Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

There was one event in my life over the last year that very firmly punctuated the year in outdoors terms: a change of job. Whether it was the cause of putting my hill-going off track or not, there clearly were less outings in the second half of the year and those that were enjoyed weren't so extensive. The strange thing though is that a Christmas spent with the folks in Ireland seems to have recharged things for me. After all, there already has been a proper day out among the waterlogged hill country around Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) in Wales very early in this year with a mad dash up to Fort William and Glenfinnan together with a crossing to Ireland to savour the delights of Howth near Dublin following it. In previous years, it often has fallen to the last weekend of January before I managed to get out at all. There are other schemes in mind but more armchair exploring could be needed before anything comes of them.

The first few months of last year had me standing on hilltops more often than is usual for me and January and February fitted into this pattern with walks over Place Fell in Cumbria and Diffwys near Dyffryn Ardudwy, respectively. The weather was very amenable in both cases with a touch of spring being felt on the second excursion to contrast with the sights reminding onlookers of winter during the previous one. The other major outing in February was a cycle that took in Gawsworth, Astbury, Little Moreton Hall, Holmes Chapel, Goostrey, Over Peover and Chelford. Though I was tired after that jaunt, it sowed the seeds for a cycle to Chester later in the year.

March saw me move things up a gear again by heading to Scotland to see some Scottish snow-covered hillsides around Glen More among the Cairngorms. Braving some showers was the price that I had to pay for this but the rewards from the short sampling session more than compensated. In fact, it may have set the scene for a busy April that featured an Easter Sunday trot from Baslow to Bamford while shadowing the River Derwent. That wasn't as low level as it might sound but I headed to greater heights in the form of Carnedd Moel Siabod and Y Llethr in Wales too. Revisiting the trip reports for these makes me realise that I was more active than I now remember myself to be.

My recollections of May are stronger and it started with a Mayday bank holiday weekend visit to the Isle of Man where I savoured some of the ups and downs of the coastal path, Raad ny Foillan. That was a good introduction to Manx walking and I hope to follow up the outing some time. A trot from Selkirk to Melrose had it share of ascent and descent too as it brought back to a part of the world where I hadn't been for a few years. Later, I discovered that the Kerry mountains around Killarney can get some hot sunny weather. In fact, it could have been the most sun that I have had on a visit to the alluring area.

As it happened, May ended with the commencement of the distraction that was to occupy my mind for much of the next few months: a change of job. It was amazing to see how this really punctuated my outdoors year. The weather remained balmy as I pondered what I was doing with visits to the National Trust managed woods around Alderley Edge for some unwinding on lengthening evenings. That spell of good weather came to an end later in June but not before I snatched the chance to head north to the Isle of Arran and Kintyre for what became my only real longer summer break in Scotland. That didn't prove to be the end of my feeling hot sunshine for the year because a business trip took me to Sweden where long hot evenings allowed me to savour the delights both of Sodertalje and Stockholm.

From July on, the rest of the year gained a much quieter feel when it came to enjoying the outdoors. Nevertheless, I did manage to base myself in Aberdeen for the English August Bank Holiday weekend. Having not been there after a first visit more than a decade before, it was time to revisit places encountered before and exploring those that were new to me. The latter point brings to a first visit to Braemar that took me up to the top Morrone/Morvern with heavy showers making rainbows in the sunshine before things dried up later on an otherwise chilly day. The outing had a real end of year feel with that coolness though Edinburgh felt warm in the sun when I sneaked in a trot about its heart between trains. Maybe I should have based myself there instead, like I did for the same weekend in 2009.

For some reason, the rest of the year felt as if the stuffing had been knocked out of it for me and my outings appeared to reflect that. Nevertheless, I did get to cycling all of the way from Macclesfield to Chester, a brainwave that came to me earlier in the year. It also proved that Cheshire is far from flat though I knew that anyway. Ironically, my end of British Summer Time hike along the High Peak Trail and the Tissington Trail from Pomeroy to Ashbourne on a day when cloud overcame sun as I went further south. Following old railway alignments meant that ups and downs were kept to a minimum on that October afternoon but the distance covered was felt for a while afterwards, ironically for longer than the effects of my exertions in crossing Cheshire if my memory is not failing me again.

Breaking away for a hill country outing seemed to have become difficult for me but November saw me on top of Caer Caradoc in Shropshire due the perceived accessibility of the hill. Shrewsbury remains another idea for urban pottering as does Oswestry so it wasn't about standing atop a hill. In fact, the very next issue of Country Walking featured low hills with good views and put into my head the idea of collating a list of a few of these for times when inspiration was hard to locate.

December's snows may have been disruptive and I was to feel the effects of that when I popped over to Ireland for the Christmas but they were restorative when it came to getting me out of doors again. For one thing, there was a quick visit to the hills near Glossop that was more about broadening my experience of winter condition than covering much in the way of distance. Then, there was wandering around local haunts in Wilmslow (Lindow Common became a 2010 discovery for me), Macclesfield, Prestbury and West Limerick. Surroundings may have looked totally different and very pretty on these short strolls but they very much helped me in the restoration of my hill wandering mojo. Now, I need to ensure that it doesn't leave me again. After all, 2011 has started well and I really do need to set down some more trip reports as well as ensuring that my working life doesn't overwhelm everything else on me 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.

After the passing of 2010, my only wish is that 2011 brings you and yours good things. The past year saw me distracted by a change of job in the middle of it and I think that it may have reduced my output on here. However, after catching up with a few issues of TGO in recent days, I have come to thinking that I need to keep reading more from the outdoors media because my perusal certainly popped a few ideas into my head for the coming year. What's needed now is to make something of the few flakes that are littering my brain at the moment.

The recent arctic conditions may have made my Christmas travelling more adventure-filled than I'd intended but it also brought me an afternoon spent pottering around the hills beside Glossop gain. There is the seed of a post arising from that little outing but I also got to seeing how Lindow Common and the Bollin Valley look with clumps of snow stuck to everything around them too. Then, there were trots around rural Limerick in Ireland to savour what are rare conditions for the southwest of Ireland. It might be that one posting would suffice to collect my experiences on those little tasters of a whitened world.

Though I also am playing with the idea of a local wander before returning to work on Monday, there also are designs on a quick sortie by Caledonian Sleeper to see what's left of snowy coverings in the Scottish Highlands. That's something with which I have been playing for a while but it'll be a little look rather than a deep incursion. It remains to be seen if I can make anything of it.

Other brainwaves for the year include a longer sojourn in an area new to me (and perhaps others) that results in a number of posting that I can share on here. Firm ideas are few and far between at the moment but I did concoct a scheme centred on Mallaig that has me going out to the Small Isles. Maybe visiting Islay and Jura might be other propositions. Then, there's always the call of my native Éire for a fuller hill country excursion to follow up my nibble of the Wicklow Mountains nearly two years ago now.

With regard to smaller forays, there are hills around Keswick that I'd like to explore too after a few years of struggling to find a reason to go back there. That has come from the TGO writings of others and I am thankful of them too. Looking through old photos has brought thoughts of trying to better them and that could see me exploring Derbyshire a bit more too.

It's all very well making designs for a whole year when it can surprise you in a way that you cannot expect but not having the ideas at all will lead to torpor like what I felt towards the end of 2010. That is something that I'd like not to see happening again. Let's hope that all of us manage to get in some quality hill time over the coming year, even if life has a habit of getting in the way from time to time.

Yesterday evening and overnight, a white blanket arrived in and around Macclesfield. A company Christmas night out meant that I was out in Manchester to see the white stuff blanketting there and Stockport too. Again the south of England seems to have been affected too with Twitter awash with transport companies telling what services are running and where. However, it seems that hardly anywhere has escaped with Wales and Scotland seeing some too.

There was a time when this sort of weather was enough to have me out doors pottering over the white coverings but it doesn't seem to hold the same appeal for me these days. Was it last winter's snows that broke the spell? Prior to that, snow was a short-lived visitor that never satisfied my curiosity and was enough to lure me out of doors, even to pace over local paths. Now, it seems that there is a feeling of extra effort required to get about instead, not that I don't have the ability of the kit to be able to get where I want to go.

All of this has me wondering if the same sort of becalming has affected my hillgoing. It's easy to point out causes such as changing job, having busy working weeks, not getting alluring weather or being tired at weekends but there may be another cause: have I more than sated my hill country appetite? With that in mind, it might be an idea to see if there are ways around this if it indeed is the cause.

Popping up accessible little hills might be one of them and my visit to Caer Caradoc last month was very much of this ilk; the fact that it wasn't crowded either helped for enjoyment of the walk. Ironically, this months issue of Country Walking has a feature on walking little hills and Hope Bowdler, not at all far from Caer Caradoc or Church Stretton, gains a mention in there as does Ysgyryd Fawr near Abergavenny. Maybe, creating a collection of little hills on my proverbial ideas shelf for easy planning could help to overcome any present torpor. This is far from list ticking because I like to go for walks to enjoy the surrounding countryside and not to say that I have "done" all the tops on a certain list or other.

The word "little" cropped again in my reading, this time in an issue of TGO that I was perusing on the way down to Oxford for a business trip. What I spied on those pages was a review of Cicerone's Scotland's Best Small Mountains. Since then, I have acquired a copy of the said guide as an eBook and discovered that smallness is in the eye of the beholder. With Country Walking, the sorts of heights are in the 300-500 metre category but many of the "small mountains" are in the 700-900 metre range. There are other contrasts too with some of the hills featured in the Cicerone book being out in pretty wild countryside, a counterpoint to the more genteel surroundings of those in the magazine. The guide starts in the northwest highlands of Scotland and works its way south and throws up a number of options worthy of exploring, some of which I have actually walked. Here, Ben Vrackie and Morrone come to mind but there are one or two others if my memory serves me correctly.

It might that both the magazine and the book are highlighting something of which I have grown short: ideas. There also is the need for time to ponder and plan such things, particularly for those longer excursions. Then, I might be able get things going again in 2011 but my ambitions are sure to be modest. After all, I have been developing a certain dislike for lofty terms like summits and peaks and now find referring to such things as tops to be much more amenable. Whatever I call them, there will be no obsession with these because it will be the walking, exploring and savouring that will matter above all else.

A few Sundays ago, I made my way onto the banks of Macclesfield Canal with the idea of making some photos of it to improve on those that I already had. In addition, I also was entertaining the thought of making a loop that took in Pott Shrigley and doing the same for there. However, I ended up sticking with the canal all of the way to Marple where it joins the Peak Forest Canal.

The day was certainly the sort that would entice you out of doors and bright sunshine was warming too. Nevertheless, cloud was forecast to cloud over the sky in the afternoon and it duly did but not before I was delighted by the sights that I encountered. After getting rid of an irritating autumn cold, this was to be just the thing for getting me out in the fresh air again.

To get to the canal, I used a familiar route that took in part of the Middlewood until I rounded the perimeter of AstraZeneca's manufacturing site to reach the canal. Unsurprisingly, there were others who had the same idea as I had. Nevertheless, things weren't to get overly busy until I passed near to Bollington where a canoing competition meant that walkers weren't the only ones using the amenity.

It took a while after Bollington before things became quieter again and I could relax into an unperturbed gait. At this stage, I was still not fully decided on whether I'd call to Pott Shrigley or keep going along the canal at least as far as High Lane before making my way home again. Blue skies and bright sunshine added to indecision but I eventually chose to stick with the canal, albeit with mixed feelings.

Those doubts were to be banished by passage through delightful wooded areas, such as those around Middlewood, later on. Near Higher Poynton, the banks again became busy with many folk strolling along them but they, as always is the case with strollers, weren't going far and I was to have quieter surroundings from which to survey the hill country around Lyme Park with Cage Hill being identifiable thanks to its folly. It was one reminder as to how high the canal remained even the surrounding countryside was much lower.

Cloud had usurped the sun by the time that I was plying the old towpath between High Lane and Marple. When travelling by bicycle to the aforementioned Lyme Park, had been along this stretch before and more than satisfied myself that it wasn't the greatest of places to be cycling. It felt somewhat to be near built up areas and have so few people walking along at the same time as I was there but the space was welcome nonetheless. My legs were tiring by then anyway and I was keeping a close idea on the distance left to Marple train station. One hint was the numbers on the bridges over the canal that were counting down; they must have been numbered in the southbound direction from the junction with the Peak Forest Canal.

The sight of a mill in grotty condition to my right was another pointer to my journey nearing its end and the manicuring of the canal banks after this was in complete contrast. It was a reminder of how well kept its counterparts around Bollington and Macclesfield are in comparison. The condition of the canal surroundings itself acted as trigger for wondering as to how British Waterways can keep its waterways once it has transitioned from being a government to being a charity like the National Trust. A return at a time when Marple is sunlit seems in order after what I saw and I hope that things don't go downhill from hill for the waterways.

Tired limbs pulled me around two bridges before I was by the side of the Peak Forest Canal and passing the locks that help to get boats up and down the incline. Along the way, I spotted a sign saying that it was 11 miles to Macclesfield. Had I really walked that far on a whim? That downward slope was nothing compared to that of the road leading from the canal to the train station. It was leading to the Goyt, yet another Cheshire river (and one that finds itself in the invention that is Greater Manchester these days) nestling in a deep sided valley. With the next train being an hour away, I chose the bus option to start on my way home, convinced that I must resume my outdoors excursions after something of a layoff.

Travel Details:

Bus service 384 from Marple to Stockport and by train from there to Macclesfield.