Paul Lydon

The Great Ridge, Edale

2012-02-11T18:31:00.000Z

As forecasted, it was a lovely day with dry andsunny weather but cold.

We parked in the village of Hope and followed theroute leaving next to the school and onwards over the railway bridgeto the summit of Lose Hill. We stopped along the way when the icyconditions made us decide to put on our Kahtoola Microspikes whichmade progress much easier.

There were lovely views across the Hope and EdaleValleys and it was surprisingly warm with the sun and little winddespite the freezing weather.

We followed the path along the top of the greatridge with icy sections making us graeful for the Microspikes, thenafter passing Back Tor and the top of Mam Tor, we dropped down fromMam Nick to Windy Knoll where we stopped for a snack.

Afterwards, we crossed the road and then followedthe tarmaced track passing Rowter Farm then onto the unsurfaced trackwhich follows where there was more snow and ice, making sure we gotout of the way as a small convoy of four-wheel drives with their “OneLife Live It” stickers trundled past.

Leaving the track at the signpost for TheLimestone Way, our route crossed some fields then down a very icyCave Dale to the village of Castleton where we sat on the seat arounda tree in the Market Square and had another snack and hot drink.

From Castleton we followed the riverside path backto where we started in Hope.

A Walk Near Winster

2012-02-05T15:49:00.002Z

Last night it hadsnowed and we woke up to find several inches of snow had settled sorather then drive somewhere we had a walk from home.

After walking downmost of Main Street towards Wensley, we followed the public footpathat Painters Lane then across farmland and through a section of CloughWood to again cross some pastureland where a number of ponies weretrying to find grazing beneath the layer of snow.

After crossing a stylein a barbed wire fence where there were loads of animal tracks in thesnow: mainly rabbit and deer, the path led steeply up a wooded slopethen contoured along a further section of Clough Wood in a large arcarriving at an unsurfaced track of Clough Lane.

Following Clough Lanewestwards passing some farm buildings where there were surprisinglyold lambs for the time of year, we arrived at the narrow minor roadleading from the nearby village of Birchover where there are an oldset of stocks interestingly by the side of the road by a house wall.

Our route now followedacross more fields near Birchover then at a path junction turnedsouthwards crossing more fields to arrive again at Birchover Lanenear the the road from Wensley to Winster.

All that remained weto follow the road back to Winster and after passing through thechurchyard, we were back in Main Street.

Keeping the Lawn Short

Looking across to Winster

Birchover

Stocks outside a house near Birchover

Biggin Dale, Wolfescote Dale and Beresford Dale from Hartington

2012-02-04T15:48:00.000Z

The morningtemperature was well below zero degrees centigrade as I left Karen athome with things to do and drove to the nearby village of Hartington.

As I was earlyish at09:30, there were plenty of places to park in the village centre carpark and after getting my boots on, I left the village centre withits frozen duck pond to walk up the hill past the very old andimpressive Hartington Hall, which is a Youth Hostel, then passedthrough a gate into some fields.

The ground was frozenrock-hard as I followed the marked path through squeeze stiles thenonto the unsurfaced track called Highfield Lane.

I passed a large flockof fieldfares in the field the other side of the bordering drystonewall and after walking along the lane for about 2 kilometres the lanejoins a minor road very near to the top end of Biggin Dale.

My route was through agate from the minor road and then down Biggin Dale where I stopped inthe shelter of a small branching dale as there was a very cold windblowing, to have lunch.

Afterwards I continuedalong Biggin Dale to join the larger Wolfescote Dale where the twodales join.

Wolfescote Dale haspart of the River Dove flowing along it and I turned to thenorth-west to follow the river and the dale to where the dale runsout at a large flat field.

The route followed apublic right of way across the field with the often wet and muddysections frozen.

After crossing a shortfootbridge I arrived at the start of the smaller Beresford Dale whichleads to another section of pastureland and then back to Hartington.

Casualty Care at EMRT's base in Hope Valley

2012-01-31T15:47:00.000Z

I spent the evening at Edale Mountain Rescue Team's base in Hope on the fourth and final Sunday of the Casualty Care course.
Next, in three weeks - the Exam!

Casualty Care at EMRT's base in Hope Valley

2012-01-29T15:45:00.000Z

I spent the morning atEdale Mountain Rescue Team's base in Hope on the fourth and finalSunday of the Casualty Care course.

A Walk from Parwich

2012-01-28T15:44:00.000Z

We started at the car park in the village ofParwich on a cold but sunny day and followed the route of theLimestone Way across fields passing the hamlet of Ballidon with itsadjacent and large limestone quarry.

There's an old chapel at Ballidon which had falleninto disuse in the past few years and has started to deteriorate; Iwonder how long it will be before it is entirely derelict? As wepaused to take some photos a small group of young cattle came runningtowards us thinking we might be feeding them.

The route took us over higher ground than onwardsto drop down to the Longcliffe road near Hipley Warren. We followedthe minor road leading past Rainster Rocks and Brassington and leftthe road for the track heading eastwards and up towards the road fromBrassington to Longcliffe after crossing several fields.

Next we followed the minor road for a shortdistance to again enter a field at Peak Quarry Farm and then onto theold railway track of the High Peak Trail.

The High Peak Trail was followed passing thegathering of trees on Minning Low near where we left the Trailthrough a small gate into a field then through a short tunnel passingunder the Trail and onwards towards Roystone Grange.

A track leads from the farm at Roystone Grangesouthwards then down a narrow valley between two large workinglimestone quarries: Ballidon Quarry and Hoe Grange Quarry. It's quitea strange valley perched between the two huge quarries.

After reaching a minor road, we followed this fora while then back into fields and onwards towards Parwich again. Itwas at this point I discovered I had a blister on my right heel. Ihaven't had a blister for ages so it must have something to do withthe boots I was wearing which I haven;t worn for ages either.

Anyway, after putting a dressing on the blisterand having a bit of tea from our flasks, we returned to Parwich andwhere we had started.

Afterwards we drove to Monyash for meal in thecafé.

On the way back from Monyash we saw the firstlambs of this year.

Parwich Duck Pond

Ballidon Church

Ballidon in the Distance

Rainster Rocks

Ballidon Quarry

Convenient Boot Scraper

Knob Hall

A Well in Parwich

A Converted Cruck Barn

Parwich Church

The Sycamore Inn, Parwich

A Walk Around Winster

2012-01-22T15:43:00.000Z

There was an Orpheus Caving Club trip in PeakCavern arranged today which would require a relatively early start.

The alarm went off at 0745 and I had one look outthe window at the miserable weather and announced to Karen that I wasstaying in bed. “Sundayitis” had struck!

The weather cleared up later in the day and wedecided on a short walk around Winster during which we saw the firstsnowdrops of the year at Winster Cemetery.

We heard a few days later that the trip in PeakCavern had been abandoned due to high water lavels anyway.

DCRO Introduction Day

2012-01-21T15:41:00.000Z

I spent the day at the new DCRO base at the BuxtonFire and Rescue Station helping out with this year's IntroductionDay.

I was taking care of one of the five sessions:Communications. There were also sessions on Rigging, Stretchers,Medical issues and How DCRO Operates.

It was a great success despite the cold, windy anddamp weather with the new base proving an ideal location.

Casualty Care at EMRT's base in Hope Valley

2012-01-17T15:40:00.000Z

I spent the evening atEdale Mountain Rescue Team's base in Hope on the third Tuesday of theCasualty Care course.

Casualty Care at EMRT's base in Hope Valley

2012-01-15T15:39:00.000Z

I spent the morning atEdale Mountain Rescue Team's base in Hope on the third Sunday of theCasualty Care course.

Kinder Scout

2012-01-14T15:38:00.000Z

After the recent mildweather, today was frosty, clear and sunny. So when Karen said thatKeith planned on coming to the Peak in order to move scaffoldingtubes and clips to the current dig site in Water Icicle Close Cavernand she was going to help him, I decided the weather was just toogood to miss the best conditions for walking on Kinder Scout.

This time I set offfrom Upper Booth with the temperature at -3.5 degrees C at 10:00. Ifollowed the path along the the River Crowden and finally theenjoyable little scramble to arrive at the plateau of Kinder Scout.

As the weather was soclear, all the well-known landmarks were easily visible and I set offin a Northerly direction with my shadow in front until I reached thehigher portion of the plateau from where I could see the large rocksforming what is known as Kinder Gates on wither side of the RiverKinder leading to the waterfall at Kinder Downfall.

Now I just simplycontinued towards Kinder Gates making the odd detour to avoid thedeepest groughs (channels cut into the peat) a bit like crossing acrevassed glacier but brown and green instead of white and blue plusnot so serious if you ended up in the bottom of a grough instead of acrevasse.

Soon I reached atributary of the River Kinder and followed the sandy river bed, soonpassing between the Kinder Gates, taking care at the frequent icysections.

Very soon I reachedthe top of the rocky amphitheatre surrounding the waterfall of KinderDownfall where I stopped on a convenient rock to eat lunch.

Once I had eaten mysandwich, I continued on my way following the plateau edge with viewsacross the Kinder reservoir and across to Cheshire and further.

As I reached the largerocky formation of Edale Rocks, I had a another short break to finishoff my flask of coffee before continuing on down the path known asJacob's Ladder until I arrived back where I started after anexcellent walk.

A Walk Visiting Mining Areas Around Oxlow Rake

2012-01-08T15:37:00.000Z

We were planning on a walk near Calver when there was a knock on the door while we were eating breakfast. I answered the door and found it was Tony Wood.
He was going to walk an intended route he was planning to lead shortly in the area of Oxlow Rake and asked if we wanted to accompany him. We told him we would do so and agreed to meet at Old Dam near Peak Forest.
We began the walk by following Eldon Lane after parking in the hamlet of Old Dam north of Peak Forest.
After passing Eldon Lane End Farm we continued on the track which is the usual route to Eldon Hole which was visible in the near distance later on.
We followed a public footpath through the fields and arrived at Watts Grove with the remains of a former belland yard which would be harmful to farm animals due to the high levels of lead in the soil as a result of mining activities in the past.
From here the feature known as White Rake led eastwards and we followed in the same direction passing a “pudding pie” lime kiln on the way.
We crossed over a stile into a much disturbed area which was the site of Watts Grove Mine and also the drizzle which had been threatening for a while made an appearance. We could see a sleeper-covered shaft and what looked like the remains of a coe (a small building which the miners used for storing their work clothes and tools) and the remains of a gin circle which was where lead ore would have been crushed by a heavy wheel rotated around the circle which was pulled by a horse.
Nearby we passed the remains of yet another mine called Jowle Grove Mine with similar remains including a crushing circle.
Next was a route crossing Eldon Moor in the mist bringing us to the walled track. We followed the track for a while to the west to see if we could see anything of Slitherstones Rake in the field about a hundred metres to the north of the track, but there was nothing to be seen and we had no permission to wander around the farmland there.
We retraced our steps along the track eastwards and arrived at a field gate and stile which were actually the boundary of the Peak Forest and Castleton Mining Liberties (areas which used to be administered separately during the lead mining era).
The route continued through the gate along the track passing Linicar Rake in the field next to the track to the north, eventually arriving at a gate and stile where the routes from Dirtlow Rake and Cave Dale crossed.
We then followed the route heading towards Cave Dale, part of the Limestone Way, then after passing Old Moor Mine, we branched off on a path at a junction which left the route of the Limestone Way, passing the interesting;y-named Clear the Way Mine then followed a track passing Oxlow Rake until we arrived back at Old Dam.
We drove the short distance to Peak Forest and had a quick drink in the Devonshire Arms before heading for home.

Eldon Hole in the distance

Kinder Scout Again

2012-01-07T15:36:00.000Z

Karen was accompanyingsome of the “Alt Tuesday” cavers in the Water Icicle Close Cavernnew extensions so I went for another walk on Kinder Scout.

Starting fromGrindsbrook Booth after leaving the car in the main Edale car park Iheaded for Crowden Brook and then planned to walk Westwards along theSouthern edge of the plateau as there was a strong Westerly windblowing.

After a short break inthe shelter of a gritstone outcrop, I continued onwards passing thetop of Ringing Roger and then joined the path leading down theEastern side of Ringing Roger.

After getting back tothe car and a quick stop at Hathersage, I joined Karen in the caféin Monyash for a meal.

A Return to Kinder Scout

2012-01-02T15:35:00.000Z

Karen had a rest daywhile I made the most of the final day of the Christmas and New Yearbreak by going for a walk on Kinder Scout again as the weatherforecast was for a clear, dry but cold day.

Leaving the car atUpper Booth, I crossed the fields following the route of the PennineWay towards the village of Grindsbrook Booth (which many refer to as“Edale”) then followed the path leading up Grindslow Knoll.

Reaching the cairn ontop of Grindslow Knoll I was being blown about by the strong and verycold wind. The temperature was just over freezing so with this wind,the wind chill must have been very cold.

Since the wind was awesterly, I chose to follow the path along the edge towards RingingRoger in the East.

I stopped in theshelter of a rocky tor for lunch then continued towards Ringing Rogerwhere I dropped down the path leading below the rocks soon arrivingat Grindsbrook Booth by the Old Nags Head Inn.

After following thebeginning of the Pennine Way, I was soon back on the section I hadbegun my walk on earlier, then after leaving the Pennine Way route atthe farm at Upper Booth, I walked back down the road to my startingpoint.

A Walk Along Lathkill Dale and Cales Dale

2012-01-01T15:34:00.000Z

We joined a walk organised by Paul Chandlerincluding some of the “Wombles” mid-week walking group and alsosome members of Masson Caving Group on New Year Day's walk.

Karen and I met the others at the car park nearLong Rake Mine outside Youlgerave and we first had a quick look atthe large Rake which forms an entrance to the Long Rake Mine.

After this we followed the route of the LimestoneWay eventually arriving at the bridge over the River Bradford. By nowthe weather had taken a turn for the worse with the rain starting –at least it wasn't cold!

After following the river for a while, we turnedoff at the steeply-ascending Holywell Lane, passing YoulgreaveVillage Hall then along Main Street passing the old Co-op, which isnow a Youth Hostel and the old stone-built water tank belonging toYoulgreave's water company (the village has its own private WaterCompany).

After following a lane, we arrived at ConksburyBridge where we all had a lunch stop. Those who arrived first had thechoice of three wooden benches to sit on while the rest of us had toperch on short wooden posts!

After lunch, we progress along the River Lathkill,which like other local rivers and streams, was flowing quite highafter all the recent rainfall.

We tramped along in the rain trying to avoidflooded sections of path with occasional stops at sites of mininginterest such as Bateman's House and various mine entrances until wereached the footbridge crossing the river at Cales Dale.

We had a second break sitting on the rocks on theother side of the bridge. Continuing up Cales Dale, we had a look atthe very wet Lower Cales Dale Cave.

Further along Cales Dale, we climbed he steepstone steps leading out of the dale to reach pasture land and thenafter crossing a number of muddy fields, we arrived back at outstarting point.

Long Rake Mine

Flying Pig Weather Vane, Youlgreave Village Hall

River Bradford

Old Engine House next to Bateman's House, Lathkill Dale

Tufa Falls, Lathkill Dale

Oxlow Cavern and Maskhill Mine

2011-12-29T15:31:00.000Z

Karen had a sore knee after yesterdays walk sodecided to stay at home while Keith and I were joining an OrpheusOxlow Cavern / Maskhill Mine exchange trip.

The day got off to a bad start. After loading upour caving gear in my car with a cold wind and drizzle, I found I hada flat tyre! Typical.

We soon had the tyre swapped with the spare andwere on our way to Monyash for breakfast. Now the second bit of badluck: the café was closed!

So, we went straight to the Orpheus Hut to meetWaggy and the others.

Paul and Maz were there having arrived the nightbefore to go walking and weren't impressed with the wind and rain.After Alan H., Waggy and Jason B. had arrived and ropeswere packed, we set off for Oxlow Farm with the wind buffeting thecar and frequent bouts of heavy rain with light rain in between.

On the way I stopped off at the Tesco Express inBuxton so Keith and I could buy sandwiches for breakfast.

Passing the P8 layby and the farm where you parkfor Giants Hole we saw no cars parked: not surprising considering thefoul weather. But as we approached the Oxlow layby, we saw severalcars parked there. Typical!

One of the cars belonged to Tim and Darren whowere part of the Thursday Night Orpheus crew were joining us plusWaggy's and Jason's.But there were still other cavers parked there.

Keith and I parked by the farmyard as usual atOxlow Farm and after eating our sandwiches, got changed in the barnwhich was draughty and wet but infinitely better than outside!

We found everyone else had chosen to descendMaskhill Mine so Keith and I made our way to Oxlow Cavern entranceshaft to find a rope already rigged. Rats!

Keith went down first rigging with our ropes and Ifollowed. We found some of the other party below at the top of thepitch dropping down to the col above East Chamber and followed themdown.

Because of our later start after eating oursandwiches and having further to walk, plus having to wait for theother party, Keith and I arrived at the West Chamber just as Waggywas appearing on the final pitches of Maskhill Mine where it joinsOxlow Cavern. This was our first bit of luck as we didn't have towait too long.

Keith joined the others to exit via Maskhill Minewhile I, together with Alan and Darren started back to the surfacevia Oxlow Cavern with me at the front, Alan in the middle and Darrentaking up the rear de-rigging.

We set off up the pitch leading to the ramp ofWest Swirl Passage and then up the ramp. At the col I found one of theother group and our rope going up the pitch tight like piano wire.The guy from the other group explained that the caver above was hungup and could get off the head of the pitch after getting into atangle with our rope while the remainder of their party had buggeredoff!

He prusiked up to help and I waited at the top ofthe col for ages while their rope went up and down and up and down.Eventually he abseiled down and said “His footloop is all tangledup and I need to cut it. I have a knife... but it's back in the car.”

I had had enough of hanging around and the others were probably starting to get cold, so I asked if Icould prusik up their rope, which had no deviation. I reached thestuck caver who was just below the "Y" hang. After examining the tangle, I saw that he had our ropefrom below the deviation through his safety link and that was why itwas tight like piano wire. He was nearly at the Y hang but couldn'tremove his jammers as there was no slack to allow them to beunlocked.

His mate had said he wasn't familiar withdeviations and he had prusiked up our rope by mistake and when hereached the deviation he had removed each jammer in turn and clippedit back on above the deviation karabiner! Unfortunately he hadmanaged to tangle the rope in doing so with his safety link.

So, after making sure I had the right piece ofrope (especially as we were still dangling above the drop to the floor of the East Chamber), I cut through his safety link thus freeing him and after givinghim a shove, he was able to get off the rope and release his jammers.

After I then also got off the top of the pitch, I shouted down “rope free” and his mateprusiked up again and joined us and began de-rigging their ropes.

Once they were out of the way, Alan and Darrencame up and we began heading for the next pitches.

When I arrived at the foot of the entrance shaft,I was puzzled to see only our rope there, as expected, but it wasbeing pulled up and released continuously. Surely the other pair mustbe out by now!

I looked up the shaft and saw a loop of the otherlot's rope tangled with our rope on the lower rebelay! I shouted up“Wait a minute and I'll release the rebelay”, which I did. I didthe same at the one above that as well and as I reached the top ofthe pitch, the pair which had been ahead of us had been joined by twoor three more of their group who had already got changed out ofcaving gear and they were still struggling to disentangle their ropefrom ours. I pointed out it would be easier to just let go of one endof their rope so that it wasn't in a loop!

So they did that and soon had pulled up their ropeand packed it away and set off to get changed while Alan and Darrenstarted to come up.

By now it was after 17:00, dark and just as windyas before with short showers.

I waited in the shelter of the hollow where theshaft is located as Alan prusiked up. As we were waiting for quite awhile for Darren to join us, I shouted down to just release thekarabiners and we would pull the rope up afterwards.

Eventually all three if us were on the surface byabout 17:45 (having gone down at about Noon) and had the rope packedaway and began making our way back to the cars. As soon as we were outof the hollow we met the full force of the very, very cold wind.

We arrived back at the layby and found theMaskhill Mine party had been out for ages, thanks to all our delays.

I explained to Waggy what happened and made my wayback to the farm and was very thankful of the shelter of the barnwhen I arrived and found Keith, who had been waiting for over an hourand a quarter and had been walking around in circles to keep warm! Of course he hadn't been able to get changed out of caving gear as his clothes were in my car.

Soon, we were changed and in the car and headedfor home after dropping off a rope and tackle bag at the hut whilethe others went to the Wanted Inn for a chip butty. It was well past19:00 by the time we got back to Winster and a welcome hot meal and beer in the Miners Standard.

Kinder Scout

2011-12-28T19:34:00.000Z

Again, it was Karen, Keith and myself out for awalk. This time we were on Kinder Scout. Leaving the car park atEdale, we walked up via Ringing Roger, keeping to the crest as muchas possible despite the strong and cold wind.

Once we reached the fenced-off area at the top ofRinging Roger, we followed the path along the edge Eastwards andturned the corner at Crookstone Knoll now following the path on theopposite edge.

Near Madwomans Stones we struck off across asection of the plateau heading South then followed another pathtowards the West.

When nearing Ringing Roger, there was a smallerpath heading South towards the edge and we followed this and then apath which led gradually down below the Eastern side of Ringing Rogeruntil we arrived back at Grindsbrook Booth in Edale.

Chrome Hill from Earl Sterndale

2011-12-27T19:33:00.000Z

Karen , Keith and I did a circular walk startingfrom Earl Sterndale up part of Dowel Dale, over Chrome Hill. Karenand Keith walked over Parkhouse Hill while I walked around the sideand met them part way up the opposite side, then back to EarlSterndale.

A Walk Around Some Mining Sites in Winster

2011-12-26T19:32:00.000Z

Karen, Keith and I joined a walk led by Tony Woodaround Winster seeing various sites connected with the Lead Miningindustry.

Knotlow Cavern

2011-12-18T19:30:00.000Z

Karen, Chris Jacksonand I took Alan H. on a trip into Knotlow Cavern. It was a coldbut sunny day and we all went in via the Climbing Shaft. Chris andKaren dropped down the Engine Shaft via Chain Passage while Alan andI went as far as Waterfall Chamber via the usual route where the fourof us met up.

Alan had a quick lookin the coffin level and then we all returned to the surface byre-ascending the same routes we had used on the way in.

A Walk on Offerton Moor

2011-12-17T21:36:00.000Z

After breakfast at Outside, Calver Crossroads, Karen and I parked in the layby beside The Plough pub near Hathersage and walked up the road passing Hazleford Hall.
The minor road swung to the right further on at Hoghall Farm and we followed a track leading onwards, straight-ahead.
The track followed the valley containing the Highlow Brook and we soon arrived at the confluence with Bretton Brook at Stoke Ford.
Despite the weather forecast for dry weather, we had a bit of rain, but luckily it was only a short and light shower.
We crossed the footbridge at Stoke Ford and then followed the path across fields to arrive at a minor road. We crossed the road and walked up the track leading to Oaks Farm.
Near the farm buildings, a Public Footpath led by Smelting Hill onto Offerton Moor. We could see some snow in the distance coming towards us and soon we were in the middle of a light snow shower.
The path we were following met another path which rose from further along the minor road we had crossed earlier and crossed the path we were on forming a crossroads. We turned right to follow this other path.
The path led across Offerton Moor and brought us to Offerton Hall.
Following a lane leading past the Hall, we were soon back in fields after passing through a gate which had an ancient sunken path leading down to the River Noe.
There was a narrow muddy path following the right-hand bank of the river which brought us back to the bridge at Leadmill just up the road from our starting point.

Casualty Care at EMRT's base in Hope Valley and Water Icicle Close Cavern Again!

2011-12-04T21:32:00.000Z

Karen was accompanying a group from a Caving Club along with a fourth caver into the new sections of Water Icicle Close Cavern while I was attending a Casualty Care Course being run at Edale Mountain Rescue's base at the cement works in the Hope Valley.
I left the EMRT's bas and stopped off at Hitch 'n' Hike to buy a couple of screwgate karabiners then I planned to drive to Monyash for a meal at the café and wondered if Karen would be back on the surface and join me there.
I was just approaching Monyash from the direction of Bakewell when my mobile phone rang. It was the ringing tone for Karen's mobile phone, so I though that was good timing, she must be back on the surface and would soon be at the café.
But, two minutes later, my phone went again – this time with Bill Whitehouse's number: there was a shout – at Water Icicle!
He told me the caller's name which I didn't recognise, so I knew it didn't involve Karen, Keith or Pete. He said there was a caver at the bottom of the entrance pitch with a shoulder injury who was having trouble prusiking back up the entrance shaft.
Derby Lane was very muddy and slippery, and Karen's car was parked with others at the last bit of solid track. Karen was in her car and she told me the same story – it was the last person to come up and one of the Caving Club members.
I told her I would continue to the end of the lane as Bill was waiting for more news.
I managed to get to the end of Derby Lane, just, in my Nissan X-Trail, after passing the other two in the Caving Club party walking back down the land towards their cars. They also told me the same story.
After parking, I walked over towards the shaft in the field and saw a caver sitting in the shelter of a drystone wall – it was very cold and had begun to sleet.
As I got closer, I saw it was Keith. He was waiting for Pete to come up and said that the others had all re-ascended, one taking a very long time, and all were getting cold. They realised that the remaining Caving Club member, whose name was also Paul, was not going to get back up under his own steam so as they realised they wouldn't be able to get him back up by themselves, suggested all get changed to warm up and call out Cave Rescue. Meanwhile Paul was warm enough and happy to wait for assistance.
Karen walked up and joined me in the car once Keith and Pete left and we waited for others to turn up.
The next vehicle also managed to get to us and it was the doctor, from this morning's Casualty Care Course, who was joining DCRO and was already a member of EMRT.
I briefed him on the situation and we decided it would be wise for him to abseil down (I had no caving gear) and check on the casualty's condition as he had now been waiting for about an hour.
While I had been talking to Bill earlier, he said he didn't think they would get the DCRO van up Derby Lane, and as he had mentioned that Mick was on his way, I suggested he meet Mick and put the required gear in his four-wheel drive vehicle. Mick arrived next and I said to bring the Multipod, some ropes and rigging kit.
A little while later, two more DCRO members arrived on foot, having left their cars further down Derby Lane: Katie and Lisa.
We waited until Mick arrived back with Bill and the gear. I walked across to the shaft carrying some of the gear and met the doctor who had prusiked back up. I told him Bill had arrived and as he was the Controller, he should report to him about the casualty. He confirmed that the casualty had an old shoulder injury and had aggravated that by trying to prusik back up.
More Team members arrived and we began setting up the Multipod. I set up five ground anchors, fairly close because it was getting dark and as we only had two ropes of 100 metres and 95 metres in length, I tied one end of each to the ground anchors and there was still plenty of length for each to act as either a haul line of a lifeline.
Mick had abseiled down to assist the casualty and he accompanied him by prusiking up their SRT rope. We very quickly had hauled Paul back up to the surface, none the worse for wear and surprisingly quickly had all the gear packed up and back in Mick's vehicle.
We set off for home, arriving at around 17:30.

Water Icicle Close Cavern

2011-12-03T21:31:00.000Z

Karen was in Rugby visiting friends and Keith asked if I could help him and Pete with moving gear to the bottom of The Elevator for their digging project.
I met the two of them at the Orpheus cottage then after picking up some gear and breakfast at the café in Monyash, we headed underground at around 11:00.
We had quite a pile of gear to transport: around 15 scaffold poles, three tackle bags with scaffold clips (very heavy!), a tackle bag with tools, drill batteries, another with the drill and angle grinder, a section of bicycle and metal stand (!), a hand winch on a short scaffold pole and an old fishing umbrella.
We transported the gear to the bottom of the shaft then to each obstacle and eventually, to Three Way Aven.
We then dropped down The Elevator – my first time since I usually either left my SRT kit at the bottom of the entrance shaft on previous trips, or there were a lot of people around and the bottom of The Elevator wasn't a good place to be.
The Elevator starts as a short drop of around 8 metres to a small chamber with a bouldery floor (most of which used to block The Elevator at the level of the main passage. From here a Y hang leads through a slot into a rift then down about 12 metres to a surprisingly large long chamber.
This chamber had a lot of fractured rock and again, the floor is composed of small rocks and boulders. From there, there is a further drop of maybe 5 metres to a vertical water-worn tube with fluting of under two metres in diameter. This is where the ongoing dig is at present.
At the top of this final drop, Keith and Pete set up a scaffold pole horizontally and then bolted it to the walls, wherever they could find somewhere with not many fractures. This was to assist in hauling up dig spoil.
The short scaffold pole with the hand winch attached at on end was then attached to the horizontal tube.
Now the different bit. In between dropping the spanner, the bicycle chain and nearly, the fishing umbrella, Keith attach yet another short scaffold pole to the one with the hand winch, and then attached the “X” shaped metal stand to that. Attached to the stand was the section of bicycle frame with seat and rear section including crank and rear axle and dérailleur. From the dérailleur, Keith attached a section of cycle chain running from the gears with the dérailleur to a chainwheel bolte to the hand winch crank.
The plan was that Pete could take up position down at the dig site while Keith sits on the bike frame pedalling to winch up the bucket of spoil and then he could empty the bucket and return it down to Pete for the next load.
And the old fishing umbrella? That's to shelter Keith from the large number of drips which happen to fall at the top of the pitch!
Eventually I, being first up, reached the surface at around 18:45, and immediately crossed to my car to phone Karen, who I knew would be getting concerned about the time.
After I had got changed, as the other two arrived after re-ascending the entrance shaft,we arranged to meet in the Miners Standard in Winster, so I headed home for a quick shower and then, joined by Karen, we walked up West Bank to the pub.

Wolfescote Dale and Beresford Dale from Hartington

2011-11-27T21:30:00.000Z

A shorter walk today beginning in the village of Hartington and one we've done a few times before.
Leaving the village centre we headed up the road towards Hartington Hall (which is a Youth Hostel) and the followed the narrow road which eventually reached Wolfescote Grange but at a junction where a muddy track continues straight-ahead, we followed this muddy track which brought us to part way down Biggin Dale.
We followed the remainder of Biggin Dale to the junction with Wolfescote Dale with the River Dove flowing past and then turned right to follow the broad surface track, seeing a Heron land on the opposite bank and also a Dipper further along.
After reaching the northern end of Wolfescote Dale we crossed a large flat field which is often water-logged at this time of the year but due to the unusually dry ground this year, was only a little muddy.
Crossing a foot bridge brought us the Beresford Dale and again a broad track eventually arriving at more fields bordering the village of Hartington and back where we had started.
We stopped in the café by the village centre for a refreshment but found that there was a power cut and it was dark inside but they had some candles on the tables and luckily were able to still serve tea or coffee and cakes!

Curbar Edge, Froggat Edge and White Edge

2011-11-26T21:28:00.000Z

It was not too cold for the end of November but very windy as Karen and I left Curbar Gap and walked along the top of the popular rock-climbing crags of Curbar and Froggat Edges. These follow each other with Curbar Edge first and due to their elevated positions above the villages of Calver and Froggat, give views to the west into the far distance ranging from Chatsworth House towards the south and over Stoney Middleton and beyond towards the North.
Luckily it remained dry despite the clouds and obvious signs of rain showers in the distance several miles away as we made our way along the path.
At the far end of Froggat Edge we followed a path through a Hazel wood above Grindleford Station and Padley Gorge and entered the park-like grounds of the National Trust's Longwood Estate.
We heard the cry of a Jay and saw a few as the were flitting from tree to tree nearby but becoming hidden once perched in the trees.
At the café housed in one of the Longwood Lodge buildings we had some cups of tea and a bit of cake then continued onwards to join a path crossing a section of White Edge Moor then joining a path continuing below White Edge.
This edge is of no interest to rock-climbers as it hasn't got the large bare cliffs of gritstone but beside the excellent views shared by Curbar and Froggat Edges it has an additional bonus.
White Edge borders the western side of Big Moor which has a herd of wild Red Deer and providing you know what you are looking for, especially at this time of year with the reddish-brown bracken and heather stalks, you can soon spot some of these shy wild animals.
Karen had been used to looking for Red Deer while on holidays to Exmoor where Red Deer are also found and soon spotted several in the distance a few hundred meters away. At on point she counted sixteen deer including some stags.
At one section, because of its position in height with respect to the deer, you could easily see several on the horizon, again with a few stage with their antlers easily visible.
We continued onwards until we reached the trig point then followed a broad path on the moorland heading back towards Curbar Edge.

We retraced our route back to the starting point at Curbar Gap.

Thors Cave from Wetton

2011-11-19T16:07:00.000Z

We drove across the border at the River Dove near Milldale, through Alstonefield to park in the village car park at the small village of Wetton in the Staffordshire Moorlands.After Karen and I had got our boots on we set off in the sunshine on a surprisingly mild day for the latter half of November walking through the middle of the village which seemed to have quite a few holiday cottages and also seemingly a large population of cats, one of which was having a lie down on a plastic wheely bin in the sun in front of one cottage.

We passed the village pub, “The Royal Oak” and at a road junction by the village church, turned left and followed the road for a short while arriving at a junction with a track where there was a wall stile leading into a field.We followed a route across the field sloping downwards in a shallow valley heading towards the large and obvious rocky feature which is the location of Thor's Cave.Our route crossed another stile and then a short very muddy section dropped down a short way to intersect the path leading up from the Manifold Trail (an old railway track around 80 metres (260 feet) below).The path zig-zagged up with steps made from rocky limestone slabs leading to the symmetrical arch 7.5 metres wide and 10 metres high of Thor's Cave.

We carefully clambered up the sloping and slippery limestone floor (especially with muddy boots!) to gain entry into the large and impressive chamber with a smaller entrance on the right-hand side (looking inwards) and a section of chamber leading to the left as well.After a look around and admiring the view across the Manifold Valley, we again carefully followed the slipper chamber floor back to the path outside the cave and then followed the stepped path to arrive at the Manifold Trail in the valley bottom.Our route crossed the old railway bed then followed a path rising up the opposite side of the valley following through Ladyside Wood bringing us to more pastureland. The public footpath presented us with two others leading to the nearby village of Grindon as we chose the route which avoided dropping down to another small valley only to have to rise up again on the other side.

We walked through Grindon passing a kid's playground by the village church and turned right next to the church and followed a lane heading northwards. We noticed that the sun had disappeared a while before and there was was a cloudy sky in its place, but as we walked along the lane, we found it had begun to get very misty.We followed a route taken by a Public Bridleway down a field and arrived at another which had a large flock of sheep which appeared out of the mist as we made our way to a stile on the opposite side leading to the small Hoo Brook and a path leading down by the brook in a hazel tree wood soon arriving at the old railway station at Wetton Mill.Here we crossed a bridge and had a welcome mug of tea and snack in the café at Wetton Mill.Afterwards, we walked up the minor road leading from the old mill buildings then again followed a public footpath across field heading towards Back of Ecton passing Wetton Hill on our right on a broad track of shorter grass then followed a path around the other side of Wetton Hill heading southwards to arrive back where we had started in Wetton
.

DCRO Practice at Mouldridge Mine

2011-11-13T04:30:00.000Z

I joined a group of Team Members to a practice atMouldridge Mine. Karen was feeling under the weather and stayed athome for the day.

The scenario was that a group of children had beentaken underground by with some adults and one child had beenafterwards to be found missing. In the meantime one of the adults hadreturned underground to search for the missing child but hadn't yetreturned and after a reasonable time, it had been decided to gethelp.

I arrived first at the parking area by a tracknext to the main road in the hamlet of Pikehall and was soon followedby Steve and then the DCRO vehicle with Mick and Pete.

Steve was walking backwards directing Pete andMick forwards with the vehicle but hadn't noticed the low garden wallbelonging to the house next tot the parking area, and much to theamusement of Mick and Pete, he stepped backwards and disappeared fromview as he fell over the wall!

Unfortunately, the other side of the wall was somefour feet lower onto a concrete path but luckily Steve was uninjuredexcept for some grazing and bruising.

Jim and Rosie were stationed at the entranceto the mine with radios for communications. Initially we couldn't getin contact with the DCRO vehicle so Jim tried walking up the far sideof the Dale to see if that improved things while I did the same thingon the near side (myself and Mick were the Leaders in chargewith Claire controlling things at the vehicle).

Suddenly we heard broadcasts from the vehiclewhich was a s a result of the large external aerial being set up.

So Jim returned to his initial position be theentrance.

Mick and his team had been given the task ofsearching on area of the mine while myself and my team wereallocated the remaining half. We had copies of a survey with arecommended route for led groups but we were required to search allother areas providing it was safe to do so.

My group soon located one “casualty” (playedby Tim) at the bottom of a slope near the set of passagesknown as the Banana Slide. After a member with a Casualty Care Certificate had made an initial assessment of the casualty (possiblybroken or dislocated knee plus a diabetic) two team members weretasked to return to the entrance (only a few minutes away: MouldridgeMine is fairly small) to report the situation while I and the “Cas.Carer” remained with the casualty and attempted to keep him warmwith a Bothy Bag.

The two who had reported the situation returnedand suggested we complete our actions and join with Mick'sgroup to assist with their search.

We soon contacted the other group and discoveredthat their “casualty” (Peter) had been found at the base ofa “winze” internal shaft in the mine and had been treated andpackaged in a stretcher. So, we assisted with moving the stretchertowards the large chamber just inside the mine entrance.

In the chamber we “released” Pete and then, asthere was still some time left, Tim returned to his previous positionto be the initial “casualty” and he was moved up the slope andthen down the sloping passage to a level passage below while wearinga full-body harness.

Once Tim had been packed in the stretcher andagain carried to the same chamber as before and that was the end ofthe exercise at around 14:00.

The Isle of Man - Thursday 10th – Saturday 12th November, 2011

2011-11-12T16:39:00.000Z

On Thursday, we drove to Manchester Airport tocatch a short flight in the evening to the Isle of Man flying on aFlyBe 78 seater Bomabrdier Q400 Turbo Prop aeroplane. The flight onlytook about half an hour and we were met by J at theairport, known as Ronaldsway Airport and, in Manx, Purt Aer Vannin.

J and her husband are oldfriends of Karen's and moved to live at Peel on the Isleof Man earlier this year. We were staying at J's lovelyhouse in Peel very near the sea-front.

Karen had never been on the Island before but Ihad been twice before during the famous motorcycle TT Races in 1984and 1985.

On Friday the weather didn't look promising withquite a lot of cloud and J took us on a drive around the Northernpart of the island and a walk around Peel Castle which was very closeto J's house.

On Saturday J's husband joined us for a drive in theSouthern half of the island stopping off at a Glen Maye with a walkpassing a waterfall and leading to the beach. We then continued tothe Southern tip of the Island and stopped at the café opposite thesmall island called the Calf at Man where we had something to eatwhile watching seals and seabirds on the rocks outside.

Afterwards walked to the nearby stone circlecalled Mull (or Meayll) Circle of at sunset overlooking the villageof Port Erin.

After a short while back at their house, J dropped us off at the airport to catch a flight in the eveningback to Manchester and then about an hour and 10 minutes later wewere back home.

The Roaches from Gradbach

2011-10-29T19:56:00.000+01:00

The weather hasdefinitely made up its mind that it is now Autumn so it was a coolday, a bit windy with some light rain later on.

We parked in the smallcar park near Gradbach Mill which is an imposing Youth Hostel thewalked through a deciduous wood with the sound of a squawkingpheasant which was chasing another nearby. After following a markedroute we ended up on a narrow footpath which ended up at a dead-endin a corner of two walls. After carefully climbing under a strand ofbarbed wire and then stepping over another at a gap in the drystonewall, we managed to get back on track at a small gate leading onto alane. Here we heard and then saw a raven flying past and also abuzzard being mobbed by crows, so the birds were having a busymorning.

After leaving the lanenear a bend we crossed a few fields then realised we had taken awrong turning somewhere as we ended up carefully climbing over ametal gate onto a farm track leading to a minor road. This ledtowards the large gritstone crags of Hen Cloud and the Roaches.

There was a trackleading in a loop past Hen Cloud to a large house called Roaches Halland from the house a signed footpath led through more woods and by asmall abandoned quarry we made use of the shelter from the cold windto eat our lunch.

After this we followeda path which rose next to the remnants of a drystone wall to the topof Hen Cloud from where there views to the far distance and acrossTittesworth Reservoir. From here we followed a broad path heading inthe directions of the Roaches.

We followed a pathleading towards the upper tier of the Roaches reaching the stonesteps which bring you up to the upper tier from the stone cottage ofRock Hall and then walked along the foot of the crag and as we didso, I spotted several rock climbs I had done years ago.

There was slantingpath leading to a path which follows the top of the Roaches and wefollowed this and then the path along the top. There was a very coldwind blowing here and we reached a path junction with signposts andwe followed the one signposted to Gradbach.

The path led throughwoods again, contouring along the side of the valley to begin withthen dropped down towards the steam running along the valley bottomwhere there was a footbridge crossing the stream.

Soon we were followingthe muddy footpath we had been on earlier from Gradbach Mill whichbrought us back to the car park again.

Afterwards we stoppedoff at Monyash Cafe for some food then went home.

Gradbach Youth Hostel

The Roaches

Windgather Rocks

2011-10-23T19:03:00.000+01:00

We parked at the carpark next to Erwood Reservoir in the Goyt Valley not far from Buxton,then followed a path along the side of the road heading West to theviewpoint at Oldgate Nick.

There was a gateleading onto a path crossing a section of moor, and we followed thisfor a short way to then follow the minor road to Windgather Rocks.

It was about cool anddry but windy, so Karen and I walked along the bottom of the rockspassing quite a lot of rock climbers then sat in the shelter of alarge gritstone block to eat our lunch.

We then continuedonwards across fields the turned right following a path rising nextto woods until we reached the side of Fernilee Reservoir and followeda path through woods along the side of the reservoir until we arrivedback where we started at the adjacent Erwood Reservoir.

Looking back from Oldgate Nick

Crossing the Moor

Windgather Rocks

DCRO Practice, Knotlow

2011-10-22T18:52:00.000+01:00

Karen and I attended aDCRO practice session at Knotlow Triangle. To begin with we set upthe Multipod with two legs by the entrance to Hillocks Mine as if theentrance ravine was a feature like Eldon Hole.

We tried setting upthe Slix 100 stretcher so that it could be hauled horizontally orvertically depending on which of the two haul ropes were taken in. Weput some tackle bags of gear in the stretcher instead of a volunteer.

Afterwards we moved tothe Whalf pipe Engine Shaft and with Jock in the stretcher, welowered it down about 20 metres then hauled it up using both ahorizontal mode and then vertical at the top. A newcomer called Edwinacted as “Barrow Boy”.

Dovedale from Milldale

2011-10-16T18:25:00.000+01:00

We parked in the carpark in the small hamlet of Milldale just cross the border inStaffordshire and then walked down the dale road to the kiosk atDolly's Cottage where we ordered a couple of hot drinks and sausagerolls. We ate these by the River Dove where the remains of an oldsheep wash can be found.

Form here we walkedback up the dale on the road then passed through a small gate tofollow a narrow footpath with signs marking it as part of the SabrinaWay which brought us to Alstonefield a short distance away passingthe village church and The George pub.

We turned left justpast the pub then followed footpaths crossing several fields towardsNarrowdale with the obvious feature of Narrowdale Hill.

The path fromNarrowdale joined the River Dove as it flows through Wolfescote Daleand after crossing a footbridge we followed the brad easy path on theDerbyshire side (the River Dove being the county boundary betweenDerbyshire and the neighbouring county of Staffordshire) passing thejunction with Biggin Dale until we arrived at the minor road intoMilldale at a small bridge which crossed the river.

We then walked thelast kilometre or so back into Milldale by walking on the pavementnext to the road.

Abney Moor from Bradwell

2011-10-15T16:34:00.000+01:00

After stopping off atthe Outside café at Calver Crossroads to find there was no room forus to have breakfast as it was already full and still people queuingat the counter, we tried their other shop at Hathersage which wasmore successful.

Afterwards we drove tothe village of Bradwell and parked near the bottom of Bradwell Dalethen walked to a footpath which left the road near the village churchand headed north-east across fields towards the village of Brough.

We crossed an olddefensive ditch system called Grey Ditch. On top of the mound runningparallel with the ditch, I could see a shiny surface with variouscolours as the sunlight glancing off was refracted. It looked likefrozen condensation but it was nowhere near freezing. What could itbe?

On closer inspection,we found it was a large patch of spider web with droplets ofcondensation which was giving rise to the light display.

Shortly afterwards,we also discovered a curious feature on the field boundary which wasthe remains of two parallel tunnels around a metre and a bit highmade of stone which appeared to by like dry stone walling. One of thetunnels was still intact for a few tens of metres while the other hadlost its roof for most of its length. I have no idea what theoriginal purpose was of this curious man-made feature. Possibly theremnants of the by-gone lead mining industry?

The path led to aminor road at Brough where we turned right and then right again ashort distance away to follow a tarmaced lane rising uphill. Thisthen became a rough vehicle track after a gate and we continued alongthe rough track with excellent views across the Hope Valley openingout. It had been quite cool earlier on but now, especially with thesun, it was quite warm and we were able to walk comfortably in justshirts.

We paused at a a pairof stiles with two paths leading off in different directions for ahot drink. One was signposted “Bradwell” but the other only hada Public Footpath sign and didn't seem to be on the map.

Afterwards, wecontinued on the rough track for a while which ran along the side ofa deep valley, we left the track at another footpath to cross AbneyMoor. We could see gliders taking off and flying from the nearbyHucklow Edge and stopped for a few minutes watching then beinglaunched into the air by being pulled by a long steel cable which wasthen released while the end of the cable fell to the ground with asmall red parachute slowing it down a bit.

After passing thefarmhouse at Abney Grange, we dropped down the quite steep side ofAbney Brook, then climbed the opposite just as steep side aftercrossing a wooden footbridge and soon we walked down a minor roadleading into Foolow.

There is a roadsidewell where we stopped before on a different walk and we stopped againhere for another hot drink perching on a couple of large stone slabswhich were part of the wall which surrounded the well. There was asmall squeeze stile from the road through which a few stone stepsdropped down to the large pool of water in the well. Since the restof the well was surrounded by walling, this well was obviously notmeant for livestock. We were watched by a small group of cattle inthe field on the opposite side of the road.

We could see quite afew cars parked on the edge above by The Barrel pub at Bretton –obviously a good spot for views.

Continuing along theroad into the village of Foolow, we walked past he village duck pondwhich had a small group of white Aylesbury ducks and also anothersmaller well similar to the roadside one we had passed earlier.

Passing the pond, weimmediately turned right down a narrow walled path with stonechippings on the ground leading between houses which brought us toSilly Dale. To begin with, we walked along the floor of this smalldale with the strange name and as we did so, I spotted a bird whichhad landed in a nearby small tree. At first I thought it might be aThrush but as it took off again, Karen pointed out that it was toobig to be a Thrush but might have been a Mistle Thrush which is a bitlarger. Then as the bird flew across to the opposite side of thedale, we could see quite clearly that it had a very short tail whichis when Karen realised it was actually a Little Owl.

We reached a dead endat a drystone wall running across the dale and realised we shouldhave crossed to the other side and continued past the dale instead ofwalking along it. It was only a couple of hundred metres so wehadn't gone too far out of our way.

We retraced our routeback to where we had entered the top of the dale, and this timefollowed the finger post pointing the way which was along the side ofthe dale on the other side.

We soon reached a laneleading to Grindlow (Silly Dale is only a few hundred metres long)and then down a minor road into Great Hucklow.

Following down themain road in the village until just past the pub, we turned right andthen straight onwards down a narrow track and soon afterwards, onto apublic right of way through some fields.

We passed Nether Waterand Quarter Farms, at one point passing a herd of cattle with a bull.The bull was making loud grunting noises but wasn't the slightest bitinterested in us, just one of the cows. From yet another field, wepassed through a stile onto a road back in the village of Bradwellvery close to where we had started.

We could hear waterflowing very nearby and after leaning over a wall we could see thewater emerging from some sort of conduit into a stream flowing awayfrom us. This must be the resurgence from Bagshawe Cavern which islocated further uphill in Bradwell.

Dew-covered spider webs with a rainbow of colours

"Grey Ditch" ancient defensive feature near Bradwell

A pair of small tunnel features on a field boundary

Mam Tor and the Hope Valley

Abney Brook valley

Roadside Well near Foolow

Footpath sign on footpath to Silly Dale

Oxlow Cavern

2011-10-01T19:47:00.000+01:00

Keith and Karen had planned on a trip to OxlowCavern while she was in Rugby during the week visiting friends so wemet Keith in the morning at the Old Smithy Cafe in Monyash just afterit opened at 09:00.

After breakfast, we drove to the Orpheus CCCottage to collect some ropes and tackle bags for the trip. While wewere doing this, Chris Jackson arrived and asked if he could comewith us.

We drove to Oxlow Farm and parked there leavingthe £2 trespass fee for each of us plus £1 for each car parked atthe farm and after changing into caving gear, walked back down theroad then across the stile into the field and then to the caveentrance.

Keith opted to do the rigging and we followed withmyself second followed by Chris and Karen taking up the rear.

We soon reached the large West Chamber and Karenopted to start heading out while we looked at the last pitch whichdrops down to the sump between Oxlow Cavern and nearby MaskhillCavern.

Keith dropped down the pitch followed by Chris. Itraversed to the top of the rope and after looking down at the twobelow decided that since we would only drop down and then immediatelyhave to come back up, I took the lazy option and waited for them tocome back up!

We started the return journey to the surface wherewe found Karen sitting in the very unseasonal warmth waiting for ourreturn.

Kinlochleven to Fort William, The Finish – 15 Miles

2011-09-23T18:51:00.000+01:00

After breakfast at 08:00, we left at 09:05 in theunsurprising rain to follow the West Highland Way out ofKinlochleven.

Soon the path left the town via a gradually-risingand zigzagging path bringing us to a track which along one side of the broad valley containing Loch Leven.

The track passed the ruins of Tigh-na-Sleubhaichafter a couple of hours so we sat in the shelter of one of the wallsof an adjacent sheep pen to to have a hot drink and snack.

Luckily the rain had mostly stopped but the cloudswere still covering the hill tops. This section of the walk was morecrowded than other days and we were passed by several familiar andunfamiliar walkers, and we could see more walkers in the distance asthere was a good view of the path for several kilometres ahead.

The track, and old military road, was the usualstory of rough and undulating gradually as it followed one side ofthe wide valley.

After a few kilometres, the valley and the trackturned North and soon entered a wooded area.

In a clearing, we sat on a couple of tree stumpsand ate some of our packed lunch then, as a few midges made theirpresence known, we set off again.

After a cleared are we entred a wood again andthen another cleared area then back into wood again. All the timedrizzle or light was starting or stopping.

The path then joined a forestry track whichgradually dropped us down towards Glen Nevis which we could see belowin the distance. Unfortuntely, there was not much of Ben Nevix to seebecause of the cloud.

Tramping along the hard surface of the forestrytrack soon had our feet complaining. Up to now it had been a veryenjoyable walk with lovely scenery despite the weather.

Following a sign, we quit the forestry track andfollowed a footpath for a few hundred metres to join the minor roadin Glen Nevis.

This road seemed interminable as our sore feet gotsorer as we followed the pavement or the road into Fort William aftera couple of kilomteres or so.

We paused at a small bridge for a final rest asKaren checked the location of the Bed and Breakfast and as we didthis, the two Belgians came past.

We followed them and a few hundred metres laterthe Belgians celebrated as they saw the sign marking the snd of theWest Highland Way.

Photos were taken and an American walker who wassitting on a nearby bench waiting for his friends to arrive took ourphoto using Karen's camera. I placed my camera on a convenient rubbshbin and used the self-timer to take more photos of ourselves. It was16:30, which was exactly the time I had estimated we would arrive inFort William when we set off in the morning.

Tem minutes later we were climbing some concretesteps up to our Bed and Breakfast at Rhu Mhor Guest House and afterrining the bell and removing our boots, we went up to our room. Weremoved our dirty Paramo Cascada trousers so that we sould sit downon the bed until our “travellong bag” would arrive.

The bag arrived not long afterwards and wew wereable to have showers and get changed.

Later we walked into the centre of Fort William toget our final stamp in the West Highland Way log books and collectour certificates at the Grog and Gruel Pub. We found the pub had anexcellent restaurant upstairs so we stayed to have a meal as well.

In the morning we had an early train from Fort William station following a very picturesque route often following the route of the West Highland Way, or close to it, arriving at Glasgow Queen Street station about four hours later. From there we got a taxi to the nearby Glasgow Central station to catch a train to Birmingham New Street station, then a train to Derby and finally a train to Matlock from where we were picked up by a taxi brining us home to Winster.

Crossing a stream on the path

Tigh-na-Sleubhaich

Karen pointing out how far to go on a map on a sign

The End

West Highland Way - Kingshouse Hotel to Kinlochleven – 9 Miles

2011-09-22T20:43:00.000+01:00

We were up at 07:30 for a “Full ScottishBreakfast” (bacon, sausage, egg, mushrooms and a piece of oatcake)at 08:00. Afterwards we packed our gear, dropped off the “travellingbag” at its pick-up point and settled the bill and were away by09:30 just in time for the first of many rain showers to begin.

The route ran in a loop from the hotel beneath theBuachaille passing the hut known as Jacksonville which belongs to theCreagh Dhu Climbing Club from Glasgow, then near Altnafeadh the routelooped back to the road through Glen Coe for a short distance beforestriking off towards The Devil's Staircase.

We paused to remove our fleece jacket or top as wewould be walking uphill. Meanwhile a small group of Americans, who wehad seen at the Kingshouse, came past with a couple wearingridiculous knee-length plastic ponchos.

We continued making our way up the DevilsStaircase which was just a gentle path with zig-zags and didn't liveup to its name.

Soon we had risen about 325 metres in height overa distance of about 1 kilometre in a straight line and there werenice views across Glen Coe between heavy rain showers.

The Americans and some others were posing forphotos on the cairn at the top of the Devil's Staircase and after wehad taken a couple of shots of the views, we continued onwards.

The rough path dropped gradually downwards withexcellent views of the peaks opposite and above Kinlochleven plus alake to the East or North-East. We had been using an excellentHarvey's strip map of the West Highland Way (as we had also used asimilar map on the Dales Way last year) which had excellent detailwith the route clearly marked all the way from Milngavie to FortWilliam graduated in both miles and kilometres and quite a lot ofuseful information as well. The best thing was it is printed onpolythene and was therefore 100% water proof and tough – just aswell given the weather we were experiencing. The only disadvantage isthat as a strip map, it didn't include any details in the distance.

After 6 miles, the path began dropping moresteeply, again zigzagging, with Kinlochleven beginning to appear inthe distance.

The time was approaching midday and we found aspot on the leeward side of the slope we were on to shelter from thewind and ate our packed lunch looking at the surrounding mountainsand valleys.

Soon it began to rain yet again , so I pulled outmy bothy bag and we sheltered from the rain and finished our lunch.

Half an hour later the rain had stopped and wecontinued on our way. The path passed a water treatment plant at theintake for six large steel pipes dropping down to the hydro-electricplant below in Kinlochleven.

The path joined a wide vehicle track whichcontinued downwards past a series of bends and past a small damn andstream.

This track continued for about 2 kilometres andreally wasn't welcome for tired feet, but after crossing a bridgeover the River Leven with the Ice Factor Climbing Wall Centre below,we followed a short track through woods and discovered we had arrivedvery close to our Bed and Breakfast for the night: “Forest View”where we arrived at 14:30.

We dropped our stuff off in our room after havingshowers, changed into our “fresh” clothes and had a wander aroundKinlochleven, which didn't take long! We had a look In the Ice FactorClimbing Wall centre and had a coffee and cake in the café.

The Ice Factor is a very interesting place. It'sand old building which used to be part of the Aluminium smeltingworks which closed down in 1996. One side of the building has threelarge sections. Two of these had the usual climbing walls on threewalls and were quite high, maybe 20 metres or more. The third sectionwas enclosed with large glass windows and a door and was basically alarge freezer. Its walls were of rough, thick ice just like adomestic freezer long past due for a defrosting. The walls were about15 metres high and is an ice climbing wall for practising iceclimbing with ice axes, crampons and the other gear normally used inwinter climbing.

The other half of the building, lengthwise, was alarge seating area with a coffee bar and also a gear shop with a baron the floor above.

We sat and had our coffee and cake for a while,then had a wander around the shop then returned to the Bed andBreakfast for a while. Later we walked to the local pub, The TailraceInn and had an evening meal, we also saw the Glaswegian Trio from theKingshouse yesterday.

View through our hotel bedroom window

Kingshouse Hotel, Glen Coe

Looking down the Devil's Staircase

West Highland Way - Bridge of Orchy to Kingshouse Hotel – 9 Miles

2011-09-21T19:41:00.000+01:00

We had checked with the Bridge of Orchy Hotelyesterday evening to see if they served Breakfast to non-residentsand they confirmed that they did, so breakfast was sorted.

The three girls we were sharing the bunkroom withwere up at around 07:00 and were faffing around until about 08:00 sowe waited until they had gone before getting out of bed.

We were both up, packed and ready to go in 10minutes and just needed to fill up water containers and flasks, whichwe did using the facilities provided in the Common Room next door,

We sorted out leaving the “travelling bag” sothat it could be collected and then set off to the Hotel forbreakfast. The breakfast was very good with quite a bit of choice onthe menu instead of the usual “Full Scottish Breakfast” and itwas £10 each which isn't surprising as it was a hotel after all.There were a couple of glass-fronted cabinets in the hotel Receptionwith some useful things for sale with a selection of bug repellentwhich probably sells well when the midges are biting. As we werehaving breakfast, there were rain showers periodically.

We settled up for breakfast and headed of acrossthe actual Bridge heading for today's destination: Kingshouse Hotelat Glen Coe on the other side of Rannoch Moor.

The route started on a stony footpath whichgradually rose through some woods then onto a small viewpoint at MamCarraigh. We had a quick look at what view there was but were beingblown around by the wind and rain.

From here the path gradually dropped with viewsacross to Loch Tulla as he headed towards the Inveraran Hotel and therain got heavier.

Opposite the hotel, by a small stone bridge with atorrential stream flowing underneath, was a small wooden shed. And wemade use of the shelter on the leeward side of the shed to take offour waterproof jackets (I was wearing my Paramo Third Element jacketwith a “North Cape” Power Dry T-shirt underneath which I had wornevery day while walking) to put on fleece tops or jackets (a MountainEquipment Shroud fleece jacket in my case) underneath as it was acooler day and even cooler with all the rain.

Onwards we went on a tarmaced lane passing thehotel where there was a car with the German-speaking older lady wehad seen yesterday and some other women. We saw Kevin from the firstBed and Breakfast in the hotel porch so presumable they had stayedovernight at the Inverarnan Hotel.

We followed the road to Forest Lodge aftercrossing another high river at Victoria Bridge then through a gateonto a cobbled track, an ancient Drovers Road, which gradually roseleading towards Rannoch Moor.

The Drovers Road headed for Glen Coe and wassurfaced with roughly-shaped cobbles of stone which were not onlyhard on the feet but slippery as well. The rain was now even heaviermaking the cobbles more slippery and because the track was sloping,it was a pain to walk on so we tried to walk on the narrow verges oneither side.

The road passed a small fenced off wood and Karenspotted a female Red Deer standing in a clearing about 10 metresaway.

The road brought us across Black Mount moor withthe surface becoming less regular stone and more of a mixed surfacewhich was more flat and not slippery which was a lot more pleasant towalk on. And the rain stopped!

We stopped in the shelter of a bank of rocks nearBa Bridge while the rain had stopped for a while and had lunch. Evenhere in the middle of nowhere we had a visitor: a female chaffinchhoping for some crumbs.

Afterwards we went on our way and I paused to takea photo with my smart phone and post it on my FaceBook page.

The track swung around to the north-west and wecould see the top of Glen Coe with the very large and obvious iconicpeak Buachaille Etive Mor which was continuously changing as showersswept across the landscape followed by clear patches.

We could also see the small white building whichwas our destination for the night: Kingshouse Hotel.

We passed signs for the Glencoe Ski area with itsski lifts and passed the picturesque Blackrock Cottage with theBuachaille looming up behind. Following the track for about 740metres to the A82 main road which threads its way through Glen Coeafter having crossed Rannoch Moor by a different route.

Crossing the A82, we followed what must have beenthe original road and was now a single track road with potholedtarmac heading for the Kingshouse Hotel, passing a Red Deer hind atthe edge of a copse about a hundred metres away.

We arrived at the Hotel at 15:30ish after asurprisingly excellent and enjoyable walk despite the weather, withabsolutely stunning scenery.

The walking was much more like what we were usedto, like walking on the moors back home in the Peak District.

Our room (no.9) was at the side of the hotelfacing the Buachaille and Glen Coe – we couldn't have got a betterview. The room was quite large as well, which was good as we had afair amount of damp gear to hang up and get dry!

It was noticeable that there were very few carsparked in the car park as the fairly large number of people stayingat the hotel had obviously walked there. There wasn't much in the wayof alternative accommodation unless you were back-packing andself0sufficient or were prepared for a very long day's walk.

While we sat in the bar for a while in the earlyevening some rather wet walkers arrived who hadn't any booking at thehotel and after being told there was no room had to arrange for ataxi to bring them to Glencoe village to seek accommodation for thenight.

We recognised several others from previousovernight stops including Kevin and partner which isn't surprising asmost of us had set out from Milngavie on the same day and had beenstaying at roughly the same locations each night.

Back in our room, Karen spotted some red deerhinds just outside perhaps tempted to investigate the hotel forscraps of food in the evening when it was quieter.

We had a nice evening meal of steak and ale piethen sat in the bar reading for a while and chatting to a trio ofwomen from Glasgow who were also walking the Way.

We went up to our room at around 21:00 and readfor a while then turned off the lights and listened to the windwhistling outside despite the double glazing.

Some of the ant-midge stuff sold in the Hotel

The Bridge, Bridge of Orchy

Looking back at the Bridge of Orchy

Approaching Inverarnan and Loch Tulla

Stone bridge by Inverarnan Hotel

The old Drovers Track

Cheeky Chaffinch on Rannoch Moor

Blackrock Cottage and the Buahaille Etive Mhor

Red deer next to Kingshouse Hotel

West Highland Way - Tyndrum to Bridge of Orchy – 7 Miles

2011-09-20T21:31:00.000+01:00

Today would be the shortest day. After breakfastwe settled up and got our gear together and set off back across theriver, which had risen a couple of inches overnight, to rejoin theWest Highland Way.

We soon reached Tyndrum which was the largestplace since leaving Drymen and we stopped at a restaurant by a garageknown as “The Green Welly” for a coffee and some biscuits.

Next we called at the Tyndrum Hotel to get our WHWLog Book's stamped (we had been doing this each evening). The routethen led us along a bit of tarmac then onto a stony track runningparallel to the A82 and the railway.

We passed a car parked at the side of the trackwith a small backpacking tent pitched nearby next to the river. Therewas a small sign next to the river saying “No Claim Jumping”.There was a man wearing a diving dry suit and a face mask and snorkelin the shallow water, presumably prospecting for gold (we had seen asmall sign earlier in the day referring to planning permission forextraction of gold and other minerals near a bridge).

WE continued along the track which was still stonybut wide enough for a vehicle, with the conical peak of Beinn Odharin front of us and other peaks further away.

We had a five minute stop in between showers in abit of shelter from the wind, then continued onwards along the oldmilitary road.

The weather was quite a bit cooler than previousdays with periods of sunshine, drizzle and light rain.

We stopped in a sheltered hollow next to the trackduring a short sunny interval, opposite Clach a Bhein to have lunchwhile the German-speaking lad with the huge rucksack walked pastsaying “Alright?” with a big smile.

After lunch it soon started to rain again for afor a few minutes as we realised we could now see our destination forthe night.

This was the Bridge of Orchy train station whichis nowadays fitted out as a bunkhouse.

We arrived and after walking along the stationplatform to the old station building, we found nobody there but therewere some envelopes taped to a door which was marked as the Reception/ Common Room which looked like it was one of the old station waitingrooms. One of the envelopes was marked “SCATCHER” and afteropening it we saw it contained a note with apologies but the man whoran the bunkhouse had been rushed to hospital and there would be noevening meals. No problem as we could eat at the nearby Bridge ofOrchy Hotel.

The note also had the combination for one of thebunk rooms which we had been allocated, so we unlocked the door anddropped our rucksacks off then realised there was no sign of our“travelling bag”. There were a some towels and bed linen againmarked “SCATCHER” with the combination to the Common Room so welooked in there. There was a small pile of bags, all with thealternative baggage transfer company “AMS” but no sign of ours.Rats.

So, as it was only 14:00, we decided maybe the baghadn't yet been delivered, so we walked over to the hotel to find outabout meals and whether we would have to book a table. There was noproblem as they were quiet at the moment. While we were there, we hadsome coffee and a piece of cake.

We found the German-speaking lad with the hugerucksack having a coffee as well and a pint of beer chatting inGerman with a couple we had seen earlier walking the route and theywere joined soon afterwards by an older couple we had overtakenearlier in the day, who were also German speakers.

After the coffee we returned to the bunkhouse andstill there was no sign of our bag. Karen had a lie down and I readsome magazines in the Common Room until 16:30. Karen then decided tocontact the baggage transfer company to check on the whereabouts ofour bag and found out that it had been delivered earlier but had beenleft on a different room because the owners had to go to hospital.D'oh.

So we retrieved the bag and I had a shower andchanged into my clean evening clothes and shortly afterwards we werejoined by a party of three girls who were also walking and werestaying in our bunkroom, which had three bunk beds with three tierseach.

In the evening we walked back to the hotel againto have an evening meal which was lovely. We checked if they servedbreakfasts to non-residents and we were told that they did so we weresorted for the morning as well.

We saw several other “West Highland Wayfarers”,not surprisingly.

We returned to the bunkhouse at around 20:30 andlay on our bunks reading for a while until after 21:30 we got intobed to go to sleep.

Re-crossing the river in the morining

Site of old Lead Smelting

Looking across to Glangarry House

The "Aqueous" Gold Prospector!

Bridge of Orchy Hotel

Bridge of Orchy Station

West Highland Way - Inverarnan to Tyndrum – 12 Miles

2011-09-19T18:01:00.000+01:00

Because breakfast was served in the campsite barup to 09:30, we were able to have a bit of a lie-in until 08:30.

The “wigwam” was very good being warm andsnug and well insulated from wind and noise unlike a tent, withenough room for 4 people to lie down on the floor in two pairs headto foot with still plenty of spare floor spaces around them. Muchbetter than camping with a tent – otherwise, except for an electriclight, a small heater and two small windows, not much different.

We decided it would be wise to eat breakfast andthen immediately get the “travelling bag” ready as we didn't knowwhen it would be collected. This was just as well as we saw the vanarriving to collect the bags before we had left the campsite.

We had everything sorted and were off at 10:00. Ihad seen some walkers pass through the campsite earlier following apath which then started up quite steeply on a hillside nearby andwondered if that was the way we would be heading but after checkingthe map we found that the WHW route followed a stony vehicle trackwhich ran along the bottom of the hill leading to a stony path.

There was light drizzle and as it was warmish andsheltered from wind, we we walked to begin with in our thermal shirtsfor the first few miles.

We were passed by some of the others who had alsostayed at the campsite including the foreigner with the fully laden“70+10” litre rucksack who we had seen in the Rowardennan Hotel.

At the top of a short stretch of a steepening inthe path , we met the two Belgians who had found a bench and hadtaken a short rest, As they were just leaving, we decided to alsomake use of the bench and have a short sit-down for five minutes.

I put on my Paramo Fuera Smock due to the breeze,and we were soon on our way again.

We reached the day's half-way point which wasalso roughly the West Highland's half-way point at about the 6 milepoint after passing the Belgians, at the head of Bogle Glen where anoffshoot of the WHW dropped down about a kilometre to Crianlarich.

This was an ideal spot for lunch, so we sat on ahandy grassy “seat” which was also sheltered a bit from thebreeze and light rain and ate the sandwiches we had bought in themorning at the campsite shop.

As we were eating our lunch others who we had seenalso walking the WHW arrived, including Kevin and his partner fromthe first stop at Drymen. Some of these also stopped for a rest andothers passed by and stopped further along, including the Belgians.

As we were sitting there, I also put on my ParamoThird Element Jacket over my Fuera Smock to keep warm as it was stilldrizzling.

After half an hour, we pushed on through a woodedsection which was lovely as the narrow stony path curved this way andthat and also went up and down, so was never boring. Also the treeswere mixed and growing in random places with the ground covered withbright green Sphagnum moss and wood sorrel with the odd outcroppingof bright red and white spotted Fly Agaric toadstools.

There were also views of surrounding mountainswith their summits largely covered in mist.

The drizzle began to change to light rain, so Istopped to change from my Paramo Fuera Smock to my Rab Bergen Jacketas would have found the Paramo Third Element Jacket too warm for theconditions.

We reached the end of the wood and dropped somesteps to a bridge over the railway and sat on the low parapet forfive minutes.

Two hundred metres away the path crossed the A82main road and then passed the remains of St Fillan's Priory which wassurprisingly small and had trees growing among the ruins.

We saw a sign for a campsite at Auchtertyre akilometre further along (another campsite with “wigwams”) andthey had tea and coffee for sale, so we decided to have a break therefor a hot drink.

Afterwards we continued for the last couple ofmiles and then spotted what we were certain was Glangarry House, ourBed and Breakfast stop over for tonight. It was on the other side ofthe river and the A82.

We had thought that we would have to walk toTyndrum and follow the access road for Lower Tyndrum railway stationbefore we could cross the river and then walk back down the A82 toGlengarry House, a distance of just over two kilometres but as wereached a large area of bare rocky soil, which turned out to be theremains a lead smelting plant used for lead extracted form somenearby lead mines, Karen spotted a stile on the other side of theriver in front of Glengarry House and a footpath. There was also asmall sign near us pointing to Glengarry House, so we decide toinvestigate this direct route.

We changed direction to reach the nearby river ahundred metres or so away, and found we could cross using somepartially submerged boulders with care as the opposite river bank wasreached by quite a wide step across. Then a few metres away was thestile, right opposite Glengarry House on the other side of the A82.

We knocked on the door and received a warm welcomeand were shown to our room where we found a menu for breakfast,packed lunches and also for evening meals! This meant we need notwalk down the busy A82 into Tyndrum for an evening meal.

So we had a shower and hung stuff up to dry andalso washed a few clothes.

We went downstairs at 19:00 for and excellent mealand chatted to two other guests, both men, who were also walking theWHW sitting at another table and then went to bed at 22:00.

Inside the "WigWam"

The "WigWam"

St Fillan's Priory

Crossing the river near Glengarry House

West Highland Way - Coille Mhor, near Rowardennan to Inverarnan – 15 Miles

2011-09-18T19:38:00.000+01:00

After the first proper full breakfast of the trip,we set off in dry and sunny weather to walk the half mile or so backto rejoin the West Highland Way where we had left it yesterdayevening.

For some reason I hadn't slept very well lastnight and my feet were already hurting a bit which meant I wasn't inthe best of moods, but at least it was dry, cool and sunny.

We soon were passing the Rowardennan Hotel wherewe had eaten last night, also Rowardennan Lodge which is a YouthHostel and followed the still well-marked path through woods passingPtarmigan Lodge.

Here there is a short alternative section of theWHW which passes close to the water in Loch Lomond and a slightlyhigher alternative. We had been told at Coille Mhor that the parts ofthe lower path had been washed away so there was no real alternativeto the higher route at the moment.

The walking was easy with a fairly flat path withoccasional short ups and downs. The problem with stopping for anyappreciable time was that midges would soon appear out of nowhere, sowe only stopped once in a sunny spot, but there were still a fewmidges around.

We saw a couple, one English and the other NorthAmerican, who we had seen at the end of yesterday and we keptleap-frogging each other as they were walking faster than us but theykept stopping.

By now Karen's back was twinging and my feet weresore so we kept just plodding along with the beautiful scenery andsunny weather a consolation. I found the third day walking the DalesWay the hardest and this year it seemed the same. I hadn't yet gotused to walking each day but had walked enough to have sore feet. Iwas often mentally calculating how far we had come since we startedthis morning and working out how far there was left to do before wecould stop for the day.

We reached Inversnaid Hotel after 6 miles with thewaterfalls roaring with water after all the previous day's rain. Wesat at a pick-nick table in the public car park nearby to have ourpacked lunch.

We invited two Belgian men, who we had seenyesterday, to join us as the other pick-nick tables were taken. Theywere back-packing and camping and had come to the UK via the Eurostartrain and unfortunately they had their gas cartridges confiscated.They hadn't been able to find any being sold of the correct type sothey must have had the type which is pierced when it is attached tothe cooker as there had been several places selling the screw-oncartridges. Buying some of these would have been no use either asnone of the shops sold a cooker. This meant they had been living onbreakfast bars for the past few days!

Once we had finished our lunch, we continued onour way with the path now quite rocky as it followed the lake's edge.Although it was rougher going, we found it less tiring probablybecause there was more variety of movement.

By now we were getting more tired and my feet weregetting very sore, so we just kept going and going as I found itbetter to just keep walking rather than stopping and starting. Also Iwanted to go to the toilet which didn't help.

After what seemed a long time, we eventuallyreached the Beinglass campsite at Inverarnan at 17:30, and I shotinto one of the toilets as Karen booked us in. We were staying in oneof the “wigwams” available on the campsite – they also had acamping area and large chalets so offered choices of accommodation.The wigwams were of two sizes: large and small and we had a small onewhich was basically a wooden tent with a wooden floor and was raisedoff the ground. It had an electric light, a small electric heater, acouple of pads to lie on and two sleeping bags, cotton liners andpillows on a slightly raised platform taking up about half the floorspace.

These were great as you weren't affected by anywind and insulated to some extent from any noise when compared to atent.

The campsite also had a bar which served food, asmall shop and a covered area with seating, sinks and large domesticcookers so that the Belgians were able to buy and cook some hot foodfor a change.

It was a relied to be able to stop walking and notworry about midges and the first thing we did was to have a lay downand rest before having a shower and then later on, a meal in the bar.

It had been a hard and tiring day, but like Ifound last year, the third day seems to be hardest.

West Highland Way - Drymen to Coille Mhor, near Rowardennan – 15 Miles

2011-09-17T17:43:00.000+01:00

We were up at 07:30 with breakfast at 08:00 whichwas a bit more substantial than yesterday's with cereal, bacon andscrambled egg plus toast.

There was another couple staying at the Bed andBreakfast who were also walking the WHW and they had arrivedyesterday evening after us. The landlady was telling us about acouple of American girls who had stayed there recently whilewalking the WHW. They had breakfast, again while it was rainingoutside. When they left, they turned right and headed back towardsDrymen. She went out after them and told them that they were goingthe wrong way. They replied “We don't do RAIN!” and wereintending to get a taxi or bus to head for home. An odd attitudewhile walking in Scotland!

It had rained heavily several times overnight withlight rain during breakfast. We were away by 09:00 and were back onthe WHW route after simply stepping through the front garden gate!Luckily the rain had stopped by now and the sun was making anappearance.

We walked a short way along the road then followeda fenced path leading to a forestry track and we had views of LochLomond in the distance, where we would eventually end up. But firstwe had to traverse Conich Hill.

There was a broad track curving around towardsConich Hill which started with a steep, short stepped section, then agradually-rising rough path with sections worn through to the barerock which was a conglomerate of some sort with large rounded pebbleslooking much like rough concrete.

The path missed out the summit by a short distanceand continued just below to one side and then made its way down muchmore steeply on the other side a sit dropped towards Balmaha.

There had been several short showers of rain and Ihad begun the day by wearing the gilet part on my Paramo ThirdElement jacket as it was still quite mild. When the rain increased Islipped the hood and sleeves section on without having to take myrucksack off which is a useful feature. Its a pit that Paramo haverecently stopped producing this jacket.

We dropped down the opposite side of Conich Hillwith paved sections, grassy sections and stepped sections until wearrived at the foot of the hill and found ourselves in a park leadingafter a short distance to a Visitors Centre and car park in Balmahaon the shore of Loch Lomond.

We bought some sandwiches in the village shop nextto the Oak Tree Inn and sat at a pick-nick table eating lunch withseveral other back-packers.

After lunch, the path continued following eitherby the Loch or up and down tracks through woods. Luckily there wereonly short sections of road to walk on.

We stopped for a tea break at a car park atMilarrochy further along the Loch-side and again at Sallochy.

By now it was 16:00 and we weren't sure of theexact location of tonight's Bed and Breakfast, Coille Mhor, so wetried phoning using Karen's mobile phone but there was no answer.

Continuing onwards, we reached a footbridge inwoods with a notice about another Bed and Breakfast (we had seenothers at different locations), and below this was a notice withdirections to Coille Mhor. Bingo!

We followed the directions (over the footbridge,then over a second, up a twisty path and down the other side to aclearing. Form there through a purple barrier then down the road fora few hundred metres).

There was a short very steep and stepped sectionwith two pairs of walkers who it sounded like were also heading forCoille Mhor and one of the men came rapidly past us only to have towait for his partner at the top as we walked onwards.

We arrived at 17:00 and were shown where thedrying room was (in a large shed) and after dropping some stiff offin the drying room, we found our room and had showers which were verywelcome after a long walk of 15 miles.

The house was lovely but fairly isolated. The onlyplace to get an evening meal was at the Rowardennan Hotel on the LochLomond shore. Other than the hotel, there were one or two otherbuildings, and that was about it. Although it was only a mile and ahalf from the Bed and Breakfast to the Hotel, luckily the landladygave us and her other guests a lift to the hotel and picked us upafterwards at 20:00 as we suggested.

We saw the couple from yesterday also at the hotelbar having a meal plus the walkers who we had seen earlier. There wasalso a young man who was sitting at a nearby table looking intenselyaround at everyone else. After his meal, he pulled a huge rucksackout from somewhere and after getting it on his back, set off forwherever he was planning to spend the night.

West Highland Way - Milngavie to Tyndrum - 12 Miles

2011-09-16T14:38:00.000+01:00

Up in the morning at 07:30, which was to becomethe usual getting-up time for the trip, we had breakfast at 08:00 inthe kitchen of the bungalow.

Due to a misunderstanding, we thought breakfastwas at 08:00, whereas this was the time the lady who ran thebunkhouse had to go to work and we should be finished by.

In the end there was no problem as her daughter,who was still in bed, would sort out everything after we had gone.

The breakfast was cereal and tea or coffee, asarranged. Afterwards, we packed our rucksacks and left the“travelling bag” in the small wooden building at the side of thehouse to be picked up later by a van and transported to ouraccommodation for this evening.

We had used this facility provided by a firmcalled Sherpa Van when we walked the Dales Way last year. The plan isthat you carry whatever you need for the day's walk plus any extrakit such as spare clothing, water, food, first aid kit, etc. whileother items such as clean clothes to wear in the evening, washingkit, reading material etc. is packed in a separate bag whichmagically turns up when you arrive at your accommodation in theevening.

This means you can have a lightly-loaded rucksackwhile you are walking during the day but can still afford the luxuryof having other items available when you stop overnight.

Off we went at 08:30 and walked back to the centreof Milngavie (which is actually pronounced “mullguy”) where theofficial start to the West Highland Way is marked by a stone obelisk.We bought some sandwiches for lunch later in the day and also somelovely sausage rolls in a Greggs bakery which was right by the start.The sausage rolls were to be the rest of our breakfast.

There was a man there from the Tourist Office,which was also very near, who asked us to pop in as they liked toknow how many walkers were using the West Highland Way. They also hada card with spaces for various locations along the Way to affix anink stamp. At the end of the walk, you could have a certificatecommemorating the walk providing you had at least one stamp each dayof the walk. Of course they charged £5 for these, but we decided tohave one each and also a “West Highland Way” T-shirt each.

The West Highland Way runs from the outskirts of Glasgow (Scotland's largest City), runs past Loch Lomond (the UK'slargest body of fresh water) and ends in Fort William, 95 miles away,at the foot of the UK's highest Mountain, Ben Nevis.

Unlike yesterday, which was sunny and dry, todaystarted overcast and cool and remained that way all day except forsome light rain. Actually this is better weather for walking anyway,although not having rain would be better.

After a few photos at the starting point, we gotgoing at 09:30ish and after walking through a small car park, wefollowed a path through what felt like park land passing a number ofpeople out walking their dogs.

Soon we were following what seemed to be an oldrailway line with an earth bank on one side which covered a pipelinecarrying water from Loch Lomond transporting the water to varioustowns and cities.

At one point we found a table set with somecontainers with slices of cake and some flasks with tea or coffee andan “honesty box” so that passing walkers could have a hot drinkand a snack.

Later on we also found a small freezer outside acottage in Gartness with ice creams and chocolate bars for sale,again with an honesty box to leave your payment.

As we neared this evening's stop-over location,the village of Drymen, we walked a section of quiet minor road andsat in the shelter of some rhododendron bushes on a grassy bank tofinish our sandwiches. We had stopped for lunch at roughly thehalf-way point earlier in the day.

We continued onwards to Drymen and found our Bedand Breakfast for the night, called “Glenalva” on the main roadleaving Drymen which was actually on the route of the West HighlandWay. There was a sign on the front door saying “Check in time 16:00to 18:00” but it was only 14:40!

So we walked a half mile into the centre of Drymento have tea and some cake in a café until it was 16:00.

We then returned to the Bed and Breakfast and werelet in and after being shown to our room, we each had a shower andchanged into our clean clothes for the evening.

The landlady had recommended the Clachan Inn foran evening meal but she said to be there by 18:00 as it gets verybusy, which is always a good sign.

So, by 17:45 we walked the half mile back to thevillage centre again. The location for getting our WHW log cardsstamped was the nearby Ptarmigan Bar in the Winnock pub, so we nippedin there first to get that done.

Then we went into the Clachan where we had a verynice meal of sausages and mash. We returned to The Ptarmigan for adrink as people were arriving at The Clachan to put their names downfor a place to sit and have a meal. It was indeed very busy.

Afterwards, we returned to the Bed and Breakfast.So, altogether, we walked an extra two miles!

We read for a while and by 21:00, I was fallingasleep.

Karen and the Start of the West Highland Way

Temporary Memorial to the "Craigallan Fire"

One if the West Highland Way markers

Refreshments!

West Highland Way - Milngavie, near Glasgow to Fort William 95 Miles over 8 days

2011-09-15T19:45:00.000+01:00

Karen and I took a taxi from home in Winster toMatlock train station at 10:00 to catch the 10:30 train to to Derbyon the first leg of our long journey to Milngavie near Glasgow, thestarting point for the West Highland Way.

We boarded the 11:44 train at Derby travelling toEdinburgh arriving at 15:10 or so. Luckily the next train was lavingfrom a nearby platform and this was the last leg of the journeyleaving at 15:41 for Milngavie, which stopped at a long list ofstations before arriving at Milngavie at about 18:10.

Karen had booked all the places we would bestaying at during the walk and this evening we were staying at anearby bunkhouse. First we were able to get some cash from aconvenient ATM, then we walked a short distance to find ourselves ata bungalow at 8, Cross Burn Avenue.

The bunkhouse wasactually a separate building at the end of the garden which wasunusual but had everything you would expect for a bunkhouse with twobunk beds, heating, electric light and access to a small kitchen andbathroom through the back door of the bungalow for which there was akey in the bunkhouse.

There were two girlsalready there when we arrived who were on a cycling tour.

After we had droppedour stuff off and made the beds, we walked back to the town centre tohave an evening meal in the Cross Keys pub.

Karen outside the Bunkhouse in Milngavie

A Walk along Curbar and Froggatt Edges

2011-09-11T18:56:00.000+01:00

After yesterday's longwalk we opted for a short one today especially as we''re going to doplenty of walking in a few days.

We drove to the carpark at Curbar Gap and then followed the footpath along the top ifthis gritstone edge popular with climbers. I often used to climb heresome years ago.

The weather wasnoticeably cooler today but there was still a lot of wind blowing,luckily away from the edge as, we followed the top of the crag inorder to see the excellent views across to Curbar and Frogattvillages and Stoney Middleton and even further away in the distance.

We noticed quite a lotof bumble bees who were sheltering from the strong wind in tufts ofgrass along the top of the edge.

Part way along we sawa rain shower coming in and we sat in the shelter of a small boulderhoping it wouldn't last too long.

It didn't stop veryquickly and I swapped my windproof smock for a waterproof jacket andbegan to put my waterproof overtrousers on. Of course as soon as weset off again, the rain stopped and the sun was out again!

We continued along thepath until we reached a wooded section with a gate, where we turnedaround and then retraced our route back to the start.

Afterwards we had asnack at the café in Outside at Hathersage.

Kinder Round

2011-09-10T20:24:00.000+01:00

Karen joined me on a walk around the perimeter ofthe Kinder Scout plateau.

We planned on breakfast at the café at Outside inHathersage and arrived in the car park at 09:25 and found thatOutside doesn't open until 09:30. No problem we thought, we'll waitfor 5 minutes.

The doors were open at 09:30 and after queuing atthe security gate at the foot of the stairs leading up to the café,we found out that the café wouldn't be serving hot food for a whiledue to some staff not arriving! Rats!

So, we decided to try Grindleford Cafe and had ahumungous breakfast including a pint of tea for £5.70.

All this delay meant a latish start,unfortunately, considering we had a longish walk planned.

We parked in the main Edale car park atGrindsbrook Booth with the weather dry and quite warm but luckily drydespite a forecast of an early showery start with clagged-in tops. Itwas fairly windy though. As we set off at around 10:50.

We set of from the village following the pathrising towards Ringing Roger and then skirted along the western sideof the rocky ridge until we arrived on the path following the edge ofthe plateau.

Heading in an easterly direction we followed thepath with views across to Mam Tor and the rest of the Great Ridgealong with Lose Hill and Win Hill. We noticed several largish hairycatterpillars crawling across the path as we went. When we arrived atCrookstone Knoll and stopped there just below the edge in the shelterof rocks to have a drink and look at the views across to DerwentEdge, Alport Castles and the Snake Pass far below.

From here the path continued eastwards alongBlackden Edge and then Seal Edge passing the Seal Stones until wearrived at the top of Fair Brook where it flows off the plateau. Nearthis area we saw and heard a group involved with The Great KinderBeer Barrel Challenge – a fell-running event involving carrying a72 pint beer barrel full of water across parts of Kinder Scoutstarting at the Snake Inn on one side and finishing at the Old NagsHead Inn in Grindsbrook Booth.

We turned north to stop at Fairbrook Naze to havelunch.

Next we followed the path along The Edge towardsthe route of the Pennine Way which drops off the plateau to cross theSnake Path on its way towards the Longdendale Valley.

Our route now turned to the south-east soonarriving at Kinder Downfall where we got a bit wet from the waterfalling to the ground after it had been blown back up in the air bythe wind after it fell over the edge at the Downfall.

Now we headed southwards and sheltered in arock-surrounded hollow for another rest and a drink.

Continuing along the edge path, we passed the topof Red Brook, the trig point on Kinder Low and then followed thedescending path towards the large collection of rocks at Edale Rocks.From here the route dropped down a section of slabbed path headingtowards the top of Jacobs Ladder but we turned north-east towards theprominent rocky tor of Noe Stool then onwards through the largeweathered gritstone boulders known as The Woolpacks.

The next landmark was the top of Crowden Cloughand the path skirted around the top before continuing towards thenext valley of Grindsbrook Clough.

We followed another slabbed section of path untilnearly at the top of Grindsbrook Clough, we followed a path skirtingthe south side of the Clough to lead towards Grindslow Knoll.

The last section of the route was tiring on ourknees as we dropped down to the village of Grindsbrook Booth as itwas beginning to get dark and then walked back down the road to thecar park where there was a barbecue and live musinc in the VillageHall in celebration of the Beer Barrel race.

It had been a fairly long walk of about 15 mileswith luckily good weather.

Bull Pot, Kingsdale

2011-08-29T20:47:00.000+01:00

Again the day startedwith breakfast at Bernies. Today was forecasted as possible showersof light drizzle and as we wanted a relatively short trip, it wassuggested to visit Bull Pot in Kingsdale.

We said “goodbye”to Mark who had to head for home leaving Mike, Keith, Karen andmyself to first have breakfast (at Bernies, surprise, surprise) thenhead for Kingsdale.

As we were changing ina layby in Kingsdale a van with a couple of cavers stopped and askedif we were planning on Bull Pot – it turned out that they were aswell.

Anyway, the other pairhad changed first and were heading up the valley side towards thecave as we followed a little while later. Again, Keith was on riggingduty as we followed behind the other pair down Bull Pot.

The usual entrancepitch using the in-situ P bolts was already rigged by the first pairand I suggested to Keith to try using the alternative two Petzlstainless steel resin bolts in the large boulder above the open potas these seemed to give a clear hang to the bottom without the needfor a deviation like the P bolt route. There was a convenient extra Pbolt to act a s back up and this alternative rig seemed better thanthe other.

The other pair hadbegun the approach to the second pitch using the traverse approachwhich presumably is there for wetter conditions and Keith followedtheir example. Again, in case I damaged my shoulder I decided to walkalong the floor a short way down and then as I was able to climb upjust before the pitch and clip my long cowstail into the rope, I wasable to safely approach the Y-hang without using the traverse.

I dropped down lastonce Mike had shouted “Rope free” and then followed down the Slotalternative third pitch to the chamber below.

The approach to thefourth pitch is via a traverse which is a bit constricted and awkward(well it is for someone of my size!) so I decided to just pack it inthere and wait while the others continued as there was just one morenearby pitch to the final sump and end of the cave.

The other pair werenow on their way out an Karen told them I was waiting at the top ofthe fourth pitch so they could continue on their way out. Soon thefirst caver was up and groaning as he made his way off the top of thepitch and along the traverse saying “I hate this bit, it's alwayshard!”. Then once they had de-rigged the pitch and continued to thenearby chamber below the third pitch I heard “I hate this bit!”

It makes you wonderwhy he bothered!

Anyway, I waited for awhile and soon heard the others returning. Mike was up first with atackle bag holding the rope for the final pitch (plus originally therope for the entrance pitch) so I took this off him and startedmaking by way back up the pitches.

I was soon on thesurface at around 13:00 and within half an hour, joined by the otherthree.

In order to beat theBank Holiday Monday traffic, we all went straight home afterwards –although Karen and I stopped off at Greenclose on the way to collectour gear and then return the key to the New Inn and collect the £10deposit.

Marble Steps Pot

2011-08-28T20:45:00.000+01:00

There had been quite alot of heavy rain during the night so we decided to leave Diccan Potfor another day and changed plans to Marble Steps Pot. Again theforecast was for occasional light showers.

We met Mark Silo inthe morning at breakfast at Bernies in Ingleton. Afterwards we droveto Masongill Lane where there was a very large amount of run-offgravel and small rocks on the road as you reach the water treatmentbuilding with a very obvious increase in erosion on the lane as itheaded away uphill towards Turbary Road.

We met another groupof cavers getting changed and although they were also planning on atrip in Marble Steps Pot, they were only intending to drop down theSidewinder route and then return, while we were planning on thealternative Gully Route and further.

I clambered down thesurface gully and waited for Keith and the others as Keith was doingthe rigging. I was last in our group to start down the ropes and Ihad trouble getting past the rebelay just inside the cave! Typical –it's a little awkward as you have to swing a bit to reach it and thenare quite off balance when getting past. I hadn't dropped down farenough initially and couldn't reach the rebelay so dropped sown alittle more. I didn't want to injure my shoulder which is still a bitweak after an old injury so I gave up and left the others tocontinue.

They had what soundedlike a great trip and reached the bottom of the cave.

Afterwards we returnedto Bernies for a meal for some of us while the rest had food in theNew Inn, Clapham.

Alum Pot

2011-08-27T20:43:00.000+01:00

Karen and I drove upto the Yorkshire Dales last night and met Keith in the New Inn inClapham on one of his rare visits on a caving trip starting on aFriday night. Pete Collins was expecting to accompany Keith but sadlyhis mother wasn't well.

We stayed inGreenclose, the Northern Pennine Club's hut near Clapham where exceptfor Dave (of 'potholer.com' and Bisun Lights) who is an NPCmember, we had the place to ourselves.

We had an excellenttrip to the bottom of Alum Pot via Lower Long Churn Cave and had thesystem to ourselves until we met an instructed group making their wayinto Lower Long Churn at Plank Pool.

There had been a bitof rain the day before and last night but the forecast was foroccasional light showers so we had changed plans form Diccan Pot toAlum Pot and decided we could have a look at how much water wasflowing down Diccan and perhaps return tomorrow and drop down thatpot.

We had a good lookfirst at the top of Diccan and later looking up from the sump at thebottom of both Alum and Diccan Pots. The water levels were fairly lowso there should be no problems the next day.

There had been reportsof car crime occurring at Selside Lane where you park for Alum Potand it was nice to see a Police van checking things out both while wewere getting changed to go caving and also afterwards.

Another visit toBernies for a meal and afterwards back to the New Inn. Later on wemet Mike Child who had come to go caving for a couple of days but hasto work Saturdays.

Eyam from Sir William Hill

2011-08-21T18:54:00.000+01:00

Karen had volunteeredto help at the DCRO “bag pack” at Morrisons supermarket in Buxtonand I went for another walk!

This time I parked onthe beginning of the rough track of Sir William Hill Road and crossedEyam Moor, with it's blooming heather, by following the path alongthe drystone wall heading North-west until I arrived at the pathalong the edge overlooking Bretton Clough.

This leads downwardsto the path junction at Stoke Ford and along the South side ofBretton Brook.

At a “T” junctionwith the path from Abney, I took the left turn and after carefullypassing a section overgrown with nettles, I arrived at a minor roadleading past Bretton Youth Hostel to the junction of another road atthe pub called The Barrel Inn which is the highest pub in Derbyshire.Positioned as it is at the top of Eyam Edge, it certainly can boastwide-ranging views.

After turning left atthe pub, I left the road very soon afterwards at a stile leadingdownwards and then at an angle to the slope of Eyam Edge soonarriving at the processing works marked as “Black Hole Mine” onthe map.

I followed thesignposted route through the works and onto the road leading intoEyam Village renowned for the inhabitant's sacrifices during the Plague in 1665. Here there was unfortunately a kilometre or so of roadto walk, luckily with a footpath on one side for the majority of itslength.

Passing the church andPrimary School, I stopped at the tea shop in The Square for a snackand mug of tea, then returned to the church following a PublicFootpath passing through the churchyard. This led to some fieldspassing one field with alpacas to arrive at a minor road quite a bithigher than the village.

On the other side ofthe road, the Public Footpath continued again uphill, passing EyamYouth Hostel to cross yet another minor road. This led to a largefield with a lesser slope passing the chimney of the old LadywashMine in the next field soon arriving back at Sir William Hill Road.

I turned right andfollowed the rough track downhill back to where I had parked earlier.

I had seen clouds of these on Kinder Scout and more today. I looked it up in a book on insects. It's a Heather Fly!

A neatly split tree - struck by lightning?

One of the Plague Cottages in Eyam

Eyam Church

8th Century Celtic Cross

Sundial dated 1775

Alpaca

Chimney belonging to old Ladywash Mine

Kinder Scout

2011-08-20T18:44:00.000+01:00

A different route fora change. Karen was entertaining her friend Lorraine who was visitingfrom Rugby and I decided on a walk. Leaving the car at the BarberBooth car park, I walked up the road to Barber Booth, then followedthe Pennine Way route to Grindsbrook Booth. After a short visit tothe village shop, I continued on the Public Footpath opposite thechurch across to Ollerbrook Farm.

From the farm, an oldsunken track led up the sloping fields behind the farm buildingsfollowing Oller Brook and into Oller Brook Clough.

The sunken trackdwindled away leaving a narrow footpath leading onwards and where afield wall headed steeply up to the right, I followed this wall whichwas very steep but thankfully not very long until the ground levelledout next to a small ruined building incorrectly marked as “sheepfold” on the map.

From here I contouredup the slope for a short while then found a sloping path whichcontinued up to the path along this edge of the Kinder plateau aboveRowland Cote Moor and Edale Youth Hostel.

I followed the pathalong the edge, with views across to the Great Ridge along the EdaleValley and gradually other views opened up with Derwent Edge in thedistance, Ladybower Reservoir, the Alport Valley (where we were lastweek) and the road below threading its way along the Snake Pass as Ireached the prominent point of Crookstone Knoll.

There were clouds of flying insects which seemed harmless and were more intent on matingas I paused to take some photos. These turned out to be HeatherFlies. These are quite distinctive as they fly around slowly withquite long rear legs which dangle beneath them as they fly.

I continued along theedge above Ashop Moor until near the Trig. Point at 590 metresaltitude, I left the path to head South for a few hundred metres tosoon reach the fence surrounding the area above Ringing Roger.

I crossed the fenceusing a stile and at the fence on the opposite side again crossed thefence using a second stile and then made my way down the crest ofRinging Roger and then followed the remaining path to GrindsbrookBooth.

All that remained wasto retrace my route back to the car park at Barber Booth.

Longshaw Estate

2011-08-14T19:43:00.000+01:00

Today's walk startedfrom the road leading to the café at Grindleford train stationclimbing steeply up towards the National Trust's Longshaw Estate thenalong the edge above Yarncliff Wood looking across to Lose Hill andBack Tor in the distance.

As we walked throughthe Estate grounds, we saw a Green Woodpecker flying past and afterfollowing the path past the large pond we arrived at the NationalTrust café next to the impressive Longshaw Lodge, were we stopped tohad sausage rolls and a pot of tea.

Afterwards, wefollowed the drive leading to Fox House Inn and the road toGrindleford, then crossed the road and followed the path leadingthrough woods to soon arrive at Burbage Bridge and the SheffieldRoad.

After crossing thisroad, we followed a path through the bracken leading towards thelarge rocky promontories of Carlwark and Higgar Tor before turningoff in the direction of Over Owler Tor.

We followed the pathdown past the gritstone tor called Mother Cap again reaching theSheffield Road, which we crossed and followed and old sunken pathleading to the top of Padley Gorge where we had the choice of two icecream vans to get and ice cream from!

We had an ice creamwhile sitting on some boulders where families and children werepicknicking next to Burbage Brook.

We followed the pathleading down Padley Gorge to arrive back at Grindleford Station,where we had started from.

Guide Stoop near Estate entrance

Heather in Bloom

Higgar Tor

Alport Castles from Birchen Clough

2011-08-13T18:19:00.000+01:00

We arrived at the layby at Birchen Clough on theSnake Pass Road to find surprisingly only one car already there. Thisturned out to be Pete Mellors from the DCA who was planning to walkin Kinder Scout.

After a brief chat we left Pete and his partnerand we headed down the road for about 200 metres then followed afootpath which was marked as heading for Lady Clough and OysterClough.

This brought us through some woods made up largelyof coniferous trees and after reaching a wooden fence and stile,following the course of an old Roman Road. This brought us to CowmsMoor and we walked through several fields to arrive at Hayridge Farmwhere we joined a farm track heading North.

As we walked along the track, we saw a small birdof prey flying around and landing on the top of a telegraph pole.

Further along the track, we could see the area ofa large landslip called Alport Castles on the other side of the RiverAlport valley, said to be the largest landslip in the UK. We soonarrived at another farm: Alport Castles Farm, and here we followed afootpath leading steeply up to the edge of the moor called BirchenleePasture.

Where a footbridge crossed the river, we stoppedto have a snack but were soon being pestered by midges, so we movedfurther along the path to higher ground away from the water and thenhad our snack.

We moved off after the snack and were soonfollowing the path along the edge overlooking Alport Castles. Wefollowed this path along the edge looking down into the valley belowwith the meandering river until we found a convenient spot to dropdown the valley side where it wasn't so steep and after finding aplace to cross using boulders, we climbed up the opposite side nearOver Wood Moss.

Checking the map and setting a course using thecompass, we crossed the moorland with the occasional peat grough, aswe headed back towards Birchin Clough using the obvious features ofFairbrook Naze and Blackden Brook on the side of Kinder Scout in thedistance to keep us on the correct heading until we met theintermittent path leading to Birchin Clough, marked on the map.

We followed this path until we arrived at the verysteep section leading back down to the layby where we had started.

Remains of an ancient wood from the period before the peat was laid down

P8

2011-08-07T16:15:00.000+01:00

Karen Keith and I took prospective new OrpheusCaving Club members Alan and his 20 year old son Martin on atrip in P8.

Unfortunately, there were already several carsparked in the layby so we parked on the other side of the main roadby the cattle grid outside the farm.

We laddered both the first pitch and “true”second pitch while the other party had laddered the alternativesecond pitch.

We all had an enjoyable trip and both Alan andMartin also enjoyed their first trip underground.

Water Icicle Close Cavern

2011-08-06T16:13:00.000+01:00

Another visit to the new extensions in WaterIcicle Close Cavern. This was a trip organised for Orpheus CavingClub members but only Mat and Nikki, Doug andElaine took up the offer, with the trip being led by Karen.

I joined Keith as he visited the newly-scaffoldedsection at Cherty-Two choke to grind off some scaffold clamp boltends which were located where cavers could catch them with theirknees or heads.

A Walk Around Old Mining Sites in Winster

2011-08-02T16:10:00.000+01:00

Karen and I joined about a dozen others on a walkaround areas of mining history interest in Winster area organised byPDMHS and led by Tony Wood. We visited mainly the Winster Pitts area.

Harter Fell

2011-07-29T18:05:00.000+01:00

As the small car park by Jubilee Bridge was full,we parked in one of the lay-bys on the narrow road leading toHardknott Pass.

We walked the short distance up the road towardsthe Pass, then at the car park, we crossed Hardknott Gill on a smallstone footbridge and then followed the bridleway as it gradually rosealong the flanks of Birker Fell.

The heights were in cloud as we continued nowclimbing a bit more steeply on a fairly well-defined footpath. Wesoon reached the summit and found a spot sheltered from the breeze tohave our lunch but because of the conditions, the midges were out andwe were soon starting to be THEIR lunch!

We moved around to North-West side and luckily thecloud was now patchy so we could see quite expansive views down toHardknott Pass below and the old Roman fort at its foot. We couldalso see across to Eskdale Fell and Stony Tarn.

But, soon, the midges were back, so we returnedback down following the same route as before. Luckily, the cloud hadnow largely gone with brilliant views up Esdale towards the ScafellMassif, Crinkle Crags and Bow Fell.

Stanley Force

2011-07-28T18:41:00.003+01:00

While we were sorting out breakfast, it began to rain so we sat in the tent porch reading for a couple of hours until it had stopped. We decided on a short walk locally to see a very beautiful waterfall.
We drove the short distance to the small car park by Dalegarth Bridge and walked along a path through woods following a stream and after crossing a footbridge to the opposite bank, we were in the ravine where the very picturesque waterfall called Stanley Force could be found.
There was a Pied Wagtail flying back and forth with a beak-full of insects obviously feeding young birds in a nest.
We retraced our route until nearly back at the River Esk and then followed a bridleway along the South bank of the river, on the way passing Low Birker Farm until we arrived at Doctor Bridge.
We crossed the bridge to the other side of the river, until we arrived at a small church. Passing the churchyard, we soon arrived at a minor road which led us back to Dalegarth Bridge, a popular site for jumping off the parapet into a deep pool below.

Crinkle Crags

2011-07-27T18:21:00.007+01:00

A very enjoyable walk traversing Crinkle Crags, starting at Cockley Beck Bridge. We started by following the bridleway on the west side of Moasdale Beck for a few hundred metres before cutting across to the foot of Ulpha Fell.
The way now steepened on hummocky grass as we rose up Ulpha Fell and then Little Stand where we had a short break.
There had been low cloud but luckily this now began to lift revealing the Crinkle Crag summits and Bow Fell a short distance beyond.
We joined the track leading up from the Langdales side via the route to Red Tarn and were soon enjoying views down both into Oxendale on one side and across tot he Scafell Massif.
We continued along the broad ridge wending its way visiting the various summits, pausing to wait for a few minutes at the “Bad Step” where we waited while a couple of men and a sheep dog tried to work out how to get down the short scramble with the dog.
In the end one man managed to clamber down while the second took the dog around the alternative route down.
Karen was soon up the easy, short climb an I followed.
We continued onwards passing Shelter Crags until we arrived at Three Tarns just before Bow Fell where we started to drop down valley to the West where we followed a path paralleling Lingcove Beck.
We then turned off into Moasdale and then followed this broad valley until we were back at our starting point.

Looking towards Hardknott Pass

Above the "Bad Step"

Bowfell

Ambleside

2011-07-26T19:51:00.000+01:00

Today we had an easy day and spent most of the day in Ambleside mainly visiting gear shops, as you would expect! We bumped into Elaine Hillyard and her other half Mike in The Climbers Shop. They were in the area in connection with a Duke of Edinburgh group.

Scafell Pike

2011-07-25T17:40:00.003+01:00

An even warmer day than yesterday and we drove around to the next valley at Wasdale to park at the National Trust car park next to Brackenclose.
Our intended route was to follow the obviously very popular route along Lingmell Gill and Brown Tongue up to the highest summit in England, Scafell Pike.
The lower section of the route was very scenic as it followed the small ravine of Lingnell Gill which then broke out into a more open area. We saw several characters making their way up the path including one man with a small speaker playing music from the 80's hanging from his rucksack and “Super Dad”, who kept steaming off into the distance leaving behind his family until he was forced to stop and wait for them to eventually catch up.
We had a brief pause at some boulders to cool down and then a longer snack break at the col between Lingmell Crag and Scafell Pike and admired the view across to Great Gable, where we managed to spot the well known feature of Napes Needle.
We continued up the continuing path until we arrived on the bouldery summit of Scafell Pike to join the throng of walkers who had already arrived. It was a lovely clear day and of course there were amazing views in every direction.
After a brief pause we continued back down the way we came passing “Super Dad's” family who were this time waiting for him as he had decided to descend via the Mickledore route.
We retraced our earlier route until we arrived back at the car park.

Whin Rigg and Ill Gill Head

2011-07-24T19:00:00.004+01:00

We drove around to park at a small car park by the bridge in Mitredale where the narrow road ends. From here we crossed the bridge over the River Mite and followed a track into the woods of Mitredale Forest and then left the track to follow a footpath leading gradually upwards until we broke out of the woods and onto Irton Fell. It was a lovely warm and sunny day and we had excellent views across Wasdale, Mitrdale and across to the coast.
The path led over hummocky grass to reach a high point at Whin Rigg with amazing views down into Wasdale and Wastwater and the peaks such as Yewbarrow, Kirk Fell, Great Gable and the Scafell massif.
We continued onwards towards the next high point at Illgill Head and then steeply down to the valley of Eskdale Moor near Burnmoor Tarn. This brought us past a smaller wood and then back to where we had started.

"Head right for Eskdale", if you say it in the local accent...

A Week in The Lake District

2011-07-23T18:55:00.001+01:00

Karen and I were having a holiday for a week in the Lake District. We left Winster in the morning and drove to Eskdale to camp at the Fisherground Camp Site near Eskdale Green and the Outward Bound centre where Karen used to work.

This is a very large camp site with quite a bit of “do's” and “don'ts” and a large number of families with kids taking advantage of the good weather at the start of the school holidays. One advantage of this was that the night was usually very quiet.
We got the tent (Vango Equinox 350) pitched up at the spot we had been allocated among various large “Nylon Palaces” and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.

DCRO Call-out To Assist in Animal Rescue

2011-07-21T21:00:00.000+01:00

We were just about to have dinner when the phone rang. There was a young bull stuck in a mine at a farm in Kniveton.
Karen and I set off to find some Firefighters from Matlock were parked in a field with an old quarry with a large off-road Fire vehicle. Ralph and Pete were already there.
I went over to the mine entrance to find Ralph just inside with one of the Firefighters, who was wearing a full-body harness with a rope attached which was being belayed by other Firefighters using their vehicle as an anchor.
I had a quick chat with Ralph. A young bull was lying on its side some 15 or 20 metres further in and was not getting up even though it seemed to be uninjured. The route in was down a gently-sloping passage with a bit of a step.
I returned to the car and got changed into caving gear and then went in to have a look myself. The bull was indeed lying on its side and was breathing heavily and steaming, so had been active recently. It seemed to either have an injury on the side it was laying on or just simply exhausted. The way on was a dead end and another passage continued on the right next to the bull.
Near the bull was a small framework of rotten old wooden stemples with a small gap between it and the ceiling. The ceiling just there was made of jammed rocks and boulders and seemed safe enough and the stemples weren't supporting anything - which was good news.
I returned to the surface and the Firefighter in charge asked for no one else to go underground until a vet had attended the animal and sedate it.
Other DCRO personnel arrived at various points, including the DCRO vehicle, and we waited as the Firefighters accompanied the farmer to see his animal. He, too, was equipped with a harness and a belay and I leant him my caving helmet and light. But before this happened, some DCRO members had a look at the roof and agreed that it was safe.
The vet soon arrived and he was also taken to see the animal, again with a harness and borrowed helmet and light. He sedated the animal and the Firefighters attached a strop to the bull and used a winch on the front of their vehicle to drag the animal towards the entrance. They had laid a tarpaulin on the adit floor to assist in protecting the bull from injury. The winch seemed to be overloaded and they switched to just reversing their vehicle to continue dragging the bull towards the entrance.
Pretty soon the bull was back on the surface and was assisted from laying on its side to a more upright position by the vet and some farmers. The vet thought it had no major injuries but was exhausted.
A tractor arrived and the bull was placed in the large scoop on the front and driven away to be placed in a farm shed to be allowed to recuperate.
We set off for home at around 20:30 stopping off at the Miners Arms in Brassington for a quick pint.

A Walk around some Old Lead Mines near Elton

2011-07-18T20:08:00.000+01:00

Karen and I joined a group of around 15 on a very interesting walk led by Tony Wood around the fields surrounding the nearby village of Elton.
Tony pointed out many features including many sadly now lost such as spoil heaps from led mining activities which had been removed by either farming activity or by later working for Flourspar.

Lose Hill from Hope

2011-07-17T18:37:00.013+01:00

It was already raining as we were leaving Winster and continued to do this on and off all day until it eventually simply rained without stopping!
Starting off from Hope, next to the church, then set off down Edale Road and turned left and then onto a footpath by the school leading across several fields and then across a footbridge over the railway and into further fields.
Eventually we reached a field which rose for a while to reach a stile by Lose Hill Farm. We sat on a grassy bank by the stile and had a snack then continued onwards rising up Lose Hill to arrive at the topograph on the summit. A man from another group of walkers coming in the opposite direction showed us the memorial plaque affixed to some rocks just a few metres lower on the Northern side.
Up to now there had been several short showers but now on the Great Ridge, there was also quite a lot of wind. I had been wearing my Tilley T3 Hat to keep the rain off, which it had been doing admirably, but it was now so windy, I took it off and wore my Rab Bergen Jacket's hood for a while.
Continuing along the Great Ridge as far as Back Tor, we quit the ridge via a descending path to reach Hollowford Road which we followed into Castleton.
We paused for a few minutes at a bench next to the bus stop to have a drink while Karen made use of the Public Convenience and then continued along the road towards Hope where we left the road to follow a path along the Peakshole Water stream to join the minor road from Pindale into Hope.
On the way home we first stopped off at Monyash for a meal at the café then stopped off at the Orpheus hut to wash and leave a rope Karen had used last week for her trip to Water Icicle Cavern.

Plaque at summit of Lose Hill

A Walk Around Eyam Moor

2011-07-16T18:26:00.003+01:00

Leaving the car in the layby by the Plough pub near Hathersage, Karen and I followed the narrow road uphill past Hazleford Hall then at a bend further along, left the road for a rough track passing Tor Farm.
Soon we were dropping down the track then onto a path through woods and along the valley side above Highlow Brook before reaching the brook at Stoke Ford.
We stopped here for a few minutes for a snack then continued up the gradually-rising path through bracken following above Bretton Clough to reach the wall surrounding Eyam Moor.
There had been the odd light shower as we were walking along and as it was quite a warm day, it was a bit of a pain to have to keep stopping and putting waterproof jackets on and off. As we crossed the wall onto Eyam Moor there was a further shower which was more prolonged so we sheltered in a very small abandoned quarry until the shower was over.
We continued along the track on the moor following a field boundary until we arrived at Sir William Hill Road where we crossed a stile onto Sir William Road then back across the wall by a second stile a few metres away back onto Eyam Moor on the other side of the field boundary we had been following.
We followed a path which dropped downwards along the Moor until we eventually arrived at the road at Leam which was the same minor road we had followed at the start of the walk.
Following this section of the road, we crossed a stile into a field which cut across a bend in the road to pop back onto the road via a stile next to Hazleford Hall.
We then retraced our earlier route back to the Plough and afterwards had a snack at the café in Outside at Hathersage.

DCRO Shout at Peak Cavern

2011-07-10T19:11:00.007+01:00

Later in the evening the phone rang around 19:50 and I answered it. It was Ralph saying someone was lost in Peak Cavern and we should stand-by in case of a call-out. About 15 minutes later he rang back to say that the call-out was going ahead and to make our way to Peak Cavern.
We collected our gear together, including warm surface gear as usual in case we were asked to do a job on the surface. On arrival at the car park for Peak Cavern we found Keith in control and I asked if I might remain on the surface as I was feeling under the weather probably after the earlier walking on a warm day and probably not drinking enough water.
It turned out that a caver had been left behind by two parties who each believed he was with the other one as a group split into two while some slower-moving cavers curtailed their trip to exit via Peak Cavern. The missing caver had decided to follow this group but failed to catch then up while in the region of Block Hall.
Karen was asked to take charge of a Heyphone at the Bottomless Pit in Speedwell Cavern while I was to take on up to the top of Longcliffe above the road from Peak Cavern to Winnats Pass, marked “Cow Low” on the map.
It was quite a steep climb up to this position some 85 metres higher than the Peak Cavern car park. I soon had the Heyphone set up at around 22:00 and once the underground party had reached Block Hall and set theirs up, we tried to talk to each other but this proved to be unsuccessful. I could only just hear Mick's weak voice above the usual background crackling noise and he obviously couldn't hear me.
I radioed back to Control to say I would relocate and try again. Moving some distance away and with the aerial points set quite a long way apart, still no success. I tried moving the aerial points through 90 degrees but still nothing.
It was soon dark and I tried periodically to see if there was any communication with Block Hall. I was told that a party was making its way with a spare Heyphone but couldn't see them. I could see a light in the general direction of Rowter Farm, which is where they were coming from, but this turned out to be John and Howard at the entrance to Titan at nearby Hurdlow.
Eventually Jen and Dave arrived with the spare Heyphone and then left to return to Rowter Farm. I set up this second Heyphone but this didn't connect with Block Hall either so the problem wasn't with the Heyphones – probably a degree of mineral in the intervening rock. Of course we had tested out the Heyphones back at the DCRO van before setting out anyway, and they had been fine.
I heard on the radio others passing messages that the missing caver had been found in the White River Series and was being accompanied out.
By now, well past midnight, most of those underground were back on the surface and as my Heyphone wasn't doing anything useful, I was told to pack up and return to Base.
All were back and after checking in gear and getting changed we set off for home at 01:25 to finally get to bed at nearly 02:30. It was a pity I had to be up at 06:25 for work though!

Kinder Scout

2011-07-10T19:10:00.001+01:00

After parking at the car park near Barber Booth, I followed the route of the Pennine Way towards Grindsbrook Booth village (usually known as Edale village) but veered off by the top of Coopers Farm camp site to follow up Grindslow Knoll which was a warm job when the sun was out.
From the summit of Grindslow Knoll I continued to the top of Grindsbrook Clough and following on of the peaty groughs, I walked Westwards to reach the top of Crowden Clough. Then by a combination of either following the sandy bottom of the grough or a bit of a path along the side until the large grough petered out leading me to a large peaty area typical of Kinder. Luckily the peat is still very dry despite recent rain so I continued heading due West with the occasional smaller groughs to cross, plus the odd mountain hare sprinting away as I approached, until I reached the edge path not far South of Red Brook.
So far it had been warm, or fairly hot during the sunny periods in between the clouds and despite a few darker clouds, it remained dry. I stopped near some large gritstone rocks overlooking the very low Kinder Reservoir and ate my lunch.
Next I followed the edge path Southwards, then veered off near the trig point of Kinder Low and again crossed the large peaty expanse of Kinder until I arrived once again at the main feeder for Crowden Brook.
Following the beginnings of Crowden Brook I soon arrived at the rocky Crowden Tower where Crowden Brook spills off the plateau and began following down the very steep path leading down one side of Crowden Clough to reach the path leading along the brook.
I followed this back to the farm at Upper Booth and then along the road to where I had started. As I drove past the top of Winnats Pass towards Sparrowpit there was quite a heavy shower so I had managed to stay dry.
After stopping off at Outside at Calver, I continued to Winster.

Shutlingsloe

2011-07-09T19:09:00.003+01:00

A better day weather-wise with mostly sunny periods but mostly very windy.
Leaving the car by the Visitors Centre, in Macclesfield Forest near Trentabank Reservoir, Karen and I followed a track parallel to the road which led through woods and gradually upwards until it reached an open area with the large summit of Shutlingsloe ahead.
The last section was steep, but thankfully very short, following steps of gritstone which brought us the the long and narrow summit near the trig point. From here you had a 360 degree view of the surrounding land and across the Cheshire plain with the town of Macclesfield below and hills in the distance, with the huge radio telescope at Jodrell Bank very easy to spot.
We dropped down on one side to have lunch in a sheltered spot out of the breeze then continued along the summit ridge to drop down a path leading past a farmhouse to a lane at Wildboarclough.
We continued along the lane then at a footpath sign next to the Crag Inn pub and crossed several fields with views of the surrounding countryside, following a wall enclosing the Open Access area of Piggford Moor.
We soon arrived at a stile, which was well-signposted by the farmer who obviously had got fed up of walkers wandering around looking for the way on! The stile brought us to a narrow, minor road which we followed for a few hundred metres to Greenway Bridge. Here there was a path leading from by the bridge along the Oaken Clough stream, which we followed after a short break by the bridge.
Passing Oakenclough Farm, we dropped down an ancient sunken track to pop out on a another minor road by the Hanging Gate pub. The path continued right by the pub door and by the smoking shelter then back into fields for a short while before again joining a minor road for a while.
We left the minor road and followed a section of the Gritstone Trail as far as Ridgegate reservoir where we left the Gritstone Trail to follow a path through woods and then all that was left to do was to follow a stony track back to the car park and Information Centre in the Macclesfield Forest.
After dropping our rucksacks back in the car and changing from boots we had some lovely cake from the food trailer parked behind the Information Centre called “Nice Nosh”. This isn't your usual “Burger Van” type of food but excellent locally produced food at very reasonable prices.

DCRO Exercise Matlock Bath

2011-07-03T19:08:00.004+01:00

Karen stayed at home with Steve and Becca as I headed for Matlock Bath for a DCRO Exercise. The story was that a girl had gone caving from her B&B to “Derbyshire Mine” with some rope to try out some gear and had not returned.
I was allocated to man a Heyphone in the Main Chamber in Devonshire Cavern with Andy B. while Mark L. had a team who soon found the casualty (Lisa W.) who was on one of the P bolted pitches with arm, leg and back injuries but still on the rope.
Once the casualty had been carried out in a stretcher we found out there had been “another incident” and we were to return to the vehicle near the New Bath Hotel. It turned out that there had been a “diving incident” in Didos Cave but only a sketchy plan was put together by the controlling team and there was also a requirement to assist at Cumberland Mine/Wapping Mine where ther was another “incident” requiring a stretcher carry.
As a small group of us arrived at the entrance to Wapping Mine, due to the time (around 14:00) it was decided to bring the exercise to a completion and we returned again to the vehicle for a de-brief.

Winster Carnival

2011-07-02T20:02:00.006+01:00

It was the day of Winster Carnival at the end of Wakes week and we had Steve and Becca staying for the weekend.
Luckily the weather was excellent and after Steve and Becca arrived and we'd had lunch, we had a wander around Main Street, which was closed from 13:30 to 17:30 for the Carnival. There were various stalls, a brass band (Ashbourne Town Band) and, of course, Morris Men dancing.
Then after having a walk around the village via the church, Oddo and the Portway track, where we bumped into Brian Woodall and his wife in his camper having sandwiches. We dropped back down past Wyns Tor and then after walking down East Bank as we approached the Old Bowling Green we watched the Morris Men for a while and had a pint in the pub.

Chrome Hill

2011-06-26T19:05:00.010+01:00

A very warm and sunny day for a change with temperatures up to 25 degrees Celsius. Karen decided to potter about in the garden after a lay-in so I drove to the small village of Early Sterndale with its interesting pub “The Quiet Woman Inn”.
Leaving the car in a shady spot outside the village church opposite the pub, I set off on a path from the pub itself which went through a very short walled track, across a drive and onwards into fields.
The route across the path passed to one side of Hitter Hill then dropped down a slope to the minor road leading to Glutton Bridge, opposite the striking Parkhouse Hill.
I followed this minor road North for 200 or 300 metres as far the farm of Glutton range then through the farm gates and a track soon bringing me to Glutton Dale pointed to be a Public Footpath sign.
I followed this small grassy dale to a stile which brought me to a farm track where I turned right and followed the track as far as a very bent metal farm gate which was difficult to open where I then followed a route marked across a large field until it dropped down to a gate leading onto the minor road in Dowel Dale.
Soon I was walking along the crest of Chrome Hill and at the highest point sat for a while looking at the views and munching a flapjack.
I dropped down the opposite side of Chrome Hill and at the road leading to Dowel Dale, followed a Public Footpath which skirts around the side of Parkhouse Hill then across some field to arrive back opposite the stile I had been to earlier on the Glutton Bridge road. I crossed over and went through the stile but instead of following the path I had been on earlier, as this area was Open Access land, I opted to walk up the very steep slope leading to the top of Hitter Hill.
Descending the short slope on the other side of Hitter Hill, I crossed a wall by using a stile into a field behind “The Quiet Woman” then after passing the pub and leaving my rucksack and boots in the car, as it was such a warm day, I had a pint of shandy in the pub.

"The Quiet Woman" Pub, Earl Sterndale

The Pub Sign

Two-Headed Cow!

Dowal Dale

Looking across to Chrome Hill

A Walk in Abney Clough

2011-06-25T19:04:00.004+01:00

After breakfast at the Outside café at Calver Crossroads, Karen and I drove up Sir William Hill in Grindleford and parked at the rough track which continues to the West.
We walked a back towards the road and then crossed the wall via a stile onto part of Eyam Moor and followed the path which followed along a wall in the light rain and drizzle.
Crossing Bretton Brook at Stoke Ford, we then walked up the wooded valley of Abney Clough passing many wood ant nests. We soon reached the hamlet of Abney and after following the minor road leading out the other side, we passed through a gate leading into another wooded area and followed the muddy path down to a second footbridge crossing a small stream leading to several fields passing Cockey Farm,
As we reached the top of Bretton Clough we sat on a wooden bench during a short pause in the light rain and had a coffee. Next, we dropped down to yet another footbridge again crossing Bretton Brook and then climbed the short but steep path as we passed a young group weighed down with heavy-looking rucksacks – a Duke of Edinburgh Award group – and reached the pasture on the other side.
Crossing the fields brought us to a stile over a wall and then past a house onto part of their front drive and onto a minor road for a short distance before leaving the road to follow a rough track.

Looking over Bretton Clough with Rain Drops

The rough track brought us to a bend on another minor road and the rough track leading back to where we had started.

A Walk from Castleton

2011-06-23T17:40:00.001+01:00

I set off for Castleton and parked on the Square near the Youth Hostel and then after getting my boots on set off up Cave Dale.
Part way up it began to drizzle again and gradually increased.
Once I reached the top of the Dale, the rain was heavy enough to make it worthwhile stopping to get my over-trousers on.
I was soon on my way again with quite heavy rain and also wind as I passed a group of youths loaded heavily with large rucksacks, obviously a Duke of Edinburgh Scheme group.
I followed the track back Rowter Farm onto the main road then followed down Winnats Pass on the grassy verge. When I reached Suicide Cave, I took advantage of the well-sheltered entrance to sit and have the sandwiches I had made early this morning.
Gradually the rain stopped and as I headed off again, there were a few short outbreaks of light rain so I put on my Paramo waterproof cap instead of using the hood on my Paramo smock.
I was soon back in Castleton and then after getting my boots off, had a quick look at the outdoor gear shop and headed for home stopping of at Bakewell for a short while.

DCRO Call-out Stoney Middleton

2011-06-23T17:33:00.001+01:00

Last night the phone rang at 01:25. There was a missing person in the Stoney Middleton area and both Mountain and Cave Rescue Teams were being asked to do a search. We were to meet at Horseshoe Quarry at 05:30. I said I would go but Karen couldn't because of staff shortages where she works; she was working 5 day weeks instead of the usual 3.
I put my caving lamp on charge and couldn't get back to sleep for ages with my brain going over what I needed to get ready in the morning.
I was up at 04:10 and started porridge for breakfast, got a flask of coffee ready and some sandwiches. I left for Stoney Middleton at 05:00.
I arrived at 05:25 and found the DCRO vehicle parked on the lane leading to Horseshoe Quarry along with a number of both Edale and Buxton MRT vehicles and other Team Members' cars also parked in the nearby layby. Of course it had also started to rain.
Myself as Leader plus Wayne Sheldon and Roy Rogers were asked to check out Streaks Pot top entrance so we grabbed some ropes, a crash bag, a half rigging bag and a radio and Wayne, who hadn't any caving gear, showed us the way to the cave entrance.
I went in feet-first to the top of the pitch a short way in and tied a rope onto the bolt anchor at the top of the pitch.
I was able to lean over the pitch and see the bottom clearly and could see no sign of anyone. After radioing in with this information I suggested we also check on Monday Mine and Sunday Mine which were in the same area and was told to do this. We then had a quick look at the lower entrance of Streaks Pot but the corrugated iron sheet covering the entrance was in place with a stone on top so it was obvious no one had entered this route. We moved the rock and sheet out of the way and could see nothing of interest.
We walked up the road for a short distance to look for Sunday Mine when I heard John Mottram's voice asking for our call-sign “Caver 1”. I responded and was told that the missing person had been found and we were to return to base. It was approximately 07:00.
Returning to base we discovered that the missing man had been fairly quickly found by a SARDA dog and was close to where he had left his car.
An ambulance arrived and the man was taken in the ambulance vehicle for some time.
Eventually, the ambulance and police left then everyone else. I was one of the last to leave as my car had been blocked in.
I was home again at around 08:45 and I finished off my flask of coffee (I had started drinking it as we were waiting for the incident to wind up). I was tired but felt I couldn't yet sleep so as the weather was fine now, I decide to go for a walk in Castleton.

Jugholes

2011-06-19T20:22:00.001+01:00

After a long lay-in to nearly 10:00, Karen, Keith and myself drove to Monyash for breakfast at the café then drove to the Orpheus CC Cottage. Tony Seddon and his “Starless River” caving gear sales van was there and we chatted with him while we waited for Elaine Hillyard to get her gear together for a trip down Jugholes.
We went in via the Adit Entrance and made our way through the various chambers having a good poke around on our way then exited via the climb up to the Main Entrance making use of the handline I had rigged on our way past earlier.

Kinder Downfall

2011-06-18T18:22:00.001+01:00

Karen was accompanying Pete Mellors and others in Water Icicle Close Cavern while Keith did some solo digging as Pete Collins is still having to work on Saturdays.
I set off at around 09:00 to Upper Booth and parked there then made my way along the minor road which leads Lee House towards Jacobs Ladder and the part of the Pennine Way but turned off just over the bridge past Upper Booth Farm to follow Crowden Clough up to the plateau of Kinder Scout.
After reaching the plateau I followed the main part of Crowden Brook as it wended its way along a deep grough (a channel worn in the peat) in a general direction of NNW until the grough became shallower.
I then made my way along the narrow sandy bottom until it was easier to climb back out again near a line of small cairns and sticks marking the parish boundary. From here it was easy to see the right hand side of the light-coloured gritstone feature known as Kinder Gates several hundred metres away again to the NW.
This is a useful landmark when heading across the Kinder plateau as Kinder Gates are on either side of the Kinder River which heads towards the plateau's Western edge before tumbling over the side at Kinder downfall.
I headed towards Kinder Gates descending and climbing back out of a several groughs which crossed my route and joined the Kinder River at a tributary.
It was a simple job to follow the wide and sandy river bed which had quite a shallow river flowing and I was soon passing between Kinder Gates where another walker was stood up eating a snack with a sheep in close attendance hoping for a portion of the snack as well.
Up to this point I had been quite comfortable in just a thermal short-sleeved shirt despite coolish temperatures. There were large ominous black clouds gathering and some drops began to fall so I stopped for a minute to don my Paramo Light Velez Adventure smock.
Soon I arrived at the Downfall where there was a very small Kinder River cascading over the waterfall's edge before being blown back up by the wind which is more than often the case.
I sat on a convenient flat boulder to have my lunch an was soon being pestered by a cheeky ewe with an attendant lamb, the ewe was obviously eyeing up my lunch like the one I had seen earlier at Kinder Gates.
While I finished my lunch and the ewe trotted off when it realised it was getting nothing from me, I noticed many more ominous black clouds gathering in the distance to the West and deading my way. It was obvious there was going to be some heavy rain soon so I got my waterproof overtrousers on before continuing on my way.
As soon as I set off again, heavy rain began and I passed several others stopped to put on waterproof clothing.
The heavy rain poured down and I paused for some minutes in the shelter of some boulders before realising the rain would not be stopping very soon and continued on my way along the path on the Western edge.
Gradually the rain lightened and then stopped as I approached the Trig. Point at Kinder Low,
I continued following the path, soon arriving at the large gritstone feature of Edale Rocks. It was quite dry below on of the steeply-overhanging roofs formed by the Rocks and I sat on a boulder and finished of my flask of coffee.
Afterwards, I dropped down the path leading to Jacob's Ladder at the top of which I passed to remove my smock as it was quite warm now that the sun was making an appearance and there was no more rain threatening.
Soon I was crossing the small Packhorse Bridge at the foot of the steps formed by the path and then followed the track back to reach the point I had left the minor road earlier at Barber Booth Farm.
Soon I was back where I had left the car at around 14:00 and headed for home.
Karen and Keith were back at our place just before 18:00 and not long afterwards we had a meal at the Miners Standard the joined the others sheltering from showers and the wind at the Orpheus CC Barbecue!

Top of Kinder Downfall

"Ewe Must Be Joking" the sandwich thief!

Fern Dale

2011-06-12T18:36:00.003+01:00

The weather forecast was for some rain today, and it wasn't wrong! First, Karen and I stopped off at the Orpheus CC cottage to wash and put away the ropes and ladders we had used on last week's caving trip to County Clare.
Then, we drove to nearby Monyash and leaving the car by the village green, we walked down the Bakewell Road to the start of Lathkill Dale and after a short distance along the beginning of Lathkill Dale, we turned to the South-West where the smaller Fern Dale headed off and followed that dale as it gradually rose until we reached a walled lane leading back to the village centre.
After following the lane for 400 or 500 metres, we crossed a wall stile into the adjoining fields and then followed the path leading across the fields to soon arrive at Monyash church, with the path continuing through one side of the churchyard via a wall stile and then again through a squeeze stile back onto the Bakewell Road.
Still the rain was falling, and we had a brief stop at the Old Smithy café for lunch.

Hartington and Biggin

2011-06-11T18:27:00.004+01:00

After parking in the centre of the village, Karen and I walked up the hill and entered the lane opposite the impressive Youth Hostel of Hartington Hall.
After a short distance, this walled lane led into a couple of fields and then onto the narrow metalled road of Reynards Lane.
Where Reynards Lane went around a bend, two more unsurfaced lanes led off and we took the one heading straight-ahead which brought us to near the top end of Biggin Dale. Here the Dale also had a junction with the longer section heading South towards Wolfescote Dale, but we followed the shorter section heading Eastwards to join the minor road of Liffs Road.
We turned left along this road fr a 100 metres or so and then left the road onto a footpath across some fields and then onto another minor road leading into the centre of Biggin.
At a “T” junction we turned left and noticed a number of headstones in the churchyard had small Warning notices attached, presumably because they might topple over.
Continuing along the road passing the “Waterloo Inn” pub, we also passed the other beginning of Biggin Dale and then turned onto the nearby rough track called “Highfield Lane” which we then followed leading back just uphill of Hartington Hall.
We stopped at the Hall, which has a café/restaurant, to have some tea and a slice of cake, sitting in the garden as it had remained dry luckily despite some dark clouds not too far in the distance.

Hartington Hall Youth Hostel

Doolin

2011-06-03T19:56:00.013+01:00

Last night myself , Karen and Keith had planned on a caving trip probably to Kilcorney Cave/Cave of the Wild Horses where none of us had been before but we had been told by Nikki Adlam-Styles that you get quite dirty with moon milk in this cave so we decided maybe on Faunarooska instead.
In the morning it was apparent that today was going to be the best day for weather we'd had with a cloudless blue sky and very warm temperature.
So, we decided to make the best of the last day in County Clare and remain above ground.
We walked down to Magnetic Music sometime after breakfast and had the regulation coffee and slice of chocolate cake then afterwards at around midday continued on towards the sea at Doolin Pier.
Karen and Keith had a walk along the seashore as far as the cliffs bordering the Cliffs of Moher while I remained near the pier.
When they returned, we all walked a bit in the opposite direction from the pier stopping at a small rocky bay where the waves were providing a display by crashing over the rocks. Despite the lovely weather and not very much wind, there were quite large waves crashing onto the beach bringing out a number of surfers.
Afterwards we re-visited Magnetic Music after having an ice cream bought in the new grocery shop nearby and then returned to Doolin Cottages and started sorting our caving gear etc. in readiness for tomorrow's return to home. Boo!

Shaggy Sheep Shop!

Magnetic Music

Inside Magnetic Music

Doolin River Cave

2011-06-02T21:43:00.002+01:00

Phil Walker was dropped off by his wife at 10:00 and he joined myself , Keith and Karen on a trip down the road to rig the Fisherstreet Pot with ladders , lifeline and SRT rope so that we could have a through trip in the Doolin River Cave entering via St Catherine's cave and exiting via Fisherstreet Pot.
The day was much warmer than of late – we were comfortable wearing T shirts, although Keith had to wear caving gear as he rigged the SRT rope and cached all our SRT kit at the bottom of the pot for later.
Once that job had been carried out, Jenny drove myself, Karen, Keith, Boyd, Phil, Simon and Sharri up to the entrance to St Catherine's farm while Mike drove Elaine up. Simon had driven Robert and his lads Hywel and Rhodri up earlier.
Of course we had all changed into furry suits and brought the rest of our gear to get changed at the entrance to the farm.
We actually got an answer to our knock on the door to ask permission to get to the cave unlike most previous visits.
Soon we were at the entrance to St Catherine's and I began the entrance crawl a few minutes after midday and onwards past the squeeze into larger passage.
We all trooped through the large walking passages, had one or two places where we had to re-track and try another route where slabs broken down from the ceiling blocked the route.
Soon we were at the well-decorated Grotto and had a short break before carrying on.
The water levels were fairly low with the inlets “Pisser” and Aille River not as vigorous as on previous trips.
After quite a lot of large canyon passage, looking for good examples of Doolin Cobbles and having a look at the odd leech, we began to lower sections of the cave.
These passed soon enough with another section of easy walking passage before we reached the low and wet hands and knees section leading to the bottom of Fisherstreet Pot at 14:45.
After Keith and I had prusiked up the previously-rigged rope, Simon climbed up the ladder followed by Boyd again prusiking.
Myself and Boyd then lifelined Rhodri, Htwel and Robert up while the remainder prusiked up as well.
We walked back along the road to Doolin Cottages and got changed after leaving our gear out in the warm sunshine to dry and after showers, etc. Karen, Keith and I had a quick trip to Magnetic Music for a coffee and chocolate cake.

Poll Gonzo

2011-06-01T19:08:00.000+01:00

This is a newly-discovered pot on the Burren adding to the other few mostly vertical caves already known. Simon had been talking to one of the diggers, Robin Sheen, an British caver from Nottingham who has lived in the area for over thirty years and knows Simon and he had invited us to see the new cave.
So, after breakfast, we had an earlier then usual start on the worst day for weather so far with almost constant drizzle and mist, and left Doolin at 10:25 to meet Robin as arranged at 11:00 at Cassidy's pub at Carron. Karen, Keith and myself travelled as usual in my car, with Simon and Shari making a detour to pick up a drill bit from UBSS's Dr. Boycott the way and also Boyd who wasn't going caving but came along to see the entrance to the cave.
Once Robin had arrived with a young Irish caver from Dublin named Rowena, we continued down the road for a mile or so and parked at a pull-off by a farm gate where there was room for four cars.
After getting changed, we walked across the fields for maybe 3/4 of a mile to find the cave entrance among bushes and scrubland. Robin mentioned that there were two Bronze Age Wedge Tombs nearby and he often looks for caves near such Bronze age features.
The diggers had made a short stairway with five or so steps using wood and rubble from the dig leading into the small depression which Robin believes is the bottom half of a chamber which had the top half removed during the Ice Age.
On the right-hand side was a short drop beneath a conglomeration of small rocks, boulders and rubble with scaffolding leading to two more short drops and then a final linger drop to where they have been digging recently. It was just after Noon as Keith was asked to nip down and collect a crowbar which Robin wanted so that he could try and remove a boulder in the main part of the cave and Simon and myself poked our heads in to have a look followed by Karen.
On the opposite side of the depression, again down a short drop to a flat floor, again beneath a mixture of mud, rocks and boulders, leading to the top of a climb-down after 4 metres or so. We started into this section of the cave saying “good-bye” to Boyd. The climb-down was equipped with an electron ladder although Robin said it was free-climable. The others climbed down the narrowish rift to a wider section some 8 metres below. I started to climb down but was concerned that I might have problems coming up again as I had felt sharp pains in my shoulder muscles as we walked over to the entrance.
I decided to not risk it and shouted down to Karen that I would return to the car. Rats.
I got changed and snoozed in the car and then at 15:30 heard voices as the others returned saying they had enjoyed the cave but had gotten very wet in the lower parts due to a waterfall on the lower pitch.
After they had got changed, we headed back to Cassidy's pub to have a Guinness and then back to Lisdoonvarna to shop for brad rolls and then Doolin with the drizzle still falling.
In the evening for a change, Karen Keith and I ate in Maganns' and Phil Walker found us there. Before the music started we wandered down the orad to the newer pub in Doolin, Fitzpatricks, where we knew part of “Foolin' in Doolin” were playing – 'Blackie' O'Donnel, Carol Lynch and also a guitarist.
Although the music was excellent, because the bar is basically a hotel bar, it had no atmosphere and was nowhere near as enjoyable as McDermott's.

Poulnagollum to Poulelva

2011-05-31T20:33:00.001+01:00

We had arranged with Phil Walker last nigh to pick him up at Noon for a trip in Poulnagollum and after collecting him, we set off to find the stile behind the electricity pole leading to the large open pot of Poulelva.
Leaving my car parked on the verge up the road, Keith, Karen, Phil and I walked the short distance to Poulelva and Keith, who had changed into caving gear, tied an SRT rope to the P bolts near the lip of the shaft, in a “Y” hang and then set up the rebelay a few metres down.
Having rigged the rope, we set off back to the car to find Boyd walking towards us. He had left Jenny in their van and confirmed that Simon and Shari were also coming but the three of them planned on descending Poulelva and exiting via Poulnagollum, so we had and exchanged trip set up.
Keith removed his wellies and oversuit and we all got back into my car and drove the few hundred metres further up the road to park at the small parking place by Pollnagollum where we found Simon and Shari already waiting.
Having changed into caving gear we crossed the drystone wall using the stile made of rock slabs and then Keith tied off a 15 metre rope which we would use as an aid to descend into the pot. As the rock was damp and slippery, we all chose to simply abseil in using Italian Hitches or descenders.
Soon we were on our way at around 13:15 making rapid progress in the tall and meandering passages which were usually at least a meters wide if not much wider passing a waterfall with much fluted rock en route.
We reached the junction of the Main Stream with a tributary and took a diversion to the left finding the floor quite slippery with some sort of organic material which was washed in by the stream.
We passed a small waterfall and after a few places blocked by large blocks of limestone where we had to crawl on one side or the other in the shallow stream, we soon heard the thundering of a larger waterfall ahead.
We crossed the pool at the foot of the waterfall getting a bit wet in the process as we slid on the slippery rock and had a look at the passage which goes off beyond which is a bit dirtier but wasn't the way we wanted to go.
So, we returned back along the tributary to the junction with the Main Streamway and then onwards following the Main Streamway beyond.
Soon we reached Boyd, Simon and Shari with Simon taking photos. This was at the section where the roof was starting to lower and we stopped for a while to have a Mars Bar or whatever.
Afterwards we continued on with wide but stooping passages until we eventually arrived at a hands and knees passage going off to the right with “PE” and an arrow which was pointing down this passage.
The cave was now very different with sections of hands and knees crawling, a couple of awkward obstructions and a short traverse requiring a couple of steps across. There was also a short flat-out section where the leg-loop of my harness got caught on a knobbly bit on the floor, but I soon freed it. There was also a section of meandering passage much smaller than the main part of the cave.
Soon, following Karen who never went wrong once, we were at the final low section of flat-out crawling to arrive by the waterfall in Poulelva pot.
We all prusiked up the rope we had rigged earlier at around 15:30, so we had only been underground for about two hours.

Poll Dubh

2011-05-30T20:33:00.000+01:00

As there had been heavy rain during the night and the day was forecast to be showery, rather than risk a trip in Doolin River Cave, we decided to visit Poll Dubh and probably Poll na Gree as well as neither are as serious a proposition in showery weather and are also located close to each other.
So a larger party of myself, Karen, Keith, Elaine, Simon, Shari, Boyd plus Robert Protheroe-Jones and his two lads headed for the area where the caves are located and parked in a hard-standing by a junction nearer to Poll Dubh.
While Boyd set off for a short walk, we all headed for the main entrance, Poll Dubh South, located a short distance away by walking into the clearing in the forest made for a set of electricity poles and then after a narrow clearing in the trees, followed a vague path for two of the poles and then into the trees on a narrow path which is quite boggy but has some wooden pallets, mostly now rotting away, to assist in avoiding the squelchier bits.
Soon we were at the entrance and once all had arrived, I went I a short way into the low initial section of the cave in order to avoid the midges which were gathering.
Once all were ready we continued on our way into the cave, first following the Poll Dubh South section which is initially a hands and knees crawl but soon enlarges into walking passage, passing a waterfall and easy climb up into the passage above where the water for the fall was flowing from, the waterfall being simply a hole in the wall of the passage above.
We continued following the easy passage passing the odd pretty formation on the way, passing a pool of water with a large block in it. I heard a splash behind me as apparently one of Robert's lads tried to avoid getting his feet we in the pool but slipped and fell in only to get more than just his feet wet!
We the came to a deeper pool and Karen paused there in order to avoid a wetting while the rest of us followed the passage which continued until the ceiling gradually lowered. At a convenient ledge on one side of the passage I sat and wait for the others to arrive and explained that the passage continued but got lower and lower eventually ending in a sump.
The others, except for myself and Keith who had been to the sump on a previous trip, went on for a short way while we waited.
Soon the others returned and we headed back to the climb by the waterfall. I climbed up first and waited while the others arrived and joined me except for Simon and Shari who were taking photos.
We waited a few minutes for them but as they still hadn't arrived and as Simon definitely knew the way into Poll Dubh North via this climb up, we headed off.
At a junction a bit further along, we paused while most had a look at a small well-decorated grotto straight ahead and then followed a passage leading to the left which was partly blocked by a flowstone formation but easily passed by crawling beneath.
Soon we arrived at on of the other entrances to the cave (B3a) but continued onwards into the main part of the cave of Poll Dubh North.
The passage was again easily followed with the odd short crab-walking or crawling until the passage narrowed and further progress is made easier by climbing up a couple of metres and then traversing on ledges leading to yet another entrance.
I helped Robert's two lads to climb up while they were joined by Keith and Robert to follow the shortish route to the exit.
Meanwhile I set off back intending to exit via the main entrance and found Karen and Elaine also heading back out. Soon we bumped into Simon and Shari heading for the same route as Keith, Robert and sons and after a quick chat, continued on our ways.
Arriving at the B3a entrance, Elaine and Karen exited the cave and I continued to head for the main entrance pausing to pick up Robert's BDH which he had left near the waterfall earlier.
Soon I was back on the surface in the conifer forest and after following the path back to the electricity poles, I caught up with Karen and Elaine who were waiting for me to arrive and then met Simon and Shari walking down the road heading towards where we had parked, where I could see the rest of the party nearly at the cars.
Keith, Karen Elaine and I decided to not bother with the second planned trip in Poll na Gree as it was past 16:00 (having gone underground at 13:15 or so) and we headed back to Doolin also bringing Robert's lad Rhodri with us, while the rest were joined by Boyd for a trip into Poll na Gree.
In the evening again Karen, Keith and myself returned to McDermott's for food joined later joined by Phil Walker who was also in Doolin with his family staying at “Atlantic View” holiday cottages up the hill towards the main road to Lisdoonvarna. Elaine and Mike plus later on Boyd also joined us and we were entertained greatly by the musicians “Foolin' in Doolin” (Michael “Blackie” O'Donnel playing Uielann Pipes, Karol Lynch on Tenor Banjo and Cyril O'Donaghue on Bazouki) who are without a doubt the best musicians to be seen at the pubs in Doolin.

Cullaun 2

2011-05-29T20:20:00.000+01:00

All the others were taking advantage of the opportunity to visit Ailwee Cave and its extra attractions for free as part of an offer for this weekend, while Karen, Keith and I decided on a trip to Cullaun 2.
I think this is the first occasion for quite a few tripe to County Clare that our first trip underground wasn't Pollnagollum, which always seemed to be the first cave to visit for some reason.
The weather was still windy and somewhat cooler as we first made a quick trip to the newish grocery shop next door to Maganns, which is quite handy, to get some bread and milk, also having a look at water levels in the river. The water had dropped significantly overnight, and it hadn't been particularly high yesterday anyway. So with a dry forecast, we wouldn't have to worry about water levels anyway.
We parked on the small hard-standing area about 200 metres from the path leading by the edge of the forest to Cullan 2.
We had noticed a significant part of the cave upstream of the main entrance when looking on the survey earlier and as we hadn't visited this section of the cave before, we decided to have a look there first.
Just inside the entrance we found a tightish constriction leading up stream and as I followed the other two I got a little stuck because my belt buckle was catching on the rock I was laying on, but I soon was through.
After a short hand and knees crawl, there was another blockage which could be bypassed low on the side and after that it got a bit bigger.
I decided to leave the other two to continue on and investigate while I returned to the surface to see if I could find the other nearby entrance and hence miss out this smaller section altogether.
There was an obvious linear feature leading in the correct direction with a couple of openins which contained local blockages of the rifty passage below.
I dropped down onto the pile of soil and debris at one of these collapses and could neither see nor hear the other two so presumably, this section of the cave was separate from where they had gone.
I returned to the Main Entrance and after a few minuted, Karen and Keith had returned saying it had got lower further on and they had decided to give up in visiting that section of the cave.
We continued downstream into the usual section of the cave and at a small climb up into a side passage we took the detour to see a couple of sections of well decorated sections of the cave before retracing our steps back to the main route.
There was also a short oxbow which had a laminated paper sign at each end warning of a dangerous loose flake and to avoid passing through this short oxbow.
We continued onwards, pausing to clamber up to have a better view of a small well-decorated grotto.
We continued onwards clambering down a small waterfall and eventually arrived at the feature known as the “Bloody Guts” which is a boulder partly blocking the passage with a red-stained flowstone formation. Once there used to be a grill of flowstone blocking the route over the boulder which forced the caver to pass underneath in the water, sadly now gone. Still, to prevent further damage, we passed underneath the boulder.
The passage continued with sections of chert sticking out of the walls and forming small holes on the floor beneath the water.
We passed along the top of a section of narrow slabs partly blocking the passage (but passed beneath them on the way out) and then a short climb up, crawl along more flat slabs then a short climb down to arrive at another small waterfall.
Keith had clambered down this and been to the final climb down to where there is a sump, but founf there was too much water to attempt this climb and had returned, so we didn't bother clambering down to join him.
All that remained was to turn around and start off back to the entrance, which didn't take long.
Altogether we we underground about two and a half hours.
Again it was McDermotts for an evening meal with the same musicians as yesterday. Matt and Nikki Adlam-Styles arrived later on as they are also in Doolin this week with a group for thr Forest of Dean along with Andy and Lin from the Alternative Tuesday caving group.