All posts in Meet Reports

paulgibsonforest
May 30, 2013
Not a very promising start to the day with rain outside in Sheffield, and 3 people had already contacted me with their reasons/excuses for not coming along. But I had Linda in the car, so at least one person for company, and having waited in case anyone else turned up at Monsal Head, the two of us set off in sunshine [and remained warm and dry all day] looping south to Ashford in the Water, where quite unexpectedly, we discovered the village festooned with banners, to welcome visitors to their beautiful well dressings and stunning flower show in the church [eat your heart out Chelsea!] We visited 5 of the available 6 well dressings, which celebrated and marked various anniversaries this year – so many years of Dr Who, the Good Life, children’s cartoon characters such as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse etc. One of the church wardens explained some of the hard work and careful timing which goes into making a well dressing, and the floral displays in the church told a story of past occupations and activities that had flourished in this village in earlier times. Then it was time to leave, heading north past Churchdale Hall towards Great Longstone, stopping in a buttercup-filled meadow for our picnic lunch on the way, and then up past swathes of dandelions and cowslips to Longstone Edge, with an easy contouring track to follow and stunning views over typical limestone scenery, before descending through more lush meadows to Little Longstone and the car home. Since Linda is away on 27th June and is looking for a volunteer, I have offered to do this walk again, but perhaps as a variation, to do it anti-clockwise instead. Hopefully the weather will be just as fine as today. Vanda Boyd

davidcrowther45
May 18, 2013
Apologies to our working members, who are sadly unable to join these sociable little leg-stretchers each Thursday….
A decent day saw 4 of us (Linda, John M, Martin and self) warm up by ascending Fairbrook Naze, then head west along Ashop edge. A sunny lunch stop let us watch the Lancaster come up from the south and fly over the Derwent edges before dropping down for its run over the dams.
We headed on past Punch’s nose (which Martin remembered soloing when it was just Severe – now HVS apparantly……) to the end of the edge and the Pennine Way. A short distance north led to the Snake Path back down the Ashop valley (with a few boggy patches).
Tea (we have coffee and teas stops in these walks…) was taken on a grassy knoll above the babbling brook before the partly-felled plantation (rather a mess now).
Back to the cars in 3h30m and 7.5 miles. John didn’t seem to be turning in circles all the way, but his right-leg pedometer was showing 0.5m more than the left leg one come the finish…

Linda Mcleish
May 4, 2013
10 of us had the best weather of the year on Thurs. we started from Eyam and headed steeply up to sir Willam Hill, and down to Abney Clough on a wonderful path with 360 views- when I reccied the walk in November, I saw very little! We enjoyed hearing the cuckoos calling and other birds were identified as were wood anenomes. The Barrel Inn was too tempting and we lingered over beers and drinks. Then back down to Foolow and Eyam, a very pleasant 7.3 miles, with good company. cheers, Linda.

davidcrowther45
Apr 12, 2013
Wow! that piece of string was spot on at 7 miles… thanks for the data Andy.

5 of us (Andy & Rosie, Linda, John M and self) enjoyed a walk of 2 halves – first through wood and moor from the bottom end of the Rivelin dams to the stream inlet via a circuitous route above, then through farmland on the north side of the A57 until emerging under Rivelin edge back to the cars (see earlier post for full route) after 3.5 hours.

Seats were found for coffee at the Headstone and for a late lunch at the picnic bench on Riggs High Road. The latter just seated the 5 summer winers, with a hazy view towards Bradfield as sandwiches were consumed.

Brooks babbled, tweeters twittered, and Linda and Rosie emulated both. A pleasant day out.

Dave C

Andy Smith
Mar 29, 2013
CMC Thursday Walk 28th March 2013.
Only three turned out for this walk: Andy, Rosy and Tom. We
set off from Bradwell in a westerly direction. The weather
was good: dry, with some sunshine and blue skies, but cold
with a biting east wind. Once clear of the village, all the
lanes and tracks were blocked (to vehicles) by huge snow
drifts. We were able to climb over them but it was quite
slow going; skis or snowshoes would have been better. Once
on the open expanse of Bradwell Moor the going was easier,
as much of the snow had blown off (and caused the drifts
elsewhere). Eventually we reached the top of the moor where
we could look down on Peak Forest as well as back to Win
Hill etc. On the down-wind side of the ridge there was a
(relatively) sheltered snow gully, so we crossed the wall
and grabbed a quick bite to eat for lunch. Tom tried his
winter climbing skill on the cornice but it was too soft. We
headed back to Bradwell along Batham Gate, the line of the
old Roman road. A satisfying trip, with good photographic
opportunities. Back at the start, tea and cakes were served.
5.1 miles 840 feet of ascent.
—
Andy Smith – Bradwell, Derbyshire, England; andy@…

Linda Mcleish
Mar 21, 2013
6 of us braved the icy wind and after an hour the blue sky broke out briefly and we were out of the wind. Saw goosander on the Derwent, and heard a woodpecker, and had great views of Chatsworth’s fountain in the distance. Sat on a wall in Calver and watched 2 blokes dig a massive trench as we discussed Richard the 3rd. Went to check on what they were doing once butties finished, not a skeleton in sight. Another good day out and very sociable as usual. 7 miles in the book and with string. cheers, Linda.

marianbirkett
Mar 12, 2013
From Kings tree at the top of the Howden res road 7 of us made our way up the delightful and deserted linch clough. As we reached the flatter rather featureless heathery moorland at the top and in increasingly poor visibility, we missed the rain gauge but saw a white mountain hare and a rather interesting orange fungus on a pale green lichen (or was it algae?) A snowy lower small clough made for a pleasant descent to the shooting cabins where we made use of the shelter, complete with plastic chairs, for lunch. Only a swollen upper derwent river now lay between us and the broad track back to kings tree.
Thanks to all who joined in.
Marian
6.2ml 1180ft ascent – thanks to Andy for this info

marianbirkett
Feb 25, 2013
Lovely walk with great views. From Cutthroat bridge, 8 of us started up the dogless Jarvis Clough and onto Bamford edge. Heather burning was in progress so after some initial smokiness, the walk fortunately took us upwind and gave some impressive flaming photo opportunities. Passing under High Neb, Crow Chin and nearly to Stanage End, we identified a few climbs still to do, before a dry walk (for most of us) back to the cars. Great company – thanks to all who made it.
Marian

Andy Smith
Feb 15, 2013
A vaguely heart-shaped circuit from Andy & Rosy’s house. They were
accompanied by four other members: Linda & Dave, Martin & Pat. It was
mostly cloudy and mostly dry. The recent snow was melting fast but it
still felt a bit cold in the breeze up on the Moor. The six of us set
off up the lane to Newwall Nook, past the usual barking dogs to Outlands
quarry, the first of the industrial sites of Bradwell to be encountered
on the walk. The path skirted round the quarry and we soon reached Moss
Rake quarry. An ascent of Green Dale and deep soft snow in places, led
to Batham Gate, the old Roman Road from Glossop to Buxton. After a short
ascent on the road we came to where a footpath normally heads off to the
right. We found that this part of the old quarry was being landscaped
and we had to cross newly bulldozed ground before picking the path up.
Here, the old open cast workings provided some shelter for a quick
coffee break. Heading down across Bradwell Moor, we reached a wall near
Potter Barn, the bottom of the ‘V’ in the heart shape. We then headed up
next to the wall, trying to avoid the deepest snow drifts, not always
successfully. After a few stiles, one of them quite tricky, we arrived
at the top of Dirtlow Rake, the site of the old Hollandtwine mine. From
here the route dropped down the Dirtlow Rake track with some deep wet
slushy sections. At the road we opted for tarmac in preference to
continuing wading through the deep slush on the track. A stroll downhill
brought us to the top of Pin Dale, where a boulder provided a seat for a
picnic in a reasonably sheltered spot. From here, a bit of involved
route-finding led down to a stile and the track through Pindale quarry
past the old lead veins (Scrins) to Black Rabbit cottage. From here we
took the public right of way through the Hope cement works (formerly
LaFarge but recently bought by Mittal Investments) to arrive back in
Bradwell. The walk was followed by tea and cakes, a Valentine’s Day quiz
and an Antarctic slide show.

6.9 miles; 1130 ft of ascent. Andy
—
Andy Smith – Bradwell, Derbyshire, England; andy@…

paulgibsonforest
Feb 1, 2013
Fortunately the lashing rain, thunder and lightning of the night before had moved on, and the next lot of rain didn’t arrive until after we’d finished, although there was a tiny sprinkle at some time during the walk. There were seven of us at the old Bakewell railway station to repeat the ‘winter wonderland’ walk I’d done with Marion on 13th December. So we set off, uphill initially and safely negotiating the golf course, on rather muddy paths interspersed with quiet country lanes, passing close to Pilsley and then, after a quick lunch stop on a grassy slope in the sunshine and wind, through Hassop and back towards Bakewell. Arriving at the Monsal trail, John chose to take my previous, shorter route directly back to our cars in Bakewell as he had ‘car concerns’, but the rest of us took the one mile longer route on a path through fields, to the river [delightful pack-horse bridge – thanks for pointing it out Dave!] where we ‘lost’ Andy and Rosie who were on a pork pie hunt. So a 7 mile walk for most of us, 6 miles for John and apparently 7.7 miles for those who like their pork pies. Vanda