Six of us turned up in Castleton for the start of the Paul Fowkes Memorial walk on a dismal looking day, including Rick freshly arrived from Japan to visit his new grandchild.
We began by visiting Paul’s memorial stone before Charles left us to do his own walk. The rest of us set off over fields to the old road under Mam Tor, [which Rick had never walked up] before ascending the steep ridge to the left of the main face, which Jenks claimed never to have been up before. After examining the resident toad [see picture] we moved on.
As height was gained, the wind grew stronger to help the rain wet us thoroughly before we reached the top, where we met up with what seemed like dozens of other walkers.
Turning our backs to the wind we traversed the ridge, encountering more livestock [picture] before lunching in the woods. Shortly after we reached the summit of Lose Hill before descending to Hope and the Woodbine café, just as the rain stopped. After warming refreshments we followed the river back to Castleton where, in typical fashion, the sun came out to give us a glorious drive back to Sheffield.
Thanks to Chris, John, Rick, Jenks and Charles for attending this special walk.
Pictures on Facebook page.
Paul Gibson.