A (failed) Championship Walk

 

It was a bloody freezing Saturday morning, but it was dry, and snow lay on the ground, only one thing for it – go for a walk!

The Plan (it’s always good to have A Plan) was to park up at Nelson Pit in Poynton, then walk into Lyme Park via the back door, and walk the Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho! championship route, a short 6-7 miler.

I really was cold and very windy, we were later to discover that with wind-chill it was –14degC. I was wearing my Buffalo top for the first time in a long while – and was very grateful for it. Joules was well wrapped up with a Paramo top over multiple layers.

We entered the park by ‘Windgather’ and followed the tracks to the disused quarry by Knott, a little bump of a hill.

The track was frozen solid, compacted snow had been polished to a mirror finish by countless pairs of boots. Those braver than us, ie nearly everyone else out that day, walked without poles – there was much slipping and sliding. The track split at Hase Bank Wood, we took the uphill option towards Paddock Cottage. 

Enter YakTrax and MicroSpikes.

To describe that uphill track as being slippy was an understatement, but we were able to wander uphill safely. We’d have been stuffed without our aids to traction.  

A couple of hundred metres short of Paddock Cottage we came across Ian, sitting on the frozen ground, with one foot at a funny angle. He’d slipped and broken his R ankle – we were subsequently to discover, in 3 places. Ouch.

I was carrying winter kit so managed to help a little bit - thanks to Chrissie for flogging me the Bothy Bag a couple of years ago!

The cavalry, in the shape of Kinder MRT soon appeared and they took over in a very speedy and efficient manner.

By the time the MRT had done their stuff we’d been sat out in the icy blast for nearly 2 hours, rather than continue our walk we thought it prudent to turn back and go home.

 Not Hartlepool

Oh well, we got out although we damned near froze our wotsits off. I hope Ian’s broken ankle heals sooner rather than later – then he can get out (or in) doing his indoor cycling before long.

Thanks to Kinder MRT for their service – I know they’d been having such a wonderful day out playing in the frozen waters of the R Goyt on a training exercise. It must have been such a wrench to get out of the icy water ...

https://www.facebook.com/KinderMountainRescueTeam/posts/3858199857577756
 

More photos here.

A night with a Madwoman. And a gear test.

It was all a bit last minute. I needed to get out for some serious brain-straightening peace and quiet, plus I had some new(ish) kit to test out.

I packed my rucksack and travelled by train to Edale, alighting in the late afternoon. I scuttled up Grindsbrook Clough in the failing light and once at the top, headed east (East is good) along the edges to a nice little spot by Madwoman's Stones.

It was dark by the time I was putting the tent up, but the sky was clear and the moon was shining brightly - and it was damned cold. I grabbed a couple of litres of water from the trickling stream at Jaggers Clough and got my tea on the go

My Plan, given the lovely clear skies, was to spend a bit of time taking photographs by moonlight. The Plan, like so many plans, failed. By the time I'd eaten and sorted my kit out it had clouded over. And then it started to rain. And then it got very windy. VERY windy.

Ho hum.

I was checking some new kit out: a NeoAir X-Therm, a down-filled balaclave (for sleeping in) and down-filled socks.

The socks and balaclava all came from AliExpress for around £15 each.

Balaclava: 85gms, Down socks: 105gms

All this kit worked superbly well, I spent a very warm and cosy night in spite of the horribly cold conditions. I was so warm that I had to unzip my sleeping bag and remove the balaclava during the night.

 My wind-battered Akto

Leave no trace

 My water source at Jaggers Clough....a bit peaty!

Jaggers Clough

 Descent into Edale

Next morning I headed down by Ringing Roger, back into Edale for my train home.

Good bits:
a) All the kit I took out for testing worked well
b) I had a nice overnighter.

Bad bits:
a) I forgot to take a compass (tsk).
b) I've decided that my Caldera Cone meths stove really isn't up to winter camping trips.
c) I missed my intended train home 'cos of phone call...so I had to drink filter coffee in the cafe by the station....so it wasn't ALL bad!

Saturday 23rd March, ...And Snow on Northern Hills

18 (fool)hardy runners gathered at the Lantern Pike in Little Hayfield for the day’s Tally-Ho! trail run. A few feet of snow and the odd snowdrift wasn’t going to deter this lot. Good company and a good run over testing ground were promised…..it would be rude to turn down such an enticing offer.

I was supposed to be camping at Little Stretton in Shropshire for an O.M. meet this weekend but I had to pull out, I had too much going on. To be honest, although I like my camping, the idea of a weekend under canvas in these weather conditions didn’t float my boat too well.

Anyway, back to Tally-Ho!
Tales of derring-do were exchanged even before the run began – some of the journeys to the pub were quite eventful. Whitworth, Shipley and Whalley relied on a snow-plough ahead of them, clearing the road to enable the Whitworth-mobile to get through. Whitehead couldn’t even escape his hometown of Buxton, such was the depth of snow. Even the journey from Timperley had it’s problems – my idea of getting to Hayfield via the A57 was thwarted by snow-blocked roads.

The tops from Birch Vale

John Wilson had set out early to lay trail, he did a superb job of laying a shorter route than normal, around 6 miles, a sensible move considering the weather conditions.

The Taylor vs Murray pre-run fancy hat contest

As I left the pub to follow the sawdust trail I met Whitworth, Shipley and Whalley running back to the pub. They had been turned back by impassable snowdrifts and hooley-driven snow on the climb up Middle Moor. This wasn’t looking promising. Although I was equipped with map and compass in case I missed the sawdust trail, they wouldn’t help me if I got bogged down in deep snow.

The wind strengthened as I climbed up over Middle Moor. Trail was increasingly difficult to follow, wind and snow had done their best to either cover up the sawdust or just blow it away.

A (successful) attempt at keeping sawdust trail in place.

The going became harder the further I got until it became clear that it would be plain daft to attempt to continue further. Indeed, as a solo runner in these conditions it would have been downright stupid and irresponsible.

 I hadn’t even got as far as Kinder Reservoir but at least I’d had a damned good try. Just over an hour after setting out from the pub I arrived back, cold and a little down-hearted. If I’d gone off with a group I’d have almost certainly got round the route. Going off on my own it just wasn’t going to happen.

Back at the pub I changed and had a mug of coffee to defrost my bits – then it was time for a pint in the bar with the other runners who had made it back. Up until this point the only runners back at the pub were those that had been driven back or had thought better of continuing further.

   The Lantern Pike, Little Hayfield

The few runners that had made it all the way round began arriving back – more tales of derring-do! By 3.30pm everyone was back. The tin bath wasn’t used, everyone just wanted to get out of their wet running gear and into dry clothes so they could warm themselves by the pub’s blazing fire. And have a beer.

 Burston and Murray on the final run-in

Cold and knackered runners back at the pub

An excellent meal of steak & kidney pie and chips followed by apple pie and custard  hit the spot. This pub’s food has certainly improved over the last couple of years. The Timothy Taylor’s Landlord was excellent, it was just a pity I had to drive.

This is where we should have gone:

6 miles, with ups, downs and snowdrifts – map courtesy of Eastwood

In better weather this would have been a superb route – especially if it was extended by a couple of miles. Just a shame conditions were as they were.

More photos here.