Heathrow Hikers - Outdoor Group for West London

From the Editor
Report - Adventure Travel & Sports Show
Latest News - Relationship with Lvye Outdoor Group in China
Report - Geocaching (Heathrow Hikers' Bear)
Report - Brecon Beacons weekend
Internet Humour - Proud to be British
Looking Ahead
Contact / Submit details

Welcome to issue 4 of Compass. I'd like to start this month by saying how pleased I am that the recent efforts on publicity are beginning to pay off. It seems our varied programme of events is offering the types of challenges many of you want. To illustrate this I'd like to welcome three people who contacted us in January, Andy, Larry and Peter.

Irishman Andy found us by searching on the internet. Previously a member of the Scouts in Ireland, Andy loves wild camping and is also a fan of orienteering.

Larry is a local university student who saw one of our new posters and got in touch. A member of The Territorial Army (TA) for 3 years, Larry has enjoyed canoeing, sailing and cycling.

Finally Peter from Hillingdon got in touch very recently after seeing an article in his local paper and hopes to meet us at the New Members Evening.

If any member has ideas on publicity get in touch, we're keen to hear from you. Until next month, happy hiking!

A last minute change meant that we found ourselves making our way to London Olympia on Sunday rather than Saturday as planned. The Daily Telegraph Adventure Travel & Sports Show is the biggest of its kind in the UK with over 250 exhibitors (far too many to list). Dominated by travel companies trying to sell you adventure holidays in all sorts of locations the show also consisted of adventure book sellers, equipment shops and a couple of travel photography exhibitions.

Very soon after our arrival we saw the ice climbing wall and decided we simply had to have a go. With crampons on and an ice axe in each hand we scaled the wall without any problems though it did feel different to indoor wall climbing which we are more used to. As well as the ice wall you could have a go at a climbing wall, a paragliding simulator and even squeeze into a wetsuit, put on an airtank and have a go at diving.

Gary Ice Climbing - Photo by Zhang

Our main reason for visiting the show was to get ideas for future Heathrow Hikers' trips. We visited stall after stall, speaking to people and collecting leaflets. I had an interesting chat to the Intourist representative about Russia, a country I know quite well. We were getting on so well he even shared his bottle of vodka with us. Finally we decided to leave the show, weighed down with carrier bags full of information that will take weeks to wade through!

Zhang & Gary at show - Photo supplied by Zhang

Article submitted by Gary Box
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We are delighted to announce that we have formed a relationship with the Lvye Outdoor group in China. This group is one of the most popular in China and we hope the relationship will develop further over time. As part of the relationship members of Lvye visiting the UK are free to join Heathrow Hikers' events. The same applies to our members visiting China. Zhang will be visiting China during February to meet with members of Lvye.

Whilst it's still in the discussion stages we hope that sometime in 2006 or 2007 we will be organising a trip to China when we hope to meet our friends and enjoy some of the fantastic scenery the country has to offer.

Article submitted by Gary Box

I suppose for those that don't know I should explain what Geocaching is. Basically it's a game played by owners of GPS (Global Positioning Systems) devices. A GPS is an electronic device that communicates with satellites in order to tell you your exact location. The basic aim of Geocaching is to find hidden ‘caches’ using co-ordinates and/or clues given by the person who has hidden the cache.

A cache would typically contain a pen or pencil, a logbook (so you can log your visit) and small items like toys and coins. The contents of a cache changes over time as those who find it remove an item and replace it with something new. The game is made more interesting by the availability of objects that can be tracked. These objects are called Travel Bugs and normally take the form of a pair of dog tags. Once a Travel Bug has been given a name and a goal, the owner keeps one copy of the tag and places the other in a cache. The bug then travels the country or even the world, with the help of those who play Geocaching.

I've been playing the game for some time and my first travel bug called Beatle Bug has travelled to places including the Isle of Wight and America.

My latest travel bug is called Heathrow Hikers' Bear and was recently left in my new cache in Cranford Park. I'm hoping someone will take him soon and allow him to begin his adventures. Future issues of Compass will feature updates of his progress.

Heathrow Hikers' Bear - Photo by Gary Box

If anyone is interested in playing Geocaching or has any questions let me know.

Article submitted by Gary Box

Our hostel of choice for this trip advised us that they remained closed until Easter. Rather than look for an alternative we decided to change plans and make it a day trip. The route was traffic free and we stopped once for breakfast before arriving ready for our mountain bike ride. Once parked up and the bikes unloaded we set off on our 20 mile route. The Brecon Beacons is a great place to mountain bike and we plan to return soon to try out more of the routes on offer.

We made it back to the car by 2pm and after a spot of lunch we took the opportunity to change clothes. We then headed to the start of our afternoon walk, Blaen Lila car park. From the car park we headed north on the road following the course of the Afon Lila. Before long we found ourselves at the Maen Lila standing stone which is thought to have been erected in the Bronze Age.

Maen Lila standing stone - Photo by Gary Box

From here we backtracked 100 metres, climbed the stile and began the hike to the summit of Fan Nedd. We arrived at the cairn first which could easily be confused for the summit. We stopped to soak up the views and take some photographs before heading south to the trip point, the true summit of Fan Nedd. From the summit it's possible to see across the whole National Park.

Fan Nedd Trigpoint - Photo by Gary Box

Having made good time we decided to remain on the summit and just watch the light change as the afternoon ebbed away. Finally at 4pm we began the descent down reaching the car park an hour later. We'd packed quite a lot into the one day but with The Brecon Beacons being so close to London it's possible. If you fancy a trip to the area join us later in the year when we plan to organise a longer trip.

Article submitted by Gary Box

Be very proud to be British because .........

• Only in Britain can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
• Only in Britain do banks leave both doors open and chain the pens to the counter.
• Only in Britain do we leave our valuable cars on the drive whilst keeping our junk and lawn mower in the garage.
• Only in Britain are there disabled parking spaces in front of a skating rink.
• Only in Britain do supermarkets make sick people walk all the way to the back of the shop to get their prescription while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
  

Chinese New Year Celebrations Sunday 13th Feb.

Ever experienced a Chinese New Year? Why not come along when we join London's Chinese community in their celebrations. See Lion dancing, acrobats, martial arts, music and fireworks. Day ends with dim sum meal in Chinatown.

Orienteering in West Sussex Sunday 6th March

If your map and compass skills could do with a refresher why not come along and have a go at orienteering. A keen interest of new member Andy, you can expect to see this activity appear quite often in 2005.

Easter Weekend in Peak District

This Easter we will be spending 4 nights at Edale Youth Hostel. As well as some great walks, you can expect mountain biking, rock climbing and kayaking.

If you have any articles or images you wish to contribute to the next issue of Compass please email them to Gary.

Please try and submit articles as early as possible but not later than the 3rd week of the month if you wish it to appear in the subsequent issue.

Thanks.