Ten hardy souls ventured forth from Midhope led by Capt Harmer and Sergeant Hakes, no safety officer was on show here but with Westgate and Winterburn we knew we were in safe hands. The first point of call was the cabin, from there the wet boggy track ventured higher in the the teeth of a biting wind. The plan was a direct line to the Margary hill however having drifted close to cutgate a quick trip out to inspect the UXB discovered by Russ a few weeks earlier. More on the shells will appear in next Christmas’s newsletter 😉 The group split slightly as one section went straight at MH and the others taking a less direct route by running up Cutgate.
The masses gathered on MH before some discussion by the Capt and Private Westgate on the precise bearing to the Stirling wreck, now I’m not certain how important those 5 degrees were but 10-15 minutes later miraculously we were gathered around the wreck site, A few more photos before we chose to find a bit more shelter to have raspberry whirls from Mr Holmes and our first whisky stop. It was here that the Capt decided to cartwheel down a clough to; first the amusement of the troops then to the concern of the group however he was soon up and off again to Pike Low. Another whisky and with every one signed in and Winterburn led off back to the cars with the Barber hounds in hot pursuit.
Brigadier Sanderson had counted them out and counted them back. To his pleasure all were present and correct so a trip round the corner to the Wagon and Horses for a few pints of Timmy Taylor’s where Hakes open the market stall and started selling the new DP shirts to any one who promised to pay him later.
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