The Annual Silverdale Gathering 2014

Every year, in early autumn,Mark and his family take the very foolish decision to invite us and our kids to overrun his house, make a mess and eat all their food. Its become something of a tradition now and everyone looks forward to it. Let the record show that they are the most gracious and generous of hosts and it’s always a most enjoyable weekend. Only downside (outsize) is my waistline. We barely have time to venture outside such is the volume of food on offer. Massive cooked breakfasts are the order of the day together with smorgasbord of lunch items and monster curry from the village take away. I never need to eat for a week after a weekend up here. Still I like to eat to it’s a win-win situation. Whatever, the hospitality is hereby recognised.

It was a long time ago but my memory of the weekend was one of average weather but then I looked at the photos and realised that it was pretty splendid. The various families turned up at various points through the Saturday so it was a collection of shorter classic walks around the village to fill the day. Firstly up to the Pepperpot, as fine a viewpoint as there is with woods to explore, a profusion of wildlife and flora and trees to climb

Even though we are very settled and happy in Herefordshire my idle mind often wanders to thoughts of where else I might choose to live. Being the outdoor mountain and water-borne enthusiast that I am the obvious thought would be to live in the hills or by the west coast. Notwithstanding the need for work (not much IT work in such places) I’m not sure I could live in such remoteness. I do like some of life’s creature comforts. Scotland with its glorious scenery would be a draw surely. But let’s be realistic it has some pretty nasty weather and as soon as summer arrives so do midges. The only thing that I crave is somewhere I can go for a walk through pleasant and interesting surroundings from my front door. I have some glorious mountains between 30 minutes and 2 hours from home but immediate surrounds are rather bland arable farming fields. Silverdale is blessed with some wonderful scenery and interesting walks with great views. It’s the only other place I know that I would live other than where I am now. I always enjoy my time spent here and I’m always grateful to Mark and his family for showing off their locale which they are always pleased to do

After lunch with a few more people in tow it was another favourite with the stroll down to Jenny Browns Point. I love this stretch with the expansive views across Morecambe Bay, the fossils in the rocks by the Lime Kilns and the bird life

With everyone in tow on the Sunday we took a longer walk heading for Beetham Fell and the Fairy Steps. Mark assures me he’s taken me here before but I don’t remember. It was a very pleasant warm morning and after some tomfoolery involving toilet stops and lost adults and kids we finally made some progress past Haweswater and over the limestone enclosed fields beyond

I suspect the plan was to lunch at Beetham Fell but we fell short, considerably short of that objective. We passed through a sunny meadow with a small wood alongside and almost as one flopped onto the grass. The adults to laze, drink tea, chat, talk nonsense, the kids to do what all kids should do, build dens in the wood. And a very fine job they did too. No finer way to spend the time

After that it was over the fields again to Beetham Fell.

This is the old coffin route from Arnside to Beetham when Arnside didn’t have a cemetery. There is an initial taster with a narrow passage cut through the rock before the main event.

A narrow passage through the rocks. Very narrow. It’s said that if you can reach the top without touching the sides you are granted a wish. Fat chance of me achieving that 🙂

At the top the views had gone a little grey (perhaps the reason for my grey memory of the weekend). It was still a fine spot to linger before the long walk home, more food and a long drive home.

Another great weekend of fine strolling and great company. You can read Mark’s account of the weekend here