The Club Walk
Jul 26th, 2010 by Keith Chaloner
At 10 on a dry Sunday morning an augmented bunch of the usual suspects set off to partially circumnavigate Corfe Castle. We had maps in case we lost sight of the castle; well some of us had maps. We also had mobile phones in case of emergency; well some of us had phones and even some had them charged and switched on!
Soon after we had walked through the village and just after leaving the cemetery on our right, our path took us through a gate (someone said it was a kissing gate but I missed this pleasurable activity). After a leisurely stroll down the hill we discovered we had lost 2 of our number; I say ‘lost’, not in the sense of some catastrophic event that had taken them away permanently, merely in the sense of having temporally mislaid them. Perhaps more accurately, they mislaid us. It would be impolite to mention names here (but it was Norman and Colin).
Needless to say the absence of these two important members of our group occasioned some disquiet. This resulted in one of our number, who will again remain anonymous, (Maureen) actually accosting complete strangers to ask if they had seen two lost souls with cameras. This same anonymous member having scaled a very steep hill to scan the area, then announced she was going to search for them. She is clearly as fit as a flea; very impressive. In the event this selfless act was not necessary as the two lost souls came into view from an unexpected direction and so clearly unconcerned that they continued taking photographs as they approached.
We then learned that their absence was because ‘they were waiting for the light’ over the cemetery. This did not, however, seem an entirely plausible reason; there was plenty of light when the rest of us passed by.
However, the reunion showed that the controlled emotion shown by one the wives had really been concern and not elation over the prospect of life without ‘him’.
After this excitement the rest of the walk was uneventful except for celebrating the passage of the Swanage ‘flyer’ through the station in both directions.
By this time the Castle had been well and truly captured from almost every direction and viewpoint, all that was left was an excellent lunch at the ‘Halfway Inn’.
Thank you Eric for an enjoyable event.
Keith
Lost? We know not the meaning of the word!
Our intrepid heroes, without the benefit of maps, GPS or even mobile telephone reception, got to where we needed to be, by pure Britsh pluck and perseverance. Uphill, down dale, leaping over fences ……………. no obstacle was too much to be re-united with those partners and friends that had “Deserted us”.
Colin