Sunday 1st February 2026 – A Dirty Weekend
The walk started from home, heading through Holmbrook Valley Park and on into Cutthorpe village. While we were there, Wendy suggested we cut through the wood as it would make the route a bit more interesting. She was right, although none of us realised quite how interesting it would turn out to be.
We continued on to Barlow where we stopped for a welcome coffee break. After that we headed out across the open fields and by then the recent rain was making itself known. The mud was getting thicker and stickier with every step and boots were getting heavier by the minute.
We passed Newgate Farm and were watched by some very pleasant cows, then carried on through even more mud towards the hamlet of Prattor. Our leader had his photo taken in front of the Pratt sign and was promptly blamed for all the mud we had met along the way.
From there we dropped down across the fields to Linacre Reservoir, then worked our way back to Cutthorpe and the Three Merry Lads pub. We were given a warm welcome and kindly allowed to eat our lunch inside, which was much appreciated given the state of us all.
A short stroll brought us back to the starting point where Roy and the bus were waiting. Considering the conditions it was quite a surprise that only one person took a fall all day. Sadly it was her first walk with us, but we are hoping it will not be her last..
