News from South London Harriers
November 17th, 2006: Swanage 2006 Report
Posted by Chris Phelan at 9:02 amIt is not only cats that have nine lives – the SLH training weekend to Swanage has now reached its’ ninth birthday and it still casts its’ spell.Forty-eight members, families and friends made it down to the Purbeck Isle despite the Studland ferry being closed and a dodgy weather forecast. The weather, of course, was perfect, again. There was a fresh look to this year with 17 first-timers coming from as far afield as Japan. Only a couple of the blokes arrived without a tea bag between them!
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it” largely remains the strategy for maintaining this ever popular event. A mixture of optional activities and social opportunities - running, walking, biking, eating and drinking affords plenty of time to get to know each other. Situated on the Purbeck Way between Ballard and Nine Barrow Downs, the Ulwell Cottage Caravan Park provides the perfect situation for outdoor types by day and socialites by night. The Village Inn (on site), the Bankes Arms Hotel, Corfe and the Scott Arms at Kinston Village currently remain the favourite watering holes
Old Harry Rocks, Agglestone and Corfe Castle remain synonymous with this now ‘permanent’ event. These natural features seem completely unchanged by time. The Swanage Steam Railway also seems timeless and that includes many of the volunteer staff – priceless! An additional treat this year was our walk to Houns-tout cliff where spectacular views of the Jurassic coast around to Portland Bill could be seen. Only a brief friendly hailstorm interrupted our step on the Sunday morning.
There was keen competition this year for the hero or heroine award. Fresh from their clean-sweep of medals at the Surrey Vets CCC, the ‘Three Degrees’ (Sandra, Nina and Jenny Grant) lived up to their ‘reputation’, whilst Francis Upcott took on the mantel of the absent Antonio and ascended and descended ‘Agglestone’ to great applause. Gill O’Connor was particularly brave to complete the Corfe Castle walk knowing that her back condition would stop her joining in on Sunday. And it was also heart-warming and inspirational to see everyone’s best mate, Dave Grant, running again at every opportunity despite recent heart surgery.
However, the ‘irrepressible’ of the weekend must be Francis Staunton, who left work at lunchtime on Saturday, cycled to catch a train to Wareham and cycled on to join us for the evening meal. On Sunday he joined the morning run before, cycling back towards home for 6 hours before catching a train for the penultimate leg. No doubt a shorter ride back from the station this time – beat that for determination.
Nigel Costiff suggested that we should arrange a commemorative tea-shirt to celebrate our 10th year in 2007 - what a good idea. Therefore the competition to choose the best design starts now. Should you be looking for themes or slogans, what better than to take inspiration from the many, now familiar, caravan names at Ulwell: ‘High Hopes’, ‘Purbeck Joy’, ‘Bonhome’, ‘Mischief’ to name but a few.
Dave Kent
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