Sunday 31 October 2010 – Autumn Leaves – A Circuit from Cressbrook

An email from Sue and David drew us this morning to a 9.30am rendezvous, after a suitable lie-in due to the clocks going back, at Owl Cottage in Cressbrook.

Gaynor was also staying there, as were Nicky and Jenny.  Andrew (Notchy) turned up as well, so after a lengthy coffee break we ambled down the hill past the Millennium Stone and the Millennium Tree, to admire the views from Cressbrook weir.

As you can see, it was heavily overcast.  But the rain kept off and we enjoyed the gentle strolling, catching up with Sue and David’s activities over the past year, and with Notchy’s recent adventures in Bhutan.

Luckily the water level was low, so we could enjoy the valley route up Miller’s Dale, where three female goosanders floated gracefully past, whilst coots squabbled, dabchicks dived and dippers toured the briskly flowing river.

We soon reached Litton Mill.  Sue and I had passed by the derelict mill many times in the 1990s, wondering whether the planned redevelopment would ever transpire.  Whatever the downsides of the refurbishment (I’m sure there must be some) the appearance of the old building has been transformed and it would appear that some attractive apartments have been created.

Beyond the mill, a footbridge across the River Wye leads to a pretty woodland approach (pictured above) to the disused railway line that used to link Derby with Manchester.

The line was opened in 1863, when some people saw it in the same light as many of us now view wind farms.  For example, Ruskin wrote about it: 'There was a rocky valley between Buxton and Bakewell, once upon a time, divine as the Vale of Tempe... You Enterprised a Railroad through the valley - you blasted its rocks away, heaped thousands of tons of shale into its lovely stream. The valley is gone, and the Gods with it; and now, every fool in Buxton can be in Bakewell in half an hour, and every fool in Bakewell at Buxton; which you think a lucrative process of exchange – you Fools everywhere'.

Our stroll continued through the Litton Mill Railway Cutting - now a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), and past Miller's Dale Quarry, with a supporting embankment currently under restoration.

At Miller's Dale a second viaduct was added in 1905 to house the line going north towards Buxton and Manchester.  Dr Beeching was responsible for the closure of the line in 1967.

We stopped here for elevenses – tea and plentiful CCS – and for this self-timed group photo before Nicky and Jenny took an easier alternative route.

It appears that the tunnels on this line may be reopened in 2011.  They were certainly navigable for years after the line closed in 1967 and were presumably blocked for safety reasons.  If the rumour is true, it’ll be great to be able to walk through them again in the future.

After crossing the older viaduct we turned right along a minor road and descended to Miller’s Dale from the first corner.  Missing a left turn up Monk’s Dale, we reached the church in Miller’s Dale.  So it was back up the path to the left of the church and straight on after a gate where the main path heads left.  The stony path leads into Monk’s Dale.

If you haven’t been to Monk’s Dale you haven’t lived.  At first sight these stepping stones may lead up the dale.  Take care, they are slippery, as these three falling souls demonstrate.

The stepping stones lead out of the dale, so we retraced our steps to regain the valley path.

The dale drips with mosses and lichens.  Each step requires care.  There’s a choice of foot placement: slithery rock or gooey mud being the usual options, the sticks and branches being best avoided.  New Zealand ex-pats pining for the rain forests of home could do worse than visit this dale.

Eventually, and it did take some time, we emerged at the minor road that marks the start of Peter Dale, which is a little shorter and easier.  A grassy knoll provided an excellent spot for lunch, during which we were mugged by a muddy spaniel.

Moving on, Dale Head provided our escape onto easy paths for the rest of the walk.  First along a metaled lane to Wheston, from where ‘white roads’ took us to the north of a trig point at 381 metres and down to the quiet village of Tideswell, looking very out of season in the murk.

Continuing to Litton, the wide grass lined boulevard that runs through that village showed more signs of life, even a pub and a tea shop.  But we hastened onwards towards our destination.

There were quite a few other folk in Tansley and Cressbrook dales.  We let them pass whilst draining the last dregs from our flasks, before continuing on a fairly direct route back through golden woodland towards Owl Cottage…

…where tea and cakes were enjoyed at leisure.

This was an excellent day out in fine company.  Thanks for the invitation, Sue and David.  Here’s the 17km route with 750 metres of ascent.  It took us a fairly leisurely 6 hours.

There’s a 40 image slide show here.

Ramsoc Weekend at Kettlewell – 23/24 October 2010

 
It seems no time at all since the last Ramsoc weekend, on which I reported here.

This year was Sue W’s tenth in charge.  She tried to find a successor.  She failed.  So will we have to endure ten more years of Sue’s weather?

Saturday

Despite the two smiling Sues below, it was, as usual on this event, raining as we set off from Kettlewell Youth Hostel, which also masquerades as a Post Office, shortly before ten o’clock on Saturday morning.

Thirty nine people attended.  But just five of us headed towards Great Whernside.  It was very autumny, and Sue W was noticeably out of step, preoccupied by weightier matters, her dad being subject to ‘bit removal’ and Phil being en route to exile in a distant land.

Whilst others (‘The Buckden Pike Faction’) headed straight up Buckden Pike, the five of us tramped up Dowber Gill Beck, past a series of waterfalls (were these man-made?) into the mist.

After an elevenses break and lots of pauses to wait for Worzel, who, exhausted from rising early and rummaging through his massive wardrobe (stashed considerately in individual crisp packets), struggled to move more quickly than his pet tortoise, Gummidge.

Here, the two Sues and Julie wait for Worzel atop Great Whernside.

The mizzle that had accompanied us up the hill now fully recognised Sue W and proceeded to try to wash her away.  She’s made of stronger stuff though, and led us down to the well named ‘Little Hunters Sleets’ before heading on up to a misty wall that leads to the summit of Buckden Pike.

After a while, a gap in the wall led to a sheltered corner that was ideal for lunch.  The option to return to Kettlewell directly from here was surprisingly rejected.

Instead, we splashed through a bog, past the memorial to the Polish airmen who perished here in 1942, to the summit of Buckden Pike.

To our amazement, it was sunny.  Sue elected to dive in despite forgetting her snorkel.

It wasn’t far back to the lunch spot, but it took a while.

Amazingly, we all (even Worzel, who was too far behind to make the pictures) retained dry feet all day, thanks to good boots and effective gaiters.

Approaching Starbotton, a splinter group was set upon visiting the Fox and Hounds.  We walked past it.  It was shut.  The Buckden Pike Faction had already been there, demanding tea and coffee on this cold wet day, to the despair of the grumpy ”I sell beer, not soft drinks” landlord who had promptly shut up shop.

It was definitely a ‘hot chocolate day’, so after a stroll along the Dales Way to Kettlewell, passing the Blue Bell Inn and the Racehorses Hotel, we returned to tea, cake and hot showers at the youth hostel.

Here’s the route we took – 20 km, 800 metres ascent, taking a leisurely, albeit a bit brisk for Worzel, 7 hours.

It seems that not everyone had been out in the rain – the Blue Peter Faction had better things to do…

Sunday

It dawned clear.  Even frosty.  Sue W’s grip on the weather had obviously relaxed.

Several folk went home, or to work.  Workaholics.  This is a ‘mixed group’, varying from scarecrow impersonators to flash business types.  Many of them were at university together, where they enjoyed walking and other activities between studious interludes.

Nearly all those remaining – some 20 to 30 souls – drove to Buckden to enjoy a stroll to Cray, up the pleasantly graded Buckden Rake.

It was a grand morning (what was left of it), and we laboured slowly up to near this tree, overlooking Cray.

A short, slippery descent and a few stepping stones led to The White Lion, a fine establishment.  We lingered outside, sustained by tea, shortbread and brownies.

Despite teenage clamours for lunch, we managed to continue to Hubberholme, where a shingle beach beside the River Wharfe finally provided the desired respite and a reunion with Julia and Anna, who had earlier absconded to Grassington, which is apparently under siege from TV crews filming a ‘Reality TV Show’ in which the winner will receive a £300,000 cottage.

Our resident scarecrow couldn’t resist a visit to The George, where the surly treatment echoed yesterday’s poor experience in Starbotton.  The remaining 20+ potential customers were thus lost to this establishment.  We walked past the pub.

Passing an attractive B&B (see slideshow), we continued through fields along the Dales Way to Buckden.  It was a lovely afternoon.  Here eleven of us admire the view from the bridge over the Wharfe at Buckden.

The sun beat down on this last lap of our enjoyable weekend, where

the Buck Inn, once a fine establishment, exhibited more signs of the ‘surly landlord’ malaise that seems to be affecting this valley.

The tea shop behind the vacant pub was fairly full.  We’d have had to share a table.  Nobody showed any interest in our potential custom.  Did we look like scarecrows? 

We all went home.

Here’s the day’s route – 8km, 250 metres ascent, 4 hours (there were children, and Worzel).

And here’s a slideshow – 50 images in total.

Wednesday 20 October 2010 – Lindow Moss Revisited (Twice!)

The evening walks that Sue and I so conscientiously plan do have a tendency to creep up on us.

It’s a couple of years since we did this particular walk, so I’d forgotten the route.  I’d forgotten that we had done it before!  A recce was in order, as I had no desire to get misplaced on Lindow Moss.

So, in the morning I set off on what I quickly realised was a familiar circuit.  It was a lovely autumn day – I envied the friends who were spending a day in the Lake District, but I was pleased to be out in the fresh air, feeling reasonably healthy.

The hour passed quickly despite frequent pauses for snapshots.

The last time I walked this route in daylight was on 11 November 2008 – I wrote about it here – on another sunny day, but autumn was decidedly more advanced on that occasion.

I still wished I’d brought some gloves!

Recce done, I went home for lunch, then after tea I dragged Sue, exhausted from a hard day at the soon to be culled labour camp, back to the Boddington Arms, where fellow TGO Challenger Graham Brookes was lying in wait over a half of bitter.  A text message provided the excuse from another regular “safely back in Kat, back home Sun, in time to see City thrash Ars”, whilst others had called in “too tired”.

So the three of us enjoyed a moonlit stroll around the same 3 mile circuit.  It’s different at night.  There are fewer dog walkers.  Black Lake really is pretty black.  Tawny Owls are quite vociferous with their ‘tuwit, tuwoo’ calls.  Wood Pigeons clatter noisily from branch to branch.  A few stars are visible, despite the ambient light and the bright moon, with the ‘plough’ being easily identified. The puddles that are easily avoided in daylight become man traps. 

Déjà vu.  13 November 2008.

Having already reported twice on this walk, and having provided various references to both the route description and the ‘The Bodies in the Bog’ (Lindow Man), I’ll leave you now with just a few images from the morning’s stroll under a cold blue sky.

A path from the car park by the main road, next to the Boddington Arms, leads directly onto Lindow Common.

Paths criss-cross the common, but we make a bee line for Black Lake, where mallards rule the roost today.

Leaving the Common, after crossing Racecourse Road and bounding down Lindow Lane, we turn left down Rotherwood Road.

Doubling back along Moor Lane, roses grace the hedgerow, even in mid-October.

A carrion crow lurks above, eagerly scanning the scene for titbits.

The tarmac ends, and a field path leads past mole hills and through a kissing gate to another world.

It’s the peat bog – Lindow Moss.  Peat is cut here for domestic garden use.  This scene from the raised pathway through the Moss shows where Lindow Woman and Lindow Man (the Bodies in the Bog) were found in 1983.

After only about ten minutes, a footbridge provides means of release from the unexpected landscape, back onto a country lane and past an old sandpit that is now a giant aquarium (Rossmere Lake).

Newgate Lane now leads gently back to Lindow Common and the car park, to conclude this gentle outing.

Tuesday 19 October 2010 - A Great British Ridge Walk - Number 19 – The High Ridges around Coledale

By way of a change, I set off alone at 10 am this morning, on this meander around Coledale.

Well, I was walking alone, but there were plenty of people to chat to – I must have seen getting on for 100 folk on these hills today.

Luckily, the weather had improved as I headed north up the M6, though as I set off from the parking place in the old quarry by the side of the Whinlatter Pass road (NY 227 237) a brief shower summoned the waterproofs for the first time for a while.

I was soon up Kinn, and reached the top of the pyramid known as Grisedale Pike in good time.  It was swathed in light cloud right on the summit, whereas Skiddaw was pretty much engulfed in cloud until mid afternoon.

After negotiating the bump of Hobcarton Head I strayed from the purist’s route around Coledale to take in Hopegill Head, from where a couple of folk were making hard work of the slither down to Ladyside Pike.  Turning my back on them, I nipped over Sand Hill and down to Coledale Hause, with lovely views towards Buttermere over sunlit Sail Beck.

Forsaking the windy Hause in favour of the direct ascent of Eel Crag, I soon reached the point where the ‘shelf route’ that I enjoyed almost exactly a year ago joins the prow of the mountain for the easy plod up to the substantial cairn that marks the highest point of today’s walk, Crag Hill (839 metres).

The views were atmospheric and delightful, with sunshine accentuating the bright green of the lush fields far below.

Rain was never far away – it is pushing in to the left of the picture below – but luckily I dodged it today.

I made quick progress over Sail and enjoyed lunch with the view above, before heading on to the summit of Scar Crags, from where Derwent Water glistened beyond more sunlit fields.

The path headed gently on to Causey Pike, from where a scrambly descent led to my final summit of the day, Rowling End, with this birds eye view into the valley below.

The steep descent to Stoneycroft over greasy rock was followed by a short road walk, then a lovely path beside a forest that dropped me back into Braithwaite well before 3 pm.

Here’s today’s route – 15km, with about 1300 metres ascent, taking a shade under 5 hours at a fairly brisk pace.

A slide show will follow if I get around to it, but there may be a short hiatus whilst the computer goes in for repair.

Today’s walk traversed 6 Wainwrights, 11 Birketts (they are great to ‘bag’, aren’t they!) and just one Marilyn – interestingly Grisedale Pike, not the higher summit of Crag Hill.  It’s a lovely round, always enjoyable.