Errwood 27th Feb

Yes It did rain didn't it. Even as we set off we could have been mistaken for a group of 22 people who

had just had a swim in the reservoir, the rain Gods certainly seemed to have it in for us but they overlooked our masochistic tendencies to press on.

As we arrived at the summit of Shining Tor the weather eased slightly although there was still quite a

bit of mist about spoiling the views, happily a quick 'sprint' to the Cat and Fiddle soon lifted flagging spirits.

We spent about 45 mins in this Pub where we left two of the Ladies still sampling the wares to be picked

up by motorised carriage later. (I think they just wanted to chat up the eight or so Bikers who had just arrived).

The jaunt down to Derbyshire Bridge was quite pleasant, clear skies and great views.

The path across Stake  Clough was quite 'Boggy' as expected  but not too much of a challenge.Once this had been

mastered the downhill stretch back to Errwood Carpark was a doddle.

I always find it quite hard to get up early on a Sunday morning to the sound of the rain beating on the windows so a turnout of 22 people on this walk was fantastic, as always I enjoyed the exercise and especially the company.

                                         Cheers Pete N.

 

Click here for photos of the walk.

Moal Famau 20th feb

20 Moel Famau

 

15 people attended the Clwyddians walk on what turned out to be a surprisingly good day weather wise. (The previous couple of days had been lousy).

 Starting from he picturesque village of Cilcain, we subsequently conquered Moel Fameau, Moel Dywyll and Moel Llys-y-Coed. The final ascent of the day was Moel Arthur, which still bears the remains of a protective ditch from the bronze age settlement there.

The walking, although involving a considerable amount of ascent, was on good paths consequently the party made good progress and finished at a timely 3:30 PM.

Chris Hughes

 

Click here for photos of the walk

Ravenstor Christmas Party

12/13 Ravenstor Christmas Party

Click here for photos of the Christmas Party

Click here for photos of the walk

Dovestones 6th FEb

Dove Stones

After seeing the Met Office Severe Weather Warnings for Sunday, Sue and I set off from home half expecting (hoping?) no-one would turn up.

 

No such luck! Five hardy souls were waiting for us in Stockport so we were committed, and then another four incurable optimists joined us in Greenfield.

 

No-one looked too disappointed when we announced that, in deference to the Met Office's warnings of gale-force winds, we weren't going to take the planned high-level route. Instead we'd settle for a more sheltered alternative staying down in the valley. A decision, I might add, emphatically endorsed by a National Park Ranger we spoke to later in the day.

 

Although the sky was slatey-grey and threatening, the rain hadn't shown up yet. However the wind certainly had, so as we headed up the valley we were getting a good push from behind. I suspect we all hoped that if we didn't mention it, it might have dropped by the time we had to turn round and face it. I had to chuckle at the sight of a couple of crows flying into the wind, flapping like crazy and getting absolutely nowhere.

 

So up to the head of the valley for another look at Birchin Clough. The decision Sue and I made on our recce not to attempt this route was proved correct, as there was even more water coming down today and crossing the stream would have been, er, "interesting".

 

So, we turned to re-trace our steps, and, no, the wind hadn't dropped. In fact, funnelling up the valley, it nearly took some of the less weighty of us clean off our feet on a couple of occasions!  

 

However, we battled back a short distance and crossed the dam of Greenfield reservoir (trying to make sure hats and people didn't get blown into the water) to make our way back down the other side of the valley.

 

Lunch at the picnic area was followed by a division of the party. Some decided they'd been blown around enough for one day and would stay on the main path back to Dove Stones Dam. There they'd wait for the rest of us who headed up Ashway gap, and after crossing the footbridge over the water chute, made our way back along a higher path directly beneath the Dove Stones themselves.

 

All back at the dam, we were congratulating ourselves (between mouthfuls of hot-dog and bacon buttie from the van) on avoiding the rain. Then down it came! Actually it was more sideways than down, but with only ten minutes walk back to the cars, we thought we'd had a pretty good day all things considered.

 

We'll have a go at the high-level route in the summer!

 

 

Geoff

Click here for photos of the walk