OMJ Walking thread, that's WALKING, rambling and that!

Raposa

Drove up to Ribblehead this morning,did Whernside summit then back down to the road at the Old Hill Inn and back on to the Station Inn for a bite to eat.

Place was packed,never seen as many walkers scrambling up the hillside,like a trail of ants in the distance...won't be doing the Y3P until things have quitened down a bit.

weekender

old yeadonian wroteDrove up to Ribblehead this morning,did Whernside summit then back down to the road at the Old Hill Inn and back on to the Station Inn for a bite to eat.

Place was packed,never seen as many walkers scrambling up the hillside,like a trail of ants in the distance...won't be doing the Y3P until things have quitened down a bit.

either do it mid-week or aim for end september/beginning october ;)

TwoRs

The Old Hill Inn used to be a regular wild weekend trip. I've just been on their site and am guessing it must have changed hands as they don't appear to advertise the camping and music barn that used to make the place a haven for all sorts on a Friday night. They used to do a mean chilli con carne and Yorkshire pud. Great pint too. Last big trip we did there everyone got eaten alive by midges. Worst I've seen. Swarms of the critters.

white_dragon

Was in Beddgelert at the weekend , had a bbq Friday night , got bit to fuck by midges.

MolOverBeethoven

Avon Skin So Soft, this stuff repels all mosquitoes and midges, personally tested on 3 continents. Get your Mrs to buy it.

http://www.alternativeinsectrepellent.co.uk/g-shop.php

Cutsyke

Two mates of mine and Placid's and probably a few more on here too, are doing the coast to coast, ending up in Robin Hoods bay for Candlelighters , they might have even finished by now.

MolOverBeethoven

Avon's spray finds calling as midge repellent for Royal Marines

"'There is nothing effeminate about it. It works. It's as simple as that'"
Published Date: 21 August 2005
By ARTHUR MACMILLAN
THEY are famed for their ability to operate at sea, in the jungle or in the Arctic wastes and freezing cold of Norway. Battles throughout the centuries have won the Royal Marine Commandos a reputation as one of the world's elite fighting forces.
And as the last line of security in guarding Britain's nuclear weapons, they are pivotal to the Defence of the Realm.

But it appears that on the home front our toughest soldiers are prepared to pander to their softer side to combat Scotland's most persistent foe: the midge.

For years the Marines at Faslane who guard nuclear missiles and the submarines capable of firing them have looked for an answer. They've finally found it in a brand of women's skin cream.

Instead of using mosquito repellent issued by their unit, soldiers and workers at the base are buying Avon body lotion to repel midges on the West Coast. The company traditionally associated with images of well-dressed women selling cosmetics door-to-door is experiencing an unexpected boom thanks to the pesky insect. Neil Smith, a Royal Navy spokesman at HMS Clyde, near Helensburgh, said: "It's not official kit but nothing works better and the Marines are buying it themselves because the midges are so bad up there."

The wonder cure is a £5 bottle of dry oil body spray from Avon's Skin So Soft range. The midge problem at the base where Trident missiles and Vanguard submarines are stationed is so bad it recently installed a MidgeEater machine at the front gate. Workers at the camp can often be seen wearing midge nets on their heads.

Royal Marines are also taking the skin cream on field training exercises outside the base. But although it is the answer to their prayers, they have not been able to buy it at the local chemist.

Smith said: "There has been a lot of group buying because you can only get the stuff from Avon. Some buy it online and others are ordering it through local Avon ladies."

A stores sergeant at 45 Commando, based at Arbroath, said: "There is nothing effeminate about it. The reason the Nods [Marines] are using it is because it is good kit. It works. It's as simple as that."

It is thought that the oily base of the body spray is the ingredient that repels midges. Made with shea butter and vitamins, Avon's packaging boasts that it will "ensure your skin feels velvety soft, hour after hour".

Sales of the spray have gone through the roof this summer with several Avon ladies selling hundreds of bottles.

Anna Brown, Avon's area manager for the West Coast of Scotland, where the company has 353 sales representatives, said word of the body spray's ability to repel midges has spread since the wives of servicemen discovered its hidden qualities.

She said: "We sell it as a body moisturiser but many people tell us they are only buying it to get rid of midges. We don't market it as an insect repellent because its primary use is to soften your skin. But it is undoubtedly one of our best sellers, with our best agents having to order up to 200 bottles every three weeks."

But like the best boots, clothing and equipment which soldiers buy out of their own pocket, there are no plans to make Avon's cream standard issue to troops.

And it is not only the military who are taking advantage of Avon's beauty products. Word of the spray's ability to fight midges has spread throughout the entire West Coast, with sales being picked up in Dumbarton, Campbeltown, Oban and Dunoon. It has also been claimed that both the US army and the SAS use it as mosquito repellent in the jungle.

Brown said: "We don't ask people why they are buying it but some people tell us it is because they have heard it is good at combating midges."

Scottish Water engineers in the Highlands and forestry workers are also placing orders. In recent years a more terminal approach to tackling midges has been the MidgeEater range of traps, which generate carbon dioxide to mimic the exhaled breath of humans which are the midge's favoured haunt. Once fooled into coming within range, the hapless insects are then sucked into the trap at high speed.

But despite its dry oil body spray's midge-fighting ability, Avon seems reluctant to sell the lotion to the British public as an insect repellent.

A company spokeswoman said: "We cannot do that because UK pharmaceutical laws ban us from doing so, although there has been talk of it being marketed as an mosquito repellent in America where the rules are different."

There are more than 30 species of midge in Scotland but it is the female Culicoides impunctatus variety that causes torment. It is the only type of midge that bites. The crew responsible for the final episodes of Monarch of the Glen set at Ardverikie estate, near Loch Laggan, wore anti-midge body suits and veiled headgear while filming.

Placid

Cutsyke wroteTwo mates of mine and Placid's and probably a few more on here too, are doing the coast to coast, ending up in Robin Hoods bay for Candlelighters , they might have even finished by now.

They finish on Friday 3rd June. Rasied a few grand for candle lighters. They've used Wainrights walks to guide them through Lake District.

Raposa

placidcasual wrote
Cutsyke wroteTwo mates of mine and Placid's and probably a few more on here too, are doing the coast to coast, ending up in Robin Hoods bay for Candlelighters , they might have even finished by now.

They finish on Friday 3rd June. Rasied a few grand for candle lighters. They've used Wainrights walks to guide them through Lake District.

Good on em,would love to do that...if I could afford the blister plasters!

TwoRs

Was wondering why I hadn't heard from Blue Lou Boyle for a few weeks...

Placid

Bumped just so we know where it is. KOTS will be posting in here after his Dales Odyssey.

Loose_Lips

placidcasual wroteDales Odyssey.

Great name for an experimental jazz album.

Loose_Lips

gorefidel

Did this walk a 3 or 4 times a week. Pics are shit but you get the draft..up from the village, through a forest upto the shrine. Simon didn't talk to me. Had to do it early before the sun got up too far or it would be even sweatier than it proved to be. Great for the cardio, shit for the waistline as it gave me an excuse to shift a few more beers in the afternoons :lol:

Travis_Bickle

Looks cracking, the top one reminds me of that film about hand gliders with James Coburn.
Reckon it'd be decent MTB country with them climbs. There's a few companies doing tours in Spain now.

gorefidel

Travis Bickle wroteLooks cracking, the top one reminds me of that film about hand gliders with James Coburn.
Reckon it'd be decent MTB country with them climbs. There's a few companies doing tours in Spain now.

That top one is the village shrine and you you can walk upto it on the path that winds through the forest, even me these days - although I was getting passed by some old locals with a stick and some pumps and then the cleaner was a bit quick as well. The mountains opposite go up to 11k and the walks up there can be tough. Theres a couple of GRs pass by it as well.

The maddest bit is there is a road that goes over the second highest mountain, thats 11k as well and you get mountain bikers doing the run up and over the top of it and down to Granada - summer only. Now they are mental, thats one long climb

Placid

beautiful looking country that gore. no wonder you spend a month there.

Travis_Bickle

And I thought for a minute I was losing my mind when I posted that!

I'm doing a MTB course in a few weeks with a guy from Hebden Bridge that does tours out in Basque country in Spain. Like I say, not as popular as France, but a fair few do trips out there.

As for climbing, that's the best bit. Did three hours of it this morning, felt like it anyway. I swear every fucking road, track, trail and bridleway in Calderdale only goes uphill

Raposa

Doing Ingleborough this morning,then its Sunday dinner in the Old Hill Inn. ;)

Weather set fair..apparently!

king_of_the_slums

acceptable rambling vibe bender :lol:

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