Category: Cumbria
A year in two halves
2nd February 2011 There was one event in my life over the last year that very firmly punctuated the year in outdoors terms: a change of job. Whether it was the cause of putting my hill-going off track or not, there clearly were less outings in the second half of the year and those that were enjoyed weren't so extensive. The strange thing though is that a Christmas spent with the folks in Ireland seems to have recharged things for me. After all, there already has been a proper day out among the waterlogged hill country around Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in Wales very early in this year with a mad dash up to Fort William and Glenfinnan together with a crossing to Ireland to savour the delights of Howth near Dublin following it. In previous years, it often has fallen to the last weekend of January before I managed to get out at all. There are other schemes in mind but more armchair exploring could be needed before anything comes of them.
The first few months of last year had me standing on hilltops more often than is usual for me and January and February fitted into this pattern with walks over Place Fell in Cumbria and Diffwys near Dyffryn Ardudwy, respectively. The weather was very amenable in both cases with a touch of spring being felt on the second excursion to contrast with the sights reminding onlookers of winter during the previous one. The other major outing in February was a cycle that took in Gawsworth, Astbury, Little Moreton Hall, Holmes Chapel, Goostrey, Over Peover and Chelford. Though I was tired after that jaunt, it sowed the seeds for a cycle to Chester later in the year.
March saw me move things up a gear again by heading to Scotland to see some Scottish snow-covered hillsides around Glen More among the Cairngorms. Braving some showers was the price that I had to pay for this but the rewards from the short sampling session more than compensated. In fact, it may have set the scene for a busy April that featured an Easter Sunday trot from Baslow to Bamford while shadowing the River Derwent. That wasn't as low level as it might sound but I headed to greater heights in the form of Carnedd Moel Siabod and Y Llethr in Wales too. Revisiting the trip reports for these makes me realise that I was more active than I now remember myself to be.
My recollections of May are stronger and it started with a Mayday bank holiday weekend visit to the Isle of Man where I savoured some of the ups and downs of the coastal path, Raad ny Foillan. That was a good introduction to Manx walking and I hope to follow up the outing some time. A trot from Selkirk to Melrose had it share of ascent and descent too as it brought back to a part of the world where I hadn't been for a few years. Later, I discovered that the Kerry mountains around Killarney can get some hot sunny weather. In fact, it could have been the most sun that I have had on a visit to the alluring area.
As it happened, May ended with the commencement of the distraction that was to occupy my mind for much of the next few months: a change of job. It was amazing to see how this really punctuated my outdoors year. The weather remained balmy as I pondered what I was doing with visits to the National Trust managed woods around Alderley Edge for some unwinding on lengthening evenings. That spell of good weather came to an end later in June but not before I snatched the chance to head north to the Isle of Arran and Kintyre for what became my only real longer summer break in Scotland. That didn't prove to be the end of my feeling hot sunshine for the year because a business trip took me to Sweden where long hot evenings allowed me to savour the delights both of Sodertalje and Stockholm.
From July on, the rest of the year gained a much quieter feel when it came to enjoying the outdoors. Nevertheless, I did manage to base myself in Aberdeen for the English August Bank Holiday weekend. Having not been there after a first visit more than a decade before, it was time to revisit places encountered before and exploring those that were new to me. The latter point brings to a first visit to Braemar that took me up to the top Morrone/Morvern with heavy showers making rainbows in the sunshine before things dried up later on an otherwise chilly day. The outing had a real end of year feel with that coolness though Edinburgh felt warm in the sun when I sneaked in a trot about its heart between trains. Maybe I should have based myself there instead, like I did for the same weekend in 2009.
For some reason, the rest of the year felt as if the stuffing had been knocked out of it for me and my outings appeared to reflect that. Nevertheless, I did get to cycling all of the way from Macclesfield to Chester, a brainwave that came to me earlier in the year. It also proved that Cheshire is far from flat though I knew that anyway. Ironically, my end of British Summer Time hike along the High Peak Trail and the Tissington Trail from Pomeroy to Ashbourne on a day when cloud overcame sun as I went further south. Following old railway alignments meant that ups and downs were kept to a minimum on that October afternoon but the distance covered was felt for a while afterwards, ironically for longer than the effects of my exertions in crossing Cheshire if my memory is not failing me again.
Breaking away for a hill country outing seemed to have become difficult for me but November saw me on top of Caer Caradoc in Shropshire due the perceived accessibility of the hill. Shrewsbury remains another idea for urban pottering as does Oswestry so it wasn't about standing atop a hill. In fact, the very next issue of Country Walking featured low hills with good views and put into my head the idea of collating a list of a few of these for times when inspiration was hard to locate.
December's snows may have been disruptive and I was to feel the effects of that when I popped over to Ireland for the Christmas but they were restorative when it came to getting me out of doors again. For one thing, there was a quick visit to the hills near Glossop that was more about broadening my experience of winter condition than covering much in the way of distance. Then, there was wandering around local haunts in Wilmslow (Lindow Common became a 2010 discovery for me), Macclesfield, Prestbury and West Limerick. Surroundings may have looked totally different and very pretty on these short strolls but they very much helped me in the restoration of my hill wandering mojo. Now, I need to ensure that it doesn't leave me again. After all, 2011 has started well and I really do need to set down some more trip reports as well as ensuring that my working life doesn't overwhelm everything else on me again.
A developing pattern?
19th April 2010 Unusually for me, my walking escapades seem to involve my reaching more summits than usually has been the case. In fact, finding some sort of hummock to ascend has formed part of my planning in the last few months. The most recent example of this was an out and back hike to Y Llethr from Dyffryn Ardudwy over the past weekend. That followed a yomp over Moel Siabod the previous weekend and there was an ascent of Diffwys in early February. Thus, three outings to Wales have come to pass so far this year and Terry Marsh's Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia (Cicerone) might inspire more yet.
Mark Richard's Great Mountain Days in the Lake District should be encouraging a few too but I only have January's spur of the moment crossing of Place Fell to record for 2010. Still, that now looks as if it was start of a pattern where reaching hilltops has been playing a large role in my hill country outings. Even when I went to Scotland, I ended up on a unnamed though snow blanketed foothill of Bynack More when I had intended to stay low (boggy ground stalled my initial scheme). As if to continue high level hiking, an Easter crossing of Baslow Edge, Curbar Edge and Froggatt Edge needs to be mentioned too. With all of this falling into place, it may be a matter of time before that first Munro gets ascended and there are a few candidates in the Cairngorms that have caught my eye but there's no rush on that one.
All of this action may look like peak bagging but that is an incidental upshot rather than the avowed aim of the exercise. If creating some list of hills climbed was the aim, I wouldn't be bobbing around the place in such an unplanned manner. Going up hills is for me a device for propelling me out of doors when the weather makes an offer. It used to be that exploring somewhere or a new angle to an old favourite did the job on its own but adding a hill top has been giving form to plans in place of finding a tempting path or track on a map. Quite where all this is leading me is another matter but I'll enjoy the countryside along the way and share that (and any decent photos that I make) with you afterwards. Now, I need to find time to say more about that flying visit to Y Llethr...
Departing with one plan, arriving with another
12th February 2010 With the weather promised ahead of the last weekend in January, I really didn't want to be leaving an opportunity unused or even underused. In the midst of mulling over the possibilities, Keswick dropped into mind and transport arrangements fell into place, so that's where I was headed. Just because a destination was in mind didn't mean that I had my walk fully planned, though. For me, there were two drawbacks to a day trip to Keswick on a short winter's day: getting into the hills eats time, and it is somewhere of which I have seen a lot. Nevertheless, I had a working plan in the form of a trot to the Back o' Skiddaw.
All of that thinking got dismissed after reaching Penrith when I realised that I was in time for a bus to Patterdale and that the last one back allowed for a good spell around there. After all, my visits to Cumbria have gravitated towards the fells surrounding Windermere and Derwentwater, so that left Patterdale ripe for exploration. If you explore the annals on this online outpost, you might discover previous outings that finished up in Patterdale. In the main, these have been hikes from Grasmere that variously took in Grisedale Tarn, Grisedale and Fairfield. St. Sunday's Crag remains unfinished business, and emptier quarters like Martindale and Haweswater's surroundings have yet to see my footfall. Then, there's Helvellyn and its attendant fells to be sampled, with a trot from Glenridding to Thirlspot sounding attractive. With all that on offer, I shouldn't be short of walking ideas and a multi-day stay may be in order.
Returning to the day itself, I plotted my course while seeing why so many do praise Ullswater as my bus journeyed to the end of its route. It was very much a case of cutting my cloth from my allocation, and a walk over Place Fell and back to Patterdale along the shores of Ullswater was my choice for the day. With all the cold weather that has come our way over this winter, I was concerned about any ice or lying around in higher places. After all, Helvellyn was well coated with the white stuff. Reassuringly, Place Fell looked reasonably clear of any such threats.
So, from the bus route terminus at the car park across the road from the Patterdale Hotel, it was a case of making my way back along the road to pick up a right of way leading to Side Farm and then getting over with the steep incline up to Boredale Hause. Though I was conscious of others following me after their puppy deciding to make friends with me (I stayed put until they got him back again and then set off again), there were plenty of stops to take the feast that was laid on for my eyes. The low sun meant that aiming a camera towards Brothers Water was unlikely to yield pleasing photos, so I stuck with the snow-covered fells to the west and north.
After Boredale Hause, those followers were lost, and I took my time ascending Steel Edge and Round How. There were patches of hard snow on the ground, but these were either avoidable or passable with care. That's not to say that I left all humanity after me, and I did encounter someone else trying to identify the fells in front of him as he faced south; the sun was moving to the west, so looking in that direction had become easier on the eyes. I imagined that I could pick out Stony Cove Pike and Threshthwaite Mouth, both places that I passed last June, so the likes of High Street and High Raise (the latter never announced itself to me, but I now know better) could be identified. Taking leave of my fellow hill starer, I set off for the trig point at Place Fell, a precariously constructed example atop a crag. For the sake of completeness, I clambered over to it, but it makes me wonder how surveyors coped with placing their instruments upon the thing.
After gingerly making my way off the crag, I continued over Hart Crag towards High Dodd and into parts away from human attention by the looks of things. All the while, the sun was lowering in the sky and the lighting on the fells growing ever more golden. High Dodd was rounded, and Sleet Fell crossed before I made a steep descent near Sandwick. That meant overcoming quivering pins on the way down; it's enough to have your mind concentrated by the presence of steep gradients, without your legs joining in too. Steadily, I got myself down to the track that was to carry back to Patterdale by the shore of Ullswater.
The sun's descent behind the hills was a potent reminder of the time, and may have over-egged my impatient with an undulating track. After the day that I had enjoyed, that momentary frustration was out of order, and I later reproached myself for it. Tired legs may have had something to do with it too, but good progress was being made on my way back to Side Farm again. Retracing my steps meant that any anxiety at the prospect of missing the last bus of the weekend could be dispelled, and I was back at the bus stop with between 10 and 20 minutes to spare, a preferable state of affairs.
A few days later, I discovered a route similar to the one that I followed in a copy of Cumbria magazine left in a dentist's waiting room for patients' perusal. While I was preoccupied with thoughts of the treatment that my teeth needed, happy memories of a good day out were a useful distraction. After that, giving Patterdale a bit more of my time is in order, but we'll have to see how that one goes.
Travel arrangements:
Return train journey from Macclesfield to Penrith, with bus service 108 taking me to Patterdale and back.
A foretaste of spring followed by a reminder of winter
8th February 2010 On Saturday, I was walking towards the top of a Welsh hill dressed in a manner more appropriate to a day in April. Since then, it has not been possible to put away the down jackets just yet and that is set to stay for the course of the week by the appearance of things. It was if I got a sneak preview of spring before it became established and it added to the pleasure of reaching the top of Diffwys after having it in mind for a few years. Looking at the two proper hill country outings that I have enjoyed so far this year, a pattern of picking a hill and heading towards its top seems to be falling into place.
In that vein, the idea of mounting nearby Y Llethr has entered my head and I suppose that there is something to the practice of using hills as fulcrums about which to lever myself out into those places that allow time and space for recharging of the spirit. Could this be a defining feature of 2010? That isn't a question that I can answer yet but it might put a stop to all sorts of floundering and give sense of purpose to my endeavours. Saying that, I am not about to engage in soul-less hill bagging because that isn't why I gravitate towards hills. After all, it's experiences like the eerie silence that I met on the summit of Diffwys and the sight of sunlight dancing on the surrounding hillsides that do it for me. They may be all that endures when a favoured summit remains out of bounds on the day.
Once a certain life event is out of the way, I must get to saying more about last Saturday's Welsh wander and the previous weekend's exertions in Cumbria too. On both occasions, I came away with pleasing photos so time needs to be set aside to pick the best to share on here with you. It's not the easiest of tasks but good fortune can be met only with gratitude and never with grumbling. That you don't always meet the hills in the best of conditions only adds to the enjoyment when you do.
A little white surprise
31st January 2010 This morning, I got up and peered out my window not to see sunshine but falling snow instead. After that prolonged cold spell earlier in the month, I'd thought that we'd to wait a while before seeing another white covering and that was even with light snow showers being forecast. Even so, I wasn't expecting much to come of them if anything at all and that made the snowy spell that we got a even bigger surprise. In the event, it was sufficiently heavy to leave quite an accumulation on the ground. Not having subsequent falls left that white covering vulnerable to trampling into slush and roads began to hold standing water. Thoughts of what happens when slush freezes was the cause of my going clearing the pavement outside my house in the afternoon and some of what I was removing was partially frozen by the time that I got to it!
With the clearing skies and emerging sun, I was lured into taking the bike out for short run around by Prestbury. That roads that I used were clear so there was little change of I coming off in an inappropriate place. Though the late afternoon light was fading, I still got to testing what a spot of photographic activity would produce; at time of writing, I have not had a good look at the results just yet.
That cycling wasn't the only burst of outdoor activity this weekend with yesterday taking me up to Cumbria. More specifically, I ended up opting for a circular walk that took in Place Fell in Patterdale. The outing may have left me with aching legs but that's a small price to pay for the delights that were enjoyed. Beyond that, I won't say any more for now but that a full account is to follow.
All in all, January is ending on a high note and could be month that many will remember for those spells of colder weather that brought us both delights and disturbances. February looks to be getting going with an Atlantic run of weather so anyone who enjoyed this weekend might be very glad of it. Of course, wet weather never goes on forever so something more attractive should come to draw us out in the open from time to time and we are in 2010's early days yet.
