Brazilian Bay Northern Chapter Meet, Muker, 28th September 12
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| An ominous looking sky on Friday evening (courtesy of Liz [Roobarb]) |
After a stressful week that involved suspending two of our senior members of staff, I was ready for a relaxing break.
This weekend brought the Northern Meet of the Brazilian Bay Forum being held at Usha Gap in Muker, deep in Swaledale, North Yorkshire. We had 10 Kombis attending which is a great turnout – particularly as one had to drive 6 hours to get there.
After the week of rain we’d had there was some doubt as to whether everyone would get there but, in the end, Friday wasn’t too bad with some rain at home before we set off, but everything was dry in Muker. There were already a couple of vans there when we arrived so we set up the awning and put up a gazebo and canopy to gather under later.
As more people arrived it was agreed that we’d walk the short distance into the village for a beer and some food. The
Farmers Arms is a traditional pub with a choice of real ale and some decent food. We managed to grab a table before other patrons arrived and had a few pints and some food before walking back to the campsite. By the time we left the pub was full and people were waiting for tables.
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| Liz (Roobarb) captured us in the pub |
We lit the washing machine drum fire and sat around under the gazebo chatting (and drinking) on what was a cold but dry night. Unfortunately, the logs weren’t seasoned and still quite damp so at times there was quite a lot of
smoke but we survived.
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| Tony (Roobarb) takes evasive smoke action |
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| Saturday was a glorious day with bright blue skies in the morning – the Dales at their best |
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| Saturday morning – one of Geoff’s pics (Dalesman) |
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We’d decided to set off for a walk at 11am with Tony & Penny (Lilydub) leading the way, so 18 of us set off across the fields though the squeeze gates, first to Muker and then beside the Swale to Keld.
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| Absinthe’s crew by Liz |
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| Another of Geoff’s – leaving Muker and heading along the Swale Valley |
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| Foxgloves along the way |
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| Food stop at Keld |
We stopped in
Keld for a refreshment break and of course it rained a little. If anyone’s interested Marcus can confirm that the soup isn’t
homemade but looked delicious anyway.
The walkback from Keld along the
C2C route is even better than the one there, passing
East Gill Force and dropping back down to the Swale Valley.
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| East Gill Force by Geoff (Dalesman) |
We were even treated to the sight of a Peregrine using the wind to look for prey – magnificent.
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| Swale Gorge (Geoff) |
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| Photo stop (Geoff) |
Whilst Alison and I had a cream tea in Muker, some people headed back to the pub.
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| Lasagne in a Yorkshire Pudding! (photo: Liz) |
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| Geoff’s self portrait |
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| A brilliant shot of the Dale from Chris (Sunny) |
After tea we all gathered around the fire and enjoyed Polish sausages courtesy of
Connie & Pavol (North Poles). Delicious and great fun cooking them over the flames. We even had marshmallows afterwards for that real campfire experience. I’m not sure about Marcus’ flame cooked brie, but as most of it had been rolled in grass first maybe that was the problem.
We had a great evening and the Kraken rum seemed to have gone down well. The mulled wine from North Poles was brilliant and Alison’s music interesting…
We had planned a mini cruise into Reeth to park around the village green showing off the vans but when we awoke on Sunday morning it was pouring and very windy. Some people had long journeys to get home and it was agreed to cancel the cruise for this year. After a wet session packing everything away we drove home via the
Buttertubs and on to the
M6 which was a nightmare.
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| Nearly losing my hat on Sunday morning (photo: Liz) |
A great weekend and one we’ll repeat next year – hopefully in spring when the
haymeadows are in flower.
There are more photos here: Flickr
Many thanks to all our friends who allowed me to “borrow” their photos which are so much better than mine (more to follow when they post them on the
Forum!).
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