From slim pickings to superabundance
14th May 2024The lack of sunshine during my March 2019 trip to Settle and Malham brought forward a repeat encounter in advance of an Easter trip to Edinburgh in the same year. Compared to the previous trip, when there was photographic famine, this one brought an overwhelming number of possibilities. A little sustained sunshine can make choices of what to show and what not to show more difficult, especially when not every landscape feature has a name. It is time to leave a narrative to do the discriminating.
As well as the sighting of the donkeys that you see above, the way out of Settle offered views of a passing steam train as well as the chapel of the independent Giggleswick School, a far grander structure than you would expect to see situated in the middle of the pastoral countryside. There was more to occupy one’s eyes than more distant views of Pen-y-Ghent.
The main drama of the day began once I left the route of the Pennine Bridleway for that of the Dales High Way. In the morning sunshine, the limestone outcrops festooning the Warrendale Knots and adjoining Attermire Scar did nothing to disappoint me. Clouds stayed away from the passage of the sun for long enough to keep me entertained all the way as far as Stockdale Lane.
Continuing past Stockdale Farm also led me past Rye Loaf Hill and Kirkby Fell on a somewhat expedited route to Cove Road, near Malham. Views of Malham Cove did tease as I went forth, yet clouding skies stopped me from everything my own way for photographic exploits. Nevertheless, opportunities did present themselves as I followed the route of the Pennine Way onto the limestone pavement above the one time ancient waterfall.
From there, it was a matter of continuing north to Malham Tarn. Sunshine was again liberated to light up a part of the world that I largely experienced under cloudy skies on previous visits. Names like Raven Scar, Ing Scar and Ing Scar Crag hint at what you find in this classy limestone landscape.
Following an ascent, the terrain levelled out on the final approach to Malham Tarn. The size of the lake makes photography a little tricky, but the availability of sunshine almost enforced such activity. That also meant that there was some dawdling before embarking on an alternative route to Langscar Gate. Any gain in height was rewarded by views over the tarn and what lay around it.
After passing Langscar, I took a south-westerly turn in the direction of Kirkby Fell. After passing Grizedales, I returned to my outbound route for a time. The return to Settle was to keep me on Stockdale Lane until it reached High Hill Lane, which I then followed the rest of the way to my starting point. Not only did that offer different viewpoints (which was just as well given the shadows that had fallen on what was fully lit in the morning), but it also made the descent easier than the more usual way that I had been using. On tiring legs, that is easier as long as tarmac traipsing is kept to a minimum.
A good day hike ended with my being well sated by what I encountered. At the time of writing, though, my appetite for such countryside has been dimmed by excursions to Scotland and other possibilities. If it ever gets rekindled, the prospect of walking from Malham to Skipton could be tempting. A desire to replace photos from my film-using days may be just the thing for that.
Travel Arrangements
Return train journey between Macclesfield and Settle, with changes at Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds.
Slaughter
29th February 2024Network Rail has been busy cutting down trees beside the Macclesfield stretch of the West Coast Mainline. The result is not pretty and affects a nearby walking route that I often use. Tree trunks have been denuded and left to look lifeless. If life restarts on these, the devastation may be softened, but that is not within sight just yet.
While I can understand that windthrow is a problem for trees next to a railway line during stormy weather, the aftermath of the cutting looked sad to my eyes. Shelter was removed, and it may be that walkers do not need such a clear view of the railway anyway. It all caused a trail that has something of a bucolic aspect to appear more industrial than it used to do.
The time of year hardly helps, with all the leafless trees and bare ground after the winter. Maybe things will look less brutal during the coming growing season. For now, though, there is a lot of carnage that needs healing. At times, I have had my misgivings about tree cover when seeking photos of scenic spots, yet that is not how I feel about this ongoing aftermath.
Consolidation
27th February 2024The magazines Cumbria and Lakeland Walker have been combined, a move that makes me wonder about the wisdom of remaining a subscriber. The strictures at the height of the pandemic saw me subscribe to a number of magazines, mainly to cut down on shop visits and also to contribute to keeping going through a tough time. Lakeland Walker was one of these and had its uses for getting ideas for Cumbrian outings.
Since then, there have been a number of changes. The world has turned against plastic, so many magazines are mailed in paper envelopes, not the best for keeping them dry during some of the deluges that have beset us during the last twelve months. What once was a title printed on A4 paper now is part of a combined title printed on what appears to be A5 paper, an increase from the size of Cumbria magazine, though.
So, we have the perhaps clumsily titled Cumbria and Lakeland Walker magazine. In some ways, the combination is reminiscent of The Scots Magazine, which also has an outdoors section, albeit without maps. Thus, the merged entity can work and there may be a finite number of walking ideas among the Lakeland fells anyway. Only time will tell how things will out for the new title and if I remain a subscriber, for there can be too many magazines and not enough time to read them all.
When promised sunshine scarcely appeared
10th January 2023These words are being written in a period of ongoing industrial relations turbulence. Whenever this happens, it can seem never-ending. Hope gets lost, but things can be resolved quicker than anyone can imagine.
Much of 2018 was blighted by Saturday-only stoppages that affected Northern Railway. It meant that outings were limited for me because I do not drive a car. In fact, they were an impossibility for many of the places that hill wanderer would go in the north of England. Thus, when the stoppages were halted, it was as if I was unleashed to take advantage of the restored sense of freedom.
Trips to the North York Moors and Derbyshire preceded two outings to the Yorkshire Dales. This piece describes the first of the latter, when sunshine was scarcer than predicted in the forecast. That encouraged another that will be described in a later posting.
The lack of sunshine necessarily limited the number of photos that I made on this trip, so figuring out the route again took some doing. Nevertheless, I reckon that I have recalled it. Recording GPS tracks or even filming hikes is something that I have avoided so far, but that needs a rethink unless I stop leaving it so long before writing trip reports.
On the day, I made my way from Settle’s train station towards Castlebergh Plantation. From there, I followed the Pennine Bridleway in the direction of Malham Tarn. That meant passing the turning for the crags that may have lured me out that way in the first place. They would be passed on the way back.
Everywhere lay under grey skies as I followed the track towards Langscar Gate and Malham Tarn. A young walking group was going this way too, so I dallied to give them time to move along for the sake of added solitude. Following the broad track appealed to me, as these so often do, especially when quietude can be found. That made up for any lack of sunshine.
Skies partially cleared of cloud around Malham Tarn, somewhere that I possibly had not visited for more than ten years. That made me linger and attempt a spot of photographic capture. The results may have been incompletely in their success, but they were proof that I was not totally out of luck. Now that I think of it, there may have been more sunshine available than I had thought.
My next move was to make for Malham village. That took me past Broad Scars and Malham Lings before I returned to tarmac again. Descending by Malham Rakes gained me views over Malham Cove as well as getting me to the village where I enjoyed a refreshment stop.
The shop was looking more tatty on the outside than when I was near there on previous visits. The paintwork was wearing off the stonework and the shopkeeper looked aged, which have explained the lack of maintenance to the outside of the building. Skies again broke to allow some sunshine, and I took in sights of the cliffs of Malham Cove on the next stage of my hike.
My return to Settle took me near Town Head as I made my way onto Long Lane. That kept me off Cove Road until just before a steep ascent, after which I left the road for a public footpath that would take me back to the Pennine Bridleway near Kirkby Fell. There was empty countryside around Rye Loaf Hill, though I seem to recall seeing some mountain bikers around there.
More civilisation in the form of Stockdale Farm before I left the lane to follow the Dales High Way past crags that I had fancied photographing. The grey gloom put paid to that ambition, so I reconciled myself to enjoying the hike instead. There was one last uphill heave before the final descent into Settle, which felt very distant in the vicinity of the limestone outcrops that I was passing.
Another visit would be needed to make photographic use of the scenic delights that they offer, but the walk had left me content. There may have been a refreshment stop before I started on my train journey home in the knowledge that there was some unfinished business that remained in this part of the Yorkshire Dales. A return would follow.
Travel Arrangements
Return train journey between Macclesfield and Settle, with changes at Manchester Piccadilly and Leeds.
A break from Christmas preparations between Grindleford and Sheffield
27th December 2022The lead up to Christmas this year was very gloomy. After all, economic fortunes were heading downward and many have been on strike. The weather did not help either, and I was feeling exhausted after a year of some emotional toil. The cause has been the initiation of significant changes to my affairs in Ireland. Some will be sold and a lot of preparation is needed, some of which is going slower than is ideal. All this has weighed on me because my life has not been here before now.
One result is that Christmas preparations did not happen as early as one would have liked. The other is that I did the bare minimum for a time of year whose meaning changed with the passing of my parents. It all crept up on my as well. Now, I am hoping for an extended period of rest so that my energy levels get recharged again.
2018 was different. There was a trip to Ireland at the end of November, which meant that I had a clear run at Christmas. Some dental treatment became necessary too, and there was to be a mid-winter break on Tenerife as well. All added a frisson of tension to that moment. In many ways, it was a time of hope.
All it took was a sunny interlude to allow me to make use of an idea from a previous trip. It was enough to get me to Grindleford for another station to station walk to Sheffield. The first part of the hike was to ascend through trees to the side of the B6521. After a little way around the road, it was time to drop down through Yarncliff wood to the banks of Burbage Brook. This descent was steep enough to warrant greater attention at times.
Following the brook took me out of the tree cover and towards Burbage Bridge. Reaching the A6187 meant going through more woodland, meaning that views were restricted and that my camera was mostly inactive. This being a Sunday, there were others around at times, though numbers were never oppressive and there was plenty of solitude as well.
Crossing the road got me onto the Sheffield Country Walk, with views of surrounding moors catching some of the available sunlight. Higger Tor was among these, and there was an antiquity too in the form of Carl Mark Fort. The idea of continuing north might have appealed by for my designs on reaching Sheffield in more daylight than my previous amble in that direction. Even now, it tickles my sensibilities to think of passing Burbage Rocks and to reach Stanage Edge, closing the chain as it were.
On the day, I picked up a path leading to Houndkirk Road. On reaching the intended byway open to all traffic, I was trading solitude for the bustle of multi-modal usage. Dealing with other walkers along with cyclists and runners is one thing, but I was somewhat aggrieved by the sight of off-roaders engaged in green landing. That caused some clutter as I made for Ringinglow.
All such annoyances were left behind me, though; it helps when there are some quiet stretches that soothe your spirit. From Ringinglow, I made as if to head directly towards the outskirts of Sheffield, only to leave the road for a public footpath dropping me onto Clough Lane. This was my return to the banks of Porter Brook, albeit omitting Porter Clough this time around.
While I do not seem to have the photos to prove it, daylight was to persist all the way to Endcliffe Park for me at the second time of asking. There was some ice underfoot too, but this was no intrusion on progress. Neither did it prematurely force me onto city streets, so a little more closure was my lot before I mustered my wearying limbs for a meandering course to Sheffield’s principal train station.
The general run of weather may explain the dearth of photos accompanying this piece. It so happened that the hike returned me to Sheffield for the second time in two days. The second encounter was drier than a preceding shopping excursion beset by rain. Rain was also to await my return to Macclesfield after the walk, proving a point about what I had snatched during an otherwise unsettled run of weather.
Getting better photos remains a motivating factor that adds an idea for a visit to Sheffield’s more natural surroundings when an opportunity allows. It is as if you never can say that you are done with anywhere. The same could be said for a Grindleford to Hathersage station to station hike. Some places just cannot but offer more and more ideas for walking trips.
Travel Arrangements
Outbound train journey from Macclesfield to Grindleford with a change at Manchester Piccadilly. Return train journey from Sheffield to Macclesfield, changing either at Stockport (faster train) or Manchester Piccadilly (slower one); the journey is lost to my recollection now, but my sense is that I would have gone via Stockport for sake of speed and convenience.
