Hertfordshire Mountaineering Club

HMC – February 2017 Update

Dear HMC Members

Welcome to your February 2017 club update

News in Brief

  • The HMC went to the Lake District in January
  • Membership renewals for the new 2017 season – renew by 15th February to get your BMC ‘Summit’ magazine
  • Our next trip is to the Black Mountains, south Wales on 11/12 February. Don’t forget to book your place.
  • The AGM is set for the evening of 4 April at Cotswold in St Albans – Please do come along and support your club if you can
  • Summer alpine trip – we are looking for suggestions for a location and an organizer – Can you help?
  • Can you help promote the HMC? we’re looking for new ideas to help promote the club – Can you help?

Where have we been lately?

In January the HMC went to High House in Seathwaite in the Lake District. Despite being early January, the mild weather had not allowed any snow to accumulate on the hills so we packed away our ice axes and crampons. The ground was soggy with mist on the upper reaches of the fells leaving little to see on the windy summits. Over the weekend, groups of HMC walkers managed to summit Esk Pike, Great Gable, Scafell, Glaramara, Seathwait fell and High Raise to name but a few. Many thanks to Jane for organising a great weekend.

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, outdoor and nature

 The HMC on a misty Seathwaite Fell

HMC Membership 2017 – Important Information

Club renewals are due by 31st March. Please note that in order to receive your spring edition of the BMC magazine, Summit, please renew your membership by the 15th of February 2017. The £22 membership fee covers the BMC subscription fee and will also help the club to maintain a healthy financial position to continue to support future events for its members.

If you are renewing your membership for 2017, fees can be paid by:

  •  e-bank transfer to the HMC account (Barclays) (SC 20-74-09) (AC 90371467) – please notify the treasurer by email
  • sending a cheque made payable to the Hertfordshire Mountaineering Club (not HMC) to the treasurer or secretary
  • cash given to committee members at the pub socials/events

Please note that if any of your contact details have changed over the last 12 months, please complete a HMC membership form and send it to the Secretary together with your membership fee. Keeping your information updated will avoid potential issues with any BMC insurance policy you may have.

As a demonstration of support for our mountain rescue services in 2017, the HMC is offering the option to make an additional discretionary contribution of £3 as part of the membership renewal which will be given to a nominated mountain rescue charity. The contribution will be entirely optional. If you wish to make a contribution please add £3 to your membership fee.

 

Upcoming Events

The Dragon’s Back Bunkhouse, The Black Mountains – 10th-12th February

The Dragons Back ( formerly The Castle Inn ), is the highest pub in the Brecon Beacons National Park, a Country Inn with plenty of accommodation, b&b rooms, bunkhouses, Shepherds hut and a campsite.

Located in a glorious valley, over 1000ft above sea level in The Black Mountains – part of The Brecon Beacons National Park. Ideally situated for the local towns of Brecon, Hay on Wye & Crickhowell.

A whole host of activities are available on our doorstep, and you can mountain bike – The killer loop, or hike a huge variety of walks straight from the Inn . The whole of The Black Mountains are literally on our doorstep.

The pub provides generous servings of very tasty home cooked food, a fine selection of local real ales, with a huge log fire on one side of the pub, and a lovely log burning stove with leather sofas to sit on. The HMC has booked the 10 bed bunkroom.

HMC Social at the Three Horseshoes from 8:30pm – Tuesday 28 February

The HMC pub social is at the Three Horseshoes as usual from 8.30pm in the main bar at the Three Horseshoes, 612 Hatfield Road, Smallford, St Albans, Hertfordshire AL4 0HP. Come along and have a catch up with fellow members, make arrangements for trips, talk about your last adventures and meet prospective members.

 

Snowdonia Annual Dinner:  Tan Yr Wyddfa Hut – 24th-26th March

Join us for the Annual Dinner to celebrate Eddie’s 80th birthday. A long time member – climber, cyclist and walker- come and help us celebrate Eddie turning 80 but still as active as the average 50 year old! Join the party!

Tan Yr Wyddfa, mountaineering hut in Snowdonia, is at Rhyd Ddu.  On a clear day you can see the top of Snowdon and you can walk from here all the way to the summit on the well marked Rhyd Ddu path.

The hut is also a superb base for walks onto the Nantlle ridge, Moel Hebog, Mynydd Mawr and Yr Aran.  There is a pub, a café and a Welsh Highland Railway station close by.  Beddgelert is five miles away. The hut is well placed for climbing  – being within easy driving distance of Tremadog, the Moelwyns, the Llanberis pass and most other popular mountains crags and paths within central Snowdonia.   If you want to climb on Cloggy, you can walk there! HMC has the use of three bedrooms which  sleeps 16 people in bunk beds. The hut has its own car park adjacent to the hut, which accommodates 10 cars.

HMC Annual General Meeting – St Albans Cotswold Store – from 6:30pm – 4 April 2017

We’ll be holding the next AGM on Tuesday 4th April from 6:30pm in the Cotswold store as usual. Each of the elected committee will be reporting back to the membership about the club and we invite all members to come and participate and have your say in how the club is run. The minutes of the 2016 AGM can be found by clicking here.

 

Glencoe Independent Hostel, Scotland – Easter Trip – 13-18 April

HMC has booked the Alpine bunkhouse for our sole use. 5 nights accommodation . Sleeps 16. Plenty of free parking. Very close to the famous Clachaig Inn.

The Alpine Bunkhouse is just yards away from the main Hostel and was originally a barn on the farming croft. A major refurbishment of the building has taken place and now offer 3 heated bedrooms sleeping up to 16  (all bed linen is provided free of charge).

The bunkhouse facilities include a communal area for dining, relaxing and cooking as well as access to the site drying room with commercial de-humidifier and wifi in reception.  The bunkhouse has 3 wc’s and 4 wash hand basins inside and another 2 wc’s, 2 showers and 3 wash hand basins accessed externally.

 

Pembrokeshire (camping) – 28 April to 1 May 2017

A club favourite is the trip to Pembrokeshire where climbers can experience the thrill of sea cliff climbing and walkers can explore the rugged coast line. More details to follow in the March Update

 

Summer Alpine Trip

Every year the HMC  arrange a 2 week trip to a European destination to experience some of the bigger mountains. In recent years we have been to Corvara in the Dolomites to try out the Via Ferrta, Aiguille d’Argentiere for attempts on Mont Blanc, Gressoney Saint-Jean for Monta Rosa range, and Lauterbrunnen valley for the famous peaks of the Eiger, JungFrau and Monch. We would like to request any suggestions for locations to go for 2017 to and a meet organiser to find and book a suitable campsite.  Please send your suggestions to thecommittee@thehmc.co.uk

Can you help promote the HMC?

It is a challenging time for BMC clubs. With online websites offering people the opportunity to experience outdoor walks without having to join a club, BMC clubs are noticing a drop in memberships. Do you have any ideas to help support the club? If you have a bit of time to help support the promotion of the HMC the committee would be interested in hearing your ideas. We would love to get some support for the design and production of posters for local shops and climbing walls, gyms and community centres, helping out with generating content for the website and any other ideas to help promote the club. Please contact the committee if you feel you could help. thecommittee@thehmc.co.uk

That’s it for now….

Hope to see you all at the next club trip

All the best

Steve Deaville

HMC Secretary

Follow us on Twitter:@HertsMC
Sign Up to our Facebook page