Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

Doubtless, few in Gloucestershire will want to recall the July that we have just had and I hope that they are beginning to get back on their feet again. Amazingly, those heavy rains didn’t affect Cheshire to anything like the same extent and I did manage to make two visits to the Cumbrian fells. However, we shouldn’t forget that July weather can be very much a hit and miss affair; I can think of loads of occasions where July has been very grey. Maybe, that’s down to my experiencing loads of Irish and Scottish summers. Good weather in July is dependent of the jet stream moving to the north and that can take a painful amount of time, like it has done this year, or it may hardly happen at all, 2004 is etched in my memory for this reason. It was late in doing so again in 2003, an otherwise fabulous year, and I made the mistake of spending a soggy week inn Scotland’s Western Highlands only to be greeted with a heatwave the very next week! After various efforts to distract myself from my disappointment with a number of weekends spent around Keswick, Skiddaw and Derwentwater, it was only a weekend visit to Lochaber that more than made good. I won’t easily forget walks between Kinlochleven and Fort William over the Lairig Mor and around Loch Lochy at all easily; the weather could not have been better. It was nearly worth getting sodden for the motivation return to sights like these. So here’s to August 2007. Let’s see what it brings.

Despite the fact that I haven’t all of the photo processing done, I have created a Pennine Way section to my photo gallery as promised. Photo selection was a little tricky because of the nature of the countryside frequented by the Way: not only is featureless moorland a navigational challenge but it is also a photographic one. Lack of any focal point makes for dull photos so effort is required. Still, I hope that you enjoy the photos. This gallery is a work in progress, very much like the completion of the long distance trail itself.

Even after all of the weather-induced goings-on further south, I still braved the prospect of showers and headed to Cumbria for a day out among the fells. My getting a new Pentax DSLR was partly to blame for this; I needed to see how it got on in the "wild". My transport arrangements were the same as for my previous excursion up to these parts and the course of my walk followed a lot of that route as well.

There were variations from before of course. I skirted Orrest Head so that I wouldn’t get captivated atop it again; the day was more cloudy at this stage anyway. In fact, it was around here that I got the only rain on my hike and it was only a light shower. By the time that heavy showers were to arrive, I was safely ensconced in Oxenholme station awaiting a train back to Crewe. In between, the day was to improve greatly and the cloud was becoming more broken as I headed for the Garburn Pass and the sun was well out on my arrival in Kentmere. Not surprising given the summer that we have have been having, some large puddles the width of the whole track had to be crossed as I plied my way up Dubbs Road. I kept thinking that a spot of maintenance would counter their appearance but it doesn’t look as if that’s getting done.

I took a break for food  in Kentmere and spotted where there was a bus stop served by the Kentmere Rambler, otherwise known as service 519. This is a regular summer shuttle that plies its way between Staveley and Kentmere on Sundays and bank holidays with support from Friends of the Lake District. It looks useful and I wonder why it doesn’t run on Saturdays as well; after all, this is an area well worth visiting.

After this, my course changed very much from before as I was heading for Staveley this time, rather than back to Windermere again. So, I ventured along the bridleway rounding the slopes of Green Quarter Fell, looking back a lot as I made my way. I turned for Staveley in the vicinity of Skeggles Water and it was here that I took my leave of a gentleman out walking with his dogs, whose path kept crossing with mine; we did end up passing some words of conversation at each occasion of our meeting. There were no navigational hazards on the way down to Staveley from here and the route highlighted a possible entry point for any future visits. There may well be a few…

I was riding on a bus recently and observed some unbelievable driving. I am not going to share too many details apart from it being the last bus home to Macclesfield from somewhere else. To say the least, it was abundantly clear that the driver was interested in getting home than providing a service. I cannot say that speed limits were being observed judiciously and there were some instances where traffic lights were turning red but the bus did not stop. At one point, the vehicle was travelling on the wrong side of the road! To my mind, the quality of the driving was far less than I would have expected, and this was a lady driver. On a positive note, principal stops were served on time, with waiting where necessary, but I do wonder what would have happened if traffic police were to have seen this.

After my various trips along its length this year, I am now putting together a section in the online photo gallery dedicated to this daddy of British National Trails. Completing it is an ongoing project of mine, though I have to admit that I haven’t been moving things forward that much in recent times. There is a gap between Gargrave and Haworth that remains to be walked and the logistically more challenging northern sections are next. Two or three day outings sound like a good way to deal with these and who knows what I could be doing when I get a window of walking opportunity that extends for more than one day, as it does at the moment. The Pennine Way gallery has led me to consider having galleries dedicated to other long distance trails and the West Highland Way is definitely one that falls into this category. As it stands, I have photos from my excursion from Inverarnan to Drymen to add and creation of the West Highland Way gallery would happen then. On the walking front, I have done most of it and completing the part between Inverarnan and Bridge of Orchy is another idea for a few days of fine weather. We’ll see…