This evening team members gathered at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ in heavy rain for our first evening exercise of this New Year.

Setting off at 19.40hrs the heavy rain was not for relenting, and just got worse as our Team Vehicles arrived at 20.00hrs at the exercise RVP of Hordern Stoops car park, high on the moorland road between Rivington and Belmont villages.

Our exercise tonight simply involved all members present splitting in too two groups, ascending to the top of Winter Hill via the short but steep north facing slope, and then stretcher evacuating a team member in each group back down to the vehicles.

The twist was 1, It was a race between the two groups, and 2, the groups were those members under 40 years old and those members over 40 years young!

All set off in the rain and temperatures around 4C at a cracking pace, only slowed by the rain and mist and the incredibly wet and very boggy underfoot conditions on Winter Hill Flats.

Our Life Vice President and still active on the hill, Call Out list member Alan James (A founder team member aged 17 way back in 1968) termed tonight a race between the ‘crinklies’ and the ‘spotties,’ much younger team member John Fletcher (not present due to work) called tonight’s exercise a race between the ‘Zimmer Frame Gang’ and the ‘Newbies.’

A windswept and rain swept Winter Hill summit saw the ‘Under 40s’ well and truly in front of the ‘Over 40s.’

They maintained their lead throughout the descent, maybe twelve youths really are faster than fourteen slightly more senior team members – including John Dickinson, who was actually celebrating his 67th birthday tonight!

The ‘old crew’ of fourteen were then joined by our President Bob Hutchinson, just turned 70, out for an evenings night time boggy stroll! and our Chairman Craig Lamb, but at this stage the ‘Youngsters’ had the lead, and the ‘oldies’ had to concede victory to them!

Back at a very wet Hordern Stoops car park, the cheeky ‘youngsters’ welcomed back their slightly less younger team mates by humming very loudly the theme tune to ‘Last of the Summer Wine!’ So much for respect eh of their slightly older team mates!

Most of the thirty team members who took part in tonight’s exercise, and the two members who stayed at our Control Point, ended tonight’s little bit of fun in the Belmont Bull Public House in Belmont Village, before heading home to dry off their soaked wet through team kit and boots.

Fingers crossed the rest of this years exercises might be a little drier.