Phoenix Walking Club

05/09/2026

Well I've been planning to do this for day, but... (We all know about best made plans!)
So, here are some photos from Blencathra when Michael O'Toole visited earlier this week when the walk was in the Keswick area.
He wrote,
"Yesterday's walk from Scales to Keswick via Blencathra, the weather was wet and windy up top but still a very enjoyable walk, led by Paul."

27/08/2026

Once again we have Michael O'Toole to thank for these photos from the club's walk this week to Sedbergh in the Yorkshire Dales.

23/08/2026

Simon Cotterill has given us permission to view his Glenridding photos which are stored in his Flickr account. This is the link, which you need to click in order to open.
137828720@N06/albums/72177720335206097" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://flickr.com/photos/137828720@N06/albums/72177720335206097 Great day - thanks!

Explore this photo album by Simon Cotterill on Flickr!

20/08/2026

Member Michael O'Toole has forwarded some photos of the walk around Glenridding which took place yesterday, Wednesday, 19th August. The weather was fine and he walked with Florence.

13/08/2026

Whilst the club are out walking around Elsdon on what may be the warmest walking day of the year, Its time for me to catch up with a post regarding last week's walk to Pickering.
Around 80 members made the trip southwards with several groups starting their walk around the Hole of Horcum. Our group started a bit further south near the village of Lockton then through woods before reaching the North Yorkshire Moors Railway at Farwath, where we were just in time for a passing steam train.
A steep climb through woodland followed , where, unfortunately some of us got stung. But, hey, such are the joys (!!) of walking during the British summer.
Many thanks to Heinrich for leading and to the others for support and chat.

18/07/2026

Another set of photos taken on our recent walk ending at Robin Hood's Bay. These were taken by Michael O'Toole (used with permission) who was walking with Florence Pitcairn.

17/07/2026

So Robin Hood's Bay was certainly a popular walk with 99 members taking part. The weather didn't quite live up to that being forecast the day before - but perhaps the lack of sunshine made for a more comfortable day.
Our group of eighteen led by Heinrich began by around the village of Staintondale. As often happens during summer months there was much walking through undergrowth of ferns, nettles, brambles and gorse bushes, sometimes almost neck height.
But on reaching the coastal path the views north towards Ravenscar are, as always, stunning.
Our picnic stop was at the Ravenscar Ice Cream Shop after which we followed the cinder path / old railway line all the way to Robin Hood's Bay.
It was good to see several new members out for their first walk, we hope they enjoyed themselves and became regular walkers.

30/06/2026

Last Saturday our final destination was the Milecastle Inn situated on the Military Road B6318.
We were a group of 4 - all recovering from injury, of one sort or another.
Led by Heinrich, our drop off was on the Haltwhistle Bypass (A69) at Redpath Farm - which was neat and tidy - especially considering what was just around the corner. OS maps describe the path as blocked, overgrown, but passable. This is accurate on all accounts. Swathing our way through ferns, nettles, thistles and brambles, but our hearts sank at the sight of several fallen trees. Would we have to retrace our midgie infested path? But no, with a bit of a clamber - on we went. The sighting of a gate marking the end of this section spurred us on.
A touch of drizzle prompted a coffee stop in an underpass of the A69 - perfect.
The next part of the walk was an idyllic meander along the banks of the South Tyne, on old railway tracks and viaduct before heading north through the Haltwhistle Burn dene and our destination.

31/05/2026

A good number of walkers were out on Friday 29th where the club's destination was the picturesque Co. Durham town - Barnard Castle. The weather was perfect: factor 50 sunshine, and black threatening clouds which came to nothing.
After a couple of weeks of other commitments, it was good join Graham's group for his circular walk around the town and River Tees.
Starting with a meander through the town and grounds of Bowes Museum, followed by a coffee stop in the shadow of the imposing castle wall we then followed the river northwards upstream. Our lunch stop was in the equally picturesque village of Cotherstone before crossing the river for the return walk back to Barnard Castle.

14/05/2026

Whilst I was unable to be out on Tuesday (12th) due to other commitments , I thank Graham Mowl for the description below and attached photos.

"Seven brave volunteers joined Graham for a challenging climb of the iconic Helm Crag. Following in the footsteps of Wainwright and Wordsworth we embarked on this ‘exhilarating little climb’ (1000ft of ascent in 1 mile!) with some feelings of trepidation. After the initial 300ft of relentlessly steep stone steps, the path levelled out (a bit) and gradually wound its way less arduously around the fell, providing several welcome spots to pause and admire the view and reflect on our progress/state of fitness. It took us an hour and a half to traverse our way slowly to the top. Every time we stopped to take off waterproofs and layers another dark cloud seemed to appear from behind the hills to deliver another short sharp blustery shower.
The rewards at the top though were well worth our efforts; the clear weather giving us breathtaking views over Grasmere and the surrounding fells. After locating ‘the lion’, ‘the lamb’ and ‘the Howitzer’ rock formations we began our descent.
The route down was reassuringly shorter but unsettlingly steeper than the way up but we negotiated with care and without any slips or falls. Once down we commended ourselves on the completion of our ‘brief essay in real mountaineering’ (Wainwright) and enjoyed a leisurely lunch by a babbling brook before sauntering down into Grasmere to visit Wordsworth’s grave and gorge on ginger bread.

We finished our walk with a relatively gentle stroll around the lake Grasmere, admiring our morning’s achievements from the south shore and easily covering the remaining 3 miles in less than half the time of the first 3. We all agreed that the 8.5 miles with 1550 ft of assent felt more like 10.5 and so proud of our efforts we duly retired to the sunny beer garden of the Distiller’s Arms for welcome refreshment."

(Sounds amazing Graham!)