Ramsoc Weekend at Malham – 15/16 October 2016

This is an annual event, currently organised by Sue B, with help from Sue W, who previously organised it for many years. It’s a reunion of the Sues’ University walking group. When I started coming on these trips there were lots of small children. Now most of them are at universities themselves…

There were about thirty of us on this year’s outing. Sadly Dick didn’t quite make it due to a fracas involving his car.

Saturday morning – we assembled outside Malham YHA annex, wondering where to go as nobody had paid much attention to planning a route. But in a rare bout of efficiency, Mike had somehow acquired some lunch.

A fair number of people wanted to visit Goredale Scar, which would be easier than usual to climb by virtue of the long spell of dry weather, so about 25 of us set off to Janet's Foss.

There was a mildly successful attempt at a group photo, shown at the top of this posting.

The day was heavily overcast, but with an earlier forecast of rain we considered ourselves lucky. Goredale had as little water in it as I can remember.

The slippery rocks at the bottom of the short scramble seemed to pose more difficulty than the scramble itself, which was very easy today.

There was still plenty of time to chill out as about twenty of us clambered up the rocks.

Then it was an easy staircase up to the limestone plateau.

Richard and I enjoyed a walk along the pavement whilst most of the others preferred the grassy path.

The others took a direct route to Malham Tarn, but Richard joined me on an alternative route via Middle House Farm. My last gesture towards ‘training’ for next Sunday’s marathon.

There was a view of Malham Tarn, under a thick layer of cloud.

We soon caught up with the others, apparently descending on them from a height!

Pete and Mary swept past on their tandem, briefly swelling our numbers to about twenty seven.

Some took a short cut beyond High Trenhouse, so by the time we stopped for lunch just below the cloud base near Black Hill, numbers were back down to about twenty.

The path to Gorbeck was a bit boggy, but trail shoes (with a waterproof liner of course) were adequate. The distinctive outline of Penyghent was just visible through the gloom. We were following a group of students from Durham, who we encountered from time to time thereafter. A missing member of their group would later receive reports that ‘Aunty Sue, Uncle Phil and Uncle Mike were looking out for you today’!

We passed lots of tasty looking mushrooms. We would have appreciated Heather’s expertise here, but she was busy guiding a large group around the Three Peaks.

The ground conditions improved as we wound our way towards the caves above Settle, first passing Jubilee Cave then going up to Victoria Cave, now fitted with safety barriers and an information board briefly describing its use over the last 12000 years.

As we made our way along the good path below Attermire Scar, the cloud suddenly dissipated and the sun came out.

There was a fine view up to Settle Scar, and the resident cows were a picture of contentment.

A well camouflaged little owl flew off from a stile just as we approached. Later, vociferous tawny owls were seen around the hostel in Malham.

I joined Tom for a while on top of Rye Loaf Hill. Julie was apparently also there, but I didn’t spot her (she's very small, hiding behind the trig point?).

The main group was re-joined on Pikedaw Hill, from which we enjoyed a sunny descent to Malham in excellent late afternoon light.

What a difference a bit of sunshine makes…

I was impressed that nearly 20 of the group had managed a walk of a good 24 km - rather further than usual, I think.

Here's my route - 26 km, 700 metres ascent, in a little over 7 hours.

We ate in the hostel, where the helpful staff also provided a series of pots of tea for us in the lounge. Costs for the weekend – two night’s B&B plus evening meal was about £50 a head, so despite the YHA charges being much higher than they used to be, the cost was about half what might be paid for a B&B plus a pub meal.

Sunday – the poor weather forecast drove many people home, as it started to rain whilst we were chatting outside the hostel. Sue and I decided on a short walk from Grassington. Many readers will recognise the path shown below.

After all the recent dry weather the River Wharfe wasn't exactly in spate.

We strolled along the Dales Way path towards Hebden. Despite the gloom, there were some nice autumn colours.

We took the path to Bank Top, then past Mossy Moor Reservoir, from where the good path led down to meet Hebden Beck by some mine workings where we joined a track.

A nice field path by-passed Yarnbury, and after a short stretch of tarmac we descended through more fields towards Grassington and past this relic. Curiously, we later saw an almost identical vehicle on the road near our house in Timperley.

By the time we reached Grassington Bridge to re-join the Dales Way path, the sun was out. We watched a gaggle of kayaks descending the weir before struggling lower down due to the paucity of water.

We left them to it and returned to Grassington for lunch in the sunshine.

Here's our route: 13 km, with 350 metres ascent, in around 3 hours - a good morning stroll.

There’s a 64 image slideshow here. (I’m still struggling with Google+ and am looking for a better alternative. If only the old Picasa system still worked… ho hum.)

Other Ramsoc events are recorded here.

Next year – Helmsley?

Thanks go to Sue, helped by Sue, for organising – which requires more work than you might imagine…

Graffiti from the Southern Half (21)

The graffiti in Valparaiso covers many subjects (and many buildings!).

Graffiti from the Southern Half (20)

Currently ‘resting up’, so it’s back to some more of the excellent graffiti in Valparaiso.

I’ve heard that there is some in sunny Salford, so I’ll get down there soon.

From a Roving Correspondent: Random Tractors of Europe (3)

It’s a quiet week in Timperley, but one of my roving correspondents has been out tractor spotting again. The top picture reminds me of my parking technique when I had a job as a fork lift truck driver in a steel foundry. The vehicle had been rescued from a scrapyard and had no handbrake.

Thanks Nick, and don’t forget to click on this important link (that also goes for the few remaining readers who have not yet donated – any amount, however small, will be appreciated, especially if in euros or dollars as the exchange rates are great!).

A Weekend ‘At Home’

As many readers know, a weekend in Timperley starts with a parkrun, usually at Wythenshawe. This was my 99th run there, so I took a bit of cake and some FOC incorrectly printed ‘Another Pyrenean Adventure’ books.

As you can see from the above picture, there was more cake (a ‘proper’ cake), more free handouts, an attentive run director or two, barcode scanning in the background, etc. It was a perfect morning with dry conditions and followed by a lazy coffee or two outside the Courtyard café.

As always, a great way to start the weekend. There were some impressive performances, in particular from ‘The Queen of Wythenshawe’, Jackie Cordingley, on her 200th parkrun. Well done Jackie. Well done also to Richard Evans for getting a PB, one second inside Greg Barber’s best time! Results are here.

Sue and I arrived home to find Jacob and Jessica outside and ready to spend the rest of the day with us. Much of this was spent in Walton Park, an easy bike ride down the canal towpath. Jessica, just three, showed us how she had mastered her Balance Bike and now needs some pedals to speed her on her way.

Jess can also stay on a swing, whereas Jacob managed to escape from his swing whilst high in mid air. Just a few bruises, but we may need to leave his cycle helmet on next time!

The ice cream van arrived twice whilst we were at the park. There’s no end to the time the children want to spend on simple play apparatus and bikes.

Jess enjoyed a lolly that turned her tongue blue…

Sunday brought along the annual Calderdale Mountain Bike Marathon. This year we were a group of five. Robert went ahead as usual and finished inside three hours. I set off right at the back of the 230 or so participants, together with Paul and Greg (their third year) and first timer Andy. Here are Greg, Andy and Paul waiting for the start. My 1990 Shogun bike is in the background. It behaved impeccably.

Despite lovely weather, I didn’t take many pictures this year. The one below shows Paul stuffing his face at the first checkpoint (near Hebden Bridge after about 15 km) and Greg ready to storm on ahead. I couldn’t keep up with them after that. Andy pottered along behind us all, taking lots of photos and much care on the technical sections. None of us had any problems and the ride went very smoothly. Great fun. It doesn’t matter if the group splits as there’s always somebody to chat to as you progress over the 26 mile route.

Here’s the route – 42 km (26 miles) with around 1100 metres ascent.

The results are here, and a brief summary of our results over the years is in this posting, whilst all my blog reports are here.

Finally, congratulations to the organisers for making the event run so smoothly and for providing lots of drinks and food along the way and at the finish. Brilliant.

Wednesday 5 October 2016 – 36 Degrees, Stage 1 – Ainsdale to Burscough Bridge

Today's team - John, Phil, Bernard and Martin, had assembled at Westhoughton Station for a train to Southport at around 9 o’clock – a bit early for most Plodders, one reason for the poor turnout. We were almost leaderless when John was found to be waiting in the car park whilst the rest of us preferred the platform. Another train took us to Ainsdale, where we headed due west from the station until the Irish Sea precluded further movement.

The idea was to revisit Stage 1 of John’s ‘36 Degrees’ walk, as he wanted a .gpx file and nobody had kept one when this route was first walked nearly five years ago. It was Stage 1 of John’s project to walk across England from coast to coast, keeping within 36 degrees of his own back garden, ie a straight line across the country to within 18 degrees each side of his garden.

We posed whilst a convenient post recorded today’s team.

The walk soon brought us back to Ainsdale Station, from where we had set off some time earlier, and on towards a sandwich shop outside which Bernard found himself glued to the pavement. Next door was a coffee shop that duly obliged whilst Bernard selected a sandwich. It was an auspicious occasion as I’d never before witnessed Phil entering such an establishment – he usually paces around outside.

After this excellent and much needed coffee break we headed east along narrow strips of tarmac past neatly cropped fields. Some of the party were already lagging behind and single file was wise as any vehicles took up most of the width of the tarmac strips.

John was raring to go, loving every minute of this rebirth of his project.

We dived into the undergrowth as Tractor Number 1 roared past.

It was a lovely day with a brisk easterly breeze. By the time we reached Cabin Lane we were on a track that petered out in the stubble of a harvested crop. We soon learnt that the farmers hereabouts don’t restrain their crops from growing on the signposted footpaths through their fields.

Manor House Farm was immaculate. Here we encountered Tractor Number 2 and a friendly farmer, as well as a horse and cart trapped forever, frozen in time behind a row of plant pots. The taxidermist had made a fine job of the horse.

Tractors Number 3 and 4 were lazing nearby in a barn.

Outside the farm, Phil sang a Gloria Gaynor song to these love sick cows. They showed signs of distress when ‘The Cow Whisperer’ deserted them, their mournful moans following us in the breeze all the way to Heathey Lane and Jack’s Mere.

The turf farm near Jacksmere Farm certainly didn't maintain its footpaths.

We made our way along the footpath through Hooton’s Farm, at one point having to hack our way through a forest of nettles. It may have been easier to ignore the path and walk through the field to the south.

Scarisbrick has a pretty lodge and a long driveway that leads to a school. The high proportion of personally registered cars indicated a certain exclusivity. A gent in a Jaguar paused to satisfy himself that we didn’t present a threat. (It took him some time.)

We enjoyed lunch in the sunshine on a grassy bank by the Private entrance. Bernard enjoyed his sandwich, the rest of us feasted on cake, and John pondered a phallic object that his wife had wrapped in tissue and placed in his lunch box.

We negotiated the roads passing alongside the school without incident, before heading along Dam Lane and Merscar Lane. Tractor Number 5 – an early Massey Ferguson driverless prototype - weaved past us, heading crazily in the direction of Slattocks.

Eventually we reached the scenic delights of the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for the last stretch to Burscough Bridge.

It's a lovely stretch of towpath. Winter Hill came into view in the distance, as did one of its nearby residents, or so we thought…

“Hello Norman, what are you doing in that dinghy?”

“I’m not Norman”, protested this man, “I’m his twin brother, just checking the seaworthiness of my houseboat!”

Ha ha, you can’t fool us, Norman.

We left Norman blushily renovating his houseboat, which looked a bit basic to us (the only tool he had was a baler), and left the canal at bridge 32A.

The Hop Vine proved to be very friendly and a great place to finish this five hour jaunt before catching our train back to Westhoughton. That wasn’t so simple as there was some confusion regarding the timetable – we caught a train at around 3.30, a good 15 minutes later than expected, much to Bernard’s consternation.

Stage 1 of the ‘36 Degrees’ walk had proved to be about 19 km, with around 100 metres ascent, and it took us less than 5 hours including several breaks (walking time was 3.50). We now have a selection of .gpx files. There’s an additional twenty minute walk to the start from Ainsdale Station, of course.

Here’s the route – click on the image for a slightly larger one.

There’s an album with 39 pictures here. Try clicking on the first image and seeing what happens. I’d like you to be able to view a full screen slideshow with captions, but the current Google software doesn’t seem to be amenable to this.

Tuesday 4 October 2016 - A Peak District Ramble

Setting off from near Tideswell, I strolled an 18 km circuit via lunch in The Crispin at Great Longstone. There are so many ways of skinning this particular cat that details of the route are somewhat superfluous.

It was a lovely day, with sunny periods that kept ending the moment my camera came out. Just a handful of people were encountered, though The Crispin was quite busy, and there were lots of cyclists on the railway around Monsal Head. I saw just one elderly gent from Sheffield all afternoon. 

Anyway, it was a lovely day out and 'Mission Accomplished', as our Christmas lunch venue on 11 December is now booked, and an excellent route for that day has been reccied. 

If you click on the first photo you get the facility to scroll through them using a bit more of your screen. They are just a series of snaps taken during the walk. Enjoy.

Sunday 2 October 2016 - Geal-Charn and A' Mharconaich

Fog over Pitlochry. But it soon cleared. After bidding our farewells to numerous TGO Challengers, and thanking them for taking a fair quantity of incorrectly printed Pyrenees books off my hands, Sue and I pottered off to Balsporran Cottages, near Dalwhinnie, to climb two easy hills that Sue may not have been up before.

It was a perfect day for walking. Clear blue skies, crystal clear visibility, warm sunshine with a cool breeze to blow away any sweat. Ptarmigan and red grouse had grouped themselves into flocks. No deer were in evidence. The last flowers of the heather had a frosty sheen to them as we climbed, passing a couple on the first summit, and meeting an early morning runner - the only people encountered on our three and three quarter hour excursion that clocked up 12 kilometres and about 750 metres of ascent.

There were fine views across Loch Ericht to the Ben Alder range, and further afield to summits too numerous to mention.

We would have liked to have extended the walk (and the trip), but we had no food with us and Sue has to be at work tomorrow, so it was back to the car and down to the House of Bruar for a bite to eat, before an easy drive back to Timperley for around 8pm.

Today's pictures should be fairly self explanatory, but an annotated slideshow should follow if I can work out how to compose one - Google seem to have made some changes and my time honoured method of producing a slideshow no longer works. Ho hum (and thanks to Mike Parsons for his suggestions).

I'll also do some track maps.