Wednesday 22 July 2020 - Around Slattocks with Alan and Sheila

 

An invitation from Alan and Sheila to accompany them for a morning walk from their home in Slattocks couldn't be resisted. After light traffic on the 23 mile journey around the M60/M62, a 9 am start in fine weather saw us wandering down the Rochdale Canal towpath. Familiar ground - two hours for me by bike the other day, but less than 30 minutes in the car today.

 

[Note: click on an image for a better version/slideshow.]

 

After leaving the canal at bridge 68b (below) we took a stroll down the old loopline to rejoin the canal near bridge 69b.

 

 

En route, views back revealed a mixed landscape of farmland and industry, with pylons and a wind farm prominent.

 

 

On re-joining the towpath, we watched a mallard shepherding her young - not an easy task given the hazards of pike and herons, not to mention the buzzards soaring high above.

 

Apparently the leaky canal has recently been repaired, but the section north of bridge 69b is very low, and south of the bridge a short stretch is empty.
 

 

We left the canal where a steep set of steps leads down to the River Irk (below, it's far from empty). We followed the path through Chadderton Park, turning left at the road leading up to Healds Green and Chadderton heights.

 

 

Cinder Hill Farm appears to be one of Alan's favourite places, where he can commune with the produce before purchasing supplies from the farm shop.

 

 

It's that time of year - lots of Rosebay Willowherb in the hedgerows.

 

 

Past Cinder Hill Farm, a T-junction is reached where we go right through the farm leading to Oozewood Road and the furthest entrance into Tandle Hill Park.

 

I'd not been to Tandle Hill before. It's an interesting place where beech trees were planted in order to discourage people from congregating in large numbers, as they did before marching to Manchester in 1819 to take part in the demonstration that led to the Peterloo Massacre.

 

We headed for the café, outside which Alan and Sheila could enjoy takeaway coffees, whilst I emptied my flask of tea and shared some fudge brownies.

 

Then a walk through the woodland, with good views at its margins, to the delights of Yorkshire.

 

 

 

 

Some steep steps led to a war memorial in a spot where in 1513 it was the site of a beacon.

 

 

 

Alan and Sheila's house is almost visible to the left of the next picture, in which Winter Hill is just off to the right of the horizon.

 

 

There's a recent memorial to those killed in the Peterloo Massacre.

 

 

From the Tandle Hill monument we took on an old green lane which exits onto Thornham Old Road rather than the short cut down and through the farm.

 

After a few minutes we reached the Tandle Hill Tavern, which has re-opened after Lockdown, subject to a bewildering and rather jolly set of  'House Rules'.

 

 

 

 

 

Beyond that, our path skirted fields, some of which are imminently due to give way to housing.

 

 

There are numerous signs, trying to persuade the planning authorities to retain the existing Green Belt. Not much chance of that, I fear. The land shown below will soon be a housing estate.

 

 

Re-joining the canal, we noticed lots of this attractive, erect, flower - Purple Loosestrife I think. Hopefully Stewart (aka Buryman) will correct me if necessary...

 

 

 

We were back at base after nearly 14 km, 3½ hours, and around 180 metres ascent, after a lovely morning walk in fine company.

 

 

Thanks go to Alan and Sheila for organising this, and to Sheila for providing some photos (which I got into a bit of a mess converting from .png to .jpg, so only a couple of them are included above).

And this afternoon I'm pleased to report that our wayward living room curtain rail seems to have been fixed successfully by Jake from the Interior Curtain Centre, which, situated a five minute walk from home, is becoming our favourite shop for quality curtains and carpets.

Monday 20 July 2020 - Aye Gill Pike

 

My first hilly day walk of the year! At last I had the confidence to break out of 'Lockdown' and head to the hills. Despite travelling through rush hour, traffic was light and I arrived in Dent at 10 am as planned. The high street was pretty much deserted, but there were quite a few cars in the car park, which seemed quite happy to extract £4.50 from me 'for local causes'.

 

Just down the road, a bit further down than shown above, a café was open, but apparently the pubs have not re-opened and it's not yet possible to get a draught beer around here.

 

I zeroed my gadgets and set off past the sparsely occupied campsite. Meadow Cranesbill graced the verges.

 

 

There was also lots of Red Campion, Willowherbs, and many more flowers.

 

The fields were being raked today, here with a view towards Calf Top.

 

 

I followed the Dales High Way route up to Long Moor.

 

 

Curious, but timid, this lot looked like fine specimens.

 

 

I think this is Elder [no, it's Meadowsweet - Thanks Buryman], joining the Meadow Cranesbill in the verges of a thin strip of rising tarmac.

 

 

From Long Moor, a somewhat squishy path led gently upwards to the east. This picture was taken from the east, with the Howgill fells in the background.

 

 

I'd driven through a deluge around Preston, and there were showers in the area, but luckily I spent all day taking advantage of the 95% forecast chance of no precipitation, and I benefited from having the cool breeze on my back.

 

 

The day was very clear, with good visibility to Sedbergh and beyond. (Click on any image for a better version.)

 

 

Views towards the Howgill fells became clearer as I got slowly higher.

 

 

A large flock of what looked at first like starlings didn't get close enough for me to identify the birds.

 

 

However, there were lots of Meadow Pipits

 

 

So I conclude that the flock was in fact one of Meadow Pipits.

 

Near the summit, which due to the convex nature of the hill is only seen at the last minute, the squishy ground led to a stile where I was glad not to be in Andrew's company. I might have had to abandon him!

 

 

Over the other side of the stile, the 556 metre trig point finally came into view.

 

 

From Dent, taking this clockwise route, it took 7 km and two hours, including a short tea break, to reach the top. The descent would be twice as far, and would take me another four hours, including breaks.

 

 

There are good views to the Three Peaks, and a couple of stately viaducts on the Settle to Appleby railway line.

 

 

 

To the NE, Garsdale and Great Shunner Fell.

 

 

After nearly 3 km of bog dodging, the terrain became much firmer, with grazed grassland providing a home for a range of wild flowers, including Marsh Thistle,

 

 

Woolly Thistle,

 

 

Wild Thyme,

 

 

and many more, including Tormentil and Yellow Pimpernel.

 

This Lapwing appeared most perturbed by my presence.

 

 

I was not entirely alone on the hill. Kim and Colin, from Nuneaton, reached the top soon after me and on the way down we stopped to chat, and walked together for a while. It was good to have their company on the descent to the Dales Way route, where I paused to finish off my flask of tea.

 

 

Kim and Colin had earlier seen both a Barn Owl, and a Short-eared Owl. I was envious, having noted only Grey Wagtails by the river, a Buzzard high overhead, and a Kestrel hunting at the summit before I got there. Mind you, as we were chatting, I did see a stoat running across the fell behind us.

 

This splendid barn near Cowgill looks as if it's used for storage. A small cat hid behind the door as I passed.

 

 

Beside Ewegales campsite, and further on at Rivling, an assortment of machinery has been abandoned to the elements. I've not had a chance to offer any tractor pictures for a while, so here they all are...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Despite them all looking like wrecks, the tyres seem to be well inflated. There was a Land Rover with no engine, but otherwise looking as if it was ready to drive away!

 

From here, my route followed the Dales Way, except where I missed the path and took a very pleasant walled lane instead.

 

 

 

Some of these Foxgloves were about seven feet high!

 

 

Some fields had no wild flowers at all, just grass. Others looked like this one, with its abundance of Dandelions.

 

 

The hedgerow where I missed the path (perhaps they distracted me) sported some lovely specimens of Giant Bellflower, with Harebells also in evidence nearby.

 

 

The Dales Way is, in normal times, a well used path. In these far from normal times it has become seriously overgrown in places.

 

 

This next picture shows a dog walker about to cross the river towards me. I'd met her earlier going in the other direction, so I'm not sure how she got there!

 

 

It was nearly 4 o'clock by the time I reached Church Bridge, on the outskirts of Dent, from where it was an easy stroll along a path towards the campsite, and a narrow ginnel beside it, to regain the main street and return to the car park.

 

 

Well, that was a most satisfying day out. Here's my route - 21 km with 550 metres ascent, taking around 6 hours.
 

 

Finally, 'Hello' to Kim and Colin, if you read this far. I do hope you have a successful summer and that your plans come to satisfactory fruition.