Route: Longsleddale We made our usual rendezvous on the Cathedral car park, Lancaster at 8.30am. The weather was slightly overcast but at least it was dry and we prayed that it would stay fine for the duration of our walk. We headed northward on the M6 via our usual pit-stop at Wilf’s Café, where we enjoyed milkshakes, cups of tea and cakes. The walkers for our ninth meeting were: Fr Phil Conner, Ruth & Joe White, Nora Moriarty, Ralph Garcia, Louise Cullen, Lizzie Cavanagh and Diego Garcia. Our route started at Sadgill (ref. 484057) and we made our way up towards Wray Crag. The weather was very mixed throughout the day with the clouds becoming rather dark and wet at one point and it was extremely cold. Mass was celebrated around 1.30pm before a long awaited lunch. We then continued to Kentmere Pike (466078) with a height of 730m. Visibility was good in parts but soon disappeared when the dark clouds appeared. We then set off making our way through Gatesgarth Pass, Buckbarrow and back to the cars at Sadgill. We played the “reed game” on our way down and Ralph was the winner! This summit walk was another excellent opportunity to enjoy the wonders of the Lake District. It wasn’t as physically demanding as the other walks we had but I feel that Joe is saving us for a greater and more demanding challenge on Summit 10 in July. It was, however, another brilliant day with friends and another opportunity to exercise and build up stamina.
MORECAMBE BAY WALK Arnside Promenade (Grid ref. SD 456787) to Kents Bank Station (Grid ref. 397757) Total Distance 6.3 miles (approx) This walk was in complete contrast to our usual ventures. Normally, we head for the mountains and peaks of the Lake District but today we were remaining on a flat surface raising funds for our pilgrimage to Lourdes. Having said that, we were all well aware that this adventure wasn’t going to be an easy “walk in the park”. The day began with a Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Arnside. It was Vocations Sunday and so one of our group, John Moriarty who is training to be a priest, gave us a little talk about his faith journey. Fr Phil talked to us about our new bishop, Michael Campbell, as the new shepherd for the diocese and we reflected on how we would need to rely on our shepherd for the day, Cedric Robinson, to lead us to safety across the treacherous Bay. After Mass we gathered on the Promenade at Arnside. The next day would be Fr Phil’s birthday and so we bought him a birthday card and cake and sang happy birthday in front of local passers by as we waited for our guide. We walked to the end of the Promenade and headed across the bay towards Heysham Power Station. The skies were blue but there was a strong wind that maintained the chill factor but fortunately there was no rain. Although we were walking across flat sands the ripples made by the tides made it tough going under foot. At various points we came across mud-flats which looked like mini Grand Canyons. We zig-zagged our way across the sands and even waded across the River Kent with the water reaching over our knees. We had to spread out as a group otherwise, had we stayed close together, we would have caused the sands to soften and become thinner turning it to quicksand and so we made sure that we remained far apart. Cedric gathered the group at various points by blowing his whistle to bring us together and negotiate mud flats. After 3 hours we had Kent’s Bank station in our sights and we were greeted by a small herd of sheep grazing on the salty grasses. We were covered in mud with aching thighs but we carried a real sense of physical achievement in having successfully crossed the bay.
After our usual stop at Wilf's Cafe in Staveley, we set off from Hartsop in Ullswater. Made our way up the Saddleback Pass, onto the Fairfield Horseshoe, over Dove Crag (750m) and descended down Dovedale finishing at Brother's Water. It was an eventful walk which included a bit of sledging in a very small patch of snow. We celebrated the Palm Sunday Mass with the extended readings and had our palms blessed and all got an egg in readiness for Easter Sunday (not a chocolate one though as it's still Lent). The weather was sunny but cold and Lizzie Wignall managed to brave most of the walk in her shorts and T shirt! It was another successful Summit Day thoroughly enjoyed by all especially Diego who wandered off temporarily on a solo adventure. He returned to the flock after being found by Fr Phil and Joe.
We met at the Cathedral car park, Lancaster and made our way to Coniston Village. After a welcome break in a local cafe we set off for our walk (the 6th adventure so far!) Today’s walk had 12 walkers with the girls outnumbering the boys yet again.It was a very overcast and rainy day with very low cloud and we were undecided whether to risk going to the summit of the Old Man of Coniston. The decision was made when we met another group of walkers who had been to the top. They told us that visibility was very poor and that there was snow on the peak.We celebrated Mass near a small tarn with the first reading from the Book of Genesis about Noah building the Ark and God sending the rainbow as a sign. It was rather fitting that a rainbow appeared on our walk but we didn’t have to contend with any great flood!It was St David’s Day, so we each wore a daffodil which supported the work of Marie Curie.After lunch we started our descent. It was a very very cold day and we were conscious of bad weather approaching and had to make sure that we returned to the starting point in safety.
Mass was celebrated in the chapel at the Achille Ratti Climbing Club. We set off on this walk with the girls outnumbering the boys for the first time ever. Lunch was eaten in the storm shelter because of the winds and cold and we all sampled sushi brought by Lizzie C. We bypassed Stickle Tarn, which was partially frozen and although there was snow on the tops we weren't able to throw snowballs on this occasion. It was a brilliant day but very cold and we enjoyed each other's company.
Our 4th walk started at Our Lady of the Wayside RC Church, Grasmere
Everyone came well wrapped up and ready for a day in the snow like the last walk but it had all gone! Instead we had glorious sunshine and although it was cold, there was no adverse weather at all.
There was however a lot of ice - icicles, frozen tarns and frozen waterfalls - and the pathways were like skating rinks. We worked well together though and helped each other along. It was slow going (except when Fr Philip accidently slid down a huge ice slide) and we just made it down in the light.
You are always guaranteed an adventure when you join us on Summit!
TO JOIN: In order to join in with these experiences all you have to do is fill in this application form and return it to us. This will only need to be done once.
Then register for each walk individually by emailing your name, address, emergency contact number for that day and anything that has changed since you first filled in your application to youth@lancasterrcdiocese.org.uk
Kit List and Photo Policy
Please make sure you check the Kit List so that you are properly equipped for a day out in the hills
Please also Print and Sign the following Photo Policy. You only have to do this once and you are covered for all our events. Please check with us if you think you have done this before.
If you should get lost or need to contact us for any other reason on the day of the walk please try either:
07843 242476 (Fr Philip) or 07535 349050 (Joe and Ruth)
Achille Ratti Climbing Club
This is a great facility within our Diocese - why not become a member? The Achille Ratti Climbing Club was founded by Bishop T.B. Pearson in 1940 and named after Monsignor Achille Ratti, a parish priest in Northern Italy who was an accomplished climber. Monsignor Achille Ratti later became Pope Pius X1.
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