Hotlegs on Tour - By Andy B

There was a distinct chill in the air at the traditional WMWG New Year weekend away, though North Devon was spared the snow that affected some parts of the country. The weekend officially began with a short hike from the picturesque village of Dunster with its beautiful narrow streets and castle, though some decided the 8am start from Birmingham was too much and made a more leisurely journey down to Lynton.

Everyone met up in the bar at the Sandrock Hotel for the New Years Eve party and not a single item of Gore-Tex in sight either! We tucked into the buffet that included a tasty fresh salmon and a bowl of Bombay-mix. It was then straight in to the New Years Eve celebrations, complete with the disco blasting out ‘poptastic' cheesy tunes. At midnight, as soon as we had exchanged the usual Happy New Year greetings, we were treated to a firework display in the hotel back garden. For 15 minutes, the Lynton skyline was lit up like a quite night in Baghdad. By the end of the display, most of us were happy to go back into the relatively warm hotel to finish off the evening, the last going to bed at about 2am.

Why? Why go on a WMWG weekend if you can't do the walks you might ask?! Well it's a great opportunity to introduce children to walking and another opportunity to go to a national park and enjoy outstanding scenery but just taking it at a different pace!

How? With careful planning and generally the car packed to the roof with a few extra items that might not have been in other people's cars e.g. 2 single pushchairs (one all terrain for off tarmac and one lightweight for tarmac paths), One littlelife back carrier (for when the lightweight pushchair unsuitable). Additional items to be taken on walks currently include formula milk, sterilised bottles, bibs, beaker with lid,, wipes, bags and change mat! Not forgetting suitable outdoor clothing for baby/toddler.

Lynton? Years Day morning in the glorious sunshine and blue skies we headed off to attempt to get to the Exmoor ‘chains burrow' summit but after a delayed start due to needing to return to car for more supplies and then loosing Jon's car key we had to take our planned escape route to the Boveys Tea shop at Simonsbath! The afternoon proved more successful with a nice circuit of Valley of Rocks with the 2 pushchairs! Somewhat more demanding than walking without the pushchairs but well worth it for the fantastic clear views across the sea.

Saturday 2nd January in the morning we did a great walk with all-terrain pushchair and back carrier up to Heddon's Mouth (location of photo) where Amy also enjoyed a toddle around the sea front. Then it was lunch at The Hunters Inn and off to walk the scenic sea front path from Valley of Rocks to Lynton with both pushchairs which also went very well.

Saturday evening we headed off again packed to the roof but having enjoyed a great couple of days.

So what's next? See you at Malham? We've already got the ‘Sigma Leisure All-Terrain Pushchair Walks Yorkshire Dales' on order!!

By Catherine N

New Year's Day and the group are still able to function relatively well on the energy stored up from all those Vodka Redbulls.