The Rossendale Rambler

To Holyhead in heavy rain
And then across the sea;
Some drank, some dozed,
some walked around,
By seven - here we be.

Excepting Dougie, who had gone
On to the wrong car deck:
I'd to drive away without him
But soon we got him back.

The drive to Kerry took so long
This driver felt quite grim
But once inside the Skellig Rock
With Guinness to the brim

We soon recovered, and with food
inside us we were fine.
Then back to Mortimer's bunkhouse
And into bunks of pine.

On Sunday morn the breeze got up,
Became a raging gale.
We left the ridge, went to the beach
and quaffed a drop of ale.

Monday's rain came down like stair-rods
Yet Knocknagantee called.
Poor Alan fell and hurt his arm
The day's good points were palled.

On Tuesday - lo, the sun came out
To Valentia Island we
To walk the cliffs and feel the warmth
And gaze upon the sea.

On Wednesday , yet more wind and rain
So we stayed fairly low;
Upon the Kerry Way we walked,
A beer-less day? Well, No.

Our bunkhouse was a splendid place
The decor - must be seen,
A chandelier, an open fire
The smalls-drying was keen.

The weatherman had promised us
High pressure (but too late?)
Yet Thursday afternoon was fine:-
For evening we would wait.

With distilled water of the grain
We sat around the fire
Sang songs, gave recitations;
How was the weather? Dire?

Nine-thirty came, we all switched on
The battered TV set:
Big yellow suns upon the map
"Yippie!" we said, and yet -

The German guest who also watched
Thought we were truly mad:
The thought of sun could send us thus -
These English, they are SAD.

What a day we had on Friday
The best of all the week
To the top of Ireland's highest
The sun? - no need to seek.

The currant bun shone all day long
The climbs were hard but good
'Neath the cross upon the summit
(Metal replacing wood)

We all took photographs
- Each other and the view
And every time we turned around
We simply uttered "Phew".

On Saturday we all came home
We had a super time
Our thanks to Richard for the walks
And inspiring this rhyme.

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