I always look forward a CAMRA
walk in Christmas week, it gives me something to live for!
It’s the perfect opportunity to get away from that
claustrophobic, over-indulgent feeling and of course it’s
a few hours away from my demanding but adorable child.
It’s also an adventure with the people I like most.
This year was no exception as it proved to be highly
entertaining and exciting on several levels. It was one of
those life-changing events that makes you see things
differently.
We marched off at 10 a.m. winding our way along the river,
passing the lock to our first obstacle ‘The Bridge over
the River Trent’. We had to climb over no-go areas, sidle
along a wall hanging over the waters edge and finally climb
through fencing put there to deter even the most tenacious
of SAS men!
Feeling very pleased with ourselves at having overcome this
test of strength and mental agility, it then became apparent
that our true endurance test had only just begun.. listening
to Merf's jokes for the next hour and a half. Why, oh why
did I ever agree to do this? Then I remembered our goal, the
beer at the end of it all. |
It was then that my desperation and fear
turned to determination, I was on a mission; it was ‘Ice
Cold in a Village Six Miles Outside Newark’. My will power
and self-motivation kicked in and I was then on a quest of
self-fulfilment.
The iced-over puddles (it became a game of dare to see who
would be a goner first); slippery hills to climb (Peter fell
over walking on the path that led to the first descent, how
would he ever make it to the end?) and bridgeless dykes were
no match for this intrepid collection of brains and braun.
‘The Guns of Navarone’ would have been a mere folly for
us, a bit like circumnavigating a heaving pub when you’re
carrying twenty pints of beer! |
When we actually sat down with our first
pint it did not disappoint. Banks’s Bitter - what a sight
to behold! We then moved on to the newly named Muskham Inn
and indulged in the excellent Marstons
Pedigree, but more importantly drank them out of the
unsurpassable Hook
Norton Mild.
The beer flowed and our thoughts and conversation turned to
the most important things we had discovered on our trail...
“look where your going and you won’t end up in a cow
pat!”, and as we reflected on this in some depth I thought
about what I as an individual had learned from this and I
came to this mind blowing conclusion..
If I’d thought there was a pint of Batemans
XXXB waiting for me at the end of child birth I wouldn’t
have needed any pain killers!
Mrs Merf
Jan. '01
Newark CAMRA run several CAMRAMBLES a year. Anyone
interested in joining in, please email
for details.
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