Heathrow Hikers - Outdoor Group for West London

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Update - Heathrow Hikers' Bear
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Report - Winter Adventure in Snowdonia
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February was a quiet month for the group, just one day walk and a winter weekend to Snowdonia. In many ways February is a strange month, the country is still in the grip of winter and by then many of us are tired of the short days and lack of colour.

Luckily spring is just around the corner, and with its arrival many hikers begin to consider coming out of hibernation to enjoy the outdoors again.

Our incredible run of good luck could not last forever and sadly this particular day walk was a wet affair. Led by Zhang, about a dozen of us left Richmond station heading for Richmond Green. Here Zhang showed us the site of Richmond Palace, built by Henry VII in 1501.

We passed Richmond Hill, with one of the best views of The Thames, often painted by Turner and the only view in the UK to be protected by an Act Of Parliament. The area seemed to be one Zhang knew fairly well, often during the walk he would stop and point something out.

The walk took us to the church of St. Peter where Zhang pointed out the grave of the navigator and explorer, George Vancouver. The city of Vancouver in Canada was named after him and his grave is maintained with the help of money donated by the people of Vancouver, Canada.

Captain George Vancouver's grave - Photo by Gary Box

The original plan had been to walk to Hammersmith along the river but due to the weather we decided to instead end the walk in Richmond. Passing Richmond Bridge we returned to the station where some took trains home. The rest of us decided to go for a drink in Molly Malone's. We had also hoped to get a meal but unfortunately they were not serving on this Sunday. Once the pints were downed most of us continued towards Kew where we found somewhere to eat Sunday Roast.

Once the meal was over we all said our farewells and headed in different directions for what remained of our Sunday afternoon.

Article submitted by Gary Box

Unfortunately February was another inactive month for our Bear, the poor thing having to spend the entire month in the Travelbug Travelodge cache. Hopefully in March, with the arrival of spring, Geocachers will start getting outside again and our bear will begin his travels again.

Article submitted by Gary Box

This was to be a Hikers weekend with a bit of a difference, as we decided to go a bit upmarket with our accommodation. The delightful stylised village of Portmeirion, on the Snowdonia coastline, boasts numerous and intriguing buildings fashioned in a mixture of architectural styles ranging from Italian baroque to Welsh romantic - it's a beguiling location and a beautiful backdrop to a stunning winter walking weekend.

Reasonable departure times from London meant that we were able to make the most of a cosy and relaxing evening in our fine self-catering cottage. Crisp bed sheets, sparkling bathrooms, fluffy towels and cosy sofas quickly make you forget a busy week at work.

We were exceptionally lucky this weekend, and were blessed with crisp, cold weather and snow underfoot in the Snowdonia hills. This particular fall of snow, had been Snowdonia's heaviest in a few years and the to Pen-y-Pass on the Saturday morning was exceptionally exciting; we were entering a winter wonderland.

The good weather forecast for the weekend, gave us ample opportunity to aim high and stay high and our route from Capel Curig up over Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr opened our eyes to some classic winter views of the Snowdon range, Tryfan and the Carneddau. The snow was deep above 800m and was a new walking experience for some, it certainly changes the way one has to move over the terrain.

We saw fantastic rime ice on the Glyders, creating beautiful shapes and patterns on the rocks. The wind was quite high on the way back down to Pen-y-Pass, but we dropped quickly below the snowline and made a beeline for the fab mugs of tea at the car park café. I seem to remember even cooking the boys dinner on the Saturday evening; I must have been in a good mood. We relaxed in the comfort of the cottage and the wine tasted surprisingly good.

Sunday saw an equally pleasant and varied walk over Yr Arddu towards the 'Welsh Matterhorn' that is Cnicht - an alluring little peak that again was beautifully snow-capped. The heathery and rocky ground below Cnicht would make for a fab wild camping spot - so remember that one! The weather was slightly more unstable on Sunday, and our topping out on Cnicht was, alas, in the cloud and rain. But, magically the weather system moved aside just in time to bless us with a sunny and warm descent back to Nantgwynant.

Monday morning gave us an opportunity to explore the eccentricities of Portmeirion, spying where scenes from 'The Prisoner' were filmed. The architect and town-planner, Sir Clough Williams-Ellis built this unique development between 1925 - 1975 with a view of being able to develop a naturally beautiful site without destroying the surrounding native environment. He also wanted to open our eyes to the sterility and unimaginativeness of much new building that passes for architecture today.

Certainly the winter landscapes and dreamlike presence of the pastel coloured buildings in this remarkable location made for a fairy-tale weekend of sparkling relaxation.

Article submitted by Kate Stroud

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.