May 2024 – Winster
The 17th to 20th May saw the pheasants attend the 2nd Annual Pheasant Away Weekend. This year, in honour of the 110th Centenary of members Andy & Adrian, the troop migrated to the pleasant village of Winster in the Derbyshire Dales, not far from last year’s location. Three teams were assembled for the journey there, with all three arriving unscathed for 4pm on the Friday. This was followed by a brief recce of the wonderful Winster Hall accommodation and local amenities.
With Tim and Tom already slated to share a particular room, ancient civilisations looked on in awe as complicated voting systems and lobbying procedures took place to determine the residents of the the remaining rooms, some of which were considerably more salubrious than others. Once accomplished, thoughts soon turned to that evening’s dinner, with next day’s breakfast also high on the culinary agenda. After ruminating over a pint of Farmer’s in The Old Bowling Green (4.6 stars), which would become the pheasant office for the weekend, it was decided to acclimatise to local conditions with a short sharp walk up the nearest hill to The Miners Standard (4.5 stars) for the evening meal, drinks and general pleasantries while the following day’s walk was discussed.
Day 2 started with a wonderfully cooked breakfast over the Aga, overseen by chef Bellars, while young Jaggard once again decided to run round the local area for an unfathomed act of masochism. Leaving the Hall fully fed and at 10.45 sharp, the pheasants tackled the immediate steep incline (“The Pheasants’ Demise”) and were soon revisiting breakfast as the terrain became nigh well vertical. To offset this cruel episode, the weather once again turned up trumps with a fully sunny day throughout and carrying on as such all weekend.
Once at the top of the hill the walk became considerably more enjoyable, with stunning views on the route to the village of Bonsall. Here the party undertook an unexpected stop in the church of St James the Apostle (4 stars), which did a trade in an enjoyable selection of WI inspired snacks, even taking card payments. Lulled by the tranquil repose, the pheasants set off in high spirits but were soon faced with a vicious climb out of the village and an incline that rivalled the north face of the Eiger. Expletives, falls and navigational errors littered the rest of the afternoon, and with spirits and stamina fading fast the group split into two parties to find their way back to base. Those taking the longer circuitous route had to contend with Creeky’s continuous exhortations that they were only ever “21 minutes from home”, despite taking well over an hour of trudging through hostile and waterlogged paths before limping back into Winster. More medicinal pints of Farmers were consumed in The Old Bowling Green while the flock tried to recover from the shell-shock they had suffered from a truly gruelling first day’s walk.
Sunday saw a much shorter and sedate meander outing (the “The Pleasant Pheasant”) timed expertly to arrive in Birchover for opening time at The Red Lion (4.6 stars). The walk took in The Miners Standard again before heading back to the Hall and a leisurely afternoon enjoying the sumptuous garden. Dinner consisted of a triumphant curry (delivered from Matlock) and enjoyed in the regal dining hall. The weekend flew by and Monday saw some of the pheasants visit Bakewell for one last taste of Derbyshire before heading home with tall tales of hills, falls and adventures with which to regale all and sundry.
