This meet was a big success in so many ways!
First of all we had fantastic weather, mostly hot (sometimes shady crags were needed), dry and sunny. We had one wet day which was good for shopping and relaxing.
Many people were either camped out in tents or sleeping in their campervans, so there was ample sleeping spaces in the hut. The strategy of camping to avoid the snoring in the hut may not have worked – there were as many folk crammed on to the camping area as there were inside!
Parking spaces have been doubled by flattening an area to the right of the hut which had been disturbed by the contractors while building the new toilet block extension. The new car park was so well used that we wonder how we coped before!
And on the night of the meet barbeque, twenty-eight vehicles were counted! We used the new barbeque and the old small one, both working flat out tended by Paul Scott and David Medcalf who cooked the many excellent pork sausages bought from the local Chypraze Farm. The weather was perfect and Duncan ‘Banjo’ Bourne played some tunes for us.
Attendees were mixed in age and grades climbed. We had some hard young climbers ticking off the high E numbers as though they were Diffs. Some ‘slightly older’ climbers (Neil Foster and Clare Reading) put up a difficult new route somewhere near Doorway. There were people with bad knees climbing for the first time since their operations. Robin Quine, our oldest attendee, climbed at Haldrine Cove; this was when he wasn’t on a mission to photograph the many swimming pools (natural and ‘man-made’) often hidden amongst the rocks of West Penwith.
Thirteen of us had a night out at the Newlyn Film House with an excellent meal followed by a showing of ‘Zennor – Spirit of a Place’. It’s an interesting film about the influence of DH Lawrence on the numerous members of the Bloomsbury set who visited the area – people like Virginia Woolf, Augustus John, and even Aleister Crowley. There was hardly any mention of the local population which we thought was a pity. But it was an entertaining night out nevertheless and we were reminded that DH Lawrence had a strong connection to the Count House.
Many blackberries and some apples were picked – crumbles featured regularly, as did scones! Michelle Bourne and Cathy organised a ‘meet meal’ giving a choice of vegetable curry or spaghetti bolognese; a special thank you to Steve Clegg who did most of the work on the bolognese. Usually on this meet we find mushrooms. For some reason they were very few and far between. And happily, but probably unrelated, there were hardly any ticks.
Buses were used a lot by coastal walkers, shoppers and explorers. Even the open-topped Coaster that could take you right around the peninsular cost only £2 (as long as you didn’t get off).
The new toilet block was working well, except that the wooden doors to the three shower rooms did not fit (the suggestion of hanging a piece of clothing on the outside worked a treat). The lights had not been connected so a lamp was made available for evening visits. Soon there will even be heated mirrors (I know – how very posh!). A theme of the Meet was “Waiting for Simon” (the electrician who eventually came as the Meet reached its end!
We already have many bookings for next year so if you are thinking of coming, please get in touch sooner than later.
Cathy Woodhead & David Medcalf
Meet Leaders
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