“On yonder Hill there stood a coo, it’s no there noo, it must have shifted “. These words are falsely attributed but widely believed to have been penned by the so called worst Scottish poet William Mcgonagal. Today however, the “coo” in question, was our destination of the Ginger Cow café near Everingham.
Eight Knights turned up at Market Cross, although almost missing the boat were dave&jenny.lastminute.com+1. Setting off to follow our usual exit route to Etton, confusion set in early when Bob chucked a spanner in the works by suggesting heading along the Molescroft road, quickly followed by Matt proposing to take the Westwood climb. The Captain’s compass was subsequently sent in a spin as he immediately turned into the wrong junction, much to the hilarity of everyone, pedestrians included.
Normal service was soon resumed as we headed towards Etton and Kiplingcotes. The following wind may have helped our progress but did little to warm the cockles. The beautiful sunshine did however, brighten the countenance of everyone we passed, with cheery waves and shouts of “good morning”.
Soon we came to Market Weighton where confusion arose once more, as the Captain became unsure of his bearings despite the signpost pointing clearly to Londesborough. Eventually order was restored and we set off in the right direction. Mike, needing to be home early, left the group at the A614 roundabout, while the rest continued to Intake Hill and a chance to generate some body heat with Bob and Mark leading the way.
Next up was the long drop down towards Burnby. The enjoyment of the swift descent was interrupted part way down as a lorry heading the opposite way forced everyone to stop or creep past. Once safely across the “main road” at Hayton, we soon arrived at the Ginger Cow cafe.
Too cold to sit out, so we headed for the warmth inside. The new menus looked interesting although with no Chips, Chris would have been disappointed. Matt, eschewing his usual caramel latte, went for the healthier option of a vegetable smoothie. With plates of beans also on the table, much amusement was had at the prospect of what type of wind to expect on the return home.
Matthew contemplating his veggie smoothie 
Matthew after consuming his veggie smoothie
The Captain’s compass went awry again (too much iron in the diet 😉) as we reached Everingham almost sending Michael right to Bielby instead of turning left to Harswell. Fortunately the “crew” were alert and pointed out the error.
Heading into the teeth of the wind, Bob, Matt and David on the front maintained an impressive speed to lead us to North Cliffe. The return route saw us heading up Common Hill and through Hotham to South Newbald. Then came the BIG decision, to Trundle or not to Trundle. Amid much harrumphing and encouragement we headed vertically up the local equivalent of Mount Eiger ⛰️, at least it felt like it as we huffed and puffed our way to the summit. After that it was all downhill into Walkington and return home.