Outdoor Discoveries

2007: the excursions reviewed

It’s very human to look back at the turn of a year/decade/century/millennium/etc. and, this time last year, I took the opportunity to look over my travels in 2006. In the same vein, I now cast my mind back over the same sort thing but for 2007 instead. If 2006 was to be the year of seeking out pastures new, then 2007 has been a year largely taken up with following long distance trails into country familiar to me from a different angle and, more often than not, into country that I am visiting for the first time.

2007 was to start quietly with only one walking excursion in January. The weather didn’t tempt but for day when I went to Chirk for a trek to Llangollen that saw me hop over and back along the Wales-England border before picking up a small piece of the Offa’s Dyke Path and leaving that to get to Llangollen before nightfall. It was a case of something old, something new and put an idea into my head that laid the foundations for a walk later in the year. The long distance trail ethic that was to pervade my walking in 2007 had made an early appearance.

February built up the long distance trail trend with my exploring two trails. First up was the Pennine Way with a hike from Hebden Bridge to Littleborough giving me a feel for the moors above Calderdale. Walks along the Pennine Way, still unfinished business in 2008, were to pervade my outings until the end of April. My second excursion took me up to Scotland for the southernmost part of the West Highland Way: Milngavie to Drymen. This was also a case of going into countryside new to me and, like the Calderdale trot, it was to give rise to more excursions later on.

The Pennine Way hiking continued in March and it started again early in the month with a trek that saw me return to Calderdale for a walk from Todmorden to Burnley by way of both the Pennine Way and the Pennine Bridleway. This was followed up at the end of the month when I yomped from Haworth to Burnley.

My Pennine wanderings were set to continue in April and the first one plugged a gap in the itinerary from Edale to Haworth: Marsden to Littleborough via Wessenden Reservoir. It was to prove a claggy day until lunchtime, something that very much focussed the mind when it came to navigation. My next day along the Pennine Way was in clearer if blustery conditions. It also was to take me through some of the best countryside on the Pennine Way as I voyaged from Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hawes. Rain was to beset me on my next excursion as I left Malham Tarn to head for Gargrave but I left the rain after me in Malham and things cheered up immeasurably as I was nearing my destination for the day. Those two excursions left a gap that was filled on a tramp from Malham Tarn over Fountains Fell and Pen-y-Ghent to Horton on a day that when it felt like summer.

I started May with another trip blessed by fair weather. After years of admiring it, I finally made my way up to the top of Skiddaw. Some may view the manicured lines of the "tourist track" that I followed as dull, I’d rather not scare myself with descents that are too steep so I well appreciated its gentler approach and I still found time to take in Little Man and Lattrigg as well. Next up in May was a trip that my memory reckons happened in July; it’s just as well that I have this blog! I made my return to Chirk for another stroll along the Offa’s Dyke Path, this time to Oswestry. Cloud predominated on the day so photographic opportunities were rare. Even so, it didn’t stop my having a good walk in countryside that was new to me. If I had more time, I would have dawdled more so it might time for a return. In walking terms, the month of May went out with a bang: a two day trek on the West Highland Way along the banks of Loch Lomond with an overnight stay in Rowardennan. I very much took a chance with the weather on this one but Scotland didn’t let me down on what is for me one of the finest stretches of the WHW.

June was to be a quieter month with regard to walking and the long evenings were allowing me to get out in the part of Cheshire’s hill country that is near me. These outings were to become a feature of the "summer". June soon became a sodden affair but I still returned to Rhinog country for a creditable stroll through a landscape that was anything but dry. The weather that we were getting was a foretaste of what was to come, making 2007 a year of two halves: one fabulous and one that returned us to reality. Alan Sloman was lucky to complete his LEJOG when he did.

July was for many a washout but I managed to get two decent Lakeland excursions out of the month. Both involved my heading to Windermere with the first being an over and back hike to Kentmere and the second being a trek to Staveley via Kentmere. On both outings, I enjoyed the fine scenery in excellent weather, something that must sound ironic to those sodden by the floods of 2007. Yes, water had accumulated underfoot but the worst difficulties, if any, were avoidable.

August saw me finishing two long distance trails and starting on another one. The first to be completed was the West Highland Way and that happened on my now habitual summertime stay in Scotland. That saw me complete of perhaps the noisiest stretch of the trail: that between Bridge of Orchy and Inverarnan and with some sun to enliven the views too. The other walking that I did during that trip was a soggy reconnaissance trip among the hills near Kinlochleven. The other trail completed was one passing not far from where I live: the Gritstone Trail. Hikes from Macclesfield to Congleton and from Eaton to Kidsgrove in pleasant conditions allowed me to bring my walking of the trail towards a good end. A final evening stroll was sufficient for me to walk the final short stretch around Bollington before I then walked home to my house. The bank holiday weekend at the end of the month allowed me the opportunity to start off the Rob Roy Way by walking from Drymen to Callander with an overnight stay in Aberfoyle. This got me into nice countryside that I hadn’t visited before and it seems more than worthy of a return.

After what must sound like a bountiful August, hillwalking activities were less prevalent for the rest of the year, even if I had planned not to have things slow down. September and November stand out as months when you could have said that I had gone into hibernation. October saw me head out for a local constitutional to take in the Autumn colour, follow streams in local hill country and visit the South Pennines for a hike lacking in any real progress on completing the missing link in my Pennine Way journey so far. In December, I decided to vanquish any sense of hibernation by another wander among the hills lining the Cheshire-Derbyshire border followed up by a fleeting unintended visit to the hill country of the Long Mynd near Church Stretton.

All in all, 2007 was another good walking year for me. Unless you lost out in the flooding (and I don’t envy anyone who did: hope it all works out all right for them), it would be a travesty to remember 2007 for its sodden summer when we had so much clement weather earlier in the year. As it happens, the continual greyness that pervaded nearly all of 2004 remains with me with 2007’s bright spots easily cause me to forget any grey bits. The proverbial question of what 2008 will bring does raise its head as it is wont to do; so also is the realisation that the future is not ours to see (we’re probably better off!). I never go in for big plans anyway but that doesn’t stop me having ideas in my mind for when the opportunities to explore them arise. We’ll see what happens…

Reconnaissance walking in South Shropshire

Engineering works induced some timetable changes that presented the prospect of a Sunday visit to Knighton to explore some of the scenery around there. After all, the Offa’s Dyke Path passes nearby so it can’t be bad. A bus journey from Macclesfield to Crewe set me up for an onward train journey. Everything was going well until tardiness by Arriva Trains Wales meant that I missed the train to Knighton. It’s on the Heart of Wales railway and so the level of service isn’t so frequent. Couple that with its not having a Sunday bus service and plans soon change.

As ever, I had a back up plan in mind: this time, it was to be the Long Mynd near Church Stretton. I had passed by this striking hill country a number of times while destined for such places as Abergavenny, Crickhowell and Brecon so it was about time that I paid the area a visit, even as short as my first one proved to be.

I pottered up the Carding Mill Valley to the heights where Pole Bank tempted until I saw the faintness of the path through the heather from Shooting Box. That still left me with a good bimble before I came back down again, by way of Haddon Hill and Bodbury Hill. These hills may not be high but the gradients are nothing to be mocked; they certainly gave my legs and lungs a decent workout. The day remained resolutely overcast but that doesn’t bother me since the idea of a return is a tempting prospect. I still hope to get to Knighton…

Fresh air at last!

Since my post on walking hibernation, I have managed to get out and about in the dry chilly air that has joined us recently. Last Thursday saw me take a day off work to wander through some of hill country that lines the Cheshire-Derbyshire border. That has been followed by a sortie into the Shropshire Hills AONB to savour the delights of the Long Mynd near Church Stretton. More details should follow but I have ended a spell where explorations of hill country did not take up as much time as I might have liked. It remains to be seen how much festive walking might get done, though.

A bimble in border country

Even with showers forecast, I fancied taking myself off somewhere for a walk on Sunday. Because I wanted to continue my hiatus from the Pennine Way for the sake of variety, wandering along a bit of the Offa’s Dyke National Trail appealed. I planned my hike using Anquet Maps to get an idea of what I was taking on and, while I departed from it at times, my planned route was essentially the one that I followed on the ground. The software also gave a projected time for the walk and, though it was largely correct, I might be tempted to add a bit extra to the predicted time for future excursions; I still kept an eye on the time and had alternate plans if it was taking too long.

With that in mind, I travelled to Chirk after braving the hoards of the Macclesfield Bikeathon and picked up the Llwybyr Ceiriog Trail and followed it along the Ceiriog valley until I met both the Offa’s Dyke trail and part of the aforementioned earthwork itself, after crossing from Wales into England (Chirk is almost on the border between Wales and England). In fact, I was to have the famous military barrier for company for a good part of my journey to Craig Nant. It was while I was following this section that the sun came out for a brief spell on what was a mainly cloudy if dry day; the threatened showers thankfully failed to materialise. In fact, it caused me to dawdle for longer than maybe I should have done.

Progress from Craig Nant was steady as I rounded Selattyn Hill on my way to Racecourse Common, part of which unfortunately involved some tarmac bashing. Once past Racecourse Common, it was on into Racecourse Wood for views east over Shropshire with the humps of Long Mynd making an appearance; as luck would have it, the sun was very much in evidence further east and I wonder what delights I would have savoured if skies were clearer for more of my journey.

These days, Racecourse Common and Wood are an amenity for those wanting a stroll but, as the name implies, there was indeed a racecourse here and it was for horse racing. Its heyday was the early nineteenth century before the coming of the railways, and a less than salubrious crowd put paid to its continued existence.

It was about this point that I started to think about getting to Oswestry so that I could start on my journey home. The plan was to leave the national trail for a public footpath taking me most of the way to Oswestry but the need to catch a bus from Oswestry meant that I instead pounded more tarmac than I would have liked. The sun had by then escaped from behind the clouds and I was treated to pleasant scenes as I continued on my way; I still found some time to stop and admire my surroundings.

Oswestry is certainly a pleasant spot and one where I wouldn’t have minded lingering but for time constraints; I needed to catch the 18:15 Arriva service to Shrewsbury. The wondrous St. Oswald’s Church and the pleasant town centre may well inspire another excursion and one with ample time for my training my camera on the sights. I will hold it in mind for the future. Until this walk, Shropshire hadn’t really been subject to my attentions even though it does have its hill country; the Long Mynd and the country round about it certainly do look very attractive through train windows as I ply my way to Abergavenny for the hill country of the Brecon Beacons National Park; it’s almost a shame to do so. Speaking of Wales, one thing that you don’t need to do is go there for places whose names reveal Welsh origins; there are plenty in the west of Shropshire as OS maps will show you. It’s a part of the world to which I can return.