Last year, I took part in the Dark Peak Marathon (DPM), an event Ramsoc runs every year where participants walk 24 or 37 miles around the peak district, seeing some of the best sights, from Mam Tor and Kinder, to Ladybower reservoir. This is a short account of my experience of the DPM. The early start was immediately worth it when we arrived at Ladybower Reservoir- the surrounding hills were picturesque in the early morning sun, and everyone was raring to go. The weather was forecast to remain like this for the whole day, adding to everyone’s excitement, however far they were walking (I was doing the 24 mile route). We were split into groups – so that every group had someone capable of reading a map and any necessary group kit. After a group photo over the Ladybower dam, everyone set out for a day of walking. The first hill was hardest of the day. Halfway up, I was questioning my sanity- why had I decided to do this, was I out of mind? I carried on thinking so before sudd

DAY 1 Buzz, buzz, buzz, across the bunkhouse, as several mobile phones inform us that it is time to get going for Day 1 of our Grade 3 Training. A hive of activity, several showers, sandwiches prepared and ultimately we are all out for 08:30 (well nearly) as Tom had requested. Into the minibus we go, the day is looking okay. Not exactly blazing sunshine but visibility is good and the mountains of Snowdonia look fantastic. We travel for a little while and the scenery starts to change. ‘You do realise we are driving away from all the mountains here Tom?’ says a perplexed Lee. Suddenly after 40 minutes we stop. Off the bus and its relocate time. Essentially, find yourself on the map, not a lot to go on here haha, a railway line, a lake, an arterial road and a welcome board to a specific area. So we all knew where we were (Rhyd-Ddu) and I guess if we failed here it was going to be a long week! However, we enjoyed it while it lasted for now we were going into the world of micro-nav

Ramsoc. University of Nottingham Sport: Rambling and Hillwalking. Formerly Rambling and Hillwalking Society and before that: Rambling Society. So far you’ve learnt – if you didn’t know already – how the club came to acquire its name. But for me, to pose the question ‘what’s in a name?’  with regard to Ramsoc reveals so much more than a few rebrands, be they initiated by the club itself or the Students’ Union, and I’d like to explore this and reflect on what Ramsoc means to me. I first joined the club as first year back in September 2012. Prior to starting university, I - like thousands of other sixth-form leavers fresh out of Year 13 - was extremely apprehensive and nervous about starting my degree, moving away from home and building a social life. Granted, I didn’t move far from home, but the University of Nottingham felt like a world apart from the small town I grew up in, grew tired of by my mid-teens but sometime grew to appreciate more after moving away. For a large part of m

I usually don’t go to Ramsoc socials as they clash with my kayaking pool sessions, but anything involving food is worth my time! Especially if I can show off my amazing cooking skills, as I wanted to cook for Ramsoc since the last weekend away I went on. So I said goodbye to kayak and prepared myself for a night delicious food and great fun. I immediately decided to prepare a mushroom risotto, which is one of my best dishes (my housemates can support this!). I wanted to honour my Italian origins with this amazing recipe I found on the internet (I wish I could say it’s from my granddad but all he taught me so far is how to make pasta and it’s very, very, very long to make...). My Wednesday was really busy as I spent the day running from a tutorial to a lecture and to archery practice where I spent my afternoon shooting (a little) and chatting (a lot). As soon as I was home I the sacred process of cooking my amazing risotto; grating the parmesan, chop the many, many mushrooms, gar

One of the most impressive things I found when I first joined RAMSOC was the way the walks were lead, by capable, cheerful leaders who (almost) always seemed to know where they were going, as well as chat to everyone in the group to keep even the most reluctant hill-climber going. So, when the opportunity came up to train to lead walks myself, I couldn’t think of a better way to give back to the club. Our training day began when we arrived in Edale car park, handing out maps, compasses and headtorches and trying to ignore the persistent drizzle. We split into two groups with a mix of trainees and experienced leaders, and set off on different routes up the hill. Our first exercise was general navigation and also involved using our surroundings to locate ourselves. One trainee was in charge of map reading, whilst the other two were banned from looking at their maps and compasses at all, but had to rely on their memory and powers of observation to re-orientate once we arrived at a ne

Hello again Ramsoc! Our blog series continues and I have taken up the task of writing about our weekend away to Minehead, in the Exmoor National Park between 5 th and 7 th February 2016 (apologies, I’m a  bit of a stickler when it comes to detail like that, and I will probably remember it for a long while yet – strange, I know). This weekend took place a mere two weeks after the end of exam season, so we were naturally all excited to escape Nottingham for a weekend as a chance to catch our collective breath. I assume the club has visited Exmoor at least once in the past, but it was only last year that we started going again. As I was on my year abroad last year, I obviously didn’t go, so naturally I was enthralled at the prospect of visiting an entirely new area. There has to be some perk of doing a four-year degree after all. My first impressions of Exmoor (months before we went) were already positive – from the photos I could see it was a beautiful area by the coast with som