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View of the Annapurna Massif Range from Poon Hill

Dot with her son and friends in Nepal

NEWS AND EVENTS

News

Please note that all Walking Group forms are now accessible from the "Forms" link at the bottom of each page.

Hill Skills Courses
The committee are pleased offer the opportunity for 15 members of MFCG to attend a two day Hill Skills course in the spring of next year.

The courses are free to members following a successful application to the Manx Lottery Trust and are open to all members of MFCG, however a £20 registration fee is required to be paid by each individual.

The two day course will be run by Dr Andrew Foxon of Go-Mann Adventures and consist of three different dates with 5 participants on each course. One of the courses will be run over a weekend to accommodate our working members and the other two courses will take place during the week.

The Hill Skills course is run in conjunction with guidelines by Mountain-Training and is aimed at improving and enhancing the enjoyment of walking in the hills and countryside, understanding equipment and basic navigation skills.

Details of the course can be found here - https://www.mountain-training.org/personal-skills/hill-and-mountain-skills/hill-skills

The course is designed for all abilities and we would like to encourage any of our walkers who enjoy both short or longer distances to consider undertaking the course.

The course dates next year:

• Wednesday 25th / Thursday 26th March 2020
• Saturday 4th / Sunday 5th April 2020
• Monday 4th / Tuesday 5th May 2020

 If you would like to participate in one of these excellent courses, please reply to Ken at manxfootpathschair@gmail.com expressing an interest and a preferred course date. Should the courses be over-subscribed, the participants will be selected following the Manx Lottery Trust grant guidelines.  

Dot’s adventures in Nepal
Dot Winrow recently returned from  an exciting holiday in Nepal and kindly agreed to write about her adventures. Thank you Dot, for sharing your memories with us and providing us with a taste of this  fascinating country (and some photographic evidence!).

“I have recently returned from a wonderland five week visit to Nepal.  I travelled with my son, his partner and two of his friends.  Our trip included a thirteen night trek in the beautiful Annapurna Conservation Area of the Himalayas (with a soak in natural hot springs on day six), a three day rafting/two nights camping trip, a stay in the Chitwan National Park area (no sighting of a Bengal tiger, unfortunately, but we saw other wildlife and there was a lovely cultural evening of traditional dance) and stays in Kathmandu (with its World Heritage sites but also so much dust and traffic) and lovely Pokhara (the touristy part of the city by Lake Phewa). 

Our trek covered part of the Annapurna Sanctuary Trek and part of the Mardi Himal Trek.  We had a guide for the first six days and our two porters for the whole trek.  Countless steps and boulders were encountered on route with hardly anything flat.  I especially found the first four days a true test of stamina.  The reward, of course, was the amazing scenery. The mountain scenery is stunning with magnificent views of the beautiful snow-capped mountains.  We passed tiny villages and tea houses and walked through rhododendron forests.  We crossed rivers via long suspension bridges and saw so many beautiful waterfalls.  The terraced fields of the farmland were another beautiful sight.  The sunrise at Poon Hill (3,200m) on the third morning provided incredible views of the Annapurna and Dhaulagiri ranges and of Mustang, Pokhara and many more tall mountain peaks! 

Our accommodation was a mix of hotels and tea houses and varied in standard but all provided magnificent views.  Food was generally delicious but far better in the tea houses when it was cooked just for us.  Dal Bhat (white rice (bhat) and lentils (dal) plus a vegetable curry, a mixture of pickled vegetables, cooked greens, cucumber and a papadum all served on a large metal tray) was never the same twice.  Homemade alcoholic raksi (made from rice or millet) was always very good!

The Nepali people were very friendly.  Children everywhere were keen to say “Hello” or “Namaste” and frequently asked your name and where you were from.

There were many special moments.  One favourite stay was at the Gurung (one of the many indigenous nationalities in Nepal – Gurung Bread is so good) village of Lwang Ghalel (1,460m  - famous for organic Himalayan tea farming and canyoning).  Here the family were especially welcoming.  Danny and his partner got to try carrying a full bamboo Doko basket, much to the delight of screaming school children passing by on a bus. 

Dhampus (1,650m, twinned with Brecon, Wales) is memorable as we arrived just in time to see the winner of the 42km Golden Trail World Series event come in.  There was a great atmosphere with Nepalese and Tibetan musicians, ladies in local costume, local school children present and, of course, plenty of supporters.  The sunrise was spectacular too.

Happy memories.  I was sad when my stay in Nepal came to an end.”

ROY CASTLE LUNG CANCER FOUNDATION – IOM branch
 A huge THANK YOU!  to all our members who have helped the fund by making a donation each time they walked during the week of 4th – 11th November.  You lovely people helped raise £236.15 for the charity.  Ken and Lesley have now handed over the cheque to the local organiser, Jane Hibbert at their Onchan Office (everyone is welcome to call in for a coffee and a chat between 10am – 3pm, Tuesday – Thursday). 

The following paragraph written by the charity gives a little information about the aims of the Foundation, specifically within the Island.  Once again, thank you all for your generous donations. 

“Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation was originally set up as the Lung Cancer Fund on the island in 1991 by our founder and thoracic surgeon, Professor Ray Donnelly. Prof. Donnelly operated on many Manx residents over the years, including Barry Cooper, husband of Mildred, who served as the president of the Isle of Man Lung Cancer Fund committee for nearly 20 years.
Following discussions with lung cancer specialists and patients living on the Isle of Man, it became clear our support was urgently needed and we are proud to now be a formally registered charity on the island, with an office based in Onchan and we already have a patient support group running on a monthly basis at the Lisa Lowe centre as well as an awareness project in the island schools. 

We are hoping to recruit staff and volunteers as we grow to enable the office and small shop to be accessible as many days as possible so if you feel that you may be able to help with either office cover or fundraising, please contact Jane on 672971”.

We have a new risk assessment form!  A message from our Chairman, Ken Harding
A user friendly, simplified and interactive risk assessment form is now available for walk leaders to complete for all walks. 

The new form contains all the vital information required and is easily completed by typing into boxes where necessary; selecting drop down menus and tick boxes. On completing the required information on the form just click the submit the button and the form is automatically attached to the new risk assessment email address.  Then simply send the email with the risk assessment as an attachment.

This new user friendly version can be completed in 5 minutes on any device and can be found under the forms section at the bottom of each page of the website or just click here.

A risk assessment is a necessary requirement to be completed by the walk leader for all walks with MFCG.  A paper copy of the walk is also available from your walking groups coordinator or any committee member and can be completed then posted to the address on the form. 

The best practice guidelines for walk leaders and supporters are also available under the forms section of the website. 

Any problems or questions regarding the new risk assessment form or other questions on health and safety please contact  mfcgriskassessment@gmail.com

PRIVACY POLICY
Our privacy policy can be viewed by clicking on the link at the bottom of each page.

The following MAJOR footpaths have been temporarily closed

PRoW 329 Section of the Raad Ny Foillan at Onchan Head. Closed 7am – 4:30pm every day until 25 April 2020 but may be extended.

PRoW 632 Riverbank Road Ramsey is closed until at least 30 April 2020.

PRoW 423 Ballasalla to Grenaby through Scout Glen, north of the Athol Bridge, closed in sections until 19 March 2020 but likely to be extended beyond this date.

For further details the contact number for DoI is 850000.

Ramblers Association Holidays
Did you know?...That the MFCG is affiliated to the Ramblers Association. When you book a walking holiday through the Ramblers Association and you say that you belong to an affiliated walking club they will pass on a small sum of money to the club. It costs you nothing extra and it benefits YOUR club.