Mary and I went up to Waters Cottage, the Fell and Rock hut, on 27th December.
28th was cold and clear as a bell. We climbed Sgurr Eilde Mor. Very icy on parts of the stalkers paths. Virtually no snow. Fabulous views. Down just before dark.
29th – same weather. We climbed Binnein Mor and Na Gruagaichean. Back in the dark.
30th – climbed Stob Ban from the West Highland Way, and Sgorr an lubhair [otherwise known as 1001]. Totally clear skies and no wind – again. The Mamores are beautiful hills and we had the best views I’ve seen from them. Hard frost in the valleys and glowing bracken in the sun. Back in the darker.
31st – a change of weather – normal service resumed. We met up with Chris Huxham at Glencoe Hostel and walked round the back of the Ballachulish Horseshoe with her and Pete. Chris was on a Hogmanay meet with the Glasgow Glenmore club, who invited us round for a Hogmanay meal. Great company, meal and sing song after. Already thinking of wrangling an invite for next year! Small world – we met the other grandparents of Andy and Rosies’ grandchildren.
1st – back south in the face of a poor forecast and tired legs.
Tricky conditions with hard ice on the lower paths, especially in descent. Made it slower. One of the Glenmore club broke a wrist slipping over. It would be even more difficult with a dusting of snow.
The Glenmore club were a very sociable bunch and it would be nice to do a joint meet, maybe in the Lakes.
Geoff

Mary’s pics:

Chris’s pics:

Walk Report/Statistics
Party size 8
Start time 8am – Lose Hill summit 8.53am.
Mam Nick coffee break 10am
First lunch at 1533 spot height below Swines
Back at 12.00.
Second lunch at Hartshorn 2pm
Afternoon tea at Hope Cross 3.40pm
Winn Hill summit 4.50pm
Finish at Hope Primary School 5.50pm
Distance 19.81 miles – 3471ft of ascent
Walking time 8hrs 16mins
Total time 9hrs 50 mins
Steps 46,262
Weather – light cloud mostly with some
sunny periods early afternoon.
Temperature approx at freezing level all day
Ground conditions reasonable, no ice.
Just a sprinkling of snow at Kinder Low.
Pics can be found on the Walking WhatsApp
page.
Congrats to all “Skyliners’ and a big thank you
for your company.
Pete

Sunday 21st December, 15 people plus 4 dogs braved the cold damp start at the upper Porter Clough car park. Not a lot to see through the “atmospheric” murk but first stop was Rud Hill for a resounding rendition of Deck the Halls. Onward across the boggy moor to Stanage Pole for coffee and more singing – Hark the Herald Angels and a slightly off-key but enthusiastic chorus of Gloria.
Then what could be more apposite than Away in a Manger at Robin Hoods Cave, followed by Sweet Bells? A quick romp along Stanage Edge for Jingle Bells at the Stanage End trig provided entertainment for a few locals.
Then a lost dog down a hole and a slight detour off the main path gave some navigational challenges but alas we found our descent to Burbage Bridge for lunch. Here conditions meant 2 had to leave early but 2 more appeared out of the clag to maintain numerical equilibrium.
The last stage was a very boggy short cut across Houndkirk Moor to Oxstones. Here the obligatory and ungraceful clamber onto the trig marked the completion of all the 103 Peak District trigs. To celebrate, we sang a hearty version of We wish you a Merry Christmas . The group remained in cheery voice for the entirety of the day in conditions that were less than ideal! Visibility was zero but the pace was brisk. 8.5 miles in total. Mad dogs and CMC members.!
A pleasant meander through Lady Cannings Plantation lead to Norfolk Arms for a warming hot chocolate. Some said farewells here. A short walk back along the road to cars finished the day. Thank you to all who came and joining in the festive spirit. – you lovely people!
Happy Christmas everyone. Alison

Bron’s pics

10 people and 2 dogs set off from Elton church for this 17.5km walk in a less frequented part of the Peak District.
Many of these ancient villages were mentioned in the Domesday Book. Fabulous views over towards Cratcliffe as we set off and beautiful Autumn colours most of the way round. Took a small detour to look closer at Grey Ladies stone circle before heading round Castle Hill and on to Bradford Dale for a drink stop by the river. Lunch in Middleton before heading into the less known route back. Long Dale was enjoyed before a fairly muddy Gratton Dale and fields back to Elton. Chris
Chris’s pics:

Ali’s pics:

Four of us gathered in one of the carparks in Alstonefield [myself, Mike, Lynda and Leon – really sorry you couldn’t make it Hugh] some of us already having donned waterproof trousers as the rain had started. Initially, route finding and navigation wasn’t too challenging on this [as usual] un-recced walk, but missing signposts and unclear paths across the largest fields with no distant guiding stile visible, threw us slightly off-route on a few occasions, but excellent teamwork [and Mike’s compass] got us quickly back on the planned route. The rain stopped and the sun emerged, but It was quite a blustery windy day, so the coffee stop was taken in the shelter of a wall, before reaching the steep edge of the Manifold valley, with its dramatic views. We continued heading south before looping northwards past Castern farm [easy navigation now through small fields and numerous stiles] to stop for lunch in the woods above Hall Dale, with a convenient arched building [possibly an old lime kiln?] to provide shelter from the intermittent rain, Then an extremely steep descent to enter the top of beautiful Hall Dale, leading us down into familiar Dove Dale. Although a footpath is marked on the map, heading directly north from here on the west side of the river, others in this party said they had made the mistake of trying to follow it before, so we took the signposted loop south to the bridge under Ilam Rock, before heading north towards Milldale, where Mike treated us to delicious ice-creams to sustain us up the very steep ascent, and then across fields back to Alstonefield, where we had a brief diversion to its church and the oldest legible dated [1518] gravestone in England.
Thank you everyone for your company, keeping the overly interested large group of horses away from me, and the much appreciated help with navigation. Perhaps today could have been the recce for a walk with no deviations in the future, as apart from in Dove Dale, we saw few other walkers, so a lovely area to revisit sometime? Vanda.

Mike’s pics:

After a chaotic 30mins due to parking problems, 10 of us set of at rocket pace led by Rosie (who also had the role of Chief Navigating Occifer) towards Whinstone Lee. Having got our breath back we headed onwards along Derwent Edge. After Cakes, Hugh caught up with us and JB headed for home. After a coffee and snack break at Back Tor we wandered downhill towards Fairholme. Lunch was taken on the meadow below the dam wall basking the sunshine. At Fairholme we ran into Andy who was out for a bike ride. Having flogged up to Lockerbrook we enjoyed a pleasant walk along Hagg Side and down to the start via Crookhill Farm. Luckily we enjoyed fabulous sharp views throughout the walk. 5 of us met up at The Anglers Rest in Bamford for tea and cake or beer and crisps.
Thanks for a great day out!! Rob.
Mike’s pics
The view from Derwent Edge

Descent down Hollin Clough

Final descent to Ladybower

Just three of us for this walk on a cool and rather grey morning with the threat of rain which never quite materialised. We began along the Pennine Way before contouring into Crowden Clough. Karen and I opted for the steep climb below Crowden Tower whilst Geoff followed the brook and took the entertaining scramble up to the plateau rim. Reunited, we took a short break and then walked eastward along the edge of Kinder Scout on ground which was still remarkably dry underfoot. We passed several weathered gritstone blocks, including the ‘Pig’s Head’, which wouldn’t have been out of place in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Rounding the upper reaches of Grindsbrook and Golden Cloughs we reached Ringing Roger where another break was taken before the descent to Grindsbrook Booth and welcome refreshments at the Old Nag’s Head. A tad under eight miles.
Steve W

Ronan Cottage is owned by the Scottish Ladies Climbing Club. It is at Aultbea, north of Pool Ewe, with fabulous views over Loch Ewe. A lovely place to stay. Munros ascended included: An Teallach – by the pinnacle ridge and by the route from Dundonnel, Slioch, Fionn Bheinn and Am Faochagach. John and Dave went further afield to climb Maol Chean-dearg, Sgorr Rhadh and Beinn Liath Mhor from Achnashellach. Corbetts included Sail Mhor, Beinn Dearg Mor via a night at Shenavall, and Beinn Airigh Char. So lots, taking advantage of the glorious weather. John and I explored local sea cliffs but were foiled by rain and tide – another trip.

Loch Ewe was used as a base for Arctic conveys during world war two, to deliver supplies to Russia. A fascinating local museum, set up and run by volunteers, gives details of these epic journeys. https://arcticconvoymuseum.org/ Also worth a visit is Inverewe Gardens, created in the 19th century, containing species from across the globe, taking advantage of the climate moderated by the gulf stream https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/inverewe

Overall, a great place to stay. There are also a lot of local crags, which we didn’t explore and the Fisherfield wilderness. Thanks to Lorna for organising this week.

Mary, John and myself moved up to Elphin, North of Ullapool, for a second week in the SMC Naismith hut, where we were joined by Sue Miller for two days, and two friends from the Fell and Rock, Robin and Richard. The hut features a photo of the SMC outside the Clachaig Inn in Glencoe in 1907, including Naismith himself and other SMC luminaries of the time. From here groups climbed Ben Hope, Ben Kilbreak, Conival, Ben More Assynt, Cul Mor, Cul Bearg and Sgurr an Fhidhleir. All very fine hills. The varied rock types, proximity to the sea and relative isolation of these hills gives them distinctive characters and great views. Robin and I explored the extensive Reiff sea cliffs, where an ascent of an isolated pinnacle led to a tricky descent in the rain. Loads more to climb here, if you can find it, and are happy at VS+. Robin also tried to teach me to fish – with a similar level of success.

More mixed weather on this week, although it only really hit us on the last couple of days. We retreated a day early in the face of storm Amy. Another great venue to revisit. Many more really good hills to go on.
Geoff.

Ten of us met in Over Haddon for a 7.5 mile walk above and then through Lathkill Dale. Walking westwards along the lane out of the village we admired a landscape which, minus the drystone walls and scattered farmsteads, is very similar to that which was experienced by the earliest humans to reach this area at the end of the Ice Age some 12 000 years ago. As the ice retreated, these Mesolithic hunter gatherers were able to follow and hunt migrating herds of reindeer, aurochs and wild horses and would have encountered mammoths, woolly rhinos and hyenas along the way. It was hard to imagine all this as we passed placid herds of grazing cows but a chilly wind helped to put us in the picture!
We passed the jumbled remains of Ringham Low, once a five-chambered burial mound from the Neolithic period, and then made our way down through Ricklow Dale and its quarry to the shelter of Lathkill Dale. We visited the sites of Mesolithic rock shelters at Lathkill Head Cave and Cales Dale before moving into the woodland of the lower valley. Here the focus switched to the 18th & 19th century remnants of the lead mining industry and water-powered corn mills. We explored the ruins of Bateman’s House and Mandale Mine’s engine house but a new fence and rank vegetation prevented us from visiting the outlet of Mandale Sough – but we could at least hear the sound of the only running water we encountered all day. We finished with the steep climb back to the village.
We were lucky with the weather, just one brief but heavy downpour, and the day was rounded off with Helen distributing pieces of delicious, home-made, apple bake – very tasty.
Thanks for your company everyone
Steve W