The main purpose of this blog is to keep in touch with friends and family, and maybe entertain others with common interests, particularly in relation to the outdoors. We hope you enjoy it, and your comments are valued....
Sue and Martin in Mallorca 2019
Saturday 21 May 2022
Saturday 21 May 2022 - Penrith parkrun, and a trip to Braemar
Thursday 19 May 2022
Wednesday 18 May 2022 - Cicerone Lancashire Walk 29: Great Hameldon Hill from Accrington
This was another 'Cicerone Lancashire' walk before exercising Oscar - see previous posting.
There's plenty of free parking in the centre of Accrington, from where I soon found my way to St James's church and some smart memorial benches and a plaque.
Mark Sutcliffe's route description is a bit vague, but it's easy enough to locate Burnley Road, which I joined outside the Broadway pub.
An underpass saw me safely across the busy A56 road. I saw nobody until after I'd re-crossed the road a couple of hours later.
Looking back to the stile, I should have proceeded half right, to take a path to the north of Moleside Moor.
Instead, I took an obvious path that skirted the southern slopes of Moleside Moor and rejoined Mark's route at the start of a very boggy, pathless, ascent of Great Hameldon Hill (409 metres).
Soon I turned left down a bridleway reminiscent of the Pennine Bridleway. The cobbles really do encourage the use of a bike with full suspension if you were to cycle along here.
Mark's route describes using a footpath through Laund Clough woodland. There are two paths off Southwood Drive to choose from, the one on the left is the one intended to be used, the one on the right, signed 'Laund Clough' is the one I took. It's a lovely section of woodland, from which I exited and found my way up to the Art Gallery.
Wednesday 18 May 2022
Travels with Oscar
This picture shows that today I wasn't really needed for 'Oscar walking', as Kate was there to take the picture. It took until a good five weeks after her chemoradiotherapy treatment had finished for her to 'turn the corner'. She's now feeling much better and joined me for today's 5km dog walk, after which both dog and owner needed a rest!
Good timing; Sue and I can go on holiday next week in the knowledge that Kate is on the mend and great grandma Dot has a live-in carer, Genny, for support.
Tuesday 17 May 2022
Monday 16 May 2022 - The Harlem Hot Stompers at Eagley Jazz Club (and a PB for Jacob)
Last night's performance at Eagley Jazz Club was up to its usual high standard, with the team from Harlem Hot Stompers performing in memory of long-time committee member and accomplished musician, Ted Watton, who sadly passed away on 4 May.
Bearing in mind this blog's role as a diary, I'm obliged to record eleven year old grandson Jacob's achievement in the Wythenshawe Community 2 km dash on Sunday. He achieved a first position (the first time he has come in that position) in a PB of 8:32, with Sue B trailing behind in a shade under 10 minutes. I kept them waiting but managed 25:15 for the 5 km course. Here's a screen dump from the Facebook page.
16 and 17 June 2005 - 'Two Peaks' aka 'Three Peaks support'
Challengers on the summit of Snowdon
Thursday/Friday 16/17 June 2005
Sue having gone
to
Maggie vaguely
understood what I was doing, but the concept and its manner of execution
completely escaped Dave, who kept asking the same questions and failing to
understand the answers....
"Why walk
anywhere in this weather?"
"Do what in 24 hours?"
"What is
the point of it?"
"Sleep in
the car!?"
...and on and on
and on ...
After a brief
respite watching the last of this year's Bill Oddie / Kate Humble / Simon King
wildlife programmes, and after a nice chicken casserole, I left at 10 pm to
drive to Seathwaite. It took me over an hour and a half, so the trip to Millom
was a very major diversion which I regretted. I could have used more time at
home.
So, to the
purpose of the trip:- to help Dave and Sara Stevens (who Sue and I met on our honeymoon
in
I found some phone reception outside Cockermouth at about 11 pm and established that they had been up and down the Ben in 5 hours and were passing through Glencoe. All was going well. So I parked up at Seathwaite, which was deserted, and slept on the back seat of the Espace (quite comfy) until around 3 am, when I was woken by a vehicle. Thinking that this was my team, I quickly got ready. The weather had deteriorated from a moonlit night to a thick drizzle, so fleece and waterproofs were needed, plus a bum bag for a few other bits and pieces.
It was not my team, but another group doing the same thing. They were taking their time getting ready. My team had stopped to change, etc, and had taken much longer than expected. By the time we left Seathwaite at 3:30 am it was light enough not to need torches. The other two members of the team were friends of Dave and Sara - Caroline and Robin, and dog Lucy. Robin was driving (fast) and Lucy was the mascot. T-shirts had been produced especially for the fundraising trip.
We set off through the farmyard. The three walkers were clearly tired from efforts on the Ben. It was warm and humid, so fleeces were soon removed, and I took Caroline's rucksack for the rest of the day. The rain continued, intermittently heavy, but mainly just as a misty veneer. This was Caroline's second mountain ever (the Ben was her first), and she has a 24 year old son!
Once up at Styhead we were in fairly thick mist, which occasionally cleared a little to reveal indistinct rocky vistas. But we could have been anywhere. No photos were taken.
So, left at the stretcher post for a few hundred
metres, then right - down and up the
A group of 14
The steep section up to Broad Crag had been tough - lots of stops - Caroline is asthmatic. But its descent was easier and we were down in 2¼ hours, by 8:30, by which time the rain had stopped. This still compares poorly with Naismith's formula time of 4:34, but I reckon we were slowed by wet rock to the extent of about 30 minutes.
The others had had a dry walk on
Soon after we had started, the weather cleared. The Pyg
All of us were in a good mood and were moving
more quickly than on Scafell Pike, although we had written off any chance of
making the 24 hour deadline (even though I now know they had never planned to
drive back down to
We had a good walk up this easy path, with lots of people around so even without me the three challengers would not have got lost (though they would have occasionally hesitated and lost time). Some of the rock steps were found tiring, but views were good, in between passages of swirling mist. Almost, but not quite, Brocken Spectre conditions - we didn't observe one, but I bet others did.
Despite the mist around us, we could see folk scampering across Crib Goch, with bright blue sky above. It was with relief that we left the steep sections behind and join the path by the railway for the final trudge to the crowded summit (a train had just arrived). See summit photo above.
This was Caroline's third mountain ever. She was very pleased and ebullient, telling everyone of her achievement.
It had taken 2 hours 10 minutes to climb
Snowdon, and given the easy path and the knowledge of the planned finish at Pen-y-Pass,
I suddenly realised it may be possible to get down by 5 pm and achieve the 24 hour
target for the three challengers. They were all up for this, seemingly much
fresher than they had been on
Spurred on by the prospect of 24 hour
success, we even did some jogging. The timing was perfect. After pausing only
to say hello to the 14 bankers seen on Ben Nevis, and in Caroline's case pausing
with whoever she could to brag about her achievement before sprinting off again,
we jogged in to Pen-y-Pass precisely 24 hours after the 3 challengers had set
off up
Wild (well!?) celebrations followed, with beers for Martin and Dave and champagne for Sara, Caroline and Robin.
A most successful outcome, and much
appreciated by the challengers was my presence on the
Here are our 'route notes' - I've guessed
the
|
Target |
Actual |
km |
ascent (m) |
|
05:35 |
05:00 |
14 |
1400 |
|
04:35 |
05:30 |
|
|
|
04:55 |
05:00 |
14 |
983 |
Seathwaite
to Pen-y-Pass |
03:55 |
05:00 |
|
|
|
04:25 |
03:30 |
10.7 |
931 |
|
23:25 |
24:00 |
38.7 |
3314 |
[My diary continues on the following day:
'Another 5:30 am start. I drove to
[And talking of Challenges, Sue and I should at this point be enjoying a backpacking trip across Scotland - the TGO Challenge - for which I've vetted a few routes. Sadly some family health issues that are now mostly under control meant that our heads weren't in it this year, so what with Covid concerns last year, and the cancellation due to Covid in 2020, that's three years of TGO Challenges that we've missed. From what I can gather, conditions have been a bit wet, but our footwear and clothing would probably have kept us dry, if a bit sweaty. Good luck to everyone doing it, and we may see them in Braemar and Montrose.]
Sunday 15 May 2022
Wednesday 11 May 2022 - SWOG go to High Lane
Twenty people turned up for this evening stroll in lovely light. We took a trip along the towpath of the Macclesfield Canal, before turning east past the outskirts of Lyme Park. A return to the canal, and thence to High Lane, provided a lollipop shape to the profile of the walk.
I paused to take a few snaps in the delicious light: