Past activities and events

Arnside Knott (not) Ten Mile Ride!

A lady called Jan from Manchester stayed in Sue’s cottage with her horse (yes I know, not literally!) and there were a few ups and downs on the way to our meeting point. Not so much as to hit the front page of the Lancaster Guardian or Wessy Gazette, but Stella (the horse, 16.3, BIG and a personality to match) was one hell of a horse. There are only a few holes on Moss Lane! Just forget I mentioned it, and moving swiftly on…

We all gathered, the sun was in our favour and all the horses were calm and settled. There were eight of us in total, all assortments of shapes and sizes (including the horses!). We set off… Sue Clowes, our (very) intrepid explorer and guide shouted directions upward from her little Fell pony, Flight along the way toward Jan up in the nether echelons at the front. We travelled through pretty little villages, along high hedged windy lanes, through wooded vales, up and down undulating hillocks, padded leafy glens, under and over quaint railway lines, along ancient sunken roads and travelled vast open fields (courtesy of Sue asking a kindly farmer in preparation for the ride - that was ace, thanks Sue). We climbed and picked our way up dark forest paths to eventually reach the top of Arnside Knott where, waiting in the car park was our individual packed lunch served (with great finesse) by Tina. (Hooray we needed that!) Scrumptious and extremely well received.

I did hear a rumour that perhaps we were nearly home at this point!

The scenery had been wonderful all the way, but at the top of the Knott it was breathtaking. We didn’t have many hiccups (apart from after lunch!) but on the way back, one of the horses became lame and we sent for the horsebox. He was loaded and seemed fine. Hope he will be Ok.

We eventually got Holme (excuse the pun) and I know that both riders and horses will have slept very well that night! (I did tell my husband that “I may be gone for some time!”) We met a group of lovely people and got on really well, so much so, they want to come back to ride our favourite Fell- Farleton. No doubt we’ll be writing that ride up too.
Thanks for a lovely ride Sue, thanks for a scrummy packed lunch Tina and Hi to Jan and the others, if you ever tap into our website. Hope you all got home safely.

Sharon Cash