THE BIG CHILL!

It was a bleak January night and members of the Chelmsford YHA Group descended on a remote former maltings in the heart of Shropshire. It was cold, just a visit to the loo could turn your blood to ice water in your veins.

The wind whistled around the eves and the hostellers huddled closer to the fire, steeling themselves for the time when they would have to go.....UPSTAIRS! They looked nervously from one to another trying to see who would be the first to crack. Was this just an ordinary weekend away? Or something more sinister? A test to see if you really were a macho hardman (or girl?) able to withstand the rigours of old-fashioned hostelling? George started "Bah! You think this is cold? Luxury! When I were a lad..." and went on to tell the story of a hostel in Wales many years ago where it was so cold he woke up with a ring of hoar frost circling his head, but it failed to comfort anyone.

The night wore on and eventually the girls gritted their teeth and made the dash upstairs first. The bunks were piled high with blankets and quilts each one as cold as the bottom of a chest freezer. As they wriggled down into the icy depths of the bedding to the lullaby of ten pairs of teeth chattering, a voice was heard to cry: "Why don't we ever come to Wheathill in the summer when it's hot?"

Canal Walk

The day dawned with bright winter sunshine and absolutely perfect for the traditional annual pilgrimage from Heybridge to Chelmsford.

Eight people did the whole 14ish miles with Jane, Steve and Caroline joining part way through. The walk being completed in record time!

Lorna was spotted by a colleague who reported: "I saw Lorna on Sunday morning with a load of men. One of them was dishy.". She claims they meant the only non-member: Richard - bloody cheek! Still she made up for it by providing steaming hot crumpets and tea at the far end.

And the Consequence Was....

Our Blind Date evening took a curious turn as we returned to our schooldays for a good old game of "Consequences". The results, (some of which are printed on the back page), I hasten to add, are merely products of our fevered imaginations and bear no resemblance to actual fact (so please don't sue us!)

Dutch Auction

This year's auctioneer was Alison and a grand total of £57.35 was raised for the YMCA. Special thanks goes to all those who donated goods and especially to those foolish enough to buy them!

We would especially like to thank George for donating his free sample of Pantene shampoo and conditioner (he obviously decided that a glossy sheen to his hair would be too much for the girls). Also Trevor for deciding that life without his Max Bygraves' Christmas tape would indeed be worth living (congratulations to Chris for that purchase). And Debbie even donated her famous plastic bag collection.

Erruption!

Wow! What a show! I advise anyone who missed this one to beg Nigel to do it again! Aided by an amazing computer graphics enhanced video Nigel described the massive devastation caused by the Mount St Helens blast and the regeneration which has occurred in the last 17 years. His slides included the barren moonscape of the Pumice Plain and the huge log beaches still visible on Spirit Lake, even after all this time. This was an unforgettable experience.

Yoga & Massage

Trudi's pre-ski class turned into a slightly more relaxing yoga class, co-hosted by Geli. We spent the evening discovering exactly how dirty the floor of the Charles Peter's lounge is whilst tying ourselves in knots and stretching muscles we never knew we had!

If yoga wasn't enough the following week had Janet showing us the finer points of Shiatsu massage. I'm not sure about our attempts to copy, but Chris seemed very happy to be demonstrated on.....

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