Day 6, Haltwhistle Spring Walking Festival

Today I was the walk leader for the Singing Walk. The lovely folk singer and choir leader, Kat Davidson, was our singing leader for the day. We took 30 walkers on a 4 mile stroll around Hexham, including the riverside, the golf course, the railway, the Sele Park and the Abbey. We stopped to sing at regular intervals, learning new songs on the way. In the Abbey we sang through the whole repertoire.

A number of people on this walk found the 4 miles very challenging, but they all made it to the end. I was glad that no one disappeared under the wheels of a car. One of my other fears/jokes was that I might lose someone in the shops. It did actually happen. I was just about to do the introduction to the walk, when I spotted a new gentleman disappearing into the Hexham Deli! One of the team went to retrieve him.

Tonight we had the Social with 72 people present. After supper I needed to sort them into teams for a quiz. I asked them to stand in a circle around the room according to their birthdays. The biggest group were in May. My plan was then to just count off teams of 6. There were objections all around, where a June person did not want to go in a group with July and so on. Hilarious. Eventually I had the teams organised with 2 people left over. Now how did that happen I wonder??

The previously noisy room became quiet with intense concentration. The competitiveness was palpable. One team won by several points with another 3 teams in second place.

3 more days of walking to come.