Following on from the success of our previous weekend in Darwin Forest we booked lodges at Sandybrook Park in Ashbourne. On the Friday afternoon we settled into our lodges and prioritised party plans for the weekend to celebrate birthdays.

Our orientation walk was via the Tissington trail to Ashbourne. We arrived at St Oswald’s church dating back to 1240 and home to many artefacts about local history. We were lucky enough to be shown around by the vicar who was happy to expand on the churches’ historical significance.

Continue reading Autumn Weekend in Ashbourne (Derbyshire) →

On Friday night, 25 Polyramblers met at the Wieninger Schwabenbrau restaurant in Bad Reichenhall for a nice dinner after travelling there by different means. The main party had reached Salzburg at lunchtime and, after a pleasant bus trip, arrived in Bad Reichenhall. After settling in our room in the Vier Jahreszeiten (4 seasons) hotel, we had lunch at Cafe Reber where the cakes are to die for. Then some of us visited the old salt works while others went to the spa. We met late afternoon for a tour of the very nice town. We went to the Royal Spa Garden where we saw the inhalatorium, we sampled the salty water in the rotunda, saw and heard a number of churches and went to the old town. Quite a full day. Continue reading Spring Bank Holiday 2018: Bad Reichenhall (Bavaria) →

After a train and bus/coach journey, we arrived at the Street youth hostel, the oldest hostel in the South West opened in 1931.  It is an alpine style chalet on the brow of a hill overlooking Glastonbury Tor and the Somerset Levels.  Geoffrey had baked banana cakes so we had tea and cake while waiting for our food delivery and then went to explore Street.  There was a bread shortage at Ocado but, Continue reading Friday 16 to Sunday 18 March 2018: YHA Weekend, Street, Somerset →

After flying to Munich and a smooth train journey to Fischen, 12 Polyramblers arrived in gastehaus Luitz-Kennerknecht where we received a very warm welcome. Instead of doing a walk around Fischen, we drank beer in the lounge with our hosts (Katja, Alex and their parents) and had a lovely glass of apricot schnapps. We had a nice dinner in Beim Kreuzwirt (booked by our hosts) accompanied by a musician and his accordion. Back at the guesthouse, a few of us had a nightcap while the rest went to bed after a long day of travel.
Continue reading SNOW-WALKING WEEKEND IN BAVARIA →

Friday: After a long but scenic train journey, 18 Polyramblers arrived in Barmouth on a sunny afternoon for our autumn weekend. After settling in our different B&Bs, we did an orientation walk that was more challenging than usual, especially for the Strollers. We walked up to St John’s church then up a steep hill to Dinas Oleu, the first land donated to the National Trust and up again to the Frenchman’ grave. We came down through the little alleyways of Continue reading Friday 6 to Monday 9 October 2017: Weekend in Barmouth (Wales) →