Never let it be said that
the British need blue skies and sunshine to enjoy themselves….but it does
help.
This year’s early club meet
saw us return to Gelliwig in Porthmadog and same as last year the arrivals were spread throughout the day and
Friday evening. There appears to be a recurring theme on these weekends as
everyone quickly settled in to their new surroundings with a few drinks to
refresh and relax themselves after their journeys from either up or down the
country and very soon the sound of stories, music and laughter carried us into
the early hours of Saturday with expectations and hopes for good weather for
the next few days.
Saturday started promisingly
with a relaxed breakfast, but still with plenty of time to decide on what
activities the day might hold. However this didn’t last too long as by
mid-morning the weather had started to become changeable and really couldn’t
make its mind up what it was going to do. The initial thoughts were that it
might hold out, stay dry and enable climbing to be the major sport, but as the
clouds quickly spread across the sky common sense prevailed and considerations
turned to walking and cycling. Although with a forthcoming trip to the Verdon
Gorge in France looming Dave Law was keen to get in as much climbing as
possible and whilst an outdoor climb was becoming more and more unlikely a trip
to the Beacon Climbing Wall led to Dave, Nick and myself spending the day
shimmying up and down a variety of routes until the burn in our arms told us we
had done enough and we headed back for our evening meal and a few well deserved
beers.
Although the weather had
kept everyone in two minds about what it might do, Dave and Mo had brought their
bikes down so decided to brave whatever the elements might throw at them and
headed off for the day, whilst the remainder took the opportunity to take on
board a walk. Much to our surprise the weather didn’t turn out as bad as it
might have and people returned without the need to hang up dripping wet jackets
and dry out muddy, wet boots.
As people returned from
their afternoon exertions Carole and Rob also arrived and once we had cleaned
ourselves up and put on fresh clothes we headed off into town. We had decided
once again to go the Sportsman as last year had been such a thoroughly
enjoyable experience. This year however didn’t quite live up to last year’s
standard as on arrival, with the exception of 2 other guests, we appeared to be
the only ones dining. Whilst the food was cooked and presented beautifully for
those with hearty appetites this wasn’t going to be the fulsome meal they had
hoped for; however to conclude the meal one or two decided to finish on a high
with a choice malt whisky. It must nevertheless be remembered never to leave
them unattended as someone else might drink it !!! (remember these wise words
well Mr Law) (the cheek of the man! -Ed)
Sunday once again cast
doubts as to what the weather might do and as the rain started to
intermittently break through the clouds Darron suggested that the weather
looked as though it might be better if we headed back North along the A55 towards
Castle Inn where there might, just might, be the opportunity to do some sport
climbing. For Nick and myself, as sport climb ‘virgins’, this was an
opportunity not to be missed and just before lunch a small convoy of cars set
off to Old Colwyn. For the remainder, rather than bring the weekend to a
premature close, they elected to stay behind and use the time to explore
alternatives – and guess what the weather did improve and the sun even broke
through!
It just shows that you just
can’t rely on the British weather ….. so fingers crossed perhaps
we will be basking in sunshine for the October meet...
Alan Brown
