Unless otherwise stated, report by Paul Coates and pictures by Keith Bilton.
Thursday 3rd January 2008
Route: Fimber, Lane, Burdale House Farm, Lane, Raisthorpe Manor, Thixendale, Centenary Way, Field Paths, Centenary Way, Thixendale (Cross Keys), Raisthorpe Manor, Lane, Burdale House Farm, Lane, Fimber (11 miles).
Members: John, Paul, Paul Craggs, Keith, Stu, Paul Holmes, Bob.
Cars : Paul Holmes, Paul.
Weather : Frequent snow showers during the morning, easing off in the afternoon.
Not quite the walk we intended to do, but near enough considering the wintery weather. We left Hull under leaden skies and with a dusting of snow on the ground. As we drove deeper into the East Riding the road conditions deterioated from dodgy to downright dangerous, especially
around Bainton. We had decided to approach Thixendale via Fimber but the road was not only slippery due to the ice and snow, and downhill, but a van had skidded off the road and was being recovered by a tractor.
Looking for Thixendale
So we had to reverse back up the hill towards Fimber church, all done with much slipping and sliding, both by the cars and the willing hands helping to push. Keith managed to get out of any pushing by the act of slipping on the ice and falling over, and then rubbing his shoulder whilst feigning a pained expression. Miraculously his shoulder seemed to get better once the cars were up the hill and safely parked.
It was decided that the safest route was to walk to Thixendale by road. It's only a narrow lane and fairly traffic free. As it was snowing quite heavily we reasoned that only mad dogs and the FAC would venture out on such a day.
Keith and Paul find Thixendale (photo by Paul Holmes)
Chris & Ray were due to drive up to Thixendale to join us later in the day, so a quick phone call was made to Chris let him know what the road conditions were like. Wisely he decided he would give the Wolds a miss.
There were plenty of snow showers but the route was fairly easy going. For our morning grub stop we took shelter in an old brick stable. Some of our less discerning members chose to enjoy their butties surrounded by the horse manure that carpeted the stable floor, while the more choosy amongst us sat outside behind the stable wall eating our snow sandwiches.
We got to Thixendale around 1045, and although long before opening time, we thought it prudent to call in at the Cross Keys so that they knew that someone would be keen to see them open for business later in the day.
“Right to roam”
We then set out along the Centenary Way. Once up on high ground we found ourselves in a blizzard, so excercising our 'right to roam' we dropped back down into the valley bottom. We arrived back at the pub around 1215 and were glad to see that all three of the open fires were lit.
Of course the real reason for battling through snow and ice was the promise of the East Riding's finest double egg & chips, with every egg a double yoker. We were (almost) sorry to hear that Paddy, the infamous cantankerous Cross Keys landlord, was laid up in bed with a chest infection. We assume it wasn't through too much laughing and joking over the Christmas period!
Our return to Fimber via the same snowy lane we'd followed in the morning. Sherlock had been complaining that his knee was giving him some stick, but it can't have been that bad as he was well out in front all the way back. We wondered if it was something we'd said, or perhaps the effects of the pickled eggs he'd gorged himself on at lunchtime.
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A good walk to start the year with, and one we won't forget in a hurry.
Keith got in a bit of a panic when he was unloading his walking gear from Paul's car. He kept saying "where's my green jacket", each time a decibel higher than the last. Keith does have previous when it comes to leaving things in people's cars. It was eventually discovered hanging from the back of his rucksack which he was wearing over one shoulder. And this is the bloke we entrust to negotiates our wage claims.........
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