CYHA News January 2024

Cheddar Man

At YHA Cheddar

If the museum was telling the truth, Cheddar Man was a mesolithic hunter-gatherer who was laid to rest in Gough’s Cave, Cheddar, about 10,000 years ago. This would have been just as we were coming out of the last ice age. The weather for the recent CYHA trip …

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CYHA News December 2023

Escape to the Hills

At YHA Holmbury St Mary

Our illustrious Treasurer finally turned 60 this October, but not wanting to crowd the CYHA programme, he elected to postpone the celebrations to November and booked Holmbury St Mary YH for the party of the decade.

Located in the Surrey Hills, or, judging by the poor phone signal, one of …

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CYHA News November 2023

Pilgrimage to Lyonesse

St Martins, Scilly

Many years ago I came across the Isles of Scilly (albeit indirectly), in Rick Wakeman’s album ‘Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’, which I bought during my pilgrimage into prog rock in 1979. This featured the land of Lyonesse in one of …

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CYHA News October 2023

Edale Adventure

Great Ridge

August Bank Holiday and a sunny forecast! If only we’d thought to hire a secluded hostel at the far end of the Edale Valley. Oh! But we did! Thank you Nigel for booking the Dalehead Bunkhouse.

It was advisable to arrive in daylight as the bunkhouse was a long …

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CYHA News September 2023

Summertime in Suffolk

Saxmundam Museum

Our August weekend trip was to Darsham in Suffolk, staying in the old railway station. It was planned to have a mixture of cycling, walking and canoeing, but the weather had other ideas. The cold, dreary weather of July threatened to follow us into August.

The forecast for Saturday was …

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CYHA News August 2023

A Mighty Meander

Old Man's Bridge on the Thames

Well, there’s absolutely no need to rush a good thing, and I don’t think we can be accused of rushing our completion of the Thames Path.

It all started with a trip to the Thames Barrier in 2007, but it was a few years before we attempted the …

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CYHA News July 2023

Pilgrims’ Progress

Pilgrims Way to Holy Island

We arrived at Alnmouth in Northumberland at 3pm on the Friday, and John picked up a message from Steve that he was at Durham services and would arrive in around an hour. So John sat on the platform seat. I went to look for a suitable place to see him …

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CYHA News June 2023

Isle of Masons

Merchant's Incline, Isle of Portland

Our May Bank Holiday trip was to the exotic Isle of Portland in Dorset, staying in The Bunker, a lovely independent hostel on Victoria Square.

Victoria Square was probably in its heyday in the late Victorian period when, in 1862, a railway branch line was constructed linking Portland to Weymouth …

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CYHA News May 2023

A Long Day on the Fairfield Horseshoe

Fairfield Horseshoe

It was a beautiful Saturday morning in April and most of the group set out from Rydal to walk the Fairfield Horseshoe. The weather was clear and sunny, with a light breeze. We had walkers of various levels of experience, and all were looking forward to a challenging but rewarding …

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CYHA News April 2023

Trains, Rivers, Runners and Beer

At YHA Cambridge

On a trip to Cambridge you are never short of options for things to do. For our recent weekend visit the Saturday had the better forecast, so we elected to walk along the River Cam. An early start had us catching the train out to Waterbeach so that we could …

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