Wednesday Walkers: 2007

WW 19th December 2007

Happy Christmas
to us

Happy Christmas
to us
Happy Christmas
Happy Christmas
Happy Christmas to us
what a very pleasant evening
indeed!

apparently
2nd January walk
is from
Burrator Dam

And so
It came to pass
Another year of Wednesday Walking draws in
In the East the shooting stars
And
At Snappers Tor
The heavenly voices rose up
And all was joy
And wonderment
Where else would you be?

WW 5th December 2007

He’s not very frequent
But he is extremely regular.
Where is he, our leader for the night?
He’s not coming!
I don't believe it.
Better set off without him.
Just a mo!
That light in the distance!
It is!
It’s him!
Powering up the hill!
Hoorah!
Where’s the other one?
Mr. Super-Regular?
What’s that you say?
Surely not!
Not him!
I’m sure he will mend quickly though.
Meanwhile…..
Some cannot escape the day job.
“A cheeky little number.”

WW 28th November 2007

Rather an unpromising evening. However, those that persevered and made it to Postbridge were rewarded with a star lit walk.
Round Bellever Forest then up to Bellever Tor.
On to Laughter Tor and assorted routes back into the woods; well actually no. They seem to be busy chopping down all of Bellever Forest. There are now views out towards the Warren House Inn.
Putting our faith in the change of management of the East Dart we predictably found it shut and made our way to the Prince of Wales.
All very pleasant indeed.

WW 21st November 2007

Wet
Rainy
Dark
Cloudy
Ringmoor

Brisworthy
Legis
Ditsworthy
Gutter

Ringmoor
Pub
Nice

WW 14th November 2007

Well
What would you do?
What should you do?
When it is just
so
blatant
I mean
At his age
Only one way to deal with it
Attention seeking
Ignore it
I know I do

WW 7th November 2007

Wondrous walk
Who knows who will turn up?
It was him
From 19 years ago
Seemed like yesterday
So out we went under the stars
Down and up
Down and up again
For a cup of tea
He was there as well
Dinnerladyman
Wielding his power
Revelling in it
Lording it
For his sake
Let's hope the dinner is truly brilliant
With not a single slip
Nothing to worry about
After all - forgive and forget
The watchword of the Wednesday Walkers

WW 31st October 2007

Where was he? the man of the moment.
The wine was on ice.
The Halloween Chocolate available.
A no show,
but we celebrated his retirement on the top of Cadsonbury Fort anyway.

WW 24th October 2007

Youlditch
Harragrove

to Roos
who left that flag there?
Great Staple
Middle Staple
and back
who says there are no new places?
good turn out
keen to get a tick from 'im

WW 17th October 2007

That's it then
Sorted
Done and dusted
In just the wink of an eye
There we were
And there we will go
So
All you have to wait for now
Is the invitation
But
What happens if you don't hear?
What happens if you never hear?
Then you will know
He has achieved his goal
He now has the power
To CULL
Beware

WW 10th October 2007

Space, the final frontier.
These are the voyages of the Wednesday Walkers.
Its weekly mission:
To explore fiercely familiar places.
To seek out old friends and old pubs.
To boldly go where we have been many, many times before.
To stare in wonder at the stars.
To fall over piles of rocks on the ground.
To see the wonder of the heavens.
To observe two satellites transiting the Earth.
To have a shooting star gleam across the sky.
This is why we are here.
This is why we are going to the same places again and again.

WW 3rd October 2007

was it me, what did I say, what did he do, was it the cull, am I the last one, will I be there next week, perhaps, I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time, perhaps I was in the right place, at the right time, but where, where, was everybody else, what are they trying to tell me, what should I tell them, perhaps, perhaps I have been wrong, all along, perhaps, perhaps, you really do not have to be there ...

alternatively...

So...where were you all, chaps ?
There was I, awaiting the blare of horns and the blaze of lights as car after car of chums churn up to the new RV near Criptor and.........silence....zilcho. Nada. Not a bloomin' thing. You can't all have been holding The Vintner's hand To Deter The UnGodly at Wine-Will-Travel, surely ? But then..... ...wait...could it be..? Yes ! A car -a blaze of lights coming this way as ......Rupe The Resolute heaves over then horizon. The walk is ON !

The good Doctor and I clank over the hills in thick mist for a couple of hours andb then repair - where else ? - to The Whittty for a restorative pint. Marred just a trifle by the arrival of members of that other collection of Tavistock badge-laden heroes. Deep, deep joy.

He-who-waits-in-the-mist

WW 26th September 2007

Out to Hexworthy
full moon
down to Sherberton
huge, I mean huge timbers
up and over to the stone circle
down to the Swincombe
the abandoned village
over Fairy Bridge
Deep Swincombe for a cup of tea
Skir Ford
back along Colin's track
Forest Inn
beer
Nice!

WW 19th September 2007

Yes he was back
Back to the Cull
Targeting the Flitters
And the pan-tile hoarders
Will no one escape his wrath?
Is no one safe?
Out of the gloom
A figure rose
And he dared not
Not to call him a Flitter
Nor a pan-tile hoarder
Beware though - he still seeks victims
Make sure it's not you

WW 12th September 2007

Another foray
Into the wilds of the Moor
What will we see?
What will we find?
Wild boar?
Old bores?
No
A professional dog groomer
Makes you think

WW 5th September 2007

The Ascent of Man by Jonski Boredofski
from primeval times man has exploited the environment
from hunter gatherers
to the early use of tools
the use of fire to make metals
language to communicate
they learnt how to change the very environment they lived in
on Dartmoor they used tremendous knowledge and skills to split granite rocks
using their strength and endurance
now we follow in their footsteps
building on all their skills and knowledge
to reach a far higher plane than they could have imagined
so far
so very far
now we have combined the old technology and the new
to reach higher levels of consciousness and an understanding of the cosmos
an example of the heights of this knowledge is pictured here
who but a truly fully developed form of life would have thought
to make new use of old technology
so that trekking poles could be parked
whilst having a chat
makes you wonder what happens next ...

WW 29th August 2007

back to those old familiar places
Postbridge, up to the waterfall
round to the Beehive Hut
winding round in the gloom
back to Postbridge
and on to the pub

WW 22nd August 2007

tom in charge ahead mode
or jh in strike mode
regards

WW 15th August 2007

Out to Fernworthy

a long way

through the forest

to Teignhead Farm

tinners' hut

Sittaford Tor

Grey Wethers

back down through the forest

in the dark!

there you are ...

WW 8th August 2007

Back again - to the sun, sun sun

Round again - underneath the Tor

Up again - to the top

Lovely sunset again

Good company again

To the pub again

That's it really

If you like it - do it again and again

and, please would someone tell that boy to stop grinning

WW 1st August 2007

We walked seven tors with 12 people.
One walker was an old Dartmoor Rescue chum from the past who brought his son.
Tom knows his name
Beautiful sunny evening.
Someone climbed Great Staple and nearly got stuck on top.
Was there a trespass protest at Vixen Tor?
I saw nothing.....
13 met in the pub - Nigel - suffering from postman's foot - joined us to lubricate his muscles!
Cheers, Keith

WW 25th July 2007

Better very late than never ever.
"Mist, mud, mist, mud, mist, mud, mud, mud.
What would it have been like if we'd followed his route, the "leader's" route, -
he who was in the sunshine, in the mountains, wearing a big grin?
I'll tell you what it would have been like!
MUCH, MUCH, MUCH MUDDIER.
Fice's Well v. nice, though."
See you soon, but never mind.
Yosser

WW 18th July 2007

Who says you can't find new things in familiar places?
I do
but, then I am wrong
in fact I am wrong so much that when I think the opposite I am often right
So there we were
following the Tavistock to Ashburton pack horse route
wrong again
we followed the Ashburton to Tavistock pack horse route
very nice indeed

WW 11th July 2007

it was back again

the sun

after the rain

clear, clear, clear

here we are at Pil Tor with Top, Hay and Saddle behind

but what is that about?

you can't go walking with less than three women?

WW 4th July 2007

Ahem...here goes:

Just three - no more
picking our way up over the Moor
Along Tavy Cleave and round about
With Mike at the front giving it clout
Up onto Hare the wind in our face
then quick down the hill with quickening pace.

For a pint.

WW 27th June 2007

long days
long evenings
long sunsets
long views
long horizons
good company
where else would you be?

WW 20th June 2007

Wednesday Walkers Mounted Division
into the mist, wind and rain they rode
onward to the moor
to the very ends of the ...
and then
they turned
and returned from whence they had come
and all were safe
all those who had gone.
and those who had not been
they wept
because they had not
and the moral is
Do It!

WW 13th June 2007

The Quest

Just where was it?

Just what is it?

we searched and searched

round and round we went

up and down we went

we went there and back again

we went back and there again

but no sign at all

nothing

nothing at all

but then,

when all was lost

we found it

we found the answer

Henry the cat dressed as Harry Potter

... all we need now is the question

WW 6th June 2007

out to sunny Sheepstor
across to the concentric stone circles
up Eylesbarrow for a cuppa
down to Coombshead workings
as the sun slowly rolls down the hill to Princetown
and back
nice

WW 30th May 2007

It's amazing
A cold, damp May evening
low cloud
showers
what will we find?
stone circles, tors, quarries
Yes
but then,
a railway line to nowhere
were you there?

WW 23rd May 2007

It's a long way out to Shilstone Tor
It's a long way round Rippator
Past Watern Tor
But,
When you crest the ridge of Wild Tor and the sun is setting ...

WW 16th May 2007

misty
moisty
drizzly
mizzly
soggy
boggy
drippy
droppy
Dartmoor

WW 9th May 2007

subtle
or what?
Wednesday Walking
philosophical or just plain wet?
sometimes you just have to be there
even if you don't know where you are
but wherever you are
you are always somewhere
where were you?

WW 2nd May 2007

Beautiful days on the Moor
Looking out across Headland Warren Farm to Hameldown
On a May evening
And William was there
Yes, he really was - really
It was him
Stomping along like the good old days
So there you have it
Sunshine

WW 25th April 2007

East Rook Gate - got to find it first...
Coo eck - other people have actually found it as well...
Predictably it is the well ard
Off we go, up the lane
Out onto the moor
Along, along, along - no deer in sight
Then, what's this, follow the bean poles
But, no, they run out
Still ever onward
To Yealm Steps waterfall for tea and lots and lots of chocolate
Talk of Cuban cigars, camping, fine coffee and sausages
Getting dark now
Still got the trusty (fantastically expensive), non computerised compass
Nooooooooo - it is all wrong, the world has completely tipped over
Bimble, bimble, bimble
To the pub - beer at £2.80 a pint - time we stopped drinking it
What's that - a Rottweiler?
Time to go home

PS some people are having trouble finding this - all you need to do is go to wednesdaywalkers.blogspot.com
For goodness sake, someone show them how to do it

WW 18th April 2007

fantastic
from light to dark
sunshine to starlight
valley to hill
tor to tor
work to retirement
you can learn a lot on a Wednesday night
sometimes much more than you want to

WW 11th April 2007

Eight stepped out from Gutter Tor.
Six set off on a long walk
Two cut short down the river
Two left the six to join the two by the riverbank
Four came back first,
Four came back second
But all eight enjoyed the jiggedy-jiggedy music together at the pub

WW 4th April 2007

Well here we all are
Trolling along in the sunshine
Funny
Now we can see where we are and where we are going
We seem to take no particular interest in where we are and where we are going
Must be some sort of lesson in that
Very nice

WW 28th March 2007

Thirteen
13
XIII
Wow
Rush, rush, rush
Got to keep up
Where
Red Lake - Noooooooo
Duck's Pool - Noooooo
Yesss
And we got a pint in
Nice one Grandad

WW 21st March 2007

well

that was nice

they all turned up

we could hardly keep up

the walk was OK

but, they can't half put it away

still

nice boys

perhaps they don't get out much

or maybe they get out too much!

Happy Birthday

WW 14th March 2007

Star
Star
Star
Star
Star
Yes, five of us
and lots of Stars

WW 7th March 2007

I wasn't there - were you?

WW 28th February 2007

Wet

Was it wet?

It was wet

We got wet

You would have got wet if you had been there

Now we know what it is like to be dry

WW 21st February 2007

It must be an acquired taste

Why else would we be there?

Still, at least we were there

And those that were there know what I mean

You really do have to be there

Because if you weren't there and it had been

You know, sort of, well ..

Then, well then you would have been there

Where were you?

WW 14th February 2007

Apparently ...
Some people go to Cuba
Some people go to South Africa
Some people go to Spain
But really ...
There is only one place to be
Out there
In it

With the stars
And a bun!

WW 7th February 2007

Well, I don't know about you
But I find it all jolly confusing
Just what is it all about?
Where did that squeak come from?
How many dwarfs had Snow White?
What were their names and why can't you say them?
Who died and got pushed in a hay cart?
And what, just what was that all about?
Badges, tabards, ...
How old are we?
Who knows?
Not me!

WW 31st January 2007

A sort of nearly walk
Was it dark? nearly
Could you see the moon? nearly
Was it dry? nearly
Was it raining? nearly
Did we get wet? nearly
Did everyone stay dry? nearly
Did we have a short walk? nearly
Did we go a long way? nearly

Did we get to the pub? Yes
Did we have a good time? Yes
Were we there? Yes
Were you there? ...

WW 24th January 2007

Well that was nice
There is justice
You might have to wait a long time
And you might have to take pleasure in quite small events
But, it really does come round in the end
You just have to wait and wait and wait
But, suddenly from nowhere there it is
Sitting right in front of you
Yes, right there in the middle of the table
There on your table in front of you
Who thought they could taste so good
What next?
You have to be there

You really do have to be there ...

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