Walk on Kinder Scout

We stayed at home yesterday and Karen wanted to spend some time today gardening so I had a walk on Kinder Scout.
I started at Upper Booth, walked across to Edale (really Grindsbrook Booth) and then onto the plateau via Ringing Roger. Then I followed the path along the Southern Edge and descended via the Crowden Brook valley.

On the way home Castleton and Bakewell were very busy as the weather was excellent and it was a Bank Holiday Monday.

A Walk on Lose Hill

Karen and I repeated the walk I did recently starting by Hope railway station traversing Lose Hill and returning via Castleton.
Unfortunately it was a day of frequent showers but still an enjoyable walk.

Water Icicle Close Cavern

Boyd, Karen and I visited the new extensions in Water Icicle Close Cavern for a photographic trip. Today was a lovely sunny day and we had a trip underground, typical!

Walk to Chelmorton

While passing through Bakewell on the way to the A6, we stopped for a while and I was naughty a bought a new rucksack in Cotswold Outdoors: an Osprey Talon 33. The theory that this lightweight rucksack would be more suitable for day walks in summer and also be small enough to carry on flights as cabin baggage.

Leaving the car near the entrance to the quarry on the A6 opposite the official car park, we walked past the quarry and old settling ponds dodging the luscious growth of nettles then followed a route thorough dales to Chelmorton.

Churn Hole

After a quick snack while sitting a on a bench in the village, we followed a different route which passed via a slippery descent next to Churn Hole.

Knotlow Cavern

Karen and I took OCC Prospective Member Pete Holland on a trip down Knotlow Cavern Climbing Shaft as far as the Waterfall Chamber.

Kinder Scout

We had planned a trip to North Wales but last night the weather forecast was dire so Karen and I decided to stay at home and go walking today on Kinder Scout.
We started at the small car park in Upper Booth and walked up via Crowden Brook. There had been a couple of very light rain showers on the way, but when we were nearly at the top a heavy shower began.
The plan was to have a look at a cave – really a gap in a pile of gritstone boulders called The Belfry.
From the top of Crowden Brook, we followed the path along the edge of the plateau, threading our way through the oddly-shaped gritstone boulders known as The Woolpacks, eventually skirting below Edale Rocks and Swines Back then along the bridleway past Edale Cross towards Kinderlow End. We then followed a path which contoured around the other side and after checking the location of The Belfry with my GPS, which I had updated with the grid reference last night, we found it lay some 300 metres up a steep slope of heather and scrub.
We located a small gap between some boulders and Karen got her Petzl headtorch out and clambered in through the gap to find a reasonably sized void with a rift between boulders descending below. As the entrance was wet and dirty, we didn't go any farther but then the feature isn't very large anyway.
We had had a quick lunch break earlier at the end of The Woolpacks and as there was a sunny period while we were at The Belfry, we sat in the sun and finished off our lunch.
Afterwards we continued up the short distance to the top of Kinderlow end following an obvious path and then along a path improved with slabs of rock heading towards Edale Rocks then dropping down to meet the junction with the bridleway past Edale Cross.
Here we turned left and then got to the top of the path leading downwards back towards Upper Booth, called Jacob's Ladder.
After a stop at the small packhorse bridge we had a quick break to strip off jackets and then continued back towards where we had left the car.

DCRO Training at Bagshawe Cavern

Evening Training session in Bagshawe Cavern. The session was on First Aid with three locations covering three topics: Fractures, Medical problems such as Hypothermia, Hypoglycaemia and Asthma and Log-rolling with stretcher loading.

A Walk Up Lose Hill

Karen had a sore neck and shoulder from a minor fall from Thursday evening's trip in Old Tor Mine and decided to rest so I drove over to Hope and parked on the road leading to the train station.
I then entered the station and crossed the bridge leading to the platform on the other side and then followed a path leading to the right along the tracks for a short distance then through a gate into fields heading towards Win Hill.

Lose Hill in the distance

After a short distance, I met a second path crossing from right to left and followed this. After passing through more fields and following a lane then past a farm and a camp site. Unfortunately there was some sort of running event going on at the same time and I was meeting runners coming in the opposite direction. Mostly this just meant a lot of “hellos” as they passed but when the path narrowed at various places, I had to wait at the side until they had passed.

Approaching the summit

Soon I was following steeper ground leading gradually up to the summit of Win Hill. Unfortunately it was cloudy and the view along the Great Ridge was partly obscured with mist.
From Lose Hill the route followed the top of the Great Ridge across Back Tor and then down a path leading down eventually to Castleton joining the road near the TSG's Chapel.

Castelton High Street

I bought a cheese and tomato sandwich and a drink at the shop near The Cheshire Cheese and sat on the bench circling the tree next to the war memorial in the Square and ate the sandwiches.
After a quick wander around, I headed back past the shop where I bought the sandwiches and then along the road for a short distance then along a track leading to the right with a footpath sign which followed the river alongside and gradually narrowed until after passing a stile I entered some fields.

There was a path through the fields with the Hope Cement Works not far away, which eventually led tot he road from Bradwell at Brough after passing through the site of the old Roman Fort called Navio. The remainder of the route was to follow this road to the main road connecting Hope and Hathersage then to turn left and walk the short distance back to the minor road leading to where I had started nest to Hope railway station.

Hen Racing at Bonsall

We had Lorraine and Gavin from Rugby staying with is for last night and today and as today was the day of the World Championship Hen Racing at the Barley Mow in Bonsall, after a lovely cooked fry-up for breakfast, we drove over to Bonsall for a pint of Hartington and watched some of the Hen Racing.