Battling the storm…

19/03/2007 by the walkers.

Veronica writes; Driving to Lancashire with our Trailer-Tent of 15 years in tow, we planned to spend Mothering Sunday walking part of the Pendle Witches Way walk, continuing our preparation in the North West. The meal with the family who were traveling from Manchester was set for Saturday for convenience.

The plan was to retrace part of the 42 mile walk we did in May 1993. Photos taken by Eddie of myself and his two female colleagues who accompanied us were captioned, ‘The Pendle Witches’. I wanted to enter the Witches Gallery shop in Newchurch-in-Pendle with the sign “The Management accepts no responsibility for any spells cast on entering these premises”. The shop is an Aladdin’s cave of fun and laughter.
When we arrived at the camp site on Friday afternoon, there were gale force winds making any attempts to erect the awning almost impossible. Eventually wrapping one of the canvas side parts round me, Eddie was able to zip it up after many failed attempts. The scene reminded me of the enactment during the recent Women’s World Day of Prayer with the theme United Under God’s Tent when two women at the service wrapped a flowing cloth round themselves to symbolise a tent. Well, I’m not sure if God had a hand with our tent but I think the Devil was using it as a punch bowl

Saturday got off to a great start with sunshine and the family duly arrived and enjoyed their meal. However by early evening the wind, and hailstones were whirling round the tent so fearlessly that we decided by 10.30p.m. to abandon any thoughts of walking on Sunday, and started to make preparation for a hasty retreat next morning. Our thoughts turned again to our seafarers who must experience such frightening storms, even the bed was swaying with the ferocity of the wind, I wondered if we would survive the night.

By Sunday mid morning we were on the return journey north battling hail storms and gusty winds. They say mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun - not as bad as the mad Irish woman camping in the worst of winter conditions. But at least the whole experience tested our stamina for the long walk.

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