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It was a typical John Ramsey-organised walking
weekend. Typical in the sense that it was subject to last minute
alteration, vague lunchtime arrangements, relied upon outdated
timetables and involved missing ferries. It was also typical in
that we had a couple of fantastic walks in two very beautiful
areas. The six members who joined John also benefited from knowledge
acquired from his growing up in the region. The only untypical
aspect of the weekend was the weather, which was near perfect
throughout. It was May though, which might have helped!
 We
met up with "Johnny", and his friend of many years,
Mike Finn, at the Burrator Inn in Dousland, east of Yelverton,
on the Friday evening, to discover that Plan A had been replaced
by Plan B. We were now walking in Cornwall on the Saturday instead
of Sunday.
We awoke to glorious sunshine on the Saturday
morning and were rushed to Plymouth … to spend 45 minutes
waiting for the Cremyll
ferry. After the short crossing we set off around and across
the Rame peninsular, stopping at Cawsand for lunch and an ice
cream, having admired the views of Plymouth and the Sound along
the way. After lunch the walk took us along the South West Coast
Path to Whitsand Bay, before returning to Kingsand, and another
ice cream. Then it was back along the South West Coast Path around
Cawsand Bay, to the end of the 11 mile walk and the ferry.
 The
walk back coincided with the FA Cup Final radio broadcast. All
hope of some peace and quiet was lost as both Caroline and Mike
conversed loudly with each other whilst listening to the match
on their personal radios. We arrived just in time to see the ferry
pulling away from the jetty. No surprise there! Luckily the pub
at Cremyll was open. The day finished on a high with a huge meal
in the Prince of Wales hotel in Princetown.
The weather on Sunday was, if anything, even
better as we set off from Yelverton. Our 9 mile walk began with
us crossing the former Harrowbeer
airfield at Roborough Down, and heading for the River Walkham,
eventually stopping for our first lunch break at Double Waters
where it meets the River Tavy. The fast flowing water and the
dense woodland prompted one member - who shall remain nameless,
but her surname rhymes with "dizzy" - to remark that
it "looks just like Exmoor". To which her pipe-smoking
other half replied "if it looks like Exmoor, why didn't we
go to b****y Exmoor!" Since our leader hadn't brought any
food with him, we had to drop into the Drake Manor Inn in Buckland
Monachorum for our second lunch break of the day, before returning
to Yelverton and the long journey home.
An excellent weekend. On behalf of all who were
there, thank you John.
Clive
May 2004
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