South Lakes and North Lancs Annual Treasure Hunt Tandem club ride. Theme – pirates, why? Because they aargh!

What a wet and windy summer we have had here in the Lake District! It was with some trepidation that four tandems set out from Kendal Leisure centre. The forecast had been dreadful earlier in the week but we held our nerve and went ahead with the ride. We dodged a couple of deluges at the start of our treasure hunt, had a couple of showers en route but largely we missed the rain and ended in sunshine for prize giving at Wilfs café in Staveley.

Setting off along the route of the old canal, we crossed the river Kent on the new bridge by Gooseholme park. Who knew that the market place in Kendal was formerly called Cheapside and Mercer Lane and received its charter in 1189? Well we all did by the end of the day. There used to be a dungeon called ‘the black hole’ for wrong doers and Todd drew a map of Kendal in 1787.

Heading north out of Kendal, we crossed the river Sprint and rode up the beautiful and quiet valley of Longsleddale. It feels remote and the scenery is stunning as hills and vale reveal themselves. The literal translation from old English is ‘long valley valley’ – and long it is with 6 miles to the start of the gravel track over to Hawes water on the Gatescarth Pass. We retraced our steps to the church and our intrepid pirates searched for answers whilst we ate our sandwiches. Rough Fell and Swaledale sheep graze in these parts and whilst there wasn’t much sun to tell the time on the sundial war memorial, we all had a different number for ‘How many Agnes are there buried in the churchyard?’ The church was set up for ‘Champing’ with camp beds, torches and blankets for a quiet and possibly slightly spooky nights sleep. A quick google revealed it as one of only 2 churches in Cumbria that you can ‘champ’ overnight and its not cheap but what a valley! Old farms, bank barns, curious signposts and a quirky castle style garage, scribed with the signs of the zodiac mystified our intrepid pirate treasure hunters until all was revealed. Somewhere along the route we lost our paper parrot and some bits of bedraggled, waterlogged bunting. Our victorious winners Steve and Jeanette were awarded with this year’s trophy and praise for best dressed bike.

Returning to Kendal and crossing our 3^rd river of the day the Mint we had covered 33 miles. It wasn’t quite the summer picnic we had planned but we were dry by the time we got back to the car park.

Keep your diary clear for next year’s treasure hunt ride!

Tish and Jasper