Eleven volunteers (Matt, John, Ally, Neil, Lisa, Mick, Pip, Sam,
Louise, Tim and Belinda) made the trip up this year, with five of the group
enjoying their first MNTV Christmas, emphasising what has been a very
successful year for attracting new members.
Charlie popped in to say hi on the Friday evening, somehow finding time
from her busy schedule at the nearby Elterwater Hostel. While Sam joined us at
the worksite on the Saturday morning, the remaining ten arrived in good time on
the Friday, although Lisa almost made herself into a Darwin Awards candidate by
following her satnav into the lake where the ferry crosses Windermere. Signs
showing cars plunging into water helped her to stop just before tarmac turned
abruptly to H2O.
Having expected many people to eat at home before travelling up, I was
concerned that there wouldn’t be enough food for Friday’s supper, but Ally
managed to make the butternut squash soup go twice as far by the clever use of
milk, and we just about fended off starvation before settling down to a
slightly chilly night.
Somehow we all managed to be ready for 8.30am on Saturday, whereupon
the new ranger Matt arrived, full of the same enthusiasm as his predecessor
Jamie. Half an hour through icy country lanes took us just south of Coniston
village, to a hedge in a tricky location between fencing, and on top of a low
wall.
As hedgelaying sites go, this was a challenging one, but nothing that
the skill, dedication and perseverance of MNTV couldn’t handle. Despite having
several novices in the group, and despite being pelted at regular intervals by
rain and hail (which always seems to happen when we lay Cumbrian hedges), we
attacked our task with gusto, and by 3pm a thing of beauty had emerged from the
tangled chaos that had existed when we arrived. Another handful of hedgelaying
experts have now been added to MNTV’s burgeoning expertise.
Halfway through the day, Lisa, Mick and Pip had headed off to prepare
Christmas dinner, and by the time the rest of the group returned to the
basecamp, culinary wonders were already in the process of being performed. The
aim was to eat around 6.30-7.00pm. The turkey, potatoes (roast and mash),
carrots, sprouts, parsnips, stuffing, broccoli, pigs in blankets (and possibly
other things that I’ve forgotten, there was so much) were all timed to
perfection, and we sat down at 6.45pm. You just can’t buy precision like that.
Secret Santa’s sack had already been passed round (somehow there were
enough gifts for everyone, including the weekend leader – who, er, shall remain
nameless, and who forgot to bring something). Everyone seemed pleased with
their gifts, but especially Neil (see Sunday morning activities!).
After the relative quiet of people contentedly tucking into dinner, we
enjoyed a few games and some superbly stimulating conversation on a number of
topics. As usually happens, Tim talked a load of outrageous nonsense. And as
usually happens, a quick consultation on Google confirmed that Tim was actually
telling the truth. This time, we found out that sugar gliders are very cute
furry creatures similar to flying squirrels, and that cows have a tendency to
face north, and sometimes have magnets in their stomachs to collect the
metalwork they accidentally eat, which is then retrieved when the unfortunate
bovine eventually heads off to the pastures in the sky.
The day’s endeavours caught up with most of us sooner rather than
later, and bedtime was taken at a respectable hour. Neil had worked his magic
on the heating system, and a noticeably warmer sleep was enjoyed by all.
The inescapably ‘drich’ weather scoffed at any plans we had for a
scenic walk on Sunday morning. We scoffed back by enjoying a morning of
untempered joy and excitement, both within the basecamp and elsewhere.
First, Neil took out his Secret Santa gift, which was a mini table
tennis set that was perfectly suited to one of the small tables in the
kitchen/lounge area. Mick and John proved particularly adept, and played out an
epic ‘mano a mano’ struggle of skill and wits to rival the classic Federer-Nadal
Wimbledon final of 2008, in stark contrast to the frankly appalling efforts
that were on show in some of the other matches.
Mick, Pip and Louise then headed home, while the rest of us went to
explore the nearby Trust property at Wray Castle. A highly informative guided
tour was followed by a less structured ‘wander at will’ exploration, which
mainly involved Ally and Neil regressing to childhood by playing a plastic
oversize Connect 4 and having a vigorous swordfight on a plywood castle.
Back at the ranch Lisa cooked up a hearty lunch of turkey, sausages,
bacon and eggs, and Sam proved that yesterday’s veg is
today’s bubble and squeak. Then it was a soggy relay of taking our gear out to
the cars, and a heavy hearted departure after a weekend in which the magic of
Christmas had burned as brightly as an MNTV rhodybashing fire.
Happy Yuletide, folks, and see you in 2015!
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