Tally-Ho! Chinley Trail 8th October 2022

 

Another bright and remarkably warm day, given the weather forecast, saw the fine fellows of the Cheshire Hare & Hounds Tally-Ho! trail running club gather at the very fine Old Hall in Chinley for what promised to be another excellent run.

The hares, Ade and Tony (I’m in the money) Taylor, had plotted the day’s run.

Unusually this trail was marked by clumps of straw as well as the more usual sawdust…..this confused one or two of the hounds. Given the advancing years of one or two of the hounds such confusion is to be expected.

A pack consisting of Eastwood, Wislon, Brown ( not THAT Brown, the new one), Lost Markham, Fast Taylor, Doggy, and me, set off downhill (always an ominous start to a run) to follow the tarmac of a very quiet lane, across the railway by Brierley Green, then on tracks and footpaths to eventually cross Dolly Lane.

The pack soon caught up with some of the crocked club members who had decided to walk the route. They were off-trail, and were searching for the sawdust – although in all fairness the bright sunshine made it difficult to spot.

By this time Markham had been left behind, we warned the walkers to watch out for him and to make sure he didn’t get too lost.

The pack spread out over the next couple of miles of gentle ascent, either searching for trail or just easing off the pace.

At Over (the?) Hill Road we continued eastwards (eastwoods?) to the area marked on the OS map as New Allotments – a strange name for this rather inhospitable bit of the route.

 Burston, not at all very lost.

Turning north and then looping round by the disused quarries, Burston and I came across two runners coming towards us. We planned to stop them to see if they might be interested in the Club, but as the got closer it became clear that it was Jenks and Whitehead – they’d somehow lost the trail early on and ended up doing it in reverse.

A brilliant part of the route followed: over the edges of Chinley Churn and Cracken Edge – stunningly beautiful in the autumn sunshine. 

The descent by Cracken Edge was very steep, it was a shame to leave the lovely tops, but it had to be done.

 

The rather beautiful White Hall

Another ¾ mile or so got us back on to tarmac that soon delivered us back to the pub….where rehydration operations commenced.

 

The Abbeydale IPA being served was very good indeed – just a shame I was driving.

18 sat down to dinner in the dining hall. Those who’s eyes were bigger than their stomachs ordered puddings, whilst those who were, er, watching their figures, stuck to one very filling main course.

Thanks to Ady and Tony for another superb trail – a serious contender for Trail of the Season, almost as good as the New Mills trail ;-)

Thanks also to everyone who kept me company on the way round.

Where we went:

7 miles (ish), 1200’ ascent.