It was a mild day on 25th November as we started up from Totnes. We had a new member out, Simon Birtles from Totnes, who was fit. As we advanced into Bow, Kevin refused to climb up Corkscrew Hill because of its reputation of being a killer!

The day gently warmed up and people were soon in shorts and light tops. As we approached Dittisham up the steep climb, Rob managed to crunch up three spokes, so we arranged to meet Colin and Rob at the castle for lunch.

I decided to take everyone along a track which had very steep and rutted fields to go down. Kevin went mad as ever. Michael Jones spotted a grassy bank, so we had an early lunch. From our lunch spot we had a beautiful view of Old Mill Creek and of all the trees with their golden leaves – I took many photos that day.

Michael Cosgrove managed to pull a gate down as we started to wander towards Old Mill Creek down the rest of the track, which due to heavy rain in the past days had turned into a small river with four or five inches of water! Climbing up from the creek, most walked but those who cycled up found it very hard because of the steepness and damp leaves on the road.

Approaching College Hill at Dartmouth, Kevin and I had a burn up, my computer registered 52.4mph – not bad! We arrived at the Castle when Colin and Rob had just finished lunch and a rain shower started. We moved on towards the Higher Ferry when it stopped. We crossed on the ferry to the Kingswear side, then walked along the path which follows the Dart Valley Railway which takes one to Kingswear station.

We then split up: six of them went back to the Totnes area; Colin, Rob and I diverted and went along the coastal path which took us past the fire beacon near Mansands. We also got great sky and sea views from the headland. Having all had a nice day we then returned home early.

(Richard Wiseman)

[We have been unable to find attendance records for this period, so the attendance list for this event is incomplete]