I have just renewed my 
annual subscription for The Cambridge Rambling Club. And I asked myself, could I have spent £4 any better? The club could easily add a nought on the end and members would still pay up.
But for just £4 a year, you get the chance to join a jolly band of enthusiastic walkers who provide a varied programme to appeal to walkers of all levels, including the super fit who can effortlessly manage 500 miles in one weekend, as well as even night walks.
I joined them yesterday on a 7 mile stroll around the glorious Wimpole Hall estate, a National Trust property. I lost count of the number of times I gasped in sheer delight at the gloriousness of the undulating landscape. And, of course, rubbing shoulders with the Cambridge group meant I was with a fairly clever bunch, there is always someone to hook up with for a learned natter.
Last year I spent a fabulous weekend with them on a jaunt to the Forest of Dean. This weekend I have just signed up for a 4 day walking trip in May to North Wales around Cader Idris, which I last walked as a 14-year-old on a school trip. I can still vividly remember being spellbound by the sheer beauty of the valleys. It was the first time I had seen mountains having lived in a flat landscape. I always wanted to return, and now that dream will soon become reality.
The car park was heaving yesterday at Wimpole, so many people getting out to enjoy the sunshine and walk around the estate, as well as visit its farm. It made me wonder why their properties are only open for half of the year. What other organisation would operate on that level? Surely any maintenance work could be done in a shorter time.
With warmer winters and an increasingly active older population looking for places to visit, it surely makes sense to have the homes open as many months of the year as possible.
I would now like to give Anglesey Abbey a plug, another National Trust property close to where I live and famed for its stunning Winter Walk where the grounds are covered with with dainty snowdrops. It was the brainchild of their former head gardener Richard Ayres who the Trust asked me to interview for a press release when he retired. Richard told me how sceptical the Trust was at the time thinking people would never want to visit their property in the winter.
Thankfully, Richard proved it to be an inspired idea which other properties have since tried to emulate.
I hope you have also had a great weekend.
Sounds wonderful!
It looks like money well spent.
Sounds an excellent investment and I love the photos.
Snowdrops are in my top three flowers
Blimey Ellee – 500 miles in one weekend – I’ll have some of what they’re on!! 🙂
That certainly IS money well spent! Walking/riding/ fresh air and exercise is brilliant!
I took some snowdrop photos a few weeks ago. Maybe I should post some?
Lucky you for only 4 pounds (sorry no British pound symbol here) I’d love to be able to do that! Next time I’m in England my friend & I are coming to Cambridge (it’s one major place I haven’t seen yet) and we’re going to try to find where some of my ancestors are buried. It says in the geneological report that they are buried in Kelsagh, Suffolk but I can’t find the place on the map, although it’s supposed to be near Cambridge. Do you know where it might be or what the village might be called now? Thanks, Ellee.
OH! I should have told you that we know that Mary Gross was buried in October 1587 in Kelsagh, Suffolk. One of their sons, Isaac, then went over to Boston, Massachusetts, and it’s through his line that my grandmother was born. But I’m sure there are lots of Grosses still buried over in England.
Four pounds (no pound symbol either) is a bargain indeed. I think these rambling clubs are the greatest idea and they work so well in Britain. Distances are a bit more of a problem here as well as the mountains add an extra to the equation making it more like genuine strenuous hiking and I’m a bit past that now.
Well done, Ellee – you’re going to stay fit and well.
Simon, I think that must be a very elastic weekend, I find it hard to believe too. The woman insisted, I kept repeating “500” miles, and she said “yes”. I wondered whether there was one nought too many on that figure. We are talking super fit here, a totally different breed of walker. When I went out with my first group of “A walkers”, I only had to stop to take a photo and by the time I had finished, they were out of sight. I found it very unnerving.
I can only bow in admiration!
500 miles in one weekend ???
From London to Scotland in two days ???
Wow !
[…] £4 well spent […]