Camping with Lydia

Lydia and I escaped to Dartmoor for a couple of days walking this week.  Our first day although slightly damp, presented us with clear walking weather with lovely views.  After about 14km we found a good spot to wild camp near Kit Rocks , not far from the head of the East Dart River.  Wind and rain during the night persisted into the next day and we awoke in a cloud with very poor visibility.  We used the range markers as a hand rail to guide us back to Princetown, but just and hour away from the car, the heavens opened and half an hour of rain left us wet through.  All good fun though, and cheesy chips at the Fox Tor Cafe soon had us back on equilibrium!  

RN Volunteer Band Festival

Last weekend the BRNC Volunteer Band took part in the annual RN Volunteer Band Festival, this year held at HMS COLLINGWOOD in Fareham.  We had a successful day and managed to win the best concert band, best marching band and best overall band in the RN Volunteer Band Association - a result we were all delighted with.  The party afterwards was also great fun!

Holiday Bible Club

Last week saw our Holiday Bible Club at Dartmouth Baptist Church.  We were joined by Andy and Caroline plus a few of our own folk who came together to present the Good News that Jesus loves the to the children, and a few parents who stayed.  The theme was 'On Your Marks ....!' and was built around the theme of Global Games (not being allowed to mention the Olympics because of copyright!).  We looked at 'Calling the Team' when Jesus called his disciples; 'Shaping the Team' looking how through faith, Jesus was able to heal blind Bartimaeus; 'Inspiring the Team' where Jesus was revealed as the 'Son of God' on the mountain top;  'Challenging the Team' where Peter steps out in faith to walk on water, but when he takes his eyes off Jesus he starts to sink; but Jesus reaches out and saves him; and finally, 'Sticking to the Team' where through the parable of the sower, we looked at how our lives can bear fruit for God by passing on the Good News.  A good time was had by all!

Elementary my dear Watson!

With the sun properly shining for seemingly the first time this year, we rejoiced because it clashed with our latest Dartmouth Baptist Church walk on Dartmoor.  The chosen route took in the highly popular Haytor a remarkably well preserved Medieval village and the famous Hound Tor, the inspiration for 'The Hound of the Baskervilles' where Sherlock Holmes will no doubt have uttered his well-known line "Elementary my dear Watson." 

Isaac's antics

The visit of Hannah and our two grandchildren Sophia and Isaac has been a hoot, with never a dull (or quiet) moment. Isaac at 6 months is very inquisitive and wriggly, and can't wait to be walking. He is a mean maracas player, as you can see!

The climbing competition

A visit from the Durdin clan saw us dodging showers (unsuccessfully) as we took the squoinks to the park for a play. The sight of a climbing wall was too much for the competitive spirits of Lyds and Han. What ensued was a heart-stopping, death-defying combat between these sisters. I'll leave you to decide the victor!

Camping with Colin

A planned two-day walk around Dartmoor with Ten Tors champion walker daughter Julia was scuppered when she landed herself a summer job! However Colin, a friend from church who is as mad as I am, despite the terrible forecast, agreed to walk with me. The Dartmoor perambulation became restricted to the south moors when I discovered that the Army, bless them, had decided to use the north moors to hone their shooting skills. So south moors it was! A slightly later start than expected saw us, after a coffee in the Fox Tor cafe, setting out from Princetown under overcast but pleasant and more importantly dry conditions. However, the wettest June in recorded history, followed by a wet first week in July ensured the usually damp ground did not disappoint, and before long boots and lower legs were decidedly damp. After 7 hours walking we found a nice camp site near Red Lake Ford and here the new Hilleberg Nallo GT 2 tent was erected in anger for the first time. Day 2 started fair and we followed the Abbot's Way at first before going 'off piste' to visit old favorite Tors aplenty. At Lower Hartor Tor, we came across a veritable village of mushrooms growing healthily on a pile of dung. Crazy Well Pool sorely tempted me for a swim to cool down, but I resisted and we followed the Devonport Leat around to the aqueduct under Black Tor. Our last Tor - Hart Tor saw us scrabbling for waterproofs when a large thunderstorm rained the biggest raindrops I have ever seen, soaking us in an instance. The last leg was in heavy rain, giving us the excuse for a celebratory cuppa in the Fox Tor Cafe once again.