Out on the wiley, windy moors

Bank holiday weekends are when we're all encouraged to do lovely stuff, and I've certainly done some lovely stuff this weekend. After a trip to Wigan on Saturday for Boro's final away fixture of the season [photo] - where we achieved a rare, rare win on the road - last night I went and camped at Blakey Ridge on the North York Moors in a tumult of gusty winds. It was a slightly different proposition to last summer's camping trip, which was in the middle of a heat wave and on a still, starry night. There were no stars to be seen this time, and the winds were so strong up there that we had to socialise within the confines of our haphazardly erected tents, drinking, eating cup cakes, listening to music, and toasting marshmallows. The conditions were by no means ideal, but we made the best of it.

Typical scene


The other satisfied campers were Welford, Ed, Lav and Laura. Not satisfied while putting up the tents though. The winds made it practically impossible, but being the intrepid, conquering types we are we somehow managed it against all logic. At one point the group's heads dropped but we didn't give in. One clever tactic was to position our cars to quell the impact of the gusts, which were so strong they made Welford look a bit of a twat [see what I mean?]. After an hour and a quarter freezing our faces off, we finally finished the job and made it inside the Lion Inn, a fine public house completely isolated on the top of the moors with the nearest village six miles away. My face had turned to rubber and my hands felt like shovels, but thankfully some food and drink put that right. They do great food in there, and I took the imaginative choice of the steak and mushroom pie with its array of flavours and breathtaking puff pastry lid. You really can't beat it, washed down with a few pints of Theakston's XB. At closing time we reluctantly retired back to the tents via the crosswinds of the campsite. This was a clash of great forces; not just Man vs Nature, but Resolution vs Hinderance and Alcohol vs Wind.

This morning we went for a delightful greasy English breakfast in the nearby village of Castleton, before engaging in a variety of exercise-based pursuits. Heads and Volleys, Crossbar Challenge, Swings, Climbing Frames... my body has not known such a workout for quite some time. The zipline was also very tempting but Laura was the only one deemed small enough to get away with having a go without infuriating the nearby parents [photo]. Other photos from this bank holiday festival can be found here.