Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

Having had a few days to catch up with a few recent issues of TGO, a realisation has popped into my mind: maybe basing myself somewhere on a trip away might allow me to get more from it, especially for those places that take a little longer to get to them. Using Dunoon as a base for exploring Cowal worked very well in 2011 so I need to spend a little time pre-assembling some designs so that they have some hope of becoming reality. Along with the wilder parts of Scotland, Northumberland also comes to mind with the longer travel times needed for getting there and because of my whetting my appetite for its hill country during the summer of 2011. Parts of Wales such as the countryside round about Brecon or the Heart of Wales railway line also come to mind as do the eastern fells of the Lake District in Cumbria and the Cairngorms in Scotland. Methinks that setting aside a little time to think these over might be no bad idea and there others that I could list here too but there are enough mentioned for now.

The end of one year and the beginning of another is as good a time as any to take stock of things. One of these that comes to mind pertains to loose ends outstanding in my hill wandering from the last few years. The biggest of these is the Pennine Way, along which I haven’t walked for a while, and it now looks like multi-day trips are need to add to the mileage already completed. The mention of the Pennine Way also reminds that unused plans exist for walking Derbyshire countryside too, both new and already frequented. Then, there’s the prospect of extending what I have walked of the Rob Roy Way and the perennial desire to savour more of what my home country, Ireland, has to offer the hill wanderer. Those should mean no shortage of trip ideas like what I felt to be the case at the end of 2010, at least until I started to catch up with then unread issues of TGO anyway.

2011 has been a busy year for me and my hope is that 2012 lets me out of doors more often though the future will decide that when it first becomes the present and then the past. After all, there’s hill country near Macclesfield that needs to be revisited and other possibilities may come my way. Unlike the end of 2010 when I felt that I had ran out of ideas, a year later sees me pondering a fair few options as the blog goes into its seventh calendar year although its actual birthday is at the start of May; 2012 will see the sixth one being reached. Any designs that I concoct may not be as grand as those of other folk but having a few of them manage to come to pass will more than do me. Hopefully, 2012 will turn out to be a good outdoors year for you, dear reader, too.

For me, 2011 will have to be seen as one when work very much got in the way of hill wandering. Even if it did, I did get out on quite a few excursions over its course and some of them took me places where I hadn’t been before then. Also, there was a sense of unfinished business with a few of them and that always produces ideas for new trips into the outdoors.

January

January started out well with a few trips away. The first was to Wales when I walked from Roman Bridge station on the Conwy Valley railway line to Pen y Pass. A grey start became a glorious afternoon and repaid the nuisance of going through a forestry plantation where the right of way felt unwanted. Slipping on a branch into the wet didn’t help either but it soon forgotten with the pleasure granted soon afterwards. Sometimes, it is worth overcoming any ardour.

The January trip took me north to Fort William. This time, sunshine was in short supply and Fort William was so foggy that anyone would need to ask themselves why they had travelled overnight to get there as I did. Crewe was very foggy when I left it too so this was a general feature and not just a local Scottish one. Nevertheless, a trot down the banks of Loch Shiel was not fogbound and I was pencilling in plans for a return that have yet to be fulfilled. Glenfinnan saw a little sun too though it didn’t last but thoughts of explorations on a longer evening beguile. There’s thoughts of a shorter stroll around Cow Hill near Fort William that too could act as a lure yet.

The last weekend in January saw me use up a ferry booking that was a contingency for getting to Ireland during the pre-Christmas freeze of 2010 but got deferred so as to allow its cancellation and refund. That latter intention got set aside and  I got to have an enjoyable yomp around Howth Head near Dublin. There again was a quota in operation regarding the amount of sunshine but I got enough for photos of Ireland’s Eye and Lambay Island. It would have been nice to have kept it for rounding the headland itself but there was no detraction from my enjoyment apart from the need to return under cover street lights before it became too dark. Finding such a quiet haven so near Dublin was a pleasure and looking across Dublin drew my eyes to the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains. From a previous escapade, I could pick out Great Sugarloaf near Kilmacanogue in County Wicklow. Viewing twinkling street lights from a quiet corner was a contrasting experience too. It’s amazing what Dubliners have on their doorstep.

February & March

The only trip away during these was one that took me to Oxford at the start of February. That certainly wasn’t a waste of a good day and I might be tempted to return again. In fact, it has me wondering about more urban walking destinations now that I recall it. Cambridge certainly has come to mind but there’s more than those with more humble destinations like Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Lancaster and Carlisle all coming to mind briefly once in a while over the last few years.

April, May & June

In another year, the good weather in February and March would have drawn me out in the countryside on a few weekends but 2011 was to see the next chance taken to await the start of April when I walked from Bollington back home while taking in the Kerridge ridge and the White Nancy. It may have been local but became an escape into peace in its own right. It was a reminder that there are places on my doorstep that needed frequenting more often.

It was to take until latter half of the Easter weekend for there to be another trip away from home. Then, it was a return to Llangollen after a gap of a number of years and this was to be my first trip there that involved an overnight stay in the town too. The peace of Easter Sunday evening wasn’t lost on me though it meant leaving the crowds of Llangollen after me and a commotion of bleating to die down once a large party had passed a flock of ewes and lambs. The paths that I was walking were being retraced rather than being trodden anew but that did nothing to detract from the fact that the everyday hurly burly felt a world away. That there was no need to rush home was a blessing too. The next day saw me wandering through countryside where I hadn’t been before and part of the North Berwyn Way for part of my walk. Not planning to cover too much in the way of distance meant that it was an unhurried hike and they always are best. Those who hang around Llangollen without exploring the surrounding countryside really are missing out even if that leaves it quiet for those of us fancying an escape from the frenzy of our working lives.

The Mayday bank holiday weekend immediately followed Easter this year and was extended by a royal wedding too. That encouraged me to head to Cowal for the weekend and it was a worthwhile venture too with three walks on two days. The first took me by the shores of Loch Long and Loch Goil while en route from Ardentinny to Carrick Castle. That was followed by another on the same day: a section of the Cowal Way from the shore of Loch Goil to Strachur. It was all good quiet replenishing fare for the spirit and in a part of the world that must get overlooked a lot as well.

The weather in May wasn’t so encouraging and June was a busy month for me too though it too had its interludes of sunshine. One of those drew me out early one Sunday morning on a cycle from my home around by Pott Shrigley. A January encounter from a few years back had me wondering if some photography when the rhododendron bushes were in flower might be worthwhile. However, I hadn’t bargained on the obscuring power of trees when they are in leaf so I am not so sure about the results evening if the sun was in the right part of the sky. Maybe a trot to the top of nearby Nab Head might end up being more productive.

July

July saw a bumper crop of outings with the first taking me along sections of St. Cuthbert’s Way. That weekend started with a hike from Wooler to Kirk Yetholm whose length left me tired but with a feeling that I have made a real start on exploring the landscape though which I had passed. The next day saw me walk from St. Boswells to Melrose while taking in both Dryburgh Abbey and the Eildon Hills. Lastly, I got to spend a few hours around Melrose Abbey in the summer heat.

The Isle of Man was my next port of call with a walk along Raad ny Foillan from Port Erin to Port St. Mary and then to Castletown. Apart from single shower, I seemed to have managed to pick a single sunny day in the middle of an unsettled spell of weather. It was sunny weather too that drew me to castles and coastline about the Menai Strait. Apart from revisiting Caernarfon and its famous castle, there was Beaumaris Castle and a section of the Isle of Anglesey Coastal Path to be savoured too. That weekend finished with a sunny crossing over the Menai Bridge. It was a contrast to the damp weekend spent in Ireland that preceded it. The last weekend in July saw me pass through mid Wales on the way to Gower. Conditions may not have been perfect or photography either along the Heart of Wales railway or in Gower but these first tastes may be followed later with more.

Remainder of the Year

Autumn had its sunnier interludes too but a busy working life limited my use of them to local cycles. One Saturday, I headed to Hare Hill and Alderley Edge and that has put an afternoon walk between the two into my mind as a future possibility. Others were similar and there were midday walks during a stretch when I worked from home too.

A few days booked away from work in December offered their chances too. The possibilities lined up in form of excursions to Church Stretton, Abergavenny and even Edinburgh. In the event, only the first of these happened and it was a pleasurable outing too with sleet showers doing nothing to dispel any sense of reverie. The leftovers can do for other occasions so I need not be annoyed that they didn’t happen. It’s better not to be greedy.

Looking to 2012

Some years can be more predictable than others, especially when it comes to working lives. There were a few for me when they came close but unpredictability is back again for me. 2012 looks to be a largely open book after a busy 2011 and a 2010 of two halves. Life away from work always is unpredictable so there’s no point attempting to see around all the corners.

On the hill wandering front, there aren’t any big plans for me in 2012 although there is a good number of ideas that are available for turning into real escapades. A little is needed for making that happen and that perhaps is one of the main lessons of 2011. If you cannot plan for an excursion and be ready to get away, then it just won’t happen. A ready supply of ideas and a ready rucksack might turn those ideas into outings and confront any desire for torpor on the way out the door.

The last few months have been hectic at work and that has impeded any incursions into the outdoors during what has been a lengthy spell of settled weather. That isn't to say that I haven't been out at all. After all, I got away to Ireland over the weekend. In a change for me, I swapped my usual air destination of Dublin for the quieter one at Shannon near Limerick.

That was the cause of allowing me to revisit the city of Limerick after having not been there for quite a few years. It has its landmarks of medieval antiquity too with thoughts of seeing King John's Castle on the banks of the Shannon in good if hazy sunshine being the cause of drawing me out on a trot between connecting bus services. For a place that was my county town for much of my life, it could come as a surprise to you that I had never gone and explored the walkways and parks that Limerick City Council has set in place along the banks of what is Ireland's longest river before. Last weekend saw that set to rights but seeing the likes of Bunratty Castle and the village of Adare were reminders not of the unexplored but of places that I wouldn't mind seeing again. The fact that they caught the sun really well as I passed nearly made me want to stop and stay a while but for the need to keep going.

It wasn't all about enjoying delightful sights of man-made constructions because a trip into Limerick's tourist information centre revealed some long distance walking options too. In there, I spotted a guide to the Lough Derg Way along with those for the Mid Clare Way and the East Clare Way. While I was in the heart of a city, these discoveries were reminders that wanderings in greener surroundings weren't all that far away. It's all very well savouring the more delightful parts of places like Limerick or, as I did at the start of February, Oxford but losing yourself in empty open countryside for even a short while is unbeatable.

Turning those thoughts of more natural spaces a little wilder, I also recently happened on a leaflet extolling the virtues of Sleat as a base from which to explore Skye. Though it's seen more of my attention than the hinterland of Limerick city, a few years have passed since I last ventured up there as part of a Hebridean adventure a few years back. With the frenetic pace of my working life nowadays, being able to find in a short amount of time a convenient base from which to fan out to sample more views like those of Skye's Cuillin Hills sounds good to me. While I may have been cycling through the Cheshire countryside to and from work a lot over the last few weeks, it is starting to look as if planning a longer stretch away from the madness of modern life is opportune.

The arctic conditions that came our way before the Christmas were the cause of my having a one way ferry ticket from Holyhead to Dublin as a backup plan should a closure of Dublin Airport due to snow put paid to my crossing the Irish Sea by air. In the end, I did manage that air journey though I was to spend a frustrating few hours on the tarmac at Shannon before returning to Dublin and coming south again! Once on that side of the Irish Sea, I decided to rearrange my crossing for another time so as to decide whether to use it or cancel it. In the end, it did get used and I ended up paying a visit to Howth and walking right around its peninsula too.

My journey did gain me a stop at Llandudno Junction that allowed me another look at Conwy's castle as well as glimpses around Holyhead's port in the sunshine and nearby Holyhead Mountain (a hill, really, but a lot of this type of naming goes on in Ireland too so I cannot complain). As I was travelling west from home, skies grew ever more hazy until  it was a cloudy Dublin that I found myself approaching on the ferry. Though that led me to give up being very hopeful of seeing any part of Ireland blessed by the sun, there was to be an interlude that replaced pessimism with satisfaction.

It was as I was approaching Howth station on a DART train that I was presented with a full-on view of a well pleasingly lit Ireland's Eye that made me get off the train without delay though without knocking anyone over either. The sense that this might have been a fleeting opportunity had me setting off earnestly searching out a suitable vantage point for making something of the photographic opportunity presented to me. In hindsight, lessening the haste might have been better but I got my photos before it was too light. In fact, the lighting was fading as I retraced my steps along one of Howth's harbour walls with a good deal of satisfaction for my pains. Not only had I glimpsed Ireland's Eye but also a partially lit Lambay Island too. All had come good.

If I had missed out, I would have been kicking myself as I rounded the Howth peninsula; the cloud took over to keep the sun prisoner for much of the rest of the day. There were National Loop Walks to explore and I set off to follow one after a fashion. First, it was a matter of following a road by Balscadden Bay towards the Nose of Howth. Beyond a car park, I left the tarmac after me to follow a well-made clifftop path that had its unnerving moments.

If solitude is what you seek, Howth's harbour is not the place to go of a sunny Saturday as many other folk were enjoying their stroll about its walls. The cliff path may have attracted less attention but it wasn't unused either. Still, it was far from being overrun either and trespass grew less regular the further along it I went. In fact, there was a marked quietening after passing The Summit where there was a car park. The fact that it was getting late in the day probably made people less likely to start a walk too.

Views of the promontory that is the Great Bailey were opening out before with the Bailey Lighthouse issuing its warning to shipping. Evening Irish Sea ferries going to and from Dublin started to come into sight. It was looking busy with ships operating by DFDS, P&O, Stena and Irish Ferries all passing the way. In the middle of all this, I needed to lose some height to cross over the road leading to the aforementioned lighthouse, a decision whose wisdom I was later to question in fading daylight.

Views across Dublin Bay towards the Dublin and Wicklow mountains were ample too and I could identify a slender break in the cloud that was liberating some weak sunlight a little later. While the sun was finding its way to that slit, I was picking out the distinctive low-sized humps of Great Sugarloaf and Little Sugarloaf. This was a reminder of a trot to the top of the former that I enjoyed a few years back. What drew my attention back to the present was the reddening of the Great Bailey by the last act of the sun on the Howth peninsula for the day. After that, I still could see it being busy showering shafts of light on the less distinct hills on the other side of the bay as I pondered how far I needed to go before I could depend on streetlights taking over the duties of the sun.

Dog walkers and photographers seeking the last light of the day remained abroad to be encountered. Isn't it amazing how many folk walk their dogs in the dusk? And it isn't just a British thing either from what I saw across the Irish Sea. With Doldrum Bay and Drumleck Point passed, I was on the look out for a Martello tower, one of several that are to be found around Dublin. They were constructed near the close of the eighteenth century to provide a means of defence against the French. Before I was to reach that now privately owned restored building, there were muddy sections of path to cross and I even dropped onto a beach at one point before shadowing a stone wall for the final approach to the tower.

Because of rapidly failing daylight that had me asking why I had no headtorch and unwelcoming signs, I didn't dawdle near the tower but made my way to tarmac again. The way to Sutton train station was lit as I gazed across the bay towards the lights of Dublin city and its surroundings. Even without constant sunshine, the appeal of Howth's cliff cannot be overstated. There's a longer National National Loop walk that would have got me back to Howth but, even with my own torch, I wouldn't have wanted to blundering around the Ben of Howth anyway. Some things are best left for another time since it's best to leave anywhere with a reason for a return, not that Howth mistreated me at all of course.

Travel Arrangements:

Train from Macclesfield to Holyhead with changes at Manchester and Llandudno Junction; then Irish Ferries sailing to Dublin, bus into city centre and train to Howth. Returned by train from Sutton to Dublin city centre. DFDS overnight ferry crossing to Birkenhead (sadly now no longer a travel option), National Express from Birkenhead to Manchester with a change in Liverpool and train back to Macclesfield again.

Those heavy coatings of snow that many of us were to find round about our way before Christmas weren't left go without my going out and sampling the transformed countryside, even if my excursions were mere nibbles compared with what others were doing. On the Monday before Christmas, I got myself into the hills not far from Glossop with Shelf Benches being the limit of my explorations. Tuesday saw me pottering about Lindow Common enthralled by the way clumps of snow were clinging to any vegetation. Wednesday afternoon was too good to leave go so I tried out and circular trot round by Prestbury, starting from my own front doorstep. A Christmas trip to Ireland in spite of snow showers closing Dublin Airport and sending me around the island a bit more than I intended offered its own opportunities too. That meant some wandering along snowy roads and over well coated fields before the thaw came on St. Stephen's Day (Boxing Day to the British). The only sign of snow since was a greasy damp dusting that greeted me on the morning of my first day back at work for 2011.

It was after a chaotic weekend for travel in the U.K. that I finally had the chance of making something of what had visited us on Friday evening and beyond. With the aftermath of the snowfall and the impact of the cold weather in mind, I decided against going too far and stuck with an option that erupted in my mind the day before: sampling the hill country near Glossop again after being absent for a few years. The prospect of popping over to Longdendale was an extension that never came to pass but it was better not to get too carried away during the hours that were available to me. That was just as well because any attempt to approach Shelf Moor and its neighbours would have been stymied but for my having my Kahtoola Microspikes with me; they stuck into the ice superbly to get me further away from civilisation than otherwise might have been the case. Beyond the obstacle, it was over to the cleats of my Scarpa ZG10's to keep me upright and they did that apart from downhill skid on slippery snow that didn't carry me either too far or into any danger; it merely was a warning not to get too carefree. Cloud was advancing from the south but enough sunlight was left to me for making a pleasing record of what surrounded me. It was only after Mossy Lea farm that I had the chance to use the Access Land to leave the more travelled way to have a potter about. In the end, I contented myself with reaching the foot of Shelf Benches after following a landrover track as far as a broken down wall from where I followed animal tracks as far as was sensible.

Strangely, there were more folk around when I made my return to Glossop; there only was one other soul out when I was venturing away from civilisation. Some were struggling over the icy obstruction with instep crampons while others seemed to get around it without any need for specialised kit at all. My incursion into the whitened outdoors may not have carried me far but I did gain a bit of height to gaze over humps and bumps that lay about me so satisfaction was assured.

The next day's sampling of whitened surroundings was a snatched trot about the Black Lake on Lindow Common. Every tree and scrub had clumps of snow stuck to it, which may for dramatic sights when walking though the Common's more wooded parts. These were sights that I rarely get to see so I lingered even though there were other things to be done and there was time-consciousness into the bargain too. The afternoon of the day after was less rushed as I walked from my house to Prestbury. Light was beginning to fade a little and there were sights that reminded me of Lindow as I followed the Bollin. There were thoughts of walking back via Tytherington but an iced up track under a railway put a stop to that; a quick local trot had me leaving the Microspikes behind and they were needed unless I contented myself with wandering through Prestbury village and back home by roadside footways whose gradients were a solid reminder of the depression of a valley through which the Bollin flows. That's what I did to reach the cover of streetlights before daylight finally failed for the day.

Those Irish explorations took place in better light so there was enough for photo of unusual scenes for a usually mild part of the country. Well, seeing clumps of snow stuck to everything and hearing the dropping of snow dust within a hedge or a bush just isn't usual at all. Much of my venturing took the form of careful road walking though I followed farm roadways too. In hindsight, I was glad to have sampled what I did because a rapid thaw after Christmas Day didn't take long to remove all the whiteness from everywhere; that was almost as dramatic as the snow fall and arctic temperatures themselves. It may be January but one cannot be betting on any repeat of what came from the north to us and many would appreciate its staying away for a good while after all of the disruption that was caused. Well, it goes to show that nature's beauty has a price bit it's worthwhile when you gaze upon scenes like those shared here.