Oxlow Cavern and Maskhill Mine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He prusiked up to help and I waited at the top of the col for ages while their rope went up and down and up and down. Eventually he abseiled down and said “His footloop is all tangled up 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 I could prusik up their rope, which had no deviation. I reached the stuck caver who was just below the "Y" hang. After examining the tangle, I saw that he had our rope from below the deviation through his safety link and that was why it was tight like piano wire. He was nearly at the Y hang but couldn't remove his jammers as there was no slack to allow them to be unlocked.

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

So, after making sure I had the right piece of rope (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 giving him 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 mate prusiked up again and joined us and began de-rigging their ropes.

Once they were out of the way, Alan and Darren came 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 was being pulled up and released continuously. Surely the other pair must be out by now!

I looked up the shaft and saw a loop of the other lot'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 did the same at the one above that as well and as I reached the top of the pitch, the pair which had been ahead of us had been joined by two or three more of their group who had already got changed out of caving gear and they were still struggling to disentangle their rope from ours. I pointed out it would be easier to just let go of one end of their rope so that it wasn't in a loop!

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

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

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

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

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

I explained to Waggy what happened and made my way back to the farm and was very thankful of the shelter of the barn when I arrived and found Keith, who had been waiting for over an hour and 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 headed for home after dropping off a rope and tackle bag at the hut while the others went to the Wanted Inn for a chip butty. It was well past 19:00 by the time we got back to Winster and a welcome hot meal and beer in the Miners Standard.

Kinder Scout

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

Once we reached the fenced-off area at the top of Ringing Roger, we followed the path along the edge Eastwards and turned the corner at Crookstone Knoll now following the path on the opposite edge.

Near Madwomans Stones we struck off across a section of the plateau heading South then followed another path towards the West.

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

Chrome Hill from Earl Sterndale

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

A Walk Around Some Mining Sites in Winster

Karen, Keith and I joined a walk led by Tony Wood around Winster seeing various sites connected with the Lead Mining industry.

Knotlow Cavern

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

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

A Walk on Offerton Moor

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

The scenario was that a group of children had been taken underground by with some adults and one child had been afterwards to be found missing. In the meantime one of the adults had returned underground to search for the missing child but hadn't yet returned and after a reasonable time, it had been decided to get help.

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

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

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

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

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

So Jim returned to his initial position be the entrance.

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

My group soon located one “casualty” (played by Tim) at the bottom of a slope near the set of passages known as the Banana Slide. After a member with a Casualty Care Certificate had made an initial assessment of the casualty (possibly broken or dislocated knee plus a diabetic) two team members were tasked to return to the entrance (only a few minutes away: Mouldridge Mine is fairly small) to report the situation while I and the “Cas. Carer” remained with the casualty and attempted to keep him warm with a Bothy Bag.

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

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

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

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

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

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

J and her husband are old friends of Karen's and moved to live at Peel on the Isle of Man earlier this year. We were staying at J's lovely house in Peel very near the sea-front.

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

On Friday the weather didn't look promising with quite a lot of cloud and J took us on a drive around the Northern part of the island and a walk around Peel Castle which was very close to J's house.

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

Afterwards walked to the nearby stone circle called Mull (or Meayll) Circle of at sunset overlooking the village of Port Erin.

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

The Roaches from Gradbach

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

We parked in the small car park near Gradbach Mill which is an imposing Youth Hostel the walked through a deciduous wood with the sound of a squawking pheasant which was chasing another nearby. After following a marked route we ended up on a narrow footpath which ended up at a dead-end in a corner of two walls. After carefully climbing under a strand of barbed wire and then stepping over another at a gap in the drystone wall, we managed to get back on track at a small gate leading onto a lane. Here we heard and then saw a raven flying past and also a buzzard being mobbed by crows, so the birds were having a busy morning.

After leaving the lane near a bend we crossed a few fields then realised we had taken a wrong turning somewhere as we ended up carefully climbing over a metal gate onto a farm track leading to a minor road. This led towards the large gritstone crags of Hen Cloud and the Roaches.

There was a track leading in a loop past Hen Cloud to a large house called Roaches Hall and from the house a signed footpath led through more woods and by a small abandoned quarry we made use of the shelter from the cold wind to eat our lunch.

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

We followed a path leading towards the upper tier of the Roaches reaching the stone steps which bring you up to the upper tier from the stone cottage of Rock Hall and then walked along the foot of the crag and as we did so, I spotted several rock climbs I had done years ago.

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

The path led through woods again, contouring along the side of the valley to begin with then dropped down towards the steam running along the valley bottom where there was a footbridge crossing the stream.

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

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

Gradbach Youth Hostel

Gradbach Youth Hostel

The Roaches

The Roaches