Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

It’s very human to look back at the turn of a year/decade/century/millennium/etc. and, this time last year, I took the opportunity to look over my travels in 2006. In the same vein, I now cast my mind back over the same sort thing but for 2007 instead. If 2006 was to be the year of seeking out pastures new, then 2007 has been a year largely taken up with following long distance trails into country familiar to me from a different angle and, more often than not, into country that I am visiting for the first time.

2007 was to start quietly with only one walking excursion in January. The weather didn’t tempt but for day when I went to Chirk for a trek to Llangollen that saw me hop over and back along the Wales-England border before picking up a small piece of the Offa’s Dyke Path and leaving that to get to Llangollen before nightfall. It was a case of something old, something new and put an idea into my head that laid the foundations for a walk later in the year. The long distance trail ethic that was to pervade my walking in 2007 had made an early appearance.

February built up the long distance trail trend with my exploring two trails. First up was the Pennine Way with a hike from Hebden Bridge to Littleborough giving me a feel for the moors above Calderdale. Walks along the Pennine Way, still unfinished business in 2008, were to pervade my outings until the end of April. My second excursion took me up to Scotland for the southernmost part of the West Highland Way: Milngavie to Drymen. This was also a case of going into countryside new to me and, like the Calderdale trot, it was to give rise to more excursions later on.

The Pennine Way hiking continued in March and it started again early in the month with a trek that saw me return to Calderdale for a walk from Todmorden to Burnley by way of both the Pennine Way and the Pennine Bridleway. This was followed up at the end of the month when I yomped from Haworth to Burnley.

My Pennine wanderings were set to continue in April and the first one plugged a gap in the itinerary from Edale to Haworth: Marsden to Littleborough via Wessenden Reservoir. It was to prove a claggy day until lunchtime, something that very much focussed the mind when it came to navigation. My next day along the Pennine Way was in clearer if blustery conditions. It also was to take me through some of the best countryside on the Pennine Way as I voyaged from Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hawes. Rain was to beset me on my next excursion as I left Malham Tarn to head for Gargrave but I left the rain after me in Malham and things cheered up immeasurably as I was nearing my destination for the day. Those two excursions left a gap that was filled on a tramp from Malham Tarn over Fountains Fell and Pen-y-Ghent to Horton on a day that when it felt like summer.

I started May with another trip blessed by fair weather. After years of admiring it, I finally made my way up to the top of Skiddaw. Some may view the manicured lines of the "tourist track" that I followed as dull, I’d rather not scare myself with descents that are too steep so I well appreciated its gentler approach and I still found time to take in Little Man and Lattrigg as well. Next up in May was a trip that my memory reckons happened in July; it’s just as well that I have this blog! I made my return to Chirk for another stroll along the Offa’s Dyke Path, this time to Oswestry. Cloud predominated on the day so photographic opportunities were rare. Even so, it didn’t stop my having a good walk in countryside that was new to me. If I had more time, I would have dawdled more so it might time for a return. In walking terms, the month of May went out with a bang: a two day trek on the West Highland Way along the banks of Loch Lomond with an overnight stay in Rowardennan. I very much took a chance with the weather on this one but Scotland didn’t let me down on what is for me one of the finest stretches of the WHW.

June was to be a quieter month with regard to walking and the long evenings were allowing me to get out in the part of Cheshire’s hill country that is near me. These outings were to become a feature of the "summer". June soon became a sodden affair but I still returned to Rhinog country for a creditable stroll through a landscape that was anything but dry. The weather that we were getting was a foretaste of what was to come, making 2007 a year of two halves: one fabulous and one that returned us to reality. Alan Sloman was lucky to complete his LEJOG when he did.

July was for many a washout but I managed to get two decent Lakeland excursions out of the month. Both involved my heading to Windermere with the first being an over and back hike to Kentmere and the second being a trek to Staveley via Kentmere. On both outings, I enjoyed the fine scenery in excellent weather, something that must sound ironic to those sodden by the floods of 2007. Yes, water had accumulated underfoot but the worst difficulties, if any, were avoidable.

August saw me finishing two long distance trails and starting on another one. The first to be completed was the West Highland Way and that happened on my now habitual summertime stay in Scotland. That saw me complete of perhaps the noisiest stretch of the trail: that between Bridge of Orchy and Inverarnan and with some sun to enliven the views too. The other walking that I did during that trip was a soggy reconnaissance trip among the hills near Kinlochleven. The other trail completed was one passing not far from where I live: the Gritstone Trail. Hikes from Macclesfield to Congleton and from Eaton to Kidsgrove in pleasant conditions allowed me to bring my walking of the trail towards a good end. A final evening stroll was sufficient for me to walk the final short stretch around Bollington before I then walked home to my house. The bank holiday weekend at the end of the month allowed me the opportunity to start off the Rob Roy Way by walking from Drymen to Callander with an overnight stay in Aberfoyle. This got me into nice countryside that I hadn’t visited before and it seems more than worthy of a return.

After what must sound like a bountiful August, hillwalking activities were less prevalent for the rest of the year, even if I had planned not to have things slow down. September and November stand out as months when you could have said that I had gone into hibernation. October saw me head out for a local constitutional to take in the Autumn colour, follow streams in local hill country and visit the South Pennines for a hike lacking in any real progress on completing the missing link in my Pennine Way journey so far. In December, I decided to vanquish any sense of hibernation by another wander among the hills lining the Cheshire-Derbyshire border followed up by a fleeting unintended visit to the hill country of the Long Mynd near Church Stretton.

All in all, 2007 was another good walking year for me. Unless you lost out in the flooding (and I don’t envy anyone who did: hope it all works out alright for them), it would be a travesty to remember 2007 for its sodden summer when we had so much clement weather earlier in the year. As it happens, the continual greyness that pervaded nearly all of 2004 remains with me with 2007’s bright spots easily cause me to forget any grey bits. The proverbial question of what 2008 will bring does raise its head as it is wont to do; so also is the realisation that the future is not ours to see (we’re probably better off!). I never go in for big plans anyway but that doesn’t stop me having ideas in my mind for when the opportunities to explore them arise. We’ll see what happens…

The prospect of some winter sunshine last Thursday had me taking a day off work for a spot of walking after my near hibernation for November. I rifled my way through the possibilities in my head before arriving at the idea of heading to Keswick and then Borrowdale. That plan never came to fruition, though, and I ended up embarking on a local stroll instead. The more adventurous plan remains a good prospect for the future…

That local stroll was to take me along the hills lining the Cheshire-Derbyshire border in the cold chilly clearness and with a certain amount of concentration so as not to slip on any ice or mud. While up high, ice was the main concern with flags attracting hoar frost and any water collected on tracks and paths was frozen. In contrast, slippery mud was cause for attention on downhill sections towards the end of the walk. All the while, I was well wrapped up and enjoying the sights.

My starting point was the Cat and Fiddle Inn, the second highest pub in England and a short bus ride from the centre of Macclesfield, and the idea in my head was to redo part of a walk that once returned me to Macclesfield by way of Shining Tor, Pym Chair and Rainow in cloudier conditions. The idea of seeing the landscape around Cat’s Tor and Pym Chair in better light was enough to encourage me. This time, instead of returning to Rainow from Pym Chair, I continued to Kettleshulme by way of Windgather Rocks and Taxal Edge. I could have finished in Kettleshulme but, given that there was an hour or so of daylight left, I opted to continue to Whaley Bridge via Toddbrook Reservoir and avoiding the B5470 as much as I could.

This is hill country that I have frequented on a number of different occasions and with my following a slightly different route each time. For instance, the start of last Thursday’s walk was also the start of a walk to Buxton via Errwood Reservoir in the Goyt Valley. I left that track for a path up Shining Tor. That path is good one though it is showing signs of wear with webbing meant to support the path appearing above the gravel in some places as it crosses very boggy terrain, a fact reinforced by the sight of a very bogged down DK55-registered Massey Ferguson tractor. I assume that its owners will be back for it but it is telling that even a four wheel drive tractor cannot manage these conditions.

The boggy theme was continued with the appearance of flagstones underfoot, a situation very much reminiscent of parts of the Pennine Way. A gentle descent and ascent saw me to Cat’s Tor though the appearance of hoar frost on the flags concentrated the mind. That didn’t stop me making the most of the photographic opportunities offering by a sun using the clouds to play hide and seek. I made up for earlier when the likelihood of lens flare reduced the possibilities when it came to capturing views of Shutlingsloe.

Suggesting sounder ground, the flags were lost after Cat’s Tor and road was encountered at Pym Chair. At this point, I headed to Kettleshulme rather than Rainow as was the case of my previous trip. The ground was more or less thawed out from here onwards. A mixture of public and permissive paths got me to Windgather Rocks where more photographic action took place before continuing the public/permissive path and tarmac mixture, I reached Kettleshulme. Having more daylight with which to play, I chose to continue to Whaley Bridge. Although I largely avoided the remarkably unpleasant B5470, the tarmac/footpath mixture continued and care with a muddy descent to reach Todd Brook meant that I didn’t more mud than I did. My journey was eventually to take me by Toddbrook Reservoir while making for Whaley Bridge and its train station. A railway journey round by Stockport was enough to get a very satisfied Irishman home.

Since my post on walking hibernation, I have managed to get out and about in the dry chilly air that has joined us recently. Last Thursday saw me take a day off work to wander through some of hill country that lines the Cheshire-Derbyshire border. That has been followed by a sortie into the Shropshire Hills AONB to savour the delights of the Long Mynd near Church Stretton. More details should follow but I have ended a spell where explorations of hill country did not take up as much time as I might have liked. It remains to be seen how much festive walking might get done, though.

On a bus journey from Macclesfield to New Mills some time back, I made a mental note of the pleasant hill country through which the B5470 threads its way from Rainow to Kettleshulme. Even though the memory remained with me, for some reason unbeknownst to me I never managed to take a walk among the glorious surroundings until last Thursday afternoon. And that amazes me all the more when I look at the map and consider my ventures: there are many places in the vicinity where I have wandered but this gap in my explorations still remained.

The morning was taken up with the main reason for my day off from work, an unsuccessful venture that left me feeling annoyed with myself, so a walk on a fine October day seemed as good a distraction as any. It may have not been the complete cure for my annoyance that I was hoping it would have been but my head was clearer than before I popped out.

The sun was unsure of itself while I was readying myself for the outing and I was wondering whether I would be seeing the landscape in the best light. I carried onto to Bollington anyway and I’m glad that I did because the sun returned and, apart from some stutters, stayed away from clouds for the whole afternoon. I pottered up a minor road and picked up the Gritstone Trail for a while before I left it for a vehicle track taking me along the slopes above Harrop Brook. Looking back now at the route that I took, it could be said that I followed the same brook to its source on the slopes of Cook Hill and Broad Moss. A closer look at the map revealed a number of names accompanying Harrop Brook: Black Brook and Moss Brook are but two. My journey following these took me past the end of the vehicle track and onto muddier underfoot conditions as I passed through woodland and over fields, crossing the B5470 along the way.

Once across the aforementioned road, the views really opened up. I ascended the minor heights of Broad Moss and views north towards the moors of the High Peak were mine to enjoy. That wasn’t all since Taxal Edge, Pym Chair and Cat’s Tor all blocked any view of the Goyt Valley and its reservoirs. Those hills and the valley in question have been frequented by my boots on other walks so I made my way towards Charles Head and Kettleshulme. Getting to the latter proved tricky because the B5470 is a busy if narrow road devoid of footways so careful progress is a must if you are not to get knocked down. This is not an escape route to civilisation for the hill wanderer until you reach Rainow and it certainly is no road to be walking in the dark.

Kettleshulme was to be the end of my walk on a wonderful day in equally wonderful surroundings. The public footpaths followed shared a property that pervades much of the public footpath network in England and Wales: haphazard waymarking. This makes it essential to be on the ball with your map and your compass; GPS would help too. Where things got tricky, I kept it simple and, since my plan was fluid, any diversions taken were no disappointment. In fact, they added to the experience.

The weather in Britain and Ireland is an ever changing affair and doesn’t take long to change when it sets its mind to it; thirty minutes often is all that’s needed. The weather this weekend is what’s put that thought into my head. Yesterday morning started as a cloudy affair before the cloud shifted to leave cloudless blue sky and very quickly too. That wasn’t to last long, however, and my enthusiasm for an afternoon stroll among the hills beyond Bollington waned. Yes, I have to admit that cloudy skies do bring out the lazy git in me as does my indecision regarding where to go for a walk when my time is limited; it’s all too easy to stay where you are. Many of my walks are also photographic expeditions of a sort and cloudy skies more often than not do not make for pleasing landscape photos; saying that, they are good for subjects where diffuse light is what you need and woodland comes to mind as an example.

This morning was a similar affair and it is now well cloudy as I write this, though the sun is still trying to find a way through. However, I made no mistake when the sky cleared this time and pottered out for what was a gentle stroll starting on my own doorstep. The thoughts of seeing wondrous autumn colour in equally wonderful October sunshine was enough to set me on my way to Prestbury along the Bollin Valley Way. And I wasn’t to be disappointed on my excursion. My return journey was an unplanned affair made up of a mish-mash of public footpath and road walking; at one point I ended up on an overgrown path and encountered a lot of nettles in a wilder patch of a normally manicured Cheshire. The sun had delighted but clouds were appearing from the south and, within minutes of returning home, the sky had filled with cloud.