Two Crosses Circuit Challenge 2023

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.

Signing in

Alma & Dave in catering mode

The Start

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.

Viv, Caterer Extraordinaire!

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.

The Maggot Farm

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

Just some of the 114 East Lancs LDWA steps....

...and a bridge too!

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.

Two Crosses 2022

My last Two Crosses, in fact my last LDWA challenge event, was in March 2020. Almost immediately after the walk, on 23rd March 2020, the whole country was locked down because of the damnable Covid-19. Everything stopped.

I couldn’t possibly NOT take part in the return event: Two Crosses 2022, and so I did.

Judith had once again foolishly agreed to join me. Unfortunately (luckily for her?) she tested positive for Covid-19 just a couple of days prior to the event so she had to withdraw….I was going to have to find my own way round without her expert guidance.

Unfortunately Martin & sue had also decided to withdraw for Covid-19 reasons - although just precautionary.

Kay, on the other hand, had expressed an interest in coming along. This would be her first ever challenge event, she was enthusiastic!

I rolled out of bed at stupid o’clock, washed some toast down with my morning Lavazza, and headed over to collect Kay for the drive over to the event centre between Tottington and Ramsbottom.

Getting ready for the off:

 Off to the start

After registering, and grabbing some tea and toast at the event centre, we wandered off to the start line for the 8am kick-off.

The weather was marvellous, dry, bright, and fresh – probably the best ever conditions I’ve encountered on this walk. I’d been out in area the previous day, running with Tally-Ho!, so I knew the ground was going to be uncharacteristically dry and relatively mud-free.

At 8am the throng set off, some running, some walking, some (like me) dawdling at the back.

Kay at the first of the two crosses, this one at Affetside:

 A pig. Obv.

It wasn’t long before the field spread out and, as so often has happened before, small groups were formed and new friends made.

CP1 at Turton Tower offered it’s usual warm and entertaining welcome, and when we left, stuffed with jelly babies, we had big grins on our faces.

Marching north, following the Witton Weavers Way, our next checkpoint was CP4 – the big feed! This is what East Lancs LDWA are famous for: great grub, and lots of it!

CP6, AKA the Big Feed:

By now Kay and I had fallen into conversation with a small group who were walking at our pace. They hadn’t done the Two Crosses before and were a little uncertain as to the route. I was appointed navigator. Fools….did they not realise my skills were only in acting – and I’m not very good at that!

Anyroadup, they had decided on a name for our group - although I'll be diplomatic and call us the 'A' Team! 

Suitably filled up with butties, pie, excellent cheese, fruit cake, malt loaf, bananas & custard, trifle, and jelly….oh, and jelly babies, we set off across the Turton & Entwistle Reservoir Dam -  for me this was the second time in 24 hours.

The Strawbury Duck came and went, and we marched purposefully on to CP5 at Orrel Cote Farm where we were able to top up our reserves of jelly babies and orange juce.

The weather remained glorious, the sun was strong, there was a refreshingly cool breeze…and it wasn’t raining!

Next to another highlight of the route, CP6, The Naughty Corner – temporarily re-named ‘Julie’s Knocking Shop’ – not by me I hasten to add!

For those not in the know, the Naughty Corner provides 'special' refreshment for those who want it: rum, whisky, sherry etc etc. 

                  For Judith...she likes this sort of thing

               Some of the 'A' Team were drinking. Tsk. ;-)

Suitably recharged and refreshed, we followed the edge of the Holcombe Moor firing range. No red flags flying today so we were safe.

The 'A' team at the second of the two crosses: Pilgrim's Cross on       Holcombe Moor - note that a few rosy cheeks have appeared since CP6. There may have been raucous singing too.

                                    T' tower

                                    Flahs

Next came Peel Tower, then the descent through Redisher Woods, the flatlands of Hawkshaw, across the golf course and finally the finish at Greenmount.

Well not quite the finish: we signed ourselves in and then had a slap-up feed of home-made soup, a selection of puddings – and gallons of tea.

Thanks to East Lancs LDWA for another superb Two Crosses – and special thanks for the wonderful food, and for arranging for such great weather!

Special thanks to the 'A' Team for being such good company and for foolishly putting their faith in my navigational abilities!

Where we went:

17.4 miles according to the route description, 17.6 miles with 2350’ of ascent according to Doris, my GPS. 

We weren’t racing, our moving time was just over 6hrs 38mins.

With stops at checkpoints our total time out was 7hrs 14mins.

More photos here.

 

Preston Guild Wheel Walk 28th Nov 2021

An East Lancs LDWA production

I collected After Eights Walker Kay from Handforth at 7.30am (the one in the morning) to drive north to Preston and to go for a bit of a walk.

It was very cold, –4degC, and with sleet & snow forecast for later in the morning I was glad to be wearing my Buffalo top.

15 walkers and two doggies gathered at Preston’s Marriott Hotel, Broughton, in time for a good talking-to by Hilary, the walk leader.

After a quick photo-shoot we shot off (this is the LDWA) to walk the Preston Guild Wheel, described as:  ‘A 21 mile circular route that can be ridden or walked in any direction for as far as you want. You can join the route at any point on the way.

The route is mainly off-road and traffic free, providing a scenic and safe cycling and walking route for all the family to use. Use the map to help plan your route around the entire Guild Wheel or to create shorter cycling and walking routes to suit your location and ability.’

I chose to walk in Salomon walking / trail shoes, Kay wore boots – she suffered sore feet after a while, but being a bit of a tough ‘un, she soldiered on to the end.

The route is generally on a good surface, tarmac etc, although there were a few muddy bits.

This was the day after Storm Arwen the cause of a huge amount of damage up and down the country, but mainly up. It wasn’t long before we came across one of the storm’s casualties.

As we started following the banks of the River Ribble it started to sleet & snow, not much at first, but the sky suggested we’d be under attack from the white stuff for a while yet.

Preston Dock is no longer a working dock, but it’s now home to all manner of pleasure craft, and has been renamed Preston Marina. This wasn’t the best day to see it, even so it’s quite impressive.

Remains of the long-since vanished ship building industry are still visible if you look hard:

 

Hilary was expecting the cafe at Avenham Park to be open, but the place was in darkness – daft really, the park was full of visitors, the weather poor, I’m sure it would have done good business.

We snuck under a shelter and sat on the ground to eat our butties and drink our coffee. In true LDWA fashion we were off again after 20 minutes, again following the course of the River Ribble...which had a lot of bridges crossing it:

 

 

It was really great to see Julie after 3 years - almost to the day!

 

We spent a lot of the walk catching up and comparing notes.....a lot has happened in three years!

 

I'm not sure where or what this magnificent building is, other than being located before Brockholes, but I just had to photograph it.

 

Kay with Peter

 

Mud!

 

Mud!We continued following the meandering river until we had passed through Brockholes Nature Reserve when we walked NNW to a cafe where tea and coffee were quickly gulped down…..not quickly enough though, the two minute warning of impending departure came very quickly.

It was now getting cold. Ice formed on the well surfaced paths and many were skidding, slipping and sliding all over the show, I don’t think anyone actually hit the deck, but it was a close run thing.

We were marched through Hindley Hill Woods and on (apparently) passing Broughton Hall and Cromwell’s Mound. I didn’t see them, I was concentrating on staying upright on the ice-rink of a path.

We were now on final approach to The End. It was quite dark and getting very misty by the time we got back to our iced-up cars.

We bade our farewells to Hilary and the rest of the group, some of whom decided the hotel bar would be a good place for a debrief….and a beer no doubt.

We, on the other hand, sat in the car with the heater on and had a nice hot coffee before hitting the road home.

Thanks to Hilary for leading, and to the other walkers who came along – it was great to see you all again, it’s been too long!

Where we went:

21.8 miles (according to my GPS), with 1000’ of up and downery. Hmmm, not sure about that.

Whatever, the GPS reckoned we’d been on the go for just under 8 hours, 40 minutes of which was spent on breaks. That bit was about right.