It’s again that time of year, more festive than normal with an unexpected covering of snow. I for one hope that there will be some good snowy days this winter, more like the old days.

The Fell Walking Club has had a mixed sort of year, starting off with high numbers but tapering off until the last two walks were poorly attended. November’s walk which should have been to the Eden Valley and Cross Fell was switched to Teesdale, since after the flooding the last thing the authorities wanted was a coach load of walkers stranded. Those that went to Teesdale had a good day, wet at the end but walkers in this country cannot afford to be put off by the weather. As often happens, when there has been a poorly attended walk the following walk is also poor as people tend to lose momentum so Decembers walk in Swaledale only had 22 on the coach.

The club finances are good and can stand to support poorly attended walks, but only for so long. For 2010 the Sports and Social Club have agreed to continue their subsidy of £500 and the Prize Draw has made around £400 but we cannot allow our reserves to dwindle and the cost of transport is almost certain to increase because of increased fuel. Because of this it was decided at the AGM to increase the fare to £9 per trip but to leave the membership unchanged at £5.