On Saturday evening we celebrated 20 years of Himalayan Club and Adventure Guide expeditions and trips with a meal in the Michael Baker Boathouse at King’s School. There, fifty of us gathered for an excellent meal provided by Ian Cunningham-Martin and his King’s School catering staff, not the traditional curry but a good, hearty English roast.

As people arrived they were presented with khata scarves of friendship. Playing in the background were films from memorable trips to Nepal, Peru and Iceland. During the meal a “Faces of the Himalaya” slide show played across the screen. These are not just mountain faces but also the characterful faces of the Nepalese people, who give us such pleasure every time we meet them. Also on display were two photo journals of the last twenty years, chronicling twenty seven trips involving 405 people. That is not 405 different people as some have multi tripped with me, the most prolific being Stella Price who has done seventeen of the twenty seven!

The guest of honour for the evening was Rebecca Stephens, the first British woman to climb Everest. In her talk, without pictures, she took us back to 1993 and talked about the strength of the Sherpas and how she relied on their support, good cheer and wisdom on the mountain. She related her achievement to the risks that Sherpas take, particularly passing through the Khumbu Icefall. Sherpas, because they carry the loads and set the routes are exposed to dangers far more often than their clients. In this day and age can this be justified, particularly after the avalanche of 2014 and the earthquake of 2015, which collectively killed 25 Sherpas. Rebecca spoke passionately in favour of reducing their risk and that it will not be long before helicopters can take the loads up to Camp One above the icefall, ensuring that there is minimum exposure to the dangers for both client and Sherpa.

The evening was not just a celebration but a fundraiser for the Himalayan Trust UK, so following the formalities, an auction was held, selling short holidays in Wales, a weekender in London and prints of paintings by deaf and dumb artist, Temba Sherpa. At the time of writing not all the bills have been paid but it looks very likely that the Himalayan trust will have benefited to the sum of £3500. Over the years a deep sense of community has developed around these trips and everybody has been so supportive to the projects I have  drawn their attention to, not least after the 2015 earthquake in Nepal when everybody dug deep to help our Nepalese friends. I am extremely grateful to every one.

On Sunday, after a shortened night’s sleep, not just because we went to bed late, but because the clocks went forward, the sun shone brightly out of a clear blue sky. Sixteen of us met at the top of Fish Hill for a 10 mile walk in the beautiful Cotswold countryside. The forecast predicted lofty temperatures in the high teens but as we set out a keen wind blew across the exposed hill tops.

The route took us to Dover’s Hill with its far reaching views across the Vale of Evesham. From here we dropped down through woodland, that in two or three weeks time will be ablaze with bluebells, towards Western-sub-Edge. We were now out of the keen wind and temperatures were beginning to follow their predictions as we skirted around the base of the hills to Saintbury, where we lunched among the gravestones of the church there.

Continuing, we skirted around the edge of Broadway before beginning the steady climb up to the Broadway Tower Country Park. This section of the walk was much busier and by the time we reached the top the car parks were full and there were crowds enjoying the spring sunshine, particularly mums enjoying a Mother’s Day treat with their families. Choosing not to join the masses at the cafe we continued to Fish Hill where we adjourned to Richard and Stella’s in Chipping Campden for a peaceful cup of tea watching several pheasants on their lawn.

It had been everything, and more, that the title to this piece suggests.