2010

29th January - 1st February
Winter Walking Weekend 2010

The 2010 Winter Walking weekend will be held at the Rookhow Centre, Rookhow, Rusland, Cumbria on the weekend of 29th January-1st February 2010. It is situated between Windermere and Coniston Water in the Lake District, near Grizedale Forest. It appears to have good common room and kitchen facilities and is well situated for walks of all levels.

Cost for the accommodation is £14 per person per night (minimum £150 per night for sole use so may be more if we don't have at least 11 people per night). We hope to organise joint catering again (cost to be calculated at the time).
There are bunks for 17 and bed settees for a further 3 so places will be limited.

To secure your place please fill in the attached and send a deposit of £20 per person to Ros Day at 20 Highwood Close, Shaw, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2EJ. Please make cheques payable to R M Day. No place will be reserved for anyone without this - no deposit, no booking.

To download a booking form click Here for Open Office or Here for Microsoft Word

Contact Ros at winterwalking@mnrc.org.uk for further information

27th February - 28th February

Cavers Quiz, Sat night 8pm at the Hunters'.
Teams of four, entry fee £2 per person.
Both clever and cryptic questions will be posed by quizmaster Robin Gray.

This will be combined with a Club Novice Weekend, all welcome.

March 6th

MNRC AGM

The AGM will be held as usual at 2pm Prompt and will be followed in the evening by the Club Dinner.

The dinner venue and format is to be announced.

If you have any ideas or recomendations please let Paul know ASAP

24th - 25th April

Club Working Weekend. Come along and enjoy some good company and a few drinks while you help keep the hut in the good order we have all come to expect.

8th - 9th May

Club SRT Training/Refresher Weekend.

29th May
Tufty's Birthday Bash at Tintern.

Party/Camping/Forest of Dean Caving etc. Contact Tufty or Jane for details

26th - 27th June

Fiona Bott. Not a club event but in Rose's words:

There will be about 17 of us and although members, we will be there with hairy, grunting teenage things and a few of the smaller variety and dogs - so people may want to be warned, prepared or stay away!

26th June- 11th July

Last years French trip was pretty good fun so we have decided to do it again. We have accomodation sorted and the caving planning is well underway.

As last year we will be staying in the Dordogne area but this time we will be a litrtle further north.

More details to follow. If you want to come along please contact Jane ASAP.

10th - 11th July

Club Family Weekend

Please complete a booking form and return to: Rosemary Morgan by no later than 10th June 2010.

Contact Rose or Fran on 01594 836027 or

9th - 10th October

Club Working Weekend. Come along and enjoy some good company and a few drinks while you help keep the hut in the good order we have all come to expect.

MRO Training Every 2nd Thurs evening & every 3rd Sat of the month. Contact Darrell or Dave King for further info.

A few events from last year

2009

16th - 18th January
Winter Walking Weekend

This year the walking weekend will be in Pembrokeshire and combining with a party at Jillies place. There are plenty of options of walking routes in the area depending on what people want to do. There are also mountain bike trails within 5 minutes drive, and its less than an hour to the SWales caving systems. See http://www.brechfa-bunkhouse.com

Contact Ros at winterwalking@mnrc.org.uk

27th February - 1st March
South Wales

A bit close to the AGM but it's when I could make. We will be staying at the South Wales CC and doing a couple of the trips from our early days. Personally that means OFD II to the MainDrain via Marble Showers. I am sure Nick will have an idea or two as well. Contact TonyL to let me know you are coming.

March 7th

MNRC AGM

The AGM will be held as usual at 2pm Prompt and will be followed in the evening by the Club Dinner.

The dinner will be at the Bath Arms in Cheddar at 8pm. As usual some of us will be dressing up in formal kit but it's not compulsory.

Let Paul have your choices and cheques ASAP

4th- 5th April
Working Weekend

Following on from the last NL. a working weekend has tentatively been arranged for the 1st weekend in April. By that time the weather should have warmed up a bit, and there should be enough hours of daylight to get some of the necessary running repairs

Combined with IYA 2009 Telescope Event which will be running throughout this year, has been organised to co-incide with the 400th anniversary of Gallileo's first use of the telescope. A full programme of events has been scheduled, from global observations to local projects involving schools.

One of the cornerstone events is "100 hours of Astronomy", marking the 400th anniversary itself, during which it is hoped to get as many astronomers as possible looking through their telescopes as Gallileo did. This event is scheduled for the first weekend in April, when the gibbous phase of the moon will be favourable for evening observations; co-incidentally it's the same weekend as our working weekend, so we're hoping it will be possible to

More information will be provided in the next NL, along with a task list Meantime, if there's anything deploy our own telescopes and join in with this event. More information on the event itself can be found at the website, http://www.100hoursofastronomy.org/ Meantime, if you would like further information, please contact a member of the committee, pending the election of a new Astronomy Section leader at the AGM.

1st - 3rd May
Peatbog Faeries, Frome

The "Divine Comedy" Trip. Contact Katie for more einformation.

5th - 7th June
Yorkshire Trip

Once again staying at the YSS we hope to do a few trips from our early days. Simpsons will be one but others to be announced. Contact TonyL to book.

13th - 14th June
Mendip Caving Weekend and Cheddar Ales Beer Festival

Darrell is proposing to hold a caving weekend along the lines of the Burrington Blitz to co-incide with the Beer Festival being held at the Cheddar Ales brewery over the weekend. Contact Darrell or Dave king for further details..

3rd - 4th July
Club Family Weekend

This year's Family Weekend will be an "away" trip, and will be held at the Beaver Lodge Scout HQ, Parkend, near Lydney. The venue is Camping Only there is NO Indoor Accomodation. Cost is £3.50 per night plus food.

As usual, the Family Weekend will be held on the first full weekend of July, the 3rd and 4th. Further details and booking form will be available in the next NL, or download HERE Please complete a booking form and send it by no later than: Friday 12th June 2009

For more information on the facilities offered at the Beaver Lodge, go to http://www.scoutbase.org.uk

Contact Rose or Fran on 01594 836027 or

11th - 12th July
Novice Weekend & Priddy Folk Festival

Darrel is planning on holding a novice weekend to co-incide with the Priddy Folk Festival. Contact Darrell or Dave King for more details.

15th -16th August
Grouse Hunt & Cycle Ride

This year's Grouse Hunt weekend, celebrating the "Glorious Twelfth", (and co-incidentally, Spike Neal and Kat Hargrave's birthdays!) is likely to take the form adopted in previous years. Also as on previous years, it is again proposed that the fitter members get on their bikes and ride around some of Mendip's fine hostelries, working up a suitable appetite for the evening’s entertainments. But here's the twist - the cycle ride will be fancy dress, and the theme is Highwaymen! If you're interested in attending the grouse hunt, please contact Laurie & Helena Wright; if you'd like to ride, contact Kat to let her know you're coming. If you want to ride but don't own a bike, there are a number of machines stabled at the hut for member's use - call Dave K for further information.

12th - 13th September
Hut Working Weekend

25th - 27th September
Hidden Earth

This year it is again Mendips turn to host the annual caving conference. It will be held as before at Churchill Community School. See the Hidden Earth website for more details.

28th November
Birthday Barrel
Denzil will be there, but he wants to keep it quiet that it's a significant Birthday, so keep it quiet and don't tell anyone.

MRO Training Every 2nd Thurs evening & every 3rd Sat of the month. Contact Darrell or Dave King for further info.