The weekend got off to a good start, having been woken by the pattering of rain on the tent and the somewhat louder cracks of thunder. By the time we got up the thunder had stopped; unfortunately, the same could not be said for the rain. However, undeterred by the conditions, Gordon, Jonathan and Pauline planned an epic walk around Wark Forest and Hadrian's Wall. Those with more sense(??) (Carmen, Jennifer, Phil H, Peter and Simon) planned a lesser walk along the Wall, encompassing a welcome tea break in the National Trust building at Housesteads Roman Fort.

Simon and Peter had looked longingly at Crag Lough in the morning (their dreams of climbing shattered by the persistent rain). We sat steaming (literally) in the tea shop, waiting for the rain to ease up and after giving up waiting, set off for a return journey in the rain. Meanwhile, Dave having had a late start, walked to Haltwhistle and came back via the road. Donal and Co went for a wander round Hexham and visited the Roman Fort at Vindolanda. The evening ended in the traditional way, with a visit to the local Twice Brewed pub for a welcome pint or two. On questioning, Gordon described the day's epic as "a long, featureless, wet walk" - I don't think it was quite that bad though. The only other response was "we didn't actually get lost - but..." from Jonathan, after the GPS recorded a 17 mile adventure, whereas J insisted it was 21 miles after having had signal problems in the woods. The only decision made in the pub was to wait and see what the weather had in store the following morning.

Sunday morning - the weather was dry, but cloud appeared to be building - leading some to make an early departure (Jennifer, Jonathan and Dave). Phil and Silvia were planning on going for a wall walk before heading back home. As no remains were seen by the road, we presume their plan to stop a bus by jumping out in front of it actually worked!! Pauline, Gordon, Simon, Peter and Carmen went climbing at Great Wanney, where we fortunately remained dry all day. The routes climbed by all were:

In addition, Gordon and Peter climbed Rake's Arete (VD), Main Wall and Main Wall Variations (** MS). Routes were all good and undergraded (not just my humble opinion) - the VDiffs would be graded severe elsewhere. Meanwhile Phil had been dropped off near Bellingham and had a pleasant walk back to the campsite.

And then there were five left! We stopped off on Monday for a day's activity in the Eden Valley, in the hope for better weather conditions. Poor Phil was off-loaded once again - this time in Wetheral and followed a river walk to Armathwaite in good weather. Gordon, Simon, Peter and Carmen enjoyed a pleasant day's climbing at Armathwaite, near Penrith. The climbs were in a lovely setting close to the river with views of fields and trees beyond. Some routes were extremely close to, and started directly above, the river. However, the only water incident occurred before the day's climbing activities began. Whilst surveying the various climbs - Peter uttered the fateful words, "It looks quite deep here" - seconds later as if compelled to confirm this point, he was thigh high in water whilst wearing his walking boots, providing much amusement for Gordon and Carmen who had not bothered making this move close to the waters edge. Anyway, there was plenty of time to dry out and the routes climbed by all were:

In addition Peter and Gordon climbed Princess Anne's New Ring (S); Simon and Carmen climbed god knows what!! (a new 'route' led by Simon) which was sped up by a sudden downpour. All in all a good weekend despite the weather that was thrown upon us at the start (and the finish)!!