An East Lancs LDWA production
It was all Judith’s idea, she made me do it. That’s my side of the story anyway.
We met up at around 7.40am (the one in the morning) on a slightly damp Sunday, at the event cetre in Tottington – halfway between Bury (where all Black Puddings is made) and Rambottom (not a ram in sight).
It wasn’t damp enough to need wet-legs. Gaiters, on the other hand (or leg) were pretty well essential…..this being the muddy West Pennine Moors.
At 8am we set off on the 17 mile route, almost enthusiastically – ‘almost’ because we were both tired and decidedly unfit.
The first checkpoint at Turton Tower (5.8 miles) always seems a lot further away than I remember from previous years. Norman’s usually ample supply of Jelly Babies was twindling…although that was more than likely because we were lagging behind most of the rest of the field.
The most important checkpoint at Bartridge Barn Car Park (7.6 miles) never fails to impress – the food on offer is just tremendous….although having said that, the lack of Greek Salad and the delicious trifle were both missing this year. There was a very good reason for this though: Viv, caterer extraordinaire, has been very busy at home recently. She promised me that things will return to normal next year!
Orrel Cote Farm, CP5
On to pass the Strawbury Duck, where we didn’t stop for a beer, and then to CP5: Orrel Cote Farm. Orange cordial, more Jelly Babies, and Jaffa Cakes were taken on board.
It was after leaving here that it all went horribly wrong. Maybe we were yakking too much (most likely), or maybe we were just a bit tired, but somehow we went off route. This was an Embarrassingly Bad Thing: Judith and I have done this route many times so there really wasn’t any excuse….even more embarrassing, some walkers were following us!
A bit of map work soon got us back on route, through Crowthorne village, and on to pass the maggot farm.
Bull Hill came into view, although we overshot our turn-off.
Getting to Bull Hill involved crossing the morass of squelchy, muddy, peaty badlands: Black Moss & Wet Moss. The Good Thing was that a ‘safe’ route was marked with pole-mounted little flags. We still got muddy.
The Naughty Corner checkpoint was next – if you know, you know. Judith fortified herself with something alcoholic whilst I relied on Jelly Babies and Liquorice Allsorts.
Julie Spence's photo of us at the Naughty Corner CP
Wobbling off uphill (Judith, not me) we traversed the MOD firing range of Holcombe Moor – we successfully avoided being hit by stray bullets, and didn’t pick up one piece of unexploded ordnance.
My, we’re good!
Peel Tower, above Ramsbottom
Next came Peel Tower, and then the descent by the new, shiny, much improved Redisher Woods 114 East Lancs LDWA steps ….much credit to East Lancs LDWA for getting this section sorted. In years past this descent has been, er, challenging.
Somewhere in my collection is a photograph of a certain young lady’s very mucky derriere following her unintentionally fast descent down what was then a ski-slope of mud.
We could see the spire of Greenmount Church, just a couple of hundred meters from the finish, in the distance.
On the homeward straight now, we could almost taste the soup (and Manchester Tart) waiting for us as we crossed Greenmount Golf Course.
A couple of minutes later, after checking in, we were sat down, tucking into the most delicious leek & potato soup, followed by equally delicious (and the capitals are important here) Manchester Tart…all washed down with lashings of ginger beer....I mean tea.
Our little diversions meant we ended up walking a little further than the 17.3 miles…not much though. Well not too much.
A good day out for both Judith and I (thanks for dragging me round!), we both needed the stretch, plus it was really good to catch up. She was very good company, not giving me that much of a hard time at all….even when I screwed up the nav.
Our next catch-up will involve a beer (or two) as well as a walk. And we’ll know exactly where we’re we going. Probably Frodsham’s Helter Skelter unless Judith’s got any better ideas.
Where we ended up walking:
Thanks to EVERYONE at East Lancs LDWA for putting on another brilliant event, I’m looking forward to 2024…and the return of Greek salad, and trifle.
NB: Not all the photos are mine, quite a few were purloined from the East Lancs LDWA FB page - including the Julie's photo of Judith and I at the Naughty Corner CP.
