, The Devil’s Point, Cairn Toul and Carn an Fhidhlier among some of the 17 big summits they achieved. A few were more easily accessible from the nearby ski centres.

Others in the group preferred more middle-sized walks and mountains with both Glen Quoich and Glen Lui easily accessible from the door of our accommodation, allowing some beautiful circular walks including Carn Mor and Morven, as well as explorations of Glen Derry and Deeside. The local birds and wildlife were spectacular – plenty of red squirrels deer and eagles to be seen around the lodge.

We enjoyed the usual high standard of Highdown Merry Meals – it was a pleasure to sit at the enormous long table in the dining hall surrounded by lush grounds and we enjoyed two meals out in Braemar, one of which was accompanied by traditional local music. And of course, porridge for breakfast!

Boscastle – April 2024

Ten of us travelled to Boscastle towards the end of April and found our home for the next few nights - two attached cottages high on a hill to the west of Boscastle itself. The accommodation was very comfy with freshly laid eggs provided for our breakfasts each morning which worked well with the Merry Meals menu, and one cottage had enough room for us all to cook and eat together.

Madeira - March 2024

Five very excited members met at Gatwick airport for our foreign trip to Madeira. We picked up our hire cars from the airport and made our way to the hotel Bio Hotel Quinta da Serra. A complete change to our usual digs this is a 5* hotel which grows most of the fresh vegetables used in its kitchens.

After a hearty 4 course diner we all hunkered down for a good night’s sleep in preparation for first day walk.

Our destination today was the Pico Grande 9.2km with 875m of ascent. We all thought that this was quite a short walk given our normal average of approximately 16km but the altitude and the terrain made the going a lot slower than normal.

Brecon Beacons (Bannau Brycheiniog) 22nd - 25th February 2024

Ten of us returned to Chichester Youth Adventure Trust’s cottage and bunkhouse just in the southern boundary of the National Park.

Last time we were there in 2022, there was a red weather warning for wind and amber for rain (Storm Eunice). Surely it would be better this time. And it was.

The Wild West on Friday in The Black Mountain starting from Criag y Nos Country Park was a challenging walk. During the walk we saw one farmer and two dog walkers but no-one in the open country. Thanks to Richard Boulton for the back-up that we needed to successfully navigate this area where paths are generally indistinct or non-existent and point -to- point navigation required. We passed through old mine workings around Cribbath (423m) before descending to Afon Giedd for a sustained climb to Carreg Lem. What wind there was, was on our backs and the sleet/hail showers were short-lived. The sun even came out at times. We went past Sinc Giedd (Swallow hole) over Carreg Goch (558m) – couldn’t locate the WW2 Wellington Bomber Crash site, before returning via some enormous sink holes and share holes.

The circular walk to Henrhyd Falls from Craig y Nos proved more challenging than expected for Chrissie Dixon and Jeannie Worsfold, not held by the fact that the guidebook description was quite old.

It was a treat to walk on Saturday past waterfalls to Fan y Big with up to 6” snow on the highest ground. Early low cloud had given way to sunshine and extensive vistas, and the sound of crunching through fresh snow was a joy. We returned via the Canadian Memorial where we had lunch in the sun (another crashed WW2 bomber) before dropping down to Blaen y Glyn (stream) and more waterfalls to complete the walk.