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MGCC YORKSHIRE CENTRE – SOUTH YORKSHIRE NATTER
Review by Mike Breedon

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April 1^st2007 did not fool many of the South Yorkshire Natter group even if the title may well have done as they gathered at picturesque Cannon Hall Nature Park for a 5 mile Winter Walk. John and Debbie Austerfield had kindly volunteered to work out a winter walk of around 5 miles which attracted 22 MG enthusiasts out of bed early on a Sunday morning for a 09:30 start. This in no part to do with the fact that it involved food and drink at the start of the day and a 2 course dinner and coffee at the end of the walk. It is a well documented fact that South Yorkshire MG Natter folk do very little unless food is involved and this would be no exception!!

The 2007 Winter walk was supported by:-

John & Debbie Austerfield (they had to come as they had organised the route and would be needed to read the map, ensure we all got back to base and to take any flack if anything went wrong).

Andrew Murfin, as South Yorkshire Natter Leader Andrew could not afford to stay away as, in typical Andrew style, he was to lead by example (on this occasion mostly from the back of the trail!) Andrew brought his good lady wife Hilary along but Hilary was having none of all this energetic stuff and went off to enjoy the intellectual space within the Cannon Hall Museum and its exhibits).

Brian and Val Lewis made a special trip from Cyprus just to be with their MG friends on this occasion, upsetting all the people who had stayed in UK for the “proper winter” who did not have their wonderful tan. Clearly the Cyprus sun, food and wine had not dimmed their spirits or enthusiasm as they both set off at a cracking pace but would they cope with the hills and would they manage to pass a pub by without calling in? Read on, all will be revealed.

Pete Long and Sharon Southern came along to enjoy breakfast (Peter’s second in 2 hours by all accounts, he even tried to get a extra round of toast as we were about to depart, well, he is a growing lad!) and make the most of the day out.

Steve and Marie Dobson brought their Rally Navigational skills to help guide us all through the countryside and offered tips on how to negotiate the muddy bits, fortunately on this occasion they made all the control points within time allowed and missed all the ditches on the way round the course. The only yomping (or should that be jumping, come on give me some poetic license on Rally terms here!!) was at both breakfast and dinner later in the day.

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Clifford Hobbs did the walk on his own on this occasion, to be joined by Janice at the end of the walk for the planned dinner. Clifford took note of all the group activities and took some photos ready for the web site which he and Janice manage very well for the Yorkshire Centre, as well as chatting with anyone walking at his pace throughout the walk.

Tom Norcliffe brought his girlfriend Louise Barker along to take in the fresh air and some exercise, good to see Tom maintaining the MG enthusiasm of his mum and dad, taking a very keen interest and supporting the Centre and Natter activities on a regular basis.

Geoff and Pauline Norcliffe kept an eye on Tom and enjoyed the walk before Pauline got her chance to show her organising and management skills as she made sure we all got what we had ordered for the dinner at the end of walk. Good job she does this as a matter of fact, memory loss seems to affect all of us at the Natter for such events, in my case it usually comes at the end when it is necessary to pay up!!

Annette and Graham Saunders, regular members from West Yorkshire Natter brought a bit of style to the event and usually join in with many of the South Yorkshire events.

Pauline, Brian, Clifford, Andrew and Geoff negotiate
Palladian Bridge, Canon Hall Country Park.

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In addition to the South Yorkshire Natter members we also had four long term MG Yorkshire Centre member in Colin and Christine Bateson and John and Janet Willis who traveled down specially to take in the full day’s activities.

Living local to the start meant Sue and myself could have a bit of a lie in before walking to the start and joining the rest of the group. From the start Sue wandered off with anyone she could find to talk to whilst I wandered about pointing the camera at anything or anyone that moved and generally making a nuisance of myself so I could get something for this article, it seemed to work although there were mumblings of “blooming reporters, clear off”, at least I think that is what they said!!

After the breakfast stop, everyone got ready for the walk and set off at 11:00, not bad, only 30 minutes late so far! John and Debbie could not have picked a better day with sunshine and a cool but refreshing breeze and a planned walk around the Cawthorne and High Hoyland countryside. The first stage took the group through Cannon Hall grounds, past the Cawthorne Cricket ground and Club House. Images of village life and a village cricket match not hard to imagine as we all went past the ground still at a hearty pace. Everyone negotiated a narrow single file stone bridge over a stream with no problems and then followed John’s lead out into the country.

Brian and Val lead the rest single file over a stream

Yet another bridge and a style to negotiate before the first area of mud appeared. Everyone safely through, off we went now climbing up an incline to Raw Royd and through Margery Wood towards High Hoyland. The incline spread the groupp out and so there was a planned stop just before Margery Wood where John was relieved (in more ways than one!!) to have a bit of time to himself (“we know where you going”, well, we are all kids at heart!) and make sure he knew where we were all going, at least that was John’s excuse!

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Once we had all regrouped off we went again through Margery Wood out into open countryside eventually joining a country road running through High Hoyland.

Colin & Christine Bateson, John & Janet Willis
in Margery Woods.

Not long after this, there was a sigh of relief as everyone saw a typically inviting country pub, The Cherry Tree, on the right hand side of the road thinking that we would get liquid refreshment. Unfortunately John had to tell everyone there was no time for a long stop but, in spite of setting a cracking pace early on, Brian and Val could not resist the temptation to sit and take in the view and decided to take a rest here and then make their own way back to the final venue at the South Yorkshire Natter Groups monthly venue, Spencer Arms, Cawthorne, for dinner.

First time ever known that the South Yorkshire Natter Group pass by a pub without calling in. Yes, really!!

From the Cherry Tree the group continued along New Road towards Cannon Hall Nature Park for a few yards before climbing over a style and heading back through the countryside. Eventually the bridle path led us all through a farm yard and into a field of cows with calves. Not quite sure who was the most curious, the group or the cows!

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Annette & Graham, Tom and Louise lead the rest, the Cherry Tree now a small white blob on the horizon in the distance.

Another steady climb saw the group at the top of a ridge with Cannon Hall Farm to the right but with stunning views as far as the eye could see in any other direction. Once again, time to let everyone catch up and take in the view. Fortunately there was still plenty of social nattering going on and the group was in good spirits all commenting how lucky we had been with the weather and how much everyone seemed to be enjoying the walk. John took advantage of everyone’s good mood to tell the group that there was still approximately 1 mile to go back to the car park!

Nearing the end, only 1 mile to go ...oooh my legs ache!!!

Refreshed with that information, off we went again, yet more banter and stories to tell as the group negotiated fields, styles and bridges until we finally got back to now familiar landmarks at Cawthorne Cricket ground and Cannon Hall Nature Park and the final climb back to the car park.

Although not quite so energetic at this stage, everyone thanked John and Debbie for arranging the walk and for seeing everyone back safely to their cars after 5 very enjoyable miles of exercise, countryside and fresh air. On the plus side, there were no injuries and no one fell in the muddy bits which was probably just as well as we were now due to go to the Spencer Arms, you guessed it, for DINNER!!!

At last there was liquid refreshment on hand as the Spencer Arms staff once again made the MGCC members welcome at this charming country pub in rural Cawthorne village that the South Yorkshire Natter group take over as their venue on the 4th Wednesday of each month. The Natter is provided with an amazing 6 choice menu monthly, has its own venue room, and has access to a huge car park for the annual pride of ownership event with potential for other outdoor events as they are thought up.

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Additional Yorkshire Centre Members joined the group for dinner as follows:-

David and Carol Copeman, Yorkshire Centre Chairman and regular attendees of the South Yorkshire Natter,
Janice Hobbs joined Clifford for dinner and to join in the fun, Hilary Murfin joined Andrew having enjoyed all that the Cannon Hall Museum had to offer whilst the rest had been out exercising and taking in the fine Yorkshire air.

With everyone now completely relaxed after a welcome glass or two we were ready once again for a hearty meal, conversation stopped and for a short while all that could be heard was the rattle of spoon, knife and fork as the starter and main course were dispatched to replace all that energy expended on the walk. No sooner had the food been cleared than Natter Leader Andrew took to the stage to thank John and Debbie for providing an excellent walk and to present Brian and Valerie Lewis with the South Yorkshire Natter 10 Year celebration Founder Member badges they should have received at the previous celebration dinner (there we go, food on offer again).

Andrew also handed out a Founder Member Badge to Colin Bateson who, although not from this area, had originally helped set up a South Yorkshire Natter back in 1986 and has been to various area events on occasion since.

A very fine day finally came to a close and reluctantly everyone headed for home and possibly a sly snooze in front of the TV until the next meal is ready.

Review by Mike Breedon

The comments and views expressed in this article are purely personal and do not necessarily reflect those of the MGCC South Yorkshire Natter Group or the MGCC Yorkshire Centre Committee.

For further information on the South Yorkshire Natter
and events call Natter Leader,
Andrew Murfin on
01909 591431.