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With a deluge of rain as we were setting off, causing a nastily flooded road at Upper Burbage Bridge, we sort of hoped nobody would turn up. However, a phone call from the President and 1st Lady soon stopped that idea. In addition the resident dog nanny and Scout arrived to join us.
As we set off the rain had stopped and we were soon walking steadily uphill towards misty views of Kinder. As the day grew brighter we made our way to the top of Lantern Pike, rarely visited on CMC meets. After leaving the summit we were hit by a brief shower before stopping for coffee etc, a longer gap than Thursday walks, so definitely welcomed.
Walking North we eventually reached the bottom of Cown Edge where lunch was taken, sheltered, almost, from a rising breeze. Up to the edge, walking South now with excellent views West to Manchester and beyond and East over the Kinder plateau. Before descending we were treated to a light show with dazzling sunlight piercing holes in the cloud and moving rapidly west to east, like a giant spotlight.
Almost before we were expecting it, the cars were spotted below and a decision was made to visit the pub complete with water wheel and railway carriage, where the Meet Leader treated his fellow walkers to celebratory drinks, having successfully avoiding a soaking.
7.75 miles, 1478 feet of ascent.
Thanks to all who came
Paul and Vanda.

The third club walk of the first week of the New Year saw no drop in enthusiasm from club members as fourteen of us (and two dogs) met in Wildboarclough. Apologies were given from five of the party who were slightly late having enjoyed cordon bleu level cookery courtesy of Bill and Elen’s the night before.
Once off the walk took us to the former royal hunting ground of Macclesfield Forest on the western edge of the Peak District. The first major break in the trees gave views over towards Jodrell Bank and on to the distant Clwyd Hills that border Wales.
The walk dropped down to the side of Ridgegate reservoir and the party took the liberty of taking lunch on grass designated for Macclesfield Anglers (none were present). After this the climb up Shutlingsloe (aka the Cheshire Matterhorn) began. The party stopped by and on benches approximately half way up the ascent to admire the views and then pressed on. I’m delighted to report that all the party managed to summit with only one complaining about lack of oxygen. The steep initial part of the descent was taken with care before gaining the delightful easy angled track which took us with little effort back to the start.
Thanks to all who came and supported a walk in an area the club doesn’t get to very often.
Andrew

First of all Happy New Year to all. For the last CMC walk before Christmas, 13 members and 2 guests met near Fairholmes. After greetings from several excited dogs we set off, ascending the woods onto the edge. We continued along Rowlee Pasture to the formations of Alport Castles and strode to the end to admire the views. Cutting underneath the crag we escaped a blustery wind and enjoyed lunch and drinks on a grassy slope in the warm winter sunshine. After a descent into Alport Dale we followed a broad track to the River Ashop. Then a muddy walk along the picturesque valley ensued before ascending over a shoulder and back down through the woods to Derwent. Some went onto the cafe at Bamford and then made an interesting river crossing and an ascent of Win Hill for the winter solstice. Total round of posted walk about 8 1/2 miles or 13.5km with 1950 feet (595m) ascent. Thanks for great company and an escape from all the festive preparations!
Ali

Eleven walking stalwarts gathered at the very civilised time of 11am in the centre of Millthorpe for this New Year’s Day walk. Another walking group seemed happy to shuffle their own cars closer, so that all the Castle cars could also be fitted into this conveniently situated layby. Then off we set, heading uphill towards Holmesfield before taking a traversing path southwest to Unthank . As usual the walk had not been recced [?spelling] so the map was checked fairly regularly by the meet leader when she didn’t recognise the field/path/stile/stream, having not led a walk here since last March. A coffee stop was taken in Meekfield Wood, and later on, having passed through Moorhall we had lunch, sheltering out of the cold wind behind a thick band of trees. Two decided to have a shorter walk and peel off at Barlow Grange. The rest of us continued up to the highest point of the walk near Grange Hill, with disappointingly minimal views today, before heading down out of the wind now, through Oxton Rakes. There was no sign of the two peacocks that lived here, but several friendly dogs seemed to want to join us on our walk. An unfamiliar path was safely navigated, and another stretch of road taken, before we were back on very familiar territory, passing through Rumbling Street northwards back towards Millthorpe. Noteworthy aspects of the day were repeated appearances of a police car [? the same one], numerous horses, some with winter coats and stylishly plaited tails [!] and much MUD in all its different forms. Slightly disappointing on the entertainment front was that no-one fell over in it, but there was a general agreement that the bar has now been set particularly high for the rest of the year for measuring the ‘mud-ness factor’ on future walks. The meet lead’s suggestion of being awarded bonus points for providing TWO fords for boot washing just before the walk ended, disappointingly didn’t go down as well as she’d hoped for.
But as usual thank you all for your company, especially the workers amongst you that we don’t see so often [Leon, Josie and Rosa] and also Alice from the Brecon Beacons in Wales, staying in Sheffield, whilst waiting to become a grandmother for the first time, who’d heard about the Castle through Dave Crowther.
According to Andy’s GPS we walked 7 and 1/2 miles.
Vanda Boyd

Many thanks to the 4 who joined me for this rather impromptu addition to the meets list. A lovely day for a walk, we set off from Glebe Road and headed over Crookes and down to the Rivelin valley. Many dog walkers were out, as were runners. We stopped short of the Rails Road car park for a coffee before continuing on to the path up just past the waterworks. Unfortunately one or more of the stepping stones now seem to be missing here….
Anyhow, all crossed without problem and we ascended to the valley-edge track. The chosen lunch stop was rather windy, so we headed to the bank before the stream crossing and ate lunch in a sheltered and sunny spot. Onwards behind the golf course to Manchester Road, then a short bit of tarmac before skirting behind Crookes cemetery and back to the road. Gill D joined us at my house, and daughter Jenny’s Christmas cake was consumed, along with mugs of tea. I was treated to a spirited rendition of Happy Birthday – thank you! Dave.

Vanda’s photos:

and the non-stepping-stone

Thirty six club members met up in the (slightly modernised) Kingsway Centre in Teesdale for this year’s dinner meet.
Saturday dawned fairly bright and cold as different parties headed off on foot and on road and mountain bikes. No matter what activity everyone enjoyed a great day with some fantastic cloud and sun effects. Though reports from individuals differed slightly the mountain bikers had a great ride/push/slip up the flanks and over Cross Fell and the road bikers escaped with only one fall. No one sustained any damage. Walkers enjoyed the moors above the centre with the larger party dining on the rocky summit of Monk’s Moor in warm winter sunshine.
After members had spruced themselves up the evening got off to a great start with delicious cakes and fizzy wine to celebrate the birthdays of Mary and Sue M. A table tennis tournament started but had to be abandoned as all the balls cracked (lesson for future never leave home without a ping pong ball). Once again the cooks prepared a delicious three course feast with all dietary preferences covered which was followed by homemade chocolates in honour of the birthdays. Once the washing was done the club’s new president (Chris) rose to give an entertaining speech and give out awards. The president then showed that speeches were not his only skill as, along with the new first lady, he mixed two large jars of cocktails.
Sunday was an even better day with at least one club member starting the day with some of the previous evenings cocktails -mistaking them for fruit juice. A large group walked from the centre enjoying far reaching views over the Tees valley before following the river back to the centre. The mountain bikes were out again with one biker managing to fall off and plunge her face into mud – no injury sustained. Coming back from a walk one member felt the need to revive herself before going home and sampled a couple of glasses of cocktail. Five minutes later she declared ‘I feel p…..d’!
Eight members stayed on in either the centre or the village. Those in the centre set to with the challenge of finishing off the cocktails – my headache on Monday morning was testament to their seductive power.
Thanks again to the cooks and all the rest of you who came and contributed in whatever way and helped make it a great weekend. Now where to next year …
Andrew

On the Sunday four of us managed the Macclesfield CLASSIC and I make no apologies for adding the classic bit even if it is the third time I’ve done it. Dry and warm all day stopping at the cafe, not really necessary as had been a couple weeks before, below the Cat and Fiddle which was very accommodating seeing the muddy state we were in, Hugh couldn’t understand why i turned down free food for Scout.
Monday the soothsayers were correct about the weather although I had a good morning and hopefully David did as well, we lost the way a bit trying to find the cycle path out of Matlock and ended up walking across a field, it was warm again though!

Three of us met at the appointed time (10am) at what we thought was the appointed place (layby on the A57 below the Snake Inn). There was no meet leader, so after waiting a while we set out leaderless. It later transpired that the meet leader led a party of 6 plus a dog from a different layby, but we never saw them. The usual path down through the forest from the Inn is now closed and the forest has been felled, so we took a lower path from the road down to the footbridge over the River Ashop, leading into Fairbrook. The rain was already giving way to drizzle. The delightful path up Fairbrook eventually steepened below the temporary fence which keeps the sheep off  plateau, thereby allowing the growth of several trees which were not there before. At the top we were in mist, leading a cautious member of our group to recommend keeping together. We soon reached Fairbrook Naze and the start of a path back down to the start, but we decided instead to continue as planned along the north edge of Kinder. We had occasional glimpses through the mist into Ashop Clough below. There were a few boggy/peaty sections, mostly avoidable. We had our picnic sheltered from the cool north breeze by the “Boxing Glove” stones. Pressing on, we soon reached the Pennine Way. Up to this point we had seen nobody else but there were a few on the Pennine Way. Dropping down the stone steps, we soon came to Ashop Head and turned right onto the Snake Path, which was followed back to the Snake road. The usually boggy sections were no boggier than usual and by this time the drizzle had stopped and we had a pleasant walk down. We saw nobody else after leaving the Pennine Way. The Snake Inn was closed, so we returned to the cars to finish. It was a pity we did not meet up with the others but we enjoyed our walk, an old favourite. 8.8 miles; 1600ft ascent. Andy.