Monday 7 August 2017
20 The Wainwrights ( 2017 )
Length : Couldn't begin to calculate
Started : 26 June 1980
Finished : 2 August 2017
Companions : ( in part ) Michael Smithson, Patrick Brennan, Julie Farrell, Sue Brindle, Anup Mehta, Linda Mehta, Mike Morrison, Marcus Shearn, Andy Greenhalgh, Alison Greenhalgh, Phil Grogan, Mike Bethell, Jonathan Barnes, Jon Bates, Mark Billington, Pat Beck, Marie O' Donnell, Trish Calderbank, a pot-head called Steve whose surname escapes me, Phil Burton, Helen Smith, Dave Morris, Yvonne Grime, Wendy Guest, Ray Pilling, Naydine Hamner, Colin Whittaker, Andy Roughley, Ross Bishop, Joe Briscoe, Agata Zarabska, Joanne Scott, Serena Armstrong, Pete Hesketh, other members of Hike On Lancashire that I've forgotten or whose surnames I don't know , Simon Farrell
This was a personal challenge rather than a long distance trail. Bagging all the Wainwrights has become much more popular in the last two decades than it was when I started ticking them off and some friends have overtaken me in completing it while others are still engaged in it.
I first heard of Wainwright during 1977 when my first walking companion Michael Clarke, a dilettante whose passions were intense but short-lived , asked me if I'd ever read him, the answer being no. I rectified that two years later when one of his successors , Michael Smithson , bought me a copy of Pennine Way Companion as a Christmas present and for good measure I bought The Eastern Fells over that same Christmas holiday to keep it company. I was familiar with one or two of the places described through two youth hostelling holidays in the Lake District in 1977 and 1978 but at that point the Pennine Way was of more interest.
The following summer, Michael ( S ) and I were planning to walk The Dales Way but one of the camping barns we planned to utilise was fully booked and there was no alternative accommodation. I therefore suggested we switch to the Lakes and do some hostelling using the Wainwright book as a guide. This was accepted. We were still at school but my mum was OK about me going as long as there were three of us , relying on that old advice that one should stay with an injured party, the other seek help. The only candidate for third man was Patrick Brennan, a reliable friend to me since my first day at school but he and Michael had only just met and hadn't really bonded.
I won't give a full account of our 5-day adventure. Sufficeth it to say that the school hostelling holidays, which had stuck to the passe, had not prepared me for the effort required to surmount a Lakeland peak. Add to that, carrying a full rucksack, the day being hot and starting three miles further away than originally intended because we had to stay at Windermere YHA rather than Ambleside which was full. We struggled up Low Pike without making the short detour to the summit which I naively thought would be the end of our labours then looked aghast at the climb required to summit High Pike. By the time we got there, making High Pike my first Wainwright, we were completely out of drink and had four more summits to go before our descent to Patterdale. As we neared the top of Dove Crag I said to Michael "I think we've bitten off more than we can chew here" and suggested we took the escape route , following a fence down to the top of Scandale Pass and descending from there. Both agreed and we staggered down to Brotherswater, reviving ourselves with lemonade from the campsite. The next day we planned to do Helvellyn via Striding Edge but a guy staying at the hostel advised us against it and we decided to get to Grasmere via Grisedale a route I had done twice before with the school. When we got to the point where the path branches off for Helvellyn Patrick sprang a surprise by saying he was going to do Striding Edge after all and we agreed to meet up at Grisedale Tarn . Off he marched with only a cursory glimpse at the book. Three hours later, he duly joined us at the tarn none the worse for his experience. I'm still stunned that he did that at 14 but, thinking about it, he was a member of a sailing club from an early age so he din't shy from physical challenges. The next day's route was much more modest, climbing Heron Pike from Alcock Tarn but we still managed to miss the summit and only clocked up Nab Scar instead. I recall the route down being very steep and eroded and both of them getting annoyed at how gingerly I was taking it. We then concluded the adventure with a fractious night at High Close YHA where a school party was also staying. At that point the thought of doing all the Wainwrights hadn't crossed my mind.
While low on achievement, the holiday had whetted my appetite for more and I bought The Far Eastern Fells the following week. A few weeks later, I saw a used set of the books in Kelsall's bookshop in Littleborough for £7 and the George the proprietor who knew me agreed to break up the set and let me have the ones I needed for a fiver a fantastic purchase. I could therefore begin planning our next holiday. Because we'd taken the advice of the guy at Patterdale, my mum relaxed the gang of three requirement so it could be just Michael and myself. I planned out a ten night adventure for the summer of 1981 taking in many of the big ones although not Scafell Pike or Skiddaw.
I've written elsewhere about this particular holiday. It started well with us claiming Low Pike, High Pike again, Dove Crag, Hart Crag and Hartsop-above-How ( because Wainwright warned against going on to Fairfield in mist ) on the second day. The next day we were going up Helvellyn having the advantage of starting from Helvellyn YHA ( because Patterdale was full ). The original plan was to go up Swirral Edge but this time it was Michael who decided to tackle Striding Edge and we agreed to meet up on the top. I had no real conception of what it was going to be like. The Edge itself was OK but the rock staircase that follows absolutely terrified me and at least twice I got stuck too scared to go on or go back down. At one point I decided to abandon my rucksack and ask someone to retrieve it but thought better of it. I climbed up each step worrying about what was next - the mist made this much worse - and the rush of relief when suddenly confronted by a cairn and a flat plateau - is indescribable. Michael and I arrived at the summit pretty simultaneously ; he too said he'd never go that way again and we headed down to Grisedale Tarn and on to Grasmere. I was so traumatised I neglected to pick off the low-hanging fruit of the summits of Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon Pike , just yards off the path. The next day was where things went wrong. We were heading for Bowfell and Crinkle Crags but on the road to Stool End Farm I just refused the challenge and insisted we went via Blea Tarn and Wrynose Pass to our next hostel Duddon YHA ( long since closed ) i.e on the road . It was a combination of fatigue , timidity about possible dogs at the farm and not relishing the rainclouds that were gathering. Mick acquiesced without enthusiasm. The next day I had a better excuse; the Mountain Goat bus service that linked Wasdale Head and Wastwater YHA ( which is at the wrong end of the lake for walkers ) wasn't running yet and made the planned route over Slight Side and Scafell unfeasible so we went over Hard Knott Pass and down Eskdale, using the miniature railway in part to our destination. By the next day all the road walking had given me blisters so when we got to the top of Black Sail Pass I let Michael do Pillar on his own before we headed down to Black Sail YHA. By this time Michael was getting a bit peed off with me and we set off for Keswick in an awkward silence. I managed to find some energy to do Green Gable which improved things. It turned out to be our last peak together . The next day we went over Sticks Pass to Helvellyn YHA and Michael declined my suggestion he might like to do Raise as we passed. The following day it was raining and I vetoed going up to High Street. We spent a long time waiting for a bus that wasn't running before realising we'd have to walk over Kirkstone Pass to get to Windermere YHA. The last two days were meant to be relaxation in Ambleside and were pretty wet. We spent a lot of time in the library. So, six peaks over ten days. Not very impressive, was it ?
I knew I'd let him down, not lived up to my own schedule and our relationship disintegrated over the next few months, greatly exacerbated by the fact that he now went to work while I went back to school to do A Levels. I had made it easier for him to toss me aside by formalising our relationship into a little club with some younger lads who were not serious walkers so all he had to do was resign his membership which he did that November with the stinging rebuke that he hadn't lost interest in walking. For the rest of my time at school I had no contact with him and with Patrick having drifted away into motorbiking I had no potential companion for a further assault on the Lakes. There were options with the school but I wouldn't countenance that after running my own show, however bad a fist I'd made of it. So I just sulked and brooded instead and it was during this time that I developed a quasi-religious adoration of Wainwright and elevated Michael into the pure model walker .
Just after I'd left school in 1983, I bumped into a mutual friend Sean who said Michael wanted to meet up to discuss what to do with club funds. We had a small balance at the bank from a couple of raffles but it was negligible. It was clearly an excuse to effect a rapprochement. I decided to seize the moment and pitch the idea of a weekend in Keswick to do Scafell Pike and he went for it. Despite his earlier words and my idealisation of him , , he hadn't actually done much walking since we parted ways; working outdoors as a council gardener he preferred other pursuits at the weekend. We therefore arranged to do the 17-mile Marsden Cuckoo Walk as a preliminary. When the day came round, a combination of nerves and the scorching heat made me physically sick and we had to turn back after a few miles. My condition was absolutely genuine but it must have rung a few alarm bells with him. We then got into a bit of an argument over how much I was going to pay him for petrol. He now drove a Land Rover and I accepted that it was heavier on petrol than other cars but he was still over-estimating the distance to Keswick.
That was still unresolved when, with a week to go, he injured his ankle at work and couldn't drive let alone walk. My mum never believed him and said he'd just come up with a story to cry off from the trip. I gave him the benefit of the doubt but the doubt was certainly there. Faced with the glum prospect of cancelling the booking, I said what the hell and decided to go by myself using public transport instead.
And so, one very hot Saturday morning in August 1983, I set off alone for Scafell Pike from Seathwaite via Esk Hause. Just past Stockley Bridge, I made a bad decision to seek out the "former path not much used now" on Wainwright's diagram in the hope it would be easier. I couldn't find it and ended up toiling up steep grass slopes. This brought on the same sickness and I had to turn back and catch the bus back to Keswick. By the time I got there I was feeling better and decided to switch to Skiddaw instead. I was doing OK up to the long slog up Jenkin Hill then I was struggling again. While I stopped halfway up , two Liittleborough guys Alan Luke and Dave Grayson were coming down and I must have looked pretty ropey because they advised me not to go any further. However, I wasn't going home without at least one peak under my belt so I diverted to Latrigg. It was while sitting by the cairn there, drinking in the superlative view that I made the decision. I would get to the top of every peak in the books and that would prove to Michael and anyone else that I was a proper walker.
I first got the opportunity to add to my paltry total the following summer when I stayed at Grasmere Thorney How YHA for three nights, my last at a youth hostel until the new century. By watching the pennies, I had saved enough of my grant to afford it. Again , I was alone. Michael hadn't really kept in contact and though I initially joined the University YHA Society, I then shunned it . There was a bit of an issue whether they would return from their Sunday walks in time for me to get to church but the main reason I have to admit was that I wanted to lead rather than be led. Therefore, I'd made no new walking friends after a year at university, nothing to be proud of. Despite the lonely evenings that break was a success in peak-bagging terms with Loughrigg Fell, Helm Crag, Gibson Knott, Calf Crag, Heron Pike, Great Rigg and Fairfield all being conquered. I'd reached more peaks in three days of walking than I managed in ten, three years earlier.
Unfortunately I wasn't so flush in 1985 and certainly not in 1986 so there were no Lakes breaks in those years. In February 1987 though, I started work and the project was back on the rails. I postponed the trip until September though in the hope that cooler weather would make the climbing easier. I stayed in a B & B in Ambleside rather than a hostel and conquered Wansfell, Little Hart Crag, High Hartsop Dodd, Red Screes, Silver How, Blea Rigg, Rossett Pike and Allen Crags. The only downside was that I made the mistake of descending to valley level between High Hartsop Dodd and Red Screes and having a good lunch at the Brotherswater Hotel. I then couldn't face the "treadmill" ascent of Middle Dodd, one of the steepest climbs in the Lakes leaving it an awkward "dangler" for years afterwards.
I didn't get up to the Lakes in 1988 . I think this was probably due to college commitments and the football fixtures not leaving a gap although the intervening publication of Ex-Fellwanderer, which revealed that my patron saint certainly had feet of clay, may have been an influence too.
By 1989 though I had a car which made things a lot easier easier. I therefore booked some nights at a B & B called Barf a mile out of Keswick in October. That time I ticked off Glaramara, Sale Fell, Ling Fell. Graystones, Broom Fell. Lord's Seat, Barf, Fleetwith Pike, Brandreth and Grey Knotts . I started to formulate a rough plan where I would take the lowest fell I'd still to do in a book and then devise a walk that would take in that one and the Wainwrights that were closest to it. That way I'd avoid doing all the attractive ones first and the consequent risk of losing my resolve to complete the challenge. I also tried to choose the walks so that I'd finish all the books at roughly the same time.
In 1990, I chose a B & B in the centre of Keswick but when I got there the proprietor said his wife had just left him and he'd switched the booking to another guest house just round the corner. That's how I came to Fawsley House run by William and Myra Pearson . They were a lovely couple from the Highlands which meant I could only understand about 50% of what they said but I stayed there at the beginning of October for the next 6 years seeing their adopted daughter Carol grow up and often meeting the same guests year after year. That holiday I took up my recent purchase of a Gene Pitney Greatest Hits cassette and that became part of my holiday routine too so hearing one now is always likely to evoke a fewllwalking memory. I got into an evening routine of going to The Oddfellows Arms for dinner in the evenings then popping across to the Moot Hall for the evening slideshows ( often the same ones ) before returning to the guest house. One time I was there. there was a lovely Australian girl called Rebecca staying, all on her own, but I couldn't summon up the courage to suggest we go for a drink. That's always been the one that got away.
That first stay at Fawsley saw the conquest of Bonscale Pike, Arthur's Pike, Castle Crag, High Spy, Maiden Moor , Catbells , Low Fell, Fellbarrow and Burnbank Fell . The quartet from The Northwestern Fells were not my original targets that day but having driven round the back of Skiddaw to do some of the Caldbeck fells I found I'd forgotten to put my boots in the car ! One of my worst experiences was descending from Low Fell. First, I completely lost the supposedly easy way down suggested by Wainwright and ended up desperately slithering my way through a rough quarry then what was an open fell side in his day was now a wooded plantation protected by a high barbed wire fence. It took me a long while to solve the problem by taking a sawn off log from a nearby pile and creating my own very precarious stile to get over it. I also bought The Remote Fells of Lakeland by Graham Dugdale. The walks in there covered many of the more obscure Wainwrights and after the Low Fell experience, I often used that in preference to the actual Wainwright books because it was so much more up to date.
The 1991 holiday saw one of my biggest hauls bagging Hallin Fell, Steel Knotts, Loadpot HIll, Wether Hill, Black Fell, Holme Fell, Great Cockup, Meal Fell, Great Sca Fell, Brae Fell , Longlands Fell . Blake Fell, Gavel Fell and Hen Comb.
The 1992 venture was eventful. The haul was Beda Fell, Angletarn Pikes, Brock Crags , Ullscarf, Rosthwaite Fell .Bowscale Fell, Bannerdale Crags, Mungrisdale Common, and Souther Fell . First , the climb up from Stonethwaite to Rosthwaite Fell was really difficult. The route was horrendously eroded and as it wasn't a right of way no remedial work was being done. There were few places where you could get a trustworthy purchase and with a deep gill just to the side there was some apprehension about where I might end up if I slipped. What got me up was seeing an OAP struggling up - I actually asked him if he was Harry Griffin as he looked a bit like the veteran Guardian correspondent but the answer was no. By making my hands into a claw and really pressing my fingers into the loose earth I managed to get up to the easier ground above but I'd say that was the hardest ascent of all. Ullscarf a couple of days later was a different story again. I didn't mean to climb it that day at all and was going for Armboth Fell instead . However the path there forded Launchy Gill and it was too deep. There was no way of getting across without getting my feet wet.
I decided therefore to do a circuit of Launchy Tarn and get round to the path on the other side that way. However obstacles in the way kept forcing me higher into the mist until I was totally lost. I wandered around trying to avoid crags and steep slopes for what seemed like ages. I was close to the point of using my whistle to make a distress call but the mist suddenly cleared to reveal a fence ahead and I knew whereabouts I was. When I got up to the fence I could actually see Ullscarf's summit cairn so I bagged that as the day's peak leaving Armboth for another time.
1993's walks were more sedate and bagged Rest Dodd, The Nab, The Knott, High Tove, High Seat, Bleaberry Fell, Walla Crag, Seathwaite Fell, Base Brown, Lank Rigg, Crag Fell and Grike. The main incident was driving off after the walk in the Western fells with the book in my mapcase on top of the car. I left details with the police but no one ever handed it in. Perhaps it's still out there somewhere. The other happier incident was coming face to face with a large herd of red deer on The Nab, the sort of sight that stays with you.
1994's haul was Great Mell Fell, Gowbarrow Fell, Little Mell Fell, Hartsop Dodd, Caudale Moor, Lingmoor Fell, Pike O' Blisco . Whinlatter, Rannerdale Knotts and Mellbreak . That was notable for glorious weather. When I got back to work, my boss said "Best Indian summer for years and you book a week's leave you lucky bugger".
By 1995 I had realised that there were some fells which couldn't be reached from Keswick unless I were willing to drive over the notorious Hard Knott Pass which I wasn't. I therefore booked a few days in a B & B at Eskdale in April to bag some of them. The weather was very favourable and I bagged Whin Rigg, Illgill Head, Harter Fell, Green Crag, Hard Knott, Buckbarrow, Seatallan and Middle Fell. There was a price to pay though as I damaged my knee. I think I jarred it on the way to Whin Rigg when jumping over a patch of mud. I struggled to get up to my room in the loft after that but still managed to do my walk the next day which no doubt made it worse. I was in a lot of pain for two to three weeks after that, struggling even to get from Victoria Station to the office where I worked on Deansgate.
It had cleared up by October and I was able to bag Glenridding Dodd, Place Fell, Armboth Fell, Binsey, Dodd, Causey Pike, Scar Crags, Outerside and Barrow , a rather bitty haul and the weather was pretty lousy too. The highlight of that trip was actually meeting a nice girl for lunch in Earby on the way up to the Lakes.
In March 1996 I stayed in Coniston but my efforts were hampered by snow and ice on the fells. Without ice axe and crampons, I had to retreat from some routes and only bagged Sallows, Sour Howes, Wetherlam and Cold Pike. Consolation came from another date with the same girl,this time on the way back.
September 1996 drew in Arnison Crag, Birks, St Sunday Crag, Rampsgill Head, Kidsty Pike, High Raise, High Rigg, Raven Crag, Carrock Fell and High Pike. That was the end of the Fawsley era for reasons explained below. I did stay there again a few years later but the Pearsons had moved on to Gretna by then and it wasn't the same
In March 1997 I returned to Coniston but this time round I had company, my fiance Julie. Wainwright-bagging was not the main purpose of the trip and the weather was awful but we did do Great Carrs, Grange Crag and Great Crag . The descent from the latter was very steep and slippery , unexpected in a generally benign area. In the summer we knocked off Ard Crags and Knott Rigg on a day trip.
With a wedding looming the usual autumn visit to Keswick was jettisoned and due to mortgage tyranny we only visited the Lakes once in 1998 , ticking off Troutbeck Tongue where Julie lost an earring.
In 1999 my mum offered to pay for a break in Keswick if we'd keep her company which of course we accepted. That yielded Raise and Haystacks with Julie and Bakestall, Grey Friar and Swirl How on my own.
We repeated the arrangement in 2000 which yielded Stone Arthur, Seat Sandal , Dollywggon Pike , Eagle Crag, Sergeant's Crag, Great Borne and Starling Dodd. The Great Borne route was notable for the flurry of threatening notices erected by mad farmer Thomas Ireland of Whins Farm declaring there were no Wainwright routes across his land. I opted for cutting across from the top of Floutern Pass which involved vaulting his barbed wire fence. Nuts to you Mr Ireland. We were there during the fuel crisis but fortunately my car was still running on four star - remember that ? - which didn't run out.
Unfortunately Julie was too ill to go a third time in 2001 and the stay had to be cancelled. I did however claim Dow Crag and Coniston Old Man with the group we had recently joined, Bolton Outdoor Group, just after the Lakes paths were re-opened following the foot-and-mouth epidemic.
In March 2002 Julie and I had a short break in Morecambe and claimed Gray Crag on a day trip, Julie taking it as evidence that she had fully recovered. In June we went on a Buttermere weekend arranged by other members of B.O.G. and I bagged High Crag and High Stile . This was one of the more intimidating routes so I was glad to do it with company. The only snag was the leader Andy losing his nerve in the mist and descending to Bleaberry Tarn instead of going on to Red Pike, making that another awkward "dangler". A couple of months later, we did another B.O.G. weekend in Keswick and claimed Grisedale Pike and Hopegill Head together.
Over the next few years I claimed a number on weekends or day trips either with B.O.G. or just Julie. These were Steel Fell ( on a very wet day ) Dale Head, Robinson, Ullock Pike, Carl Side, Long Side, Harter Fell, Kentmere Pike, Shipman Knotts and Brim Fell. By 2006 i had finally met someone else who was intent on doing them all, Mark Billington of Lancashire Young Person's Walking Group and I started occasionally walking with him to claim some, the first being Sergeant Man and Tarn Crag in 2006. The last ones with B.O.G. were Sheffield Pike and Hart Side later that year.
In March 2007 Julie became pregnant and I claimed Grey Crag and Tarn Crag later that year correctly guessing that I would then be indisposed for a while. 2008 and 2009 were blank years, My next conquests were Selside Pike and Branstree with Mark on an awful day in March 2010. That May we had a short break at Drigg and I managed to bag Yewbarrow, Red Pike and Scoat Fell . I finally ticked off Middle Dodd in July with Mark then a couple of weeks later he led a group walk to Scafell Pike, which also encompassed Lingmell and Great End. I came off that walk with a great feeling of sadness; ticking off the Big One brought home to me that I was now likely to complete the project . I claimed Great Calva and Knott on a solo walk later in the year.
2011 was a blank because I arranged three walking weekends elsewhere for the L.Y.P.W.G then in 2012 Julie booked the first of our annual breaks in Keswck where I was to divide my time equally between walking and taking Simon her and out. 2012 saw Whiteless Pike, Wandope, Eel Crag, Sail , Great Gable and Kirk Fell conquered. The passage between the latter two was one of the worst bits of walking in the whole project; in fact a large part of it was done shuffling down on my behind.
The July 2013 break which had scorching weather saw the conquests of Birkhouse Moor, Catstycam ( those two on a walk with L.Y.P.W.G ), Clough Head, Great Dodd, Watson's Dodd, Stybarrow Dodd, Loft Crag, Pike O' Stickle, Harrison Stickle ,Pavey Ark, Thunacar Knott and High Raise. Arriving at the latter summit meant that The Central Fells became the first of the books to be completed. The other incident of note was that just below the summit of Clough Head, I caught sight of a girl that appeared to be in distress, collapsed on all fours. As I got closer I realised there was actually a bloke beneath her and she was in that position the better to give him a blow job. I hurried on ; perhaps I should have checked whether she knew him or the service was available to any passing rambler.
In 2014 I claimed Blencathra ( remarkably easy ), Crinkle Crags, High Street, Mardale Ill Bell and Thornthwaite Crags . Crinkle Crags became an ordeal because I opted for the company of a couple in the mist rather than following Wainwright and they led me astray down a scrambly route towards Eskdale instead of on to Bowfell. By the time the error was realised I was too exhausted to go on to Bowfell and left it to the following year.
In 2015 I claimed the last two "danglers", Red Pike and Hindscarth and also Bowfell and Esk Pike. Last year saw the conquest of Whiteside and Grasmoor ( a wet and rough walk on which I was very glad of the company of L.Y.P. W.G. members ), Yoke, Ill Bell, Froswick, Caw Fell and Haycock. Those walks meant The North-Western Fells and The Far Eastern Fells and left one more walk from each of the remaining books to complete the challenge.
When Julie decided to book a fortnight this year I knew that , God willing , the end was in clear view. I booked a couple of nights away in Eskdale to do the remaining ones on the Western side. I did Pillar and Steeple on the first day, the only time the weather was good then Slight Side and Scafell , a nervy walk in thick mist although oddly enough there were a couple about ten minutes behind me who were doing exactly the same walk and retrieved the sit mat I'd carelessly left behind on the summit. Those were tough walks to do on successive days but I had the chance to recuperate before the next one ( with L.Y.P.W.G though now re-christened Hike On Lancashire ) on the second Sunday. That yielded White Side and Nethermost Pike.
That left one more walk and Julie and my son Simon accompanied me. We drove to the car park at the top of Gale Road behind Latrigg and set off for Skiddaw in indifferent weather. When the time came for me to branch off for Lonscale Fell, Julie didn't want me to do it while she was still unfamiliar with the route so I agreed to bag it on the way down. That would make Lonscale Fell my final peak which wasn't my original intention but that's marriage isn't it ? By the time we got on to Skiddaw it was raining heavily and blowing a gale but they both made it to the top with me. As we left the top plateau the weather abated but Julie and Simon let me do the detour to Skiddaw Little Man on my own. That had long been my choice to finish on because Wainwright nominates it as the best viewpoint in Lakeland but as it happened it was still misty so that didn't really matter. I caught up with Julie and Simon and asked if they wanted to come with me to my last peak , an easy stroll alongside a fence, but they preferred to plod on down the main path back to the car. Lonscale Fell is far from the most charismatic of summits, a small cairn on a patch of damp moorland, but there was a nice symmetry in finishing there as it's almost directly above Latrigg where I first embraced the challenge 34 years earlier.
Saturday 27 June 2015
19 The Burnley Way ( 2015 )
Length : 40 miles
Started : 27 September 2014
Finished : 27 June 2015
Companions : ( in part ) Andy Daly, Mark Woodall, Pete Hesketh, Mark Roper, Catherine Seville, Pamela Banks, Suzanne Ashton, Richard Lees, Al Pilkington, Steve Briggs, Wendy Guest, Dave Morris, Joanne Stott, Paul Dalessandro, Fiona Corcoran, others I've forgotten or whose surnames I don't know.
Guide : The Burnley Way leaflets produced by Burnley Borough Council
With clocking up 10 years in the LYPWG and not wanting to do repeats it's become progressively harder to come up with new ideas for walks. I chose to start doing The Burnley Way because it's close to some members' homes , has good transport links and would save me having to come up with anything else at the input meetings for a year. It also made sense because I'd walked stretches of it which were also part of The Bronte Way , Witches Way and ( just about ) the Pendle Way so I would be completing the network in this part of the world.
We started it on a Saturday afternoon with the short 5 mile stretch from Burnley town centre to Queen Street Mill museum in Briercliffe. Our starting point was the mill car park and I put a suggestion in the ad for the walk that we should meet early for coffee there. Several members took me up on it but I set off too late and didn't get there on time which made for a good start ! We caught the bus into Burnley and walked back from there. The weather looked very threatening when we were at the mill but it actually turned out nice and we had a very pleasant afternoon.
Stage two from Queen Street to Hurstwood ( not far away as the crow flies but the route takes you out to the county border and back , making it 8 and a half miles ) took place in December and the weather was unpromising from the start. We parked in Burnley and caught the bus back to Queen Street Mill . It's the most scenic section despite an uphill mile on tarmac with the crossing of the Thursden Valley and walking above Widdop Reservoir the highlights. Lunch was quick and cheeerless with some trees providing meagre shelter at Thursden but when we were walking it wasn't too unpleasant , being misty and drizzly rather than soaking wet and rather windy on the tops. When we got to Hurstwood we had to walk an extra half mile to Worsthorne to catch the bus back into Burnley. We had a drink in the Fighting Cocks , a dark and cheerless pub , while we were waiting for it.
Joanne offered to lead the next section from Hurstwood to Towneley Park via Portsmouth and Thieveley Pike in March . It's the longest and hardest section, 11.5 miles long with a descent to Portsmouth then steep re-ascent onto Heald Moor over tough ground. We met in Towneley Park then took some cars to Hurstwood. It was overcast but fine in the morning then just as we were cresting Heald Moor we were hit by a blizzard with horizontal snow blasting us throughout the traverse of the ridge to Thieveley Pike. We didn't linger at the top but started the steep descent back to vally level which was slippery but safe. Even before we got to valley level again the storm had abated and there was no clue as to how bad things had been just half an hour earlier. The stretch back to Towneley was on easy ground but seemed endless. I was shattered and assumed it was because I hadn't done much walking since the previous section but others said they were exhausted too. We went for what should have been a reviving drink at the Kettle Drum in Mereclough though I had what must have been one of the worst cups of coffee of my life there and Wendy confirmed that hers was just as bad.
I led section 4 in May taking us from Towneley Park to Hapton, another moorland crossing but not as long or tough. I picked up Paul in Ramsbottom .We started from the town centre and walked a mile through the park to get to where we'd left off. After a mix-up around the Hall itself where the route isn't clearly signed the walk went smoothly in decent weather. We were going to get the train back but had just missed one so we caught the bus instead.
Joanne agreed to lead the final section from Hapton back to Burnley via Padiham but I was going to be on holiday when it came round on the programme so we arranged that I' d accompany her on her "reccie" of the route so I could complete it beforehand. It was a warm and sunny day. Scenically it was the weakest section though the views towards Pendle and Bowland at the start were good and there was some nice riverside walking in the Calder valley. Lack of waymarks caused the odd stop for consultation but otherwise it was quite easy and we completed the walk around 1.30 pm.
It is a good walk which makes the most of the town's assets and its surrounding countryside and well worth doing.
Monday 13 October 2014
18 The Cumbria Way (2014)
Length : 70 miles
Started : 7 July 2013
Finished : 13 October 2014
Companions : ( in full ) Dave Morris, Wendy Guest ; ( in part ) Helen Smith, Serena Armstrong , Steve Briggs ( these first three all completed the trail through doing catch-up walks ) , Pete Hesketh, Elizabeth Currid, Andy Roughley, Anthony Barlow, Jane Harrison, Ross Bishop, Chris Hughes, Steve Taylor, Rachel Glascott, Allie Fitzsimmons, Mark Woodall
Guide : The Cumbria Way - John Trevelyan ( Dalesman )
There are a number of interlocking stories here. One was simply to find another excuse to revisit one of the Group's favourite places to stay, Green View Lodges at Welton ; the Cumbria Way passes within a mile of the entrance Another was that , with my fiftieth birthday approaching rapidly I originally intended to largely retire from LYPWG and this seemed a fitting finale revisiting some scenes of earlier triumphs. And perhaps somewhere at the back of my mind was the thought that it was unfinished business from the Michael Smithson era - I bought the guide in either Ambleside or Windermere back in July 1981 at the end of our great hostelling adventure.
We did the first section from Ulverston to Coniston amid blazing sunshine. Steve B and I had stayed in Ulverston overnight in order to plant a car at Coniston but the numbers on the day meant we still had to do a shuffle at the start. This in turn meant we had to keep up a good pace in order to finish at a reasonable time and that was a tough proposition in those temperatures. On top of that there was nowhere until very close to the end where more liquid could be purchased. Wendy and I had a paddle in Beacon Tarn but that was the only relief to be had until arrival at the Monk Conston campsite where ice lollies were devoured at a very fast rate while news of Andy Murray's triumph came through from the back of the shop. I couldn't eat anything else until hours afterwards.
The next section from Coniston to Great Langdale was done in October 2013. Dave, Pete and I stayed at the independent hostel in Ambleside on the Saturday night. The accommodation was quite basic. I had to roll myself into the lower bunk because there was so little clearance; good preparation for a coffin I'd have thought. Dave and I enjoyed a good curry in Ambleside when the rain wasn't quite bucketing as hard as before. On the morning it was still raining hard and Pete decided to give it a miss although he ferried Dave and I from Great Langdale to Coniston which made another shuffle unnecessary. Apart from a brief spell at the very beginning and end of the walk it rained all day which did dampen the spirits a bit although it made Skelwith Force more spectacular.
The awkward nature of the next section , Great Langdale to Keswick in terms of transport links made it necessary to split it into two walks over a weekend in April this year. I let people sort out their own accommodation in Keswick. Julie found us a place to stay about a mile out of the centre. The weather was even worse than on the previous section but surprisingly we were joined by two new girls at Keswick. I don't think I'd recognise either of them again as we were all huddled up in waterproofs all day. Although scenically lovely both walks were a joyless trudge and as we sat dripping in a Keswick tea shop at the end we hoped for better on the final weekend.
Colin, the proprietor at Green View gave us a generous discount for previous business which meant it worked out at £46 per person for three nights, ridicuously good value. The only downside was that the pub next door was now closed. The rain hammering on the roof when I woke up on Saturday didn't bode well but apart from two brief showers we had perfect autumn weather for our final two stages.
On Saturday we walked from Keswick to Caldbeck using the bus service. It's a long stretch on mainly hard tracks and the toughest bit comes just as your energy levels are starting to flag. I led it too fast to try and ( fruitlessly ) suit one member of the party who had to get back and managed to give myself sore knees and blisters for the following day. Caldbeck to Carlisle is also a long stretch but mostly very easy or should have been; in my case it was a rather painful ordeal that I was relieved to finish. Then it was a quick dip in the hot tub , a celebratory glass of Buck's Fizz then off home with school in the morning for Simon.
Because of the weather and self-inflicted wounds this won't be the most fondly remembered of my trails but it is an excellent route from start to finish
Thursday 14 August 2014
17 The Witches' Way ( 2014 )
Length: 30 miles
Date started : 27 June 2012
Date completed : 13 August 2014
Companions : Julie Farrell ; ( in part ) Simon Farrell
Guide : Witches' Way - David Johnson and Jim Ashton ( Dalesman Books 1984 )
This was Julie and Is' next project which we completed a bit faster than the Bronte Way but given the length we were still a bit laggardly.
The Witches' Way is the most obscure route to feature here. I bought the guide in 1988 , four years after it was first published and I'm guessing it went out of print not long afterwards. I've never heard anyone mention it in the last 25 years. I chose it because it wasn't too far away and passed through a few areas of Lancashire that were unfamiliar to me.
The walk was devised by two long distance walking enthusiasts who haven't volunteered any personal information apart from their home addresses ( Bury and London ) to put a long distance trail in upland Lancashire. I think they meant "long distance" in terms of a single day's hike, which would certainly be a challenge on this route !
The walk runs from Rawtenstall to Slaidburn and visits the summit of Pendle Hill ( the third route on here to do so ). The story of the Pendle Witches provides an overarching theme although neither starting nor end point feature in it and places that do - Sabden, Newchurch and Barley for example - are by-passed. It's quite a tough little route which often eschews easier alternatives close at hand.
One other comment on the route should be made. It was quite difficult to follow in parts ( details below ) and we'd have come unstuck without the Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale OS map. Quite a lot had changed on the ground and it's brought home to me that I can't now use any of the guides I acquired in the seventies and eighties by themselves ( except of course my beloved Wainwrights ); if I'm still going to use them they'll need matching with a recent map beforehand.
We started it in June 2012 on a weekday and "against the clock" in terms of getting back to pick Simon up from his childminder at the agreed time. We parked in Rawtenstall and walked to Hapton. I'd done most of it before and it was fairly straightforward but had a sting in the tail. On the very last stretch into Hapton what used to be ( according to the book ) a simple stroll along a hedge was now an enclosed path between two wire fences and it was completely overgrown. The friendly guy at nearby Sellars Fold said no one had tried to walk it for years. With some misgivings we gave it a go but halfway down a substantial tree had fallen across it without bringing the sturdy fences down. It was completely impassable and we had to retreat back to Sellars Fold and take an alternative path. Once at the finishing point we needed to get to Hapton station for a train back to Burnley. The path we took ( not part of the route ) was an adventure too ; although a very scenic valley route it was flooded in parts and we finished the walk with wet feet. Our reward was a free train ride to Burnley as no one came to sell us tickets and we caught the bus back to Rawtenstall.
The next section from Hapton to Read was done in July. The weather was fine and it was a good walk apart from one short stretch behind the industrial estate at Altham Bridge ( built since the book ) where the path was very overgrown and boggy. Beyond that the stretch alongside the river Calder was spoiled by the litter presumably left by picnickers or illicit teenage drinkers. We had a wait for the bus to Burnley at Read ; Julie asked an old guy where it stopped and he said "Oh aye we've got buses here" and proceeded to give her an idiot's guide to village life. We had a bite to eat at Burnley's Witherspoon's then caught the bus back to Hapton where we'd parked.
We didn't get round to the next stage until the Easter Holidays in 2013 when we took Simon along for the section between Read ( where we parked ) and Nick o Pendle. It was a straightforward and enjoyable section although Simon didn't enjoy the biting wind in our faces on the high section along Wiswell Moor. From Nick o' Pendle we dropped down to Sabden for the bus and Simon enjoyed himself in the play park there.
Julie and I did the next section in July during Simon's last week at school on a very hot day. We parked at Clitheroe and caught the bus to Sabden. The uphill walk back to Nick o Pendle was strength-sapping in the heat. I didn't tell Julie we were going up Pendle Hill to see if she could work it out for herself. The route chosen by the authors was a strange one , leaving the fairly easy main path from the Nick and striking out for the huge cairn on Mearley Moor ( Pendle's western ridge ) . The approach from the cairn to the summit is a good one but to get there was a rough, mainly trackless passage made more difficult by the heat. Julie didn't twig straight away on the summit but guessed with some prompting. She didn't like the stepped descent from the hill and took it very slowly. We then had some catching up to do to get back in time to pick Simon up and halfway down to Downham decided we had better abandon the route and head down the road to make sure we caught the bus back to Clitheroe. We did the missed out section ( ironically completely trouble-free and probably quicker than the road ) as a short walk with Simon in August.
Julie and I did the next section from Downham to Grindleton on a school day in October. Again I didn't tell Julie about Sawley Abbey so it would be a surprise to her. We had lunch there and Julie told the workers from English Heritage about some doggy-doo bags that were disfiguring the site. We went a bit off route at the end as the field boundaries had changed making the fguide misleading,
We did the next section last week ( August 2014 ) with Simon. We parked in Clitheroe and caught the bus to Grindleton. We got back on the right route but had a problem at Steelands Farm where the book explicitly said don't go through the farmyard but the avoidance route has since been blocked off and we had to crawl through a wall. There was a tough bit just beyond there where you have to cross a brook and then go up a steep slope but beyond that it was an easy and pleasant stroll alongside Grindleton Forest to Walloper Well on the Waddington Moor road. Simon and I wanted to press on to Slaidburn and finish the walk but Julie didn't fancy it.
I warned that the weather might not be as good when we came back to it and was proved right yesterday when we set off along the short but rough section across Standridge Hill in a heavy shower. The rain had also made the wooden stiles very slippery on the descent towards the Hodder valley and we had some difficulty getting over them safely. The path had changed to the other side of the fence / hedge since the book ( or they got it wrong ) and now went through a copse festooned with quails for the local shooting brigade which entailed ploughing through thistles. The final section from Easington was easy and pleasant. We had a meal at the cafe in Slaidburn then took the bus back to Walloper Well.
Despite the little problems encountered it is a good route and it seems a shame that it never took off.
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