"Remembrance Day Service, Top of Great Gable 2006" Personal Page by into-thin-air

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Nina, Leading the field going up Styhead Pass

As Some of your already know, I Try to get up to The Top of Great Gable for The Remembrance Day Service every year, I lay a wreath for my local branch of The Royal British Legion and consider this to be a Great Honour
I usually take a group of friends with me, Some Doctors that work for the same "Out of Hours" service that I drive for and a Hotelier Friend of mine form Whitehaven to mention a few.
This year I put a posting on companions2travel to see if anyone wanted to come along with me and Nina from Kent "Volunteered" to join me :-)

A Quick Break on the way Up

Nina had agreed to meet up with myself and the rest of the party that was going up to The Top of Great Gable for The Remembrance Day Service at my home, As It was an early start, 07.15, I had said that if she came around about 07.00 the she would be welcome to some toast and coffee. Well the phone rang and it was Nina to say that she was locked into he hotel where she was staying, So I rang the hotel and the landlady had to get up to let Nina out :-).
So Nina arrived in time for a coffee, then we set off for Wasdale Head and The start of the walk, a total number of five of us, Andy and Pim, two Doctors (Handy) from the Egremont area , Andrew, a Hotelier from Whitehaven, Nina from Kent and Myself. The day was fine but overcast, we parked the cars at the little green at Wasdale Head and started the accent, 2997 feet in total !!
The way starts off gently as you pass the ancient church of Saint Olaf, said to be the Smallest Church in England, then through the farm yard of Burnthwaite and along the valley bottom next to Styhead Beck, after about a mile or so you go through the intake gate and out onto the open fell and start the pull up Styhead Pass, The first photos is Nina leading the way up the Pass. Then the second is of a quick break to have a drink of water.
After about an hour and a half after leaving the car we reached "The Mountain Rescue Box" at the Top of Styhead Pass and had another quick break before joining the human snake up the top, Unfortunately the weather Deteriorated and it started to rain a little and got Very Cold. But eventually we reached the summit, the Memorial Plaque and the Service of Remembrance. There was approximately 1,000 people there and that wasn't bad when you consider that it is an isolated Lakeland fell in the grip of winter!!
The Service is a None religious, None Denominational, None Political one to Remember ALL the Dead from All Conflicts. It is conducted by a member of "The Fell and Rock Club" who originally bought that land that It is held on as a fitting Memorial to their members who were killed in "The Great War" and then handed over in perpetuity to The National Trust so to give Free Access to All.
After the service we made our way down, back to the cars, then a quick freshen up and then to Muncaster Church (Originally The Church of Muncaster castle) for The Royal British Legion Service of Remembrance, followed by Tea and Home-Made cake provided by the Ladies of the parish.
Both Nina and Myself and the rest of our little group Really Enjoyed the day.

I think that Nina Deserves a lot of Praise for reaching the Top of Great Gable, as what I consider to be a fairly easy jaunt up a Lakeland Fell isn't necessarily so simple for someone else, particularly someone that isn't used to Fell Walking and the like :-)

Three routes converge at Styhead Tarn

If you are interested and want to take a look at some more Photographs and video clips from this year as well as ones from previous years and also a voice recording that I did for the BBC in 2003 then take a look on The Wasdale Web
Thank You for taking the time to read this.
If you would like to come along yourself next year then please drop me a line and we will see what we can arrange
All the Best
Rob

Almost halfway Now :-)

The Summit of Great Gable @ 2997 feet

Others at Remembrance Day Service approach Summit

Nina + The Human Snake winds their way slowly down

Styhead Tarn comes back into view on the way down

Page Updated Nov 17, 2006
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Comments (265)

ukirsari Apr 12, 2012 at 2:16 AM Report Abuse

i would like to say hi to my dearly old friend :) hi rob! we just back from ladakh range and got splendid time in there. then weekend on paris. how are you? hoping everything doing fine. happy belated easter!
Dwirty Feb 1, 2012 at 9:37 AM Report Abuse

What a gem stumbling onto your site/blog re. Nepal - it is great thank you! We will certainly follow your advice on the 3-4 day guide for Kathmandu Valley. Can I please get your advice, we will be travelling with 3 young children (2, 4 & 7 years) & whether the Bhaktapur & Nagarkot overnight trips you mentioned would be manageable for the little ones (i.e. not too much walking)? The children are NZ'ers living in India so are used to movie-star type attention! Many thanks, Andrea
tsunami99 Jan 25, 2012 at 12:00 PM Report Abuse

I also believe that only by walking through a given place, may you get a genuine picture of what life is like there.
Thanks for sharing!
I would like to find someone willing to hike through the South of Argentina with me, see the glaciers and many etceteras and eventually cross over to the Falkland Islands.
VT_Tipoftheday Jan 25, 2012 at 11:59 AM Report Abuse

Rob! I wish your page, "How Many days does it take to Safely trek ABC?" had a better quality photo, since it's definitely Tip of the Day material! Keep up the great work!

Blake
moonstride Jan 25, 2012 at 9:47 AM Report Abuse

Thanks Rob for your quick response and advice! Your reviews, photos, and videos are very helpful. Cheers, Darren
pudsel Jan 11, 2012 at 11:31 PM Report Abuse

hi Rob cheers for these pages and all your advice,my adventure is about to begin .it should be a little easier thanks to these pages .many thanks
angiebabe Dec 24, 2011 at 11:59 PM Report Abuse

Hi and Merry Christmas Rob - have a great day today and all the best for 2012! Am thrilled with a new wallet someones given me for Christmas so my protector-wallet can have a break now until my next trip!
benhanna9 Nov 16, 2011 at 2:04 PM Report Abuse

Whats up Rob was looking at that Mystery Object post from Nepal...not sure if you figuered it out yet but its a Solar Parabolic Heater for water - Solar Cooker
mamtap Nov 16, 2011 at 2:18 AM Report Abuse

Thank you very much for your Birthday Greeting, Rob .....Hapi Travellin...Regards frm India :)
JaneTelAviv Nov 12, 2011 at 7:03 AM Report Abuse

Thank you Rob for your excellent travel tips and advice and for the time you have taken to respond to a whole set of queries that I sent you privately regarding the ABC hike. This is a great service to fellow travelers.