Collected Musings of a Hill Wanderer

Weatherwise, 2012 started like a lion in some parts with Scotland getting a particular battering. Before that the second day of the year saw me crossing hills to pop over to Buxton. That act planted in my mind the prospect of exploring more of Macclesfield’s hills this year. However, the following weekend was a quiet one for me.

The weather have been offering in others but a prior commitment was the cause of my staying close to home and not getting out among hills in parts like Shropshire or even wandering along the streets of somewhere pleasing to the eye like Edinburgh or even Shrewsbury. That’s not to say that I wasn’t doing some more playing with ideas for outdoors outings though.

While adjusting albums in the photo gallery, thoughts were drawn to revisiting places where I haven’t been for a while. The online photo albums that attracted my attention were that for the Pennine Way and the Scottish Southern Uplands and Borders. The refresh involved adding photos were added, removing an old one rewriting a few descriptions. The trip ideas that came to mind while adjusting those photos included a stay in Peebles to explore the surrounding hills as well as getting to walk more of the Pennine Way or even the Southern Upland Way. Old and not so old photos act as reminders for me of past glories and lure me back to where I found them before.

Last weekend’s cold frosty sunny weather was enough to draw out among hills again on Saturday. It was a day when any part of Britain’s hill country would have delighted and I did play with a walk around Sedbergh that involved an out and back yomp into and onto the Howgill Fells. Looking a bus timetables caused me to leave it for later in the year. Remembering how stiff I felt after a trot about Church Stretton’s hills before Christmas was a factor too in not deciding not to set my sights too high. Thus, I opted for a hike from the Cat and Fiddle Inn to Buxton that mainly followed the Dane Valley Way with a deliberate diversion or two. After all, the prospect of seeing the Three Shire Heads bridge in full winter lighting was too good to miss; it may have added to the distance covered but proved to be well worth that. If all goes to plan, more will be said about the walk sooner instead of later.

Though our settled spell of weather is leaving us at the time of writing, there are promising signs for the coming weekend too. While limbs were stiff on Sunday and Monday, I take that as a cue for trying to get out a little more often then last year and January 2012 isn’t over yet. What I am not planning is anything as frenetic as this month last year when I walked successively in Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Pacing oneself is no bad thing either and quiet moments are needed for collating more ideas too. A recent catch up with a article from one of last year’s issues of TGO has me wanting to sit with it and pore over maps while ogling the contained photos of splendid Lake District hill country. Wandering needs forethought at times.

Today came as a lovely sunny if chilly day around Macclesfield so thoughts turned to a little trip out of doors. A certain lethargy meant that I couldn’t muster up enthusiasm for a wander on foot through the countryside so I went by bus through the hills to Buxton instead. Looking through the bus windows, I was reminded of just how much hill country there is between Macclesfield and Buxton. It looked resplendent with the sun shining on it too so I am reminded again of what lies on my doorstep so I need to do more with it.

What surprised me was the amount of snow that remained wherever as sheltered spot could be found. The covering may have been light but there has been a green and grey Christmas and New Year for much of Britain and Ireland so I wasn’t expecting to see so much. An overnight frost did whiten some of the hillsides too though much of that was gone by the time that I passed the way. Sightings of the white just proved what a little height does sometimes so it came as little surprise to learn that Scotland was getting more of the white stuff with a front passing over that country, even while I was out in dry weather around Cheshire and Derbyshire.

There were a good few folk around Buxton with some taking in the dry sunny weather and more surveying the winter sales. When the clouds obscured the sun, I must admit to doing some of the latter too. Nevertheless, I get to savouring a little of Buxton Country Park too with a short walking idea for around there collected for possible future use. A potter to Grinlow Tower or Solomon’s Temple sounds tempting, as does following another part of the Dane Valley Way, and I recall one occasion when I walked from Buxton to the Cat and Fiddle Inn with part of the journey taking me through the said country park when a snow shower came the way. It was magical enough passing through snow-covered woods for the first time in my life without that so the memory gets reinforced. Beyond them the air cleared and it was patchy snow coverings that I met for the rest of the way. Maybe I need to revisit some of that again. It became a day for collecting walking ideas while still never far from humanity.

Travel Arrangements:

Bus service 58 between Macclesfield and Buxton.

The last few days have seen dramatic weather conditions across parts of Britain and strong winds again are forecast for western parts of the U.K. on Monday night. Scotland got the worst of the battering and only now are some places up there returning to normal. It only was today that Blair Atholl got back its electricity supply and that the Inverness to Kyle of Lochalsh train service was restored to its normal timetable. Hopefully, no one got seriously hurt in all of this.

In spite of what came on Thursday, I ventured out to the Shropshire hills around Church Stretton yesterday. There was sleet and rain about but I braved both of these to escape the hurly burly of the everyday. In doing so, I was surprised to see others out doing the same around there. Sunny spells came the way too and felt all the more special when they did so. All in all, it was an enjoyable outing and I hope to savour more like it. Well, there is more of Shropshire’s hill country for me to sample. It’s good always to leave somewhere with a reason for returning.

This morning, I arose to find the hills near Macclesfield having gained a snowy covering. Various webcams such as the one at the Cat & Fiddle Inn and another at Flash Bar Stores told the story for other parts of the hill country lining the Cheshire-Derbyshire boundary. After a milder than usual autumn, a wintry reality has descended on us.

While the prospect of a day of sunshine should have been enough to get me wandering through the countryside, that hasn’t come to pass. As it happens, the skies over Macclesfield are laden with cloud with the sun only getting out from time to time. That means the landscape gets spotlit instead of the full lighting that really enlivens it though there are some who’d enjoy the photographic possibilities that come with it.

What has resulted is a spot of time for pondering walking options and sorting out gear for when an opportunity really offers. Local options such as Nab Head near Bollington, Alderley Edge to and from Hare Hill and following the Gritstone Trail from Bollington to Disley are recalled but others have come to mind too. Around this time last year, I took myself down to Shropshire for a day of walking and I wouldn’t mind following up on that. Another possibility for these shorter hours of daylight is Ysgyryd Fawr (also known as the Skirrid) near Abergavenny.

Yesterday’s map surveying revealed other possibilities, this time in the Derbyshire Dales. A circular walk centred on Hartington that takes in Wolfscote Dale and Biggin Dale sounds promising, possibly more so than the sections of the High Peak Trail and Tissington Trail that I followed last October. Continuing from Wolfscote Dale into Dove Dale is a longer alternative that would get me near Thorpe. Following these deep narrow dales through the High Peak could be interesting.

In the same locality, there is another walking option and this is the Manifold Way that takes in the Manifold Valley as it goes from Waterhouses near Leek to Hulme End, a few miles from Hartington. It’s one that I have had in mind in while and considering what lies around Hartington has reminded me of it. Though it can be done in a day, this is longer distance option that needs some pouring over bus timetables to make it work. Now that there is no bus service between Macclesfield and Leek of a Sunday, it probably is one for a Saturday or another day of the week.

Of course, this just is a bundle of ideas with more coming to mind from Wales and Scotland. This hasn’t been much of a year for trips to the latter so there’s plenty of choice. For one, Peebles looks a handy base for a weekend wandering through the hills that surround it. Then, there’s Glenfinnan and Morar for those longer days of Spring when using later trains would be an option. Other parts that I only ever have passed include Sleat on Skye and Lochalsh on the way to that alluring isle.

A weekend reconnaissance trip to Gower in July revealed that it is somewhere worthy of a return but there are places lining the Heart of Wales railway line that merit more attention too. Looking a little further away from that railway line has brought my eyes to the Elan Valley and all that has to offer. Apart from my more customary haunts of Snowdonia and the Brecon Beacons, there is a lot of Wales that I have yet to see.

A busy work life seems to have lulled me into a torpor from which I feel the need to escape and collecting ideas like I have done here could be a big help. Even writing up that trip report for the weekend that I spent in Cowal has set me to thinking. Extending that further, could fleshing out those ideas lead to more entires on here, thus becoming something of a series? Anything that forces a certain readiness should help though there remains nothing like actually getting out in hill country and retelling those experiences for adding to the encouragement.

Some of us have been getting unseasonably hot sunny weather over the last few days; Scotland and Ireland are getting plenty of rain with a blocking area of high pressure keeping that away from England and Wales for now. That made a little too hot for walking among hills around Macclesfield so I went for an evening cycle around lower parts instead. The leaves are well into the business of changing to their autumn colours now and some have fallen already too. The dryness of these produced an unmistakeable smell for me that complemented the senses as I plied country roads that had to be shared others. Other smells such as that of grazing cows were part of the mix too as the light faded. The cycle may not have been that long but it returned me to a little of the natural world after a few weeks when work took me away to more built areas. Encounters like this have me thinking of setting aside some more time to savour the quiet and peace of hill country since I last did just that a few months back.