Open Post - Private Invitation

Sister and Brothers

Next month it will be 30 years since most of us embarked on a small adventure together. As I recall it was my present to Sheila Barney and Paul the previous Christmas. The present was not something tangible (I was just a poor trainee accountant at the time) - but it was an idea and a half formed plan to spend about 2 weeks walking from youth hostel to youth hostel via mountain paths and tops in the Lake District, Cumbria.

The Lake District was a place I was very familiar with through Auntie Sheila. I had done a similar holiday with a college friend the previous summer. The plan involved booking each youth hostel on a route which was carefully chosen to avoid close days - each hostel had a day each week when it was closed. (I suppose that it was the warden's day off.) You may not have realised that this was quite a challenging logistical task. The challenge was increased by the limits of available technology. In those primitive unthinkable pre-internet days the hostels didn't publish telephone numbers, so the bookings were all by snail-mail. The challenge increased when 7 of the hostels were fully booked and as the others had confirmed a re-routing was not an option. (all so hard to comprehend in these days of near instant communications).

So we had to develop plan B which involved introducing camping into the mix. This increased the size of the packs on our back but also increased the sense of adventure. There are no photographs of the adventure but it is all recorded in a day by day diary together with a hand drawn map of the route and a list of peaks conquered. I still have this - maybe I should publish it!

So here's my Invitation: What about a return visit - say a long week-end - 3 nights plus some travel either end. My suggestion would be to include those too young to participate at the time and to include some of the next generation. I guess the younger ones would need to be 11 or 12 and of course "up for it". I would rule out camping but would suggest hostels I have 2 in mind. I also have an itinerary in mind and some route options - but I going to publish that on this site to-morrow.

Do I have any takers? We might be a biggish group of 10 to 12 so there may be some challenges about timing and dates but that's for later and is certainly much easier to sort out with today's technology! Let me know with a comment on the blog or an e-mail or phone call. Talk to you. Big Brother