Castle Mountaineering Club. Reports of 1985 meets.
Patterdale. 12/13 Jan. This was well-attended as always, with the
George Starkey hut full and overflow accommodation in a nearby
house. Expeditions were made by various parties into the
Helvellyn, High Street, and Blencathra ranges (including old
favourites Striding Edge, Nethermost Cove, and Sharp Edge). There
was much less snow than last year – not enough for skiing and
barely enough for gully climbing. The weather was indifferent.
One large party did the Pinnacle Ridge on St Sunday Crag – an
interesting scramble, but rather too short.
Lawrencefield. 20 Jan. A heavy snowfall prevented climbing but a
sizeable party skied from Ringinglow to Longshaw and back,
calling in at Fox House for lunch. Three intrepid members got
lost on Kinder and descended to Hayfield instead of Edale
(nothing new lads!).
Malham. 27 Jan. Frank had devised an interesting circular tour
from Malham. Everything was freezing hard; there was a beautiful
frozen waterfall in Gordale Scar but unfortunately no-one had any
ice gear. We were able to walk across Malham Tarn on 3″ thick
ice. Then the weather deteriorated (arctic would be a good
description, with very cold wind and blowing snow) so that we had
to abandon the walk and return to Malham along the road (which
was blocked by drifted snow). Away from the road it was
impossible to see where you were going.
Staffordshire Minor Crags. 3 Feb. A team lead by Martin Whitaker
strolled between outcrops (Five Clouds, Gradbach, Newstones,
Baldstones etc.) doing a route or two at each.
Moonlight Walk. 10 Feb. Definitely a minority interest this, as a
party of only 4 set off from Edale at midnight to walk 15 miles
over Kinder and Stanage to Grindleford. A clearing sky and snow
on the ground made for excellent visibility, even in the forest
coming down from Win Hill. It was however bitterly cold.
Glencoe. 16/17 Feb. A very successful and well attended meet
based on Lagangarbh, with a second party not too far away at Roy
Bridge. Conditions were ideal for winter mountaineering: freezing
hard, ice in the gullies, blue skies, sunshine and amazingly
clear views. Routes were done all over: The Ben, Mamores, Glen
Etive, Bidean, Grey Corries, etc. Munro and Corbett bagging
activity was well in evidence. A superb meet enjoyed by all.
Jack’ Walk. 24 Feb. Again a small team; no doubt the 7.30am start
was something to do with this. The plan was to walk from Duffield
to Longshaw via Alportstone, Black Rocks and Stanton Moor. It was
a lovely day and a pleasant walk, but rather too much on tarmac.
Five started; late risers met us in the Miners Standard at
Winster and joined us from there to Rowsley, our leader taking us
on an interesting tour of an overgrown quarry on the way. Four
went on from there and reached Baslow, where approaching darkness
and a beckoning curry influenced the decision to cut the walk
short there after about 23 miles.
Hebden Bridge Area: Sunday 10 March. Nine of us turned up for a very
nicely planned walk by Ian Lauriston, which took us through woodland
by Hardcastle Crags and along the Pennine Way to our lunch stop at the
New Delight Inn. The objective for the afternoon was the impressive
Stoodley Pike monument, and we returned via the steep back streets of
Hebden Bridge and on past Heptonstall Quarry. Weather conditions were
pleasant.
Llanberis: Weekend 16/17 March; based at the Chester
Mountaineering Club hut. The weather was cold but reasonably
fine, with a fair bit of snow on the tops. Many different routes
and peaks were done including Bryant’s Gully (involving some
rather wet sections), Western Terrace of Cloggy (an “Ashton” made
more interesting by some icy bits), Moel Siabod, and (of course)
Snowdon. The latter was ascended by different routes including
Central Trinity Gully and Parsley Fern Gully which were in
excellent condition. Even on the tourist track from Llanberis
crampons would have been useful in places; one party using this
ascent route included 7-month old Steven Smith, carried by his
dad inside a duvet.
Chinley-Sheffield train/walk Sunday 31 March. The idea was to
take a train from Dore to Chinley, and walk back following
roughly the line of the railway. In the event there were no
trains because of BR engineering work, but 6 of us achieved the
second part of the objective, via Mam Tor, Lose Hill, Longshaw
and Totley Moss. Cheshire Cheese, Hope, for lunch and Grindleford
Cafe for tea; that’s what I call good route-planning, Jennifer!
Cairngorms. Easter 6-8 April, based at the Ladies’ Scottish
Climbing Club Hut at Milehouse, Kincraig, a very pleasant and
convenient spot. Thirteen attended the meet. Weather was bad,
good, bad, in that order. Saturday was spent tramping the
Monadhliaths in rain and mist; certain members had some Munros to
tick off in the area. Sunday, conditions were good for the high
tops of Cairngorm and Ben Macdui, though dedicated Munroists went
back to “tidy up” the Monadhliaths. An excellent day followed by
a convivial evening in the Wooden Spoon at Kingussie. Monday –
wet again, inducing some to head home early. No-one fancied
another wet day on the Monadhliaths, not even munro-baggers.
Pembroke. May bank holiday 4-6 May. This meet was based at
Bosherston and led by Martin Whitaker. The weather was mixed but
some good climbing was done.
SACC Fell race. 9 May. The club won the team prize (CMC runners
took the first six places), the individual prize for the first
club member home (Andy Goring in a time of 30.32), and the Ladies
Prize (Rosie Adams in time of 36.50). Well done to all who ran
and thanks to the organisers.
Skye. Spring bank holiday 25-27 May. Based at Glenbrittle. The
first half of the week was wet but the second half was perfect,
and many good routes were done. The traverse of the Main Ridge
was completed by Martin Whitaker and Sue Stallibrass.
Malham. Family meet. Weekend 15-16 June. Good weather and a nice
campsite. About 40 people were there, including the children, so
clearly this meet continues to be very popular. The main climbing
crag seemed to be Attermire Scar though some of the harder men
tackled Malham Cove and Gordale Scar. A party knocked off the
Three Peaks.
Eskdale/Wasdale. Weekend 6-7 July. About 19 camped at Santon
Bridge. The midges were active but the pub was literally only yards
away. Saturday was fine and the climbers went to Pikes Crag, Scafell
Crag (Moss Ghyll Grooves was popular), Esk Buttress, and
Wallowbarrow. Frank, Jennifer and Ian spent a very long day doing a
trans Lake District walk: Askham-to-Boot. This is reputed to be a Jack
Ashcroft modification of one of the Big Walks Shap-Ravenglass, and
mostly takes the passes from one dale to the next. Dave and Jenny Kime
also did a long walk – the round of Eskdale. There were excellent
views from the tops; you could see the Isle of Man very
clearly. Sunday was another good climbing day. A word of sympathy for
Hilary Maslen whose car broke down and who therefore only got as far
as the campsite at Boot.
Frank’s summer walk. 21 July. This turned out to be a 27-miler
across the Peak District from Axe Edge to Crich passing through
some interesting country, done in rather indifferent weather by
Frank, Jennifer, Charles, Jack, Ian, and Andy. Much to Jack’s
disgust there was no lunchtime pub stop but this was compensated
for by a welcome tea stop at Elton cafe. The day was rounded off
well by a curry meet at the Himalaya.
Capel Curig. 27-28 July. Weather was rather wet so Tremadoc was
popular. A walking party did Tryfan and the Glyders via Bristly
Ridge. The continuing rain persuaded some to head homewards on the
Sunday, and walk in the Clywydian hills on the way.
Clwyd Limestone. August bank holiday 24-24 August. The weather
was dreadful but a small hardy band scrapped the limestone venue
and went to Snowdonia instead. Climbing was done at Gogarth, in
the Pass and on Carreg Alltrem.
On 1 September, while the hard climbing meet was taking place at
High Tor, the alternative meet was supported by 6 cyclists (two
on a tandem) and 3 walkers who were active on the High Peak
Trail.
There were the usual regular local climbing meets during the
summer and although some were rained off many were well-attended
and enjoyable. I recall for example an evening meet at
Wharncliffe, often not the most popular of Edges, when well over
twenty members had turned out and were enjoying some classic
gritstone delights.
Ilkley. Sunday 8 September. Wet again! A dozen or so members
turned up at the Cow and Calf hoping to climb but one look at the
dripping rock induce a decision to walk on Ilkley Moor.
Unexpected encounters with (a) the army and (b) a four-wheel
drive rally necessitated detours from the planned route, with the
risk of missing opening hours at the lunchtime pub stop
(skillfully averted by the meet leader Frank). The return was
uneventful and by then the weather had bucked up a bit, enabling
some climbing to be done before going home.
Manifold Valley. Sunday 15 September. Sunshine and Showers (more
showers!). A debate about whether to walk or climb; the meet
leader made a decision: walking it was and the party set off to
the Red Lion at Waterfall via a variety of very muddy paths and
tracks.
Thirlmere. 21-22 September. Report by John Barnard. The weather for
this meet came well down to the standard set by the whole appalling
summer, and though about fifteen people pitched their tents in the
six-inch-deep mud that passed for a campsite, mountaineering
achievements were necessarily limited. Saturday was largely devoted
to a survey of the tea shops in Keswick, Grasmere and Ambleside
(though some people did at least walk to them) and with slightly
improved weather on Sunday, ten people walked over Helvellyn, White
Side and Raise, whilst the rest returned directly to the Peak in the
hope of finding some dry rock. With any luck the Castle Rock of
Tremaine will have dried out by next September!
Cader Idris 19-20 October. 22 attended this meet in a good
mountaineering area which is much quieter than Snowdonia.
Saturday was generally cloudy but mild and dry – quite good
climbing weather – so a large party (four ropes of two and one of
three) walked up the Foxes path on the north side of Cader and
tackled various routes on Cyfrwy. We had the crag to ourselves!
Table direct was a pleasant 300ft v diff leading to the Cyfrwy
Arete. Nearby Rib and Slab and Squall were rather longer severes
which were “good mountaineering routes”, i.e. liberal amounts of
loose rock and vegetation, in their lower reaches but which
shared a superbly exposed and enjoyable top slab pitch (again on
somewhat dubious rock, clearly one of the delights of climbing on
Cader). After the routes we continued to the summit, with some
completing the traverse of the mountain by descending direct to
the campsite on the south side. The same day others walked to the
summit or climbed on Craig Cau; the young children and their
mothers went to the beach at Barmouth. A pleasant evening was
spent at the Railway Arms in Abergynolwyn. On Sunday the weather
was superb and several people spent the day climbing in the
Moelwyns, on Craig yr Wrysgan.
South Pennines. Sunday 17 November. After a delayed start due to
the late arrival of the meet leader, a party of nine set off from
Mytholmroyd in the Calder Valley on a dry cold bright morning. At
first the route, planned by Ian Lauriston, was along the canal
towpath but soon headed uphill – first stop the impressive
Stoodley Pike monument. Built in the early nineteenth century it
is now sadly defaced by graffitti but still offers panoramic
views from the balcony accessible by a dark spiral staircase.
With lunchtime approaching we descended to the pub at
Mankinholes. After lunch we were soon heading uphill again and
before long met up with John Barnard and friend Cherry who had
missed the lunch rendezvous through being at the wrong pub (all
right – perhaps we were at the wrong one). On reaching the
moorland plateau we headed south past a series of reservoirs,
soon joining the Pennine Way. The walk ended by a descent to the
dale and a walk along the canal to the industrial environs of
Littleborough.
Rhyd Ddu, Snowdonia. Weekend 23-24 November. “The Oread hut,
Tan-y-Wyddfa, was the base for this meet. The weather was kind to
us on both days, and activities ranged from ice climbing in the
Trinity gullies to rock climbing at Tremadoc, Clogwyn-y-Wenallt
and Cym Silyn. Scrambling was indulged in on the Glyders and
Tryfan, whilst walkers tackled Snowdon, Mynydd Mawr, Moel Hebog
and the Nantlle Ridge. The hut places were filled and we are most
grateful to Belinda for providing overflow accommodation at her
cottage. A good meet. For a fuller report see the club log book.
– Frank.”
Evening moonlight walk. 29 November. Pea soup fog in Sheffield gave
little clue that visibility was excellent in the Hope Valley. We were
lucky to have recently had a fall of snow which was still lying and in
spite of the cloudy sky there was ample moonlight to walk by. Twelve
members showed up at the Nag’s Head Edale – most before the advertised
meeting time but inevitably a few (no names, no packdrill) were
late. Eventually boots were on, headtorches (which were never needed)
donned and rucksacs shouldered, and we set off up Grindslow
Knoll. Views were good from the top. The walk continued round the head
of Grindsbrook. There was snow and ice around but the ground was not
as frozen hard as one would have liked. At Ringing Roger Jack produced
a bottle of wine and a corkscrew from his sack; not to be outdone John
fished out a bottle of the Famous Grouse. An impromptu party ensued
before tracks were made (and lost in some cases) to the Nag’s Head for
a pint.
‘It’s a rockout’. 1 December. Or ‘How to put 10 people off
climbing on a single day’ – by Marian Birkett.
Could we climb a route on five different crags on a winters day,
in dubious weather, in daylight, and still reach the pub for
lunch? Ten of us tried; five of us were glad of our torches.
Millstone to start, and Covent Garden, Lambeth Chimney, Brixton
Road and eventually even greasy Great Slab had ascents. At Higgar
Tor whilst Charles and I grunted up the most strenuous diff
chimney in the world, Dave Copley, Martin and Tim flew up the
File and Dave Pendlebury and Adrian climbed the Riffler. We left
as the Great Slab team arrived. Carl Wark wasn’t the same without
DD so most soloed a route to reach the pub before closing time.
At this point the rain started in earnest so we slid our way up
the Ant Slab/ Cardinal area at Yarncliffe. Crossing Burbage Brook
was entertaining until some of the group found the bridge and we
arrived at Gingerbread Slab, Lawrencefield with minutes to spare
before dark. Martin, and Dave wisely soloed in the twilight. The
rest of us took to our torches. Andy, Charles and I
(traditionalists!) took sacks and big boots (better in the rain
of course). I felt my way up with a dimming light. The
mantelshelf half way up was undignified and involved (the way I
did it) lying face down on the ledge and grovelling about a lot.
Charles looked pretty similar but as Andy reached the same
manoevre, his grovelling and expletives reached frantic
proportions and I realised the beam of torchlight had
disappeared. I peered down into the darkness. More expletives.
The battery in his pocket had become disconnected during the
violent movements. Eventually light returned and with fewer
struggles we all reached the top. So only an hour after dark we
were back at the cars exclaiming over the wonderful day we’d had.
Funny how quickly you forget.
Annual Dinner Dance. Friday 13 December. Notwithstanding the
date, this was as usual a successful and enjoyable function. A
traditional Christmas dinner accompanied by the pulling of
crackers, wearing of funny hats and throwing of streamers was
followed by dancing to a variety of music provided by Steve
France and his disco. The star prize in the raffle, a new book on
the Munros, was won by Ronny. Many thanks to Mike Anderson for
organising the event yet again, to Steve for the disco, to Blacks
for generously donating many of the raffle prizes, and to
everyone who supported the function.
Bleaklow Bogtrot. 15 December. We (six) walked up the path by
Near Black Clough. The weather was mild dry breezy and the going
was soft, evidenced by the black gaiters and even black knees in
one case. The major landmarks of the Bleaklow plateau were
visited: Bleaklow Head, Wain Stones, Higher Shelf Stones,
Bleaklow Stones.