Infusion walks the Great Ridge

On 31 May 2008 Infusion walked The Great Ridge (Mam Tor to Lose Hill), starting from Castleton.

Britain's 100 best day walks

The August 2008 Country Walking magazine featured Britain’s 100 Best Day Walks! Writers have selected the very best routes from each county, offering "spellbinding views, unique landscapes and an unforgettable day’s walking". Most walks link either to a routecard in the magazine or to a FREE downloadable routecard on the LFTO site (scroll down here).

How many of these have Infusion walked? As we haven't tackled Scotland, Southern England, or Northern Ireland, I reckon we have notched up 12 out of 58 (see below). Adding in walks undertaken by individual members of Infusion would certainly push the tally up.

• Northern England: Helvellyn, Malham Cove, Ingleborough
• Central England: Mam Tor, Kinder Scout, Goyt Valley, Malvern Hills, Dovedale, the Roaches, Rutland Water, Bosworth Field
• Wales: Snowdon

Infusion walks the Cotswolds

Infusion spent a weekend away in Stow-on-the-Wold in August 2006, staying at the local Youth Hostel. We enjoyed good food, fellowship and walking. On the Saturday we did a full-day walk, which was remarkably hilly towards the end and on the Sunday we headed to the Malvern Hills. This photo is of the British Camp from the Malvern Hills; there are additional photos on the website.

Infusion walks Ingleton

It would have been nice to title this Infusion walks the Three Peaks but only three of our number managed that (although a further three managed two out of three Peaks). However the sixteen participants on the 2008 Infusion Walking Weekend all made it up Ingleborough.

Our stay at Ingleton Youth Hostel (lower pic) was made more interesting by the boiler breaking down on Tursday so there was no hot water on Friday night / Saturday morning. As the Hostel was full, four people stayed in a B & B (top pic) - although the proximity of a sign saying "Elderly people" may give the wrong impression!

Pudding Party

The Infusion Pudding Party took place in Loughborough last night when we sampled a variety of puds - from the calorie-laden to the healthy & fruity.

Here's my recipe for Cranachan:

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons (medium) oatmeal, ½ pint whipping cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 8oz raspberries (fresh, frozen or canned).

Method: Toast oatmeal, then cool. Whisk cream and sugar until thick, then fold in oatmeal and raspberries. Chill for at least two hours before serving.

New Year Party 2008

Infusion walks The Roaches

An occasional feature of this blog will be a retrospective look at a walk we’ve done in the past. On 21st October 2006 six of us went on an 8 mile walk along the Roaches Ridge in the Peak District in October. This was area we’d previously visited in Summer 2003 when Nick and Nikki led a walk.

We started the walk at the Tittesworth Reservoir, a Severn Trent property including a Visitor Centre with toilets, a crafts and gifts shop, and a restaurant. Here's a map for Tittesworth Reservoir. With a total ascent of 415m, the route climbed gently to Roach End followed by a high level traverse of The Roaches Ridge, before describing an arc around Hen Cloud to reach Upper Hulme and returning to Tittesworth. Some thumbnail photos are available on the Infusion website.

Towards the end of the walk we came upon this seat, which was a good location for a group photo; the text on the seat reads:
Come and sit upon this seat
While you rest your smelly feet
While you’re looking at your map
Gusty wind will take your hat

From the archives: Burns Meal 2007

On 27 January Infusion held another of its popular formal dining events - the proximity to Burns Night set the theme. With smoked salmon; haggis, neeps and tatties; and cranachan we were served fairly authentic fare, and the haggis was addressed. The room and tables at our venue, St Mary's church hall, had been tastefully decorated and the diners dressed up to match. The next dinner party will take place on Saturday 30th June.

Infusion walks the Charnwood Round

Several months ago Tricia suggested walking the Charnwood Round but as the 33 miles seemed a bit daunting to do in a day, she created a cut-down version of 21 miles. So on the Bank Holiday Saturday (May 5th) seven of us set off from Copt Oak at 8.45am. The start of our route took us via Bardon Hill, Warren Hill, and Mount St Bernard Abbey. We lunched at Beacon Hill and took on additional water and another walker.

We progressed through Woodhouse Eaves, Swithland Woods, and through Bradgate Park from Cropston Reservoir. At Newton Linford we were joined by two others for a visit to the Jade Tea Rooms, which fortified us for the last four miles to Copt Oak. Nine of us finished the walk around 6.30pm. Throughout the day we kept encountering woodlands full of glorious bluebells - Charnwood at its finest. More photos available on the Infusion website.

On 28 April we had a practice walk of 18 miles taking a circular walk from Queniborough, walking along Queniborough Ridge, through Barkby and back to the start. That was only 9 miles so three of us walked it twice! We ate lunch by The Brookside, Barkby and afterwards we adjourned to The Old Piggery Tea Rooms at Meadow View Farm, Sileby.