Tally-Ho! from Chinley, 7th Oct 2023

Running from the Old Hall, Chinley

Unseasonably hot weather meant this was going to be a tough run for those who dislike running in such temperatures, and so it was.

 

The Old Hall, Chinley 

Trail consisted of either straw (or was it hay?), interspersed with the odd clump of the more traditional sawdust – whatever it was, in the bright sunshine it was often difficult to follow.

Trail

Ady and Geoff drew the short straw (see what I did there?) on this one, they set off from the Old Hall in Chinley, heading SE on the B whatever number it was….it was definitely tarmac.

The road crossed the A6, and was shortly after this, as the route left the tarmac, that some runners lost trail. Fortunately the more eagle-eyed spotted the trail as it headed up a bit of an embankment – the attached maps tells all!

Onwards, over Hall Hill and a precarious electric fence – that caused one runner to take a bit of a tumble. Fortunately the ground was soft and wet, so it was only pride that suffered damage.

A change of direction (SW) took us by the wonderfully named Sparkbottom, and on to Tunstead Milton.

It was soon after the route crossed the B5470 that things went ever so slightly awry. Via the wonders of modern technology (Whatsapp), news was received that a horse had taken an interest in the trail….so much so that some of it had been eaten by said horse. This caused some consternation, and more than a couple of sniggers.

Whatever the reason, it appeared that trail was light on the ground, consequently some runners ran rather further than others.

I was now in the agreeable company of Hon Pres Park – agreeable because, apart from anything else, he’s far better at spotting trail than I am!

 

The next challenge was to find a way out of the field by Randall Carr. A small tunnel-type railway tunnel, cleverly disguised as a bush (the tunnel, not the railway) was eventually located – and we even spotted some uneaten trail.

Uneaten trail

Our problems were only just beginning – but this is the Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho!, nobody said it was going to be easy!

 

Holly, laden with berries

The next field was also rather lacking in visible trail – no horses here though. Eventually, after a lot of faffing about, Joe and I found a way out of this next field, onto a farm track by Meveril Farm.

After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing, we picked up trail by the farm but were advised by a man holding a rather large tool (an electric planer I think) not to follow the trail ‘unless you’re very brave’ The intended route, a rarely used green lane, was overgrown with triffids – or they may have been nettles.

 

A nice bit of wrought iron

We took his advice and followed a bridleway which, whilst it meant we ran a little further, our beautiful, shapely legs escaped the ravages of the man-eating undergrowth.

Fast Taylor and Skint Wilson caught us up, and after a brief exchange of greetings, they left us in their wake.

Fast Taylor, about to step on some trail

Reaching Long Lane, another green lane, we turned west, happily trotting though calf-deep puddles of muddy water. We gained the company of Burston, and we trundled on, soon catching up with Wells, that well-known photographer.

We are running, honest!

Going north now, and on tarmac, through Horwich End, and passing the eastern edge of Whaley Bridge we trotted on, as the sun continued to beat down on us – this is early October for heaven’s sake!

Time was getting on, we knew that the trail would take us up Eccles Pike, it was going to be touch and go if we want to sit down to dinner, planned for an ealier than usual 4.30pm.

I had to leave by 5pm, so I cut trail by Eccles Fold to head back to the pub. Joe continued to follow trail to the top of Eccles Pike. I’m a firm believer in the Club’s pack system, and I felt bad about leaving him – but he seemed happy enough to continue alone.

I got back to the pub just after 4pm, had a quick wash and change in the loos, and sat down at the dining table at 4.30pm, ready to eat – I was hungry!

 

The runners, eagerly waiting for their dinner

Joe was a bit late, but he joined us at the dinner table at around 4.50pm – dinner still hadn’t arrived.

 The runners, wondering whether they're going to get their dinner

Service here, in the past, has always been good. At 5pm I had to leave, cancelling my meal, I couldn’t delay any longer. I gather the meal wasn’t actully served until 5.10pm – it was a damned good job I didn’t wait!

Whatever….

Ady & Geoff had laid an ‘interesting’ trail – not a particularly strenuous one, but certainly one that threw a few challenges our way!

I covered about 8 miles, I reckon if I’d have done the full trail, including Eccles Pike, I would have covered around 8.5 miles, with around 1600’ of ascent.

It was hot, it was hilly, the puddles were deep, nettles were plentiful, the views were tremendous, the company even better….a good trail!

Where we went:

 

Paul’s photos can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MpVJcvhcDXgo7cr79

Thanks to Ady & Geoff for the trail, and to Joe for putting up with me for much of the trail!

Thanks to Paul Wells and Mark Taylor for some of the photographs.

Edale to Chinley 16th April 2021

It was a very last minute decision to hit the hills: at 6.50am I jumped out of bed, 50 minutes later I was running for the train (my first time on public transport for over a year) to head to Edale.

The trains were very quiet, the few passengers on board were, apart from one, wearing facemasks.

By 10am I was heading south to climb up the the heady heights of Mam Tor and Rushup Edge. The sky was blue, the sun shone strongly, but it was chilly – I kept my Velez on for most of the rest of the day.

I initially mis-read this as 'Hardenough Clough'

 

Looking back to Mam Tor from Rushup Edge

 

Not part of the nice view

The views from Rushup Edge were good, apart from a couple of dog-poo bags on the footpath. There’s no excuse for this kind of couldn’t care-lessness, it’s just abdicating reponsibility to the non-existent Dog-Poo Bag Fairy. What sort of people do this?

At the west end of Rushup Edge I headed north up the Pennine Bridleway. I found a nice spot just south of Roych Clough for my lunch – this was the only time I took my Velez off.

For Judith

I followed the PBW to a point just west of South Head where I turned downhill to eventually arrive in Chinley. 15 minutes later my train arrived, I was back home in the late afternoon – just in time for tea.

It was good.

The trains south, beyond Manchester Airport, still aren’t running due to Covid-19, but when they do I’ve got a few routes on my to-do list, including a walk home from Holmes Chapel – I need to get some miles in my legs!

Where I went today: 

Around 9 miles with 1650’ of ascent.

 

Tally-Ho! from Chinley Sat 10th Oct 2020

The Old Hall in Chinley is rapidly becoming a Club favourite. Located in superb running country, it serves excellent food along with a wide range of well kept, proper beers.

 

 The Old Hall, Chinley

As with last year’s trail from here, the trail layers were Ade, and the man with the money, Tony.

I opted for an early start but was surprised to find some runners had arrived before me. I set off first, leaving the earlier arrivals to chat and get themselves ready for the rigours of the run.

I headed off west, initially on tarmac following the clumps of sawdust down hill to cross the road bridge over the raging Black Brook. It wasn’t long before Hon Prez Park caught me up, we stuck together for the rest of the run.

Photo nicked from Big Ian, because mine was rubbish,

We left the road to climb, running north along Cracken Edge, keeping to the east of Chinley Churn. It was cloudy but dry and we enjoyed good views all around.

 

Passing through some old quarry workings, and scaring the living daylights out some sheep, we could clearly see Mount Famine and South Head, hills that we’d soon be ‘running’ up. We descended to Peep-O’-Day which had just come into view. 

The crossing of the busy A624 marked the start of our climb over Mount Famine. We came across a couple of mountain bikers who were cycling the Pennine Bridleway:

 

Kinder Downfall could be seen doing what Kinder Downfall should: the water was flowing down, not up. We descended the to cross the familiar Pennine Bridleway, and then began a bit of a tug up to the top of South Head, where the wind was very, er, windy.

Summit Cairn, South Head

Heading off South Head

Trail!

The descent from South Head was magnificent. The ground was dry and it was very runnable.

It was now more or less downhill all the way back – but following the trail was tricky at times – leading us through a garden (it was a P.R.O.W.) and going through various, almost hidden, little snickets and ginnels.

The flooded path alongside the sewage farm caused a little concern…..was this the waste outflow? Worse, could it have been the overflowing intake?

Whatever….we continued west along the old Tramway, now a pleasant path, and on final approach to the Old Hall.

Cracken Edge from the  pub

Covid-19 restrictions meant we couldn’t use the tin bath so runners had to make the best of it. I took a flask of hot water and had a quick wash down at my car in the pub car park, others made their own arrangements for removing the worst of the crud. I wasn't too muddy - mainly thanks to the flooded path we'd just run through:

Not too muddy - thanks to the flooded path we'd just run through

Joe was shielding so wasn’t able to stay for the meal. The Warrington lads were under orders from Boris deWaffle Johnson not to mix with the likes of the rest of the Club so they enjoyed a rehydrating pint or two whilst sat outside the pub before heading off and leaving the rest of the runners to enjoy a very fine dinner of steak pudding followed by, er, pudding. Ade didn’t have the steak pudding. Obv.

Then it was time to go time – but not before the Hon Sec made it known that we had lost another venue, the Crag at Wildboarclough. Plans are in hand to replace it with another venue, but in these difficult times finding a pub that is able to accommodate us is no easy task….even assuming pubs aren’t ordered to close, which right now looks very iffy.

Anyroadup. It was a great day, Joe, as always, proved to be the best of company. The route really couldn’t have been better, and the pub, well….tremendous.

Oh, and nobody overtook us….a first!

 Nothing to do with the run, but I always find these railway arches, on the road into Chinley, to be quite striking - the evening sun illuminated them beautifully: