Last walk of 2013

30/12/13
Walking with; Ruthy

Ever since I abandoned my South coast roots and left the chalk cliffs and churning muddy waters of the English Channel for the rain, peat bogs and dark Satanic mills of the North West, Kinder has been my "go to" hill. It can be approached by such a variety of routes that even though it is never quiet on Kinder it can often feel as if you are the only person on the top, especially if there is some weather coming in. Whilst I think my favourite approach is via Grindsbrook on a Sunny day, the day before New Year's Eve saw me re-introducing Ruthy to the joys of walking into horizontal rain as we meandered our way up from Hayfield! Nothing like a gale driving the rain directly into your face to blow away the Christmas cobwebs and make you appreciate the extra few pounds of turkey and brandy butter reinforcing the insulation around my middle.
  We left the car at Bowden Bridge and ignoring the warnings of some "fair weather" walkers were soon sidestepping sheep, passing the seemingly abandoned but maintained magnificence of "The Ashes" and climbing towards the cloud from Coldwell Clough. The views over Mount Famine and South Head soon disappeared and it wasn't long before Kinder too had sunk beneath the clouds.....and then the rain started. We made the Edale Cross which is reckoned to be a 12th century carving erected by the Cistercian monks at Basingwerk Abbey and graffitied by local farmers who rediscovered it buried in a peat bog in 1810! The alcove it is set in provided us with a little shelter and it was here we decided that going over the tops was not a particularly appealing option. We decided instead to angle over towards South Head and from there head down to Dimpus Clough and South Head Farm.
We followed the flagstones across the boggy moorland suffering a battering from the ferocious wind and with the rain being whipped into our faces but as we neared the bulk of South Head the wind seemed to push the front past us and by the time we reached the footpath leading down to Dimpus Clough there were even the odd glimpses of blue sky! The path to South Head farm had been roundly trashed by cows and rain and we slipped, slithered and skidded our way back towards Coldwell Clough and from there onto Bowden Bridge and home to a well deserved brandy coffee.

To view the full album please click on the link below;
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.801685729847383.1073741844.597048676977757&type=1 

Come walk with me UK's 100th post!

Wow! 100 posts, who'd have thought I would have got this far :-) Having reached this landmark I thought it might be appropriate to look back on the blog thus far and pick out a few highlights!

 Pool between Moel Hebog and Moel Yr Ogof- July 2013

Sprinkling Tarn- August 2013

Langdale Pikes- June 2013

Harter Fell- June 2013

 The Cantilever Stone- November 2012

 Frosted trees near Fernilee Reservoir- January 2013

 Cloud inversion from the Pike O'Stickle- October 2012

 Ruthy at Llyn Idwal- August 2012

 With Ros and Emily on South Head- February 2013

Parkhouse Hill- February 2013

Al on Y Garn- November 2012

 Cream Tea- January 2012

 Long-tailed Tit- January 2012

 Kinder Downfall- March 2012

 Mud- March 2012

 Bleaklow- March 2012

 On Pendle Hill- May 2012

With Ruthy on Pen-Y-Ghent- June 2012

CWWMUK highlights........Wild camping in Snowdonia in the Moel range, Tryfan, the Pike O' Stickle, Kinder in the snow, the many faces of Wasdale, Blencathra, Helvellyn, Malham Cove, 2 of the 3 Yorkshire Peaks, starting ML training, Bristly Ridge and many, many more.....

Thanks due to Ruthy, Al, Greg, Emily, Ros, the Peak District Rangers, Nathan, Rob and Helen, Rich, the good folks of the Pendle and Peak District walking festivals and all the others who have helped me to enjoy the fantastic walks we have done together, here's to the next 100 and the continuing success of Come walk with me!

Rushup Edge to Hayfield

3.2.13
Walking with; Ruth, Emily and Roz

Some of the more observant amongst you may have noticed that whilst the blog is called Come walk with me, for many of my wanderings, I tend to wander alone! This is partially as a result of me generally walking during the week when other people are working and partially because I enjoy walking on my own. However, I am in the process of trying to become a Mountain Leader and that, of course, requires leading people, so many thanks to Ruthy, Emily and Roz for being willing guinea pigs in this experiment!
We set off, in pretty miserable conditions from Rushup Edge and after slipping and sliding on the first iced up half mile of the Pennine Bridleway we disappeared into thick mist. It was muddy going underfoot and the Bridleway provides the additional hazard of avoiding hurtling hordes of mountain bikers, but early progress was predominantly "head down, hoods up and aim into the wind!". After crossing the wooded stream at Bolehill Clough we descended to Roych Clough where the cloud thinned and we paused for a sandwich ahead of the climb up to South Head. The slope up to South Head is brutal and the wind on the top was gale force, but the lure of getting to the top of the highest point on the main route was too good a chance to miss and with Roz leading the way we ascended to the summit for a good view of the clouds and all cobwebs to be very decisively blown away!
We slid (literally in Ruthy's case) back down to the Bridleway and continued a gradual descent out of the clouds circumventing Mount Famine (try as I might I have been unable to find out where this name comes from) and following the paths down towards Bowden Bridge where we found a magnificent herd of Highland Cattle grazing contentedly. From there we followed the River Sett down into Hayfield for a well deserved drink at The Pack Horse. I managed not to lose or kill anyone, hopefully even imparted a little bit of knowledge and the girls all seemed to have a good time, so everyone is a winner! First of many I hope.

To view the full album, please click on the link below;
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.335118956607016&type=1

A split shift stroll to South Head

3.5.12

Walking with; Nobody

Split shifts are not my favourite thing, but the advantage of working in Castleton is that given a spare five hours between cleaning dormitories and cooking dinners there is some magnificent landscape out on my door step. Last week from Lantern Pike I'd had fantastic views across towards Kinder and South Head, so this week I decided to head up to South Head and return the compliment.

I parked up on the layby on the road between Castleton and Chapel-En-Le-Frith and set off on the Pennine Bridleway. One of the advantages of this route was that the intended target, South Head, was in view all the way making it easy to gauge my progress. The Bridleway is rough but easy walking in spite of the ups and downs, however it is very busy with a variety of horse riders, off road bikers and a lot of mountain bikers (most of whom seemed to be gentlemen of a certain age clad in lycra and in the midst of some kind of mid-life crisis involving throwing themselves down the hill at high speed........). The path dropped down to a valley floor where a stream crossed it before the long but steady ascent to the boundary of the High Peak. The last 100 metres is straight up, very steep and provides magnificent 360 degree views stretching for miles. Maybe it was because of the steepness of the last ascent but I had the summit to myself and nestled down in the lee of the cairn for a sandwich and drink and the spectacular vista of Mount Famine and Kinder Scout. I returned the same way but there is serious potential to head onwards from this spot.

So, split shifts may not end up being too much of a bad thing in the end as the accessibility of this kind of spectacular countryside from my (workplace's) doorstep is a real boon almost worth the one hour each way commute! I get the feeling this could become a regular lunch spot!

To view the full photo album for this walk please click on the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.212630355522544&type=1#!/media/set/?set=oa.212630355522544&type=1