Ramsoc Weekend at Castleton – 24/25 October 2015

This is the eighth Ramsoc weekend to be mentioned in these pages – Sue’s University Rambling Club reunion has come round again. This year she organised the event, with assistance from Sue W in her roll as YHA insider. Thanks go to both Sues.

Click here to view all the Ramsoc postings.

31 of us assembled at various times at the magnificent Losehill Hall YHA ‘hostel’ outside Castleton. This really is a luxurious place. I had a single en-suite room that was better than many a hotel room. Others had shared dormitories, in one of which a serial offender demonstrated (apparently) total ignorance of ‘dormitory etiquette’ whereby early risers should leave the room to rustle their crisp packets.

Forecast rain duly arrived just as we were about to set off on Saturday morning, but the forecast heavy rain turned out to be intermittent and variable.

A group of indeterminate size wended its way to the wet summit of Lose Hill. My Lumix FT4 waterproof camera was handy despite its lack of a ‘lens wiper’.

The path to Mam Tor was unusually bereft of walkers and cyclists.

By the time we got to Back Tor, our group was down to ten, the laggards having been abandoned to stroll along the cool ridge at their own lack of pace.

“That’s Edale down there” … “there’s a café” tweeted a canary, concerned about the waterproof qualities of its feathers.

Nearly there…

… and in the euphoria of reaching the fleshpots of the excellent Penny Pot Café on the station approach, and its delicious courgette cake, I failed to take any more pictures until our subsequent lunch stop in the lee of a convenient wall beside Chapel Gate.

We found a gate, but after several hours (or so it seemed) of searching, there was still no sign of a chapel.

So we wandered along Rushup Edge in the direction of Mam Tor. The conditions were excellent for ‘walking in’ the new boots that Sue and I were sporting, but they weren’t so good for canaries with leaky feathers.

After another tea break (see header picture) we were soon plunging the depths of Cave Dale. Here, many years ago, a river found an underground route, leaving a dry valley with caverns underneath. Then the caverns collapsed making the valley even deeper and gorge-like at the northern end. The Castleton entrance to Cave Dale had a narrow natural arch as recently as 200 years ago, a relic of the roof collapse. So it’s well named. We found caves, but they were barred from entry by plebs like us.

Peveril Castle came into view. It’s a ruined medieval castle with a long history dating back as far as 1086. It’s seen here from the northern end of Cave Dale. It has a rich history. Books have been written.

We continued in fine weather through the ambulance littered streets of Castleton to the haven of our private lounge at the hall. This turned out to be a large lecture room with many chairs and cushions but no tables.

Martin S provided tasty roast chestnuts. Despite the ideal room there was no slideshow as my potential victims hadn’t warned me of the excellence of the facilities, so I didn’t have one with me.

Never mind, we enjoyed a jolly evening.

Here’s our route for the day – about 21 km, with 750 metres ascent, taking 6.75 hours.

Sunday dawned fine, but Sue and I needed to get back home. We therefore enjoyed just a short walk from the hall.

We strolled back up to the Mam Tor ridge, reaching it just below Back Tor.

It was a good day to stroll along the ridge. Here’s Sue, with Lose Hill and Win Hill in the distance behind Back Tor.

We only went as far as Hollins Cross, from where the view to Edale and Kinder Scout was much clearer than yesterday’s.

There were lots of runners, and a few cyclists, on the well constructed ridge path today.

We headed down to do our good turn for the day by shutting the boot of an accidentally abandoned car, resisting the temptation to steal an incumbent Toblerone bar.

Just 6 km with 250 metres ascent, in 1.5 hours. Much better than going straight home though.

There’s no slideshow on this occasion I’m afraid. Next year, perhaps…

Wednesday 21 October 2015 – A Stroll around Windermere town

Wednesday brought a series of pleasurable episodes.

First, a visit to Jose and Hugh at Alpenstock in Stockport. “Fancy a coffee” were their first words as I entered the shop. No wonder that they have again been shortlisted in The Great Outdoors magazine’s retailer of the year category for their 2015 awards.

Anyway, after (not unexpectedly) coming away with rather more than the intended spare poles for our Hilleberg Nallo tent, I moved on to the next pleasurable activity.

German Martin’s EasyJet flight from Berlin was on time. I met Martin in the Pyrenees on my GR11 walk. He is one of a number of GR11 friends who will be congregating in Leyburn next weekend. Here he is in the Pyrenees.

Martin was on his way to the Lake District to attempt a circular walking tour devised by Jim Reid. There’s a Cicerone guide, and the route is shown below in blue, with some alternatives in green.

Conrad (aka Sir Hugh), who often comments on these pages, lives en route to Martin’s Windermere destination, so we called in for another most pleasurable hour, during which I gave Martin some maps and tried to brief him, with Conrad’s help, on the route. It was great to meet you again, Conrad, and thank you for the coffee and biscuits.

After that, a short drive to Windermere saw Martin grabbing some last minute provisions and heading off into the hills. Over a day later, his phone was discovered at Conrad’s house. Oops!

I couldn’t visit the Lake District without some sort of a walk, especially as the mizzle appeared to have stopped for a couple of hours. So off I set, aiming for a path that skirts the eastern side of the town and eventually meets the Dales Way path on which an easy descent to Bowness is made.

Don’t make my mistake of heading down Thwaites Lane if you do this walk; continue on the footpath beside the A591 to a footpath on your right.

Whichever way you go, you’ll cross Mill Beck, then gain views across bumpy farmland to School Knott.

Scout Beck is then crossed, after which I enjoyed a few minutes in the company of a chap who was out for a walk with Meg, a working sheepdog whose frustration at being ‘on holiday’ was starting to show. She wanted to work.

If the characters below are representative of Meg’s ‘clientele’, then that dog has an easy life!

Beyond High Cleabarrow the Dales Way route is reached. I turned right here, and headed down to Matson Ground, where mallards and moorhens paddled around in the midst of a family of swans whose crop of six or seven goslings were still appreciating the support of their parents.

As the path descends inexorably towards Bowness there are plenty of places for weary Dales Way walkers to rest their feet before finishing the 81 mile trek from Ilkley.

A few hundred metres dogleg to the left takes you to a good viewpoint over the lower reaches of the lake.

Soon after that, surrounded by a deep dark brown carpet of autumn leaves, is a final resting point before descending to the fleshpots.

Bowness was fairly quiet on this late afternoon in October, and with dusk approaching the bowling green was deserted. The town was however much busier than I’d found its Pyrenean counterparts to be back in July.

A stroll along traffic free Longlands Road saw me back in Windermere after 9.5km and about two hours. It was 6pm. There was a chippy. And an unexpected chat with the fryer about long distance walking routes.

An easy drive home concluded a lovely day out.

How did that happen?! (Wythenshawe parkrun number 209)

Last Saturday morning Sue and I turned up for our last parkrun at Wythenshawe until 19 December, when I’ll be disguised as a Christmas tree.

The Sale Harriers running club has developed a habit of celebrating special occasions by way of mass attendance at Wythenshawe. Thus ‘Sarah’s Wedding Party’ pushed attendance above the 300 mark around which it currently hovers.

They all completed the run in a sufficiently composed manner to enable the header photo to be taken. Well done the Harriers.

Meanwhile, conditions were again good for the 5km run, with the muddy passage unusually dry. It also seems to have received a dose of hard core since last week! Fast Andy will be devastated.

Anyway, Sue wandered off with her still sensitive Achilles, to marshal at ‘The Far Bridge’, where she took a few snaps that illustrate the diversity of this weekly free event.

Near the front, the runners really are running. These folk will all get round in under 20 minutes.

I’ve just been overtaken by an athletic lady, but to my amazement I had been able to keep up with Richard and Matteo for a while. They dragged me to my first ever sub 4 minute kilometre. Thanks folks.

Here’s Jan, heading for a personal best (PB) despite looking as if he’s about to fling himself into a bed of nettles. Matteo, in the yellow vest, is using the ‘Fast Walk’ technique.

Pushchairs and dogs accompany quite a few of the runners. It’s hard to keep up with some of them.

After the buggies come the fun runners, enjoying their gentle Saturday morning jog/chat before settling down in the café to enjoy as much coffee and cake as may be made available from those completing ‘landmark’ (50th, 100th, etc) runs. It’s poor form not to bring celebratory cake on such occasions, which occur most weeks.

After a short break, the leaders soon come past on their second and final lap. Just visible in the distance (below) is Rob Jowett, on his way to his 6th consecutive finish at the head of the field. Also his 6th consecutive PB – he goes faster every week.

It’s not about winning, though, as parkrun is NOT a race, though ‘Fast Andy’ is as hot on the heels of Rob as any old timer could expect to be. There’s also an ‘age related’ result. Age grading takes a runner’s time and uses the world record time for their sex and age to produce a percentage score (world record as a percentage of the runner’s time). ‘Fast Andy’ came second on both counts this week. It just wasn’t his day! But he did manage an age related percentage of over 80%, a figure that Rob Jowett can only dream about. In 209 events, only 25 of the 4738 people who have admitted to taking part in Wthenshawe’s parkrun have achieved this feat.

Sarah’s wedding party eventually plodded through. The Sale Harriers treat the parkrun in the right spirit, saving their energy for proper races.

Mark Sydall, known affectionately as ‘Syd’ is another character who probably derives as much pleasure from the parkrun as whoever comes in first. He’s one of a breed of ‘slower’ participants for whom parkrun has provided an opportunity to improve their fitness by expending a few calories before settling down to cake and coffee in the café.

And the reason for the ‘How did that happen?’ headline…

This was my 80th run at Wythenshawe. My PB of 21.33 was set 66 runs earlier in perfect conditions in August 2012. So at my advanced age I would never get below that. Would I?

So where did 21.04 come from, and the landmark age related percentage above 80%?

Strange things can happen…

(To put this into perspective, I was overtaken on the second lap by an even more elderly gentleman, a proper runner unlike me, whose pace I couldn’t match.)

Thursday 15 October 2015 – Around Dunham

We enjoyed a good turnout for last Thursday’s evening walk, when Paul and Jeanette joined me and Sue, as well as Andrew, for a stroll around the environs of Altrincham. At one point P + J introduced us to the Devisdale Lizard; though it was hidden in a dark copse, they managed to go straight to it.

Torches weren’t needed earlier, as the sun was available….

The walk started from The Swan with Two Nicks in Lower Bollington, from where it’s a pleasant wander into the grounds of Dunham Massey.

After passing the hall we bore right, to the south of Smithy Pool, soon passing a building where the fallow deer take shelter.

After crossing Charcoal Road we wandered onto the golf course. It was dark, so golf balls weren’t a risk. Chester Road was our next obstacle, leading to Denzell Gardens, which despite being open, on this occasion we circumnavigated en route to Devisdale.

Devisdale is effectively a ‘green belt’ of Altrincham. A lovely enclosed meadow.

The route then returns through the golf course, on the far perimeter of which a right turn leads to Oldfield Lane and an enclosed path to Dunham Town.

Dunham Town is home to St Mark’s church, and the excellent Axe and Cleaver hostelry.

We decided to adjourn to the Swan rather than the Axe, so headed up the lane to the Bridgewater Canal and a short towpath meander to the start of our walk and another glass of beer at the Swan.

The recent dry weather means that the towpath is perfectly dry at present. A temporary situation until the winter rains turn it to mud. But up to the Bay Malton, beyond Broadheath, the Bridgewater Way towpath renewal initiative now provides an all year round dry surface all the way from the Bay Malton to both the Barton swing bridge and the centre of Manchester. Hopefully the work will soon continue in the direction of Lymm.

Here’s our route – one of many alternatives – 8km with minimal ascent. Allow 1.5 to 2 hours.

Sunday 11 October 2015 – The Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon

Yes, it’s that time of year again, and we have the same crew as last year – me, Robert, Paul and Greg. The picture above shows Paul, Greg and Robert at the start.

Robert returned to his bike after he had taken the picture below and started way ahead of the rest of us. We didn’t see him again until near the finish.

You can see that we dress immaculately for this event – apart from me – I seem to be wearing the same clothes that I was in for yesterday’s parkrun! (Two seconds off a PB, very frustrating.)

The most observant will see that I have (temporarily?) retired my 25 year old Shogun bike from the event this year, in favour of nine year old ‘Stumpy’ that I finally got used to riding during my recent TransAlp trip. I must admit that the ride was much smoother with suspension, though I found myself being more hesitant on the technical descent from Midgley Moor. (Maybe that’s an age thing – there were only seven over 60’s in the 292 strong field, two of whom retired.)

As last year, the three of us started gently at the back of the field, leaving Robert to shoot off and complete the course in 2 hours 55 minutes, his fastest time in thirteen attempts.

The field quickly spread out – well, it shot off ahead of us, and I was again able to enjoy the fast descent to Mytholmroyd at my own pace.

Shortly after that descent, the first checkpoint is reached, near Hebden Bridge. I waited for some time for Paul and Greg to appear (I thought Paul was ahead of me but I’d inadvertently passed him). Eventually they turned up.

We agreed that I’d go ahead at my own pace in the fast, dry conditions. Perfect weather for the event.

The marshalling and signage and checkpoints were superb as always. There’s no need for a map on this event, and no chance of leaving the route unless you ignore the signage.

I waited for a while at Grain Water Bridge checkpoint. Cold drinks, bananas, mini Swiss rolls and jelly babies were the favoured foodstuffs of the day, so there was no need to carry any food or water. 

I continued over Midgley Moor without incident, though others all around me seemed to be practicing their somersaulting techniques.

As last year, I was encouraged up the final hill by Robert, who had come back down to Luddenden Foot to meet us.

3 hours 29 minutes was my time at what seemed a very gentle pace – a nice morning’s ride, and Paul and Greg pedalled in shortly afterwards, taking 3.44 and 3.47 respectively. The full results are here.

You’ll see that in contrast to last year, when Greg relaxed into a ‘Lazy Moment’ at the finish, this year he was moving so fast that his image is blurred!

After tea, soup and chilli, we adjourned as usual to the Church Stile Inn for beers. Then it was back to collect certificates and buffs (this year’s alternative to t-shirts) before wending our way home. 

I can only repeat that the support is amazing for the modest entry fee of £15.75, especially as it’s a fund raising event for a local scout group. A big vote of thanks to the organisers, marshals and support point volunteers. They should be proud in that their standards are much higher than those of many commercially organised events.

Here’s the route - 42.5 km (27 miles), 1000 metres ascent, 2-6 hours. Brilliant paths for mountain biking.

This is the eighth time I’ve cycled in this event since starting ‘Postcard from Timperley’, hence the fairly brief report.

The other reports can be found here, and the route description and results summary are here. The CMBM website is here, with this year’s results here. I’ve just put 9 October 2016 in the diary…

See you then…?