Dale Head and High Spy

We woke to a lovely sunny day. We knew the bus times for the bus to Buttermere (the 77a or 77) which passes by the camp-site and stops at Honister Youth Hostel, as we had a look at the timetable on the bus stop a short distance up the road.
We caught the 77a at around 10:10 at the bus stop at the junction with the Seathwaite road and got off at the Honister Youth Hostel. From there we crossed the road and walked up the footpath directly opposite which climbed straight up steeple to the summit of Dale Head.
There was a large tidily-built cairn there and amazing views of the surrounding fells. We dropped down to Dalehead Tarn and ate our lunch sitting on a rock in a flat rocky area surrounded by the ruined walls of an old building.
After leaving the tarn, we climbed to the top of High Spy along a rising ridge. Our intention was to follow the ridge towards Maiden Moor and then leave the path at right angles part way along and drop down a right of way marked on the map south of Blea Crag called Nitting Haws.
We found what we thought was the right place, but it was a grassy slope with the odd boulder and small crag. As we weren't 100% sure it was the right place and we didn't want to have to come all the way up again if it wasn't, we returned to High Spy, which wasn't far away, and then dropped down the path shown on the map by Tongue Gill passing Rigghead Quarries at the top.
This route not only would definitely bring us to where we wanted to go but also provided a bit of entertainment for Karen who had a quick look in a quarried-out chamber by the path.
Investigations over, we continued on our way down to then follow the River Derwent for a short stretch bringing us to Rosthwaite village where we had to have a tea and a slice of cake at the Flock Inn café!

Week Walking in Lake District

Karen drove us in her car to the usual campsite in Borrowdale called Chapel House Farm near Stonethwaite. After setting up the tent, etc. in lovely weather we set off for a trip to Keswick for a shopping trip.
We spent the rest of the afternoon at the camp-site.

Hardrawkin Pot

I had a “dicky tummy” in the morning and thought I would probably feel better after breakfast but I didn't feel hungry enough for the usual Bernies Veggie Breakfast and only had some eggs on toast.
We were planning on a trip down Hardrawkin Pot below Ingleborough and near the Old Hill Inn here we had some time ago attempted a trip but didn't take enough note of the description to find the entrance and settled on Sunset Hole instead!
This time we had written down the description of the route to the entrance from the “Selected Caves of Britain and Ireland” book and actually found it easy to find except for a little ambiguity at the gate signposted for Great Douk.
I had decided to give caving a miss today and walked with Keith, Karen and Simon B. to the entrance which was surrounded by a new fence and wooden stile. The other side of the drystone wall was the 2 metre high entrance to High Douk Cave from where water was flowing which passed under the wall and then down Hardrawkin Pot. Karen had a quick look in this cave and found a very smelly, very dead sheep with lots of maggots.
I left them to it and wandered back to the cars in the layby up the road from the Old Hill Inn and read a book on my Kindle for a couple of hours before the other three were back saying it was a very good caving trip.

It was only 13:30 but Keith decided to set off straight for home while Karen, Simon and I made the customary post-caving trip to Bernies.

Swinsto Hole

Again it was breakfast at Bernies in a busy Ingleton as today's forecast was for dry weather and there was a “Wild West Weekend” event running.
We then relocated to the layby by Braida Garth Farm in Kingsdale and after getting changed Keith drew the short straw and set off into Valley Entrance to rig the short pitch above the sump which would be our exit route after we had reached this spot after dropping through Swinsto Hole to the master stream.
We made our way along the slightly worn path up the bracken-covered hillside and I stopped and waited at the end of the steep section to point out to Keith below where we had gone when he had re-appeared on the surface below.
Once he did and had made his way up to join me, we continued onwards much less steeply than before and crossed the Turbary Road when we saw Karen in the distance indicating the route to Swinto's entrance.
Again, Keith was on rigging duty and we followed him in the short hands and knees crawl in narrow meandering passage with water flowing along the bottom to the short first pitch.
I was last down and joined Simon B. and Waggy in retrieving the rope as we were on a “pull through” trip and on a one-way trip to the master cave and then to exit via Valley Entrance. The rope came down easily and meanwhile Keith, Karen and Simon W. has headed off to rig the next pitch with the second tackle bag and rope we had brought, once we had all passed the Long Crawl which is certainly well named!
We continued in this way, with one rope being abseiled down by the three cavers at the rear and retrieved while the other three went on and rigged the following pitch after the tackle bag containing the rope from the previous pitch had been passed forward.
Soon we arrived at the foot of the second stage of the large pitch, which is broken in half by a large ledge where we re-grouped before setting off for the remaining small pitches.
After the final short handline or short abseil depending on your preference, below the final pitch from the alternative route to the master cave via Simpsons Pot, our abseils were over and we made our way through the remaining parts of the cave always following the stream. At one narrow section I removed my SRT harness and kit to pop through first in case of any jams and after Keith had passed it through to me I put it on again and followed the rest as they had passed me.
Soon we were at the final wet crawling and then the easy walking in the stream and very soon were at foot of the short pitch which Keith had rigged earlier.
We were all up the pitch and and then all popped out of the small plastic pipe lined entrance known as Valley Entrance. Luckily, this is only a few tens of metres from the field gate onto the road and right by the parked cars.
As expected, we were soon changed and back at Bernies. Pete and Simon W. were off home after their two days caving.
In the evening we decide to try our luck with pubs in High Bentham which wasn't far from Greenclose Cottage and I drove Simon B., Keith, Karen and myself. We tried one pub but found it was very busy and someone was busily setting up the gear for musical entertainment by the only empty table. So we tried another pub and found it empty. I spotted the meal times for Sundays and they stopped serving meals at 18:00. It was now nearly 19:00. Rats,
We tried the last remaining pub and they stopped serving food at 19:00. Luckily there was a Spar supermarket open so we bought various items and returned to cook them at Greenclose Cottage.

After we had eaten our various meals we were drinking wine or Newcastle Brown we had bought in Spar and Tony Seddon popped in on his way home from a caving trip in Spain. He chatted for some time and then set off for home.

Ireby Fell Caven

We drove up last night to stay at the Northern Pennine Club's hut, Greenclose Cottage near Clapham. Pete Wagstaff was already there when we arrived at around 21:30 and there was no one else, which was surprising for an August Bank Holiday.
Up in the morning and Simon Brooks arrived in his red Porsche 911. We set off for Bernies at 09:00 to meet Keith and others as arranged. We ordered our usual Veggie Breakfasts, much to Steve Round's disgust!
Not long afterwards, Keith arrived followed by Simon Wynne not long after.
We had a quick trip next door to Inglesport so that Simon W. could rent a caving helmet and light seeing as he had left his at home by mistake.
Helmet renting finished, we set off for the parking place at Mason Gill Lane to get changed into caving gear. The forecast wasn't bad with some light rain showers and maybe a heavy shower or two but so far it was just overcast with sunny periods.
We walked up the rough lane then across the fields to arrive at the large shakehole containing the concrete pipe entrance to Ireby Fell Cavern.
Again, there was no one else about and we had the cave to ourselves as Keith set off first to carry out the rigging job.
We all followed and dropped down the usual Ding, Dong , Bell, Pussy, Well and Rope pitches and were soon walking down the impressive large passage called Duke Street, arriving at the sump to have a “Mars Bar Break”.
Soon we were making our way back towards the surface and I was first out to find the time was around 14:30 after having entered the cave at 11:30ish.
There was a very light shower while the rest as us waited for Keith to arrive last as he had also derigged the cave.
By the time he had arrived he rain had stopped and the ground was dry again.
We walked back to the cars to get changed and the made the usual return to Bernies for chip butties, etc.
Later in the evening we drove into Settle to find a pub for an evening meal and a drink and even though we were early at 19:00, all the pubs were full!
So, we found that the chip shop in the Market Square did take-away pizzas so we each ordered a pizza and retired to the nearby Talbot Arms for a quick drink. Afterwards we returned to collect our take-aways and and return to Greenclose Cottage to eat them.

Later in the night a couple of NPC members arrived.

Offerton Moor

Karen decided to spend another day at home working in the garden and I set off to park by Leadmill bridge near Hathersage. As I was arriving there was a heavy shower so I waited in the car for a short while until it finished then got my boots on and set off past The Plough and after walking along a minor road soon arrived at the footpath which dropped down through a small wood to arrive at a small bridge.
The bridge led to a field and I walked up the sloping field to reach the drive for Hog Hall and again, I followed this uphill to the minor road where I turned right to walk along the tarmaced lane leading to Tor Farm.
I was wearing a Rab Vapour-rise Alpine Light jacket and when a light rain shower started I wasn't too bothered. But the rain shower turned to a heavy shower so I pause at the gate on the lane to get a Rab Bergen Jacket and Marmot Precip overtrousers on. This would be repeated several times as the weather changed from sun to showers.
The route led to Hazleford and then Stoke Ford and from there uphill through woods to a minor road to the opposite side onto a farm track belonging to Oaks Farm..
Again there was another shower but this soon passed and I continued onwards along the track until arriving at a footpath leading to the left to soon pass the farmhouse and then onto Offerton Moor.
Once on the open moor, the wind was much stronger and soon there was a fair amount of rain despite it still being sunny! Presumably the rain was being blown by the wind from clouds a bit further away.
When I reached a section of ruined dry-stone wall near the footbridge crossing the stream of Siney Sitch, I sat beside it to get a bit of shelter from the wind and ate a flapjack.
After crossing the rest of the moor and dropping down a bracken-lined sunken path, I reached the minor road by Offerton Hall and followed this until I reached a stile leading to footpath leading down to Callow Farm, then through the farmyard through a gate and down a field to a gate into a wood.

The path wended through the wood to a gate onto a track and then along the track to Mount Pleasant Farm. Here I followed the footpath through fields then climbed over a stone stile in a large dry-stone wall and continued on the path through river-side pasture back to Leadmill Bridge.

Kinder Scout

A bit of a different walk today on Kinder. I started in Edale (Grindsbrook Booth) and followed the route up Grindsbrook Knoll. It was windy so I skirted around the very top by following the path just below as it approached the top of Grindsbrook Clough. For a change, rather then continue along the edge path, I followed the northern branch of Grinds Brook. When I reached the ruins of Four Jacks Cabin, an old shooting cabin, I stopped to shelter from the cold wind and make a brew of tea. It was cold enough to be able to see my breath.
Continuing onwards, I reached the start of the brook at a large flatter area with some bare peat but not too wet (the land was very dry generally).
After watching a mountain hare run off as I approached and I made my way across the remaining plateau to reach the northern edge near Fairbrook Naze.
It was very windy, soon I found a well-sheltered spot on the northern side of some boulders overlooking the Fair Brook valley to eat my sandwich and have another brew.
After lunch I followed the path heading east along Seal Edge and continued as far as the top of Blackden Brook. From here the map showed an intermittent path leading back across the plateau towards the Edale Valley and I saw a stile in the wire fence built in recent years to keep sheep off the plateau. After crossing the fence using the stile, I took a compass bearing to follow the path and set off to see of I could follow it but it was not very obvious on the ground and was crossed by some large groughs.
I threaded a route between the groughs, still heading in the right direction. This section of the plateau is where it is narrowest and is only 300 to 350 metres across and once you reach the middle, where it is a bit higher, the Edale valley and Great Ridge can be easily seen.
I walked towards Grindslow Knoll and popped out on the souther edge path near Upper Tor.

From here I followed the usual edge path along the southern edge to reach Ringing Roger and from there I made my way back down to the village. It was windiest at the top of the rocky ridge of Ringing Roger and I was nearly blown over a couple of times!

Maskhill Mine

A nice trip to Oxlow West Chamber via Maskhill Mine with Karen, Keith and Alice Anderson. The mine was very dry despite all the rain on Friday afternoon and evening. We went in just after 12 Noon and I was back first on the surface at 15:45.

Dove Dale from Milldale

We left the car in the small public car park in Milldale and first stop was the kiosk which sells refreshments to buy some sausage rolls. We sat by the old sheep wash in the river while the mallard ducks swam hopefully by us in case of any food being dropped.
Afterwards we crossed the “Viator's Bridge” and made our way along the riverside path in the direction of Thorpe and when we arrived at the two large rock shelters known as Dove Holes, we followed a narrow path on the left which gradually rose through a small wood to break out into pastureland higher above Dove Dale where the path became indistinct.
We followed this alternative high level route for some time heading eventually back down towards the river not far below the footbridge by the limestone spire of Ilam Rock.

After crossing the footbridge we made our way back to Milldale on the Staffordshire side of the river eventually dropping back down on a narrow and slippery path.

Kinder Scout

I had today to myself as Karen was visiting friends in Rugby. I parked in Edale car park and noticed some sort of event going on as the adjacent sports field had a large marquee and loads of tents pitched. Checking with Google later it appears that this was “Spoonfest – The International Celebration of the Carved Wooden Spoon”!
Anyway, the weather forecast wasn't brilliant (rain showers and possibly thunder later) and although overcast, at least it was still dry as I set off to pass the Old Nags Head Inn in the village. It was warmish at about 16°C so I was wearing just a shirt to start. I crossed the wooden footbridge over the very low river and then along the route leading up to Kinder via Golden Clough, below Ringing Roger. I was going to follow the path on Ringing Roger but there was a group ahead and I didn't want to wait while they made their way along the path.
Not long after reaching the edge path near the top of Golden Clough some light rain started and it was getting windy so I stopped for a moment to get my Rab Bergen waterproof jacket on.
I could see that the cloud level was nearly at the level of the plateau with the top of Grindslow Knoll covered and soon even where I was became covered in mist.
Once I reached the top of Grindsbrook Clough I veered of the edge path making for the field of boulders on the skyline to the north-west. On the way I saw a female grouse and her brood of chicks. The chicks scattered into the heather and the mother ran off trying to distract me from her brood. There were also a couple of mountain hares which ran off as I approached.
I found a comfortable spot out of the wind and also sheltered from the rain by a boulder. I sat here for a while and brewed up some tea as I brought a gas stove and brew kit for a change.
I then made my way back to rejoin the edge path and skirted round the top of Crowden Clough. Again I planned to stop in a sheltered spot but now to have lunch and thought I may find a spot somewhere among the tor of Crowden Tower but the wind was in the wrong direction coming from the south up and over the edge of the plateau. Instead, I wandered off a short way from the path again and found a perfect spot again behind a large boulder.
I sat there and ate my sandwich and again brewed up some more tea and watched as the mist was flowing up from below the plateau and then blowing across the peat bog making sections of the landscape disappear and reappear.

I then rejoined the slabbed path and retuned back the way I had come and then made my way back towards Edale village by following the Grindsbrook Clough path.