Category: Member Posts

On a couple of occasions in the last month or so, the heaters in the main dorm and in the dining area have been tampered with, rendering them inoperable. In each case, we have had to call out an electrician to repair and replace the damaged parts at a cost of £95. Steve and I are puzzled as to why people need to mess about with the heaters. They are easy to operate – the first press of the ‘BOOST’ button will give 15 minutes heat, the second press 30 minutes, the third 1 hour, the fourth 2 hours. Once set, the timer counts down to zero. A fifth press returns the timer to zero. We will be putting instruction notices by each heater in the hope that we can avoid any further damage and expense.

The scheduled meet at Beudy on the weekend of 5/6 April is not now taking place.

Dave Sinclair, a good friend to many in the Rucksack Club and Black and Tans, has sadly passed away peacefully at his home in France. Dave was a very accomplished caver and climber and an active member of the club for many years. Dave left the club when he and his wife Eunice moved permanently to France however there was always a warm welcome at their home when on climbing trips to Provence and the Alps. Dave will be greatly missed and our thoughts are with Eunice and their son Stephen. Rob Ferguson

I’ve had a couple of enquiries from BMC clubs wanting to book Beudy for that weekend, one of them exclusively. They seem to be organised well in advance. Although Andy Tomlinson has a Meet at the same time, it is at Craigallan and some people might not be able to ‘get up there’. I’ve spoken to Andy and he has no problem with an ‘alternative’ meet at Beudy. One option is a lads/dads/girls/mums gathering. Is anyone up for organising anything? Other options include Club Members getting off their backsides and doing something at Beudy! If not, I’ll let another somebody else use the hut. Seems a shame though. Yours provocatively, Bill

Apart from the weekend of the 16th and 17th March, Beudy is empty. Get out there!

Pictures of Club and member activities for the last 4 months of 2023 are now in the Gallery section of the website. Thanks to all members who submitted photos and click on the link below for easy access.  The Rucksack Club Gallery

Many thanks to all who responded so quickly to the request for advice about the driveway on the left hand side of the hut. We will be looking at your suggestions and recommendations and will hope to come up with a solution that balances the various issues involved, including cost, frequency of use, aesthetics, the National Park and local authority planning. Thanks again. Bill and Steve.

Steve Gregory and I have been looking at how best we can prevent this sort of thing happening at Beudy. Maybe something like a plastic mesh/grid like they have at Stanage Popular end car parking area. Has anybody had any experience of this kind of product, bearing in mind the ground slopes up from the road? Thanks.

The catch up video from Tuesday’s Double Bill Zoom show is now available, in case you missed this brilliant evening’s entertainment. Dr Cath Flitcroft, The BMC’s lead on all things access and sustainability related, gave us a whistle stop tour of all the activities that The BMC is undertaking to support a more sustainable, bio-diverse and carbon-neutral outdoors, and ideas for actions that we as individuals and as a Club can take. Inspiring to see so much good work taking place, much of it under-the-radar, from Moorland conservation to biodiversity in the BMC’s eight crags, and litter-picking to behaviour nudging and path repairs. A few takeaways for easy-to-do actions we could all take: – how about giving your no-longer-used gear a new home? Check out the Old Gear Directory https://www.thebmc.co.uk/where-can-I-reuse-repair-recycle-my-outdoor-climbing-hiking-gear – try out The BMC’s lift sharing app next time you Get Out There! https://liftshare.com/uk/community/bmc – buy a square metre of sphagnum moss and do your bit for our marvellous moorlands and delivering next-zero Buy 1 sqm of Sphagnum to save the Moorlands Watch the video for loads more inspiring ideas! Talking of inspiration, Will Pitt and Tom Derrick’s trip report of Dollies and Follies was all the encouragement you[…]