Castle Mountaineering Club

Est. 1967, Sheffield, UK

Walk report: Saturday 7th October 2023

Nine of us set off from Monyash on a fine morning. Bagshaw Dale led us to the top end of Lathkill Dale before we took the steep climb up into Ricklow Quarry. The crinoidal limestone quarried here, when highly polished, was much prized as a decorative stone for the interiors of grand Victorian homes. The Neolithic burial site of Ringham Low was next but not lingered over as there is little to see amongst the trees which cover it now. We took a break near Haddon Grove and then dropped back into Lathkill Dale to climb out again via Cales Dale and up to One Ash Grange. Once the property of Roche Abbey near Rotherham, this medieval monastic grange still has a few buildings which date back to the 14th century. Sadly, several of the cottages and outbuildings are rather dilapidated, although some notices seemed to suggest there are plans for renovation. We passed the head of Cales Dale, where Mesolithic hunter gatherers once sheltered, and made our way to Arbor Low. This impressive Neolithic site has a large circle of stones surrounded by a ditch and bank and once had a stone chamber at its centre. Around four thousand years old, it remained in use for several hundred years.. After exploring the site we ate lunch in the lee of the bank and then made our way across the fields back to Monyash. A ‘grand day out’ walking through ten thousand years of history, thanks for sharing it with me everyone.
Cheers
Steve W

Saturday walk, 30/9/23; Foolow to Sheffield via Hathersage

Three set off early from a small village, in search of their fortune in the big city, following old pathways up onto Eyam edge and across Eyam moor. Cows stood quietly chewing, watching them walk by in the early morning mist, down the hill into Hathersage.

Two early bird members greeted us, already at the pool cafe having caught the Sheffield bus in and breakfasts and coffee were enjoyed.
Two more members arrived plus two dogs and a message that the second bus from Sheffield had not yet arrived to pick up two more members, who were still stuck at Hunters Bar, so reluctantly seven set off without them.

We climbed out of the valley past the vineyard and the Moorseats’ helipad, past Carhead rocks, joining the melee of Saturday climbers and walkers around Stanage popular end. After admiring the view from the edge, we set off past Stanage Pole, via Redmires and across a boggy Whitestones moor to Fulwood Lane, making for the picnic bench which seemed a perfect place for lunch. And there on the bench was another member waiting, only to be also met there by our intrepid pair from the delayed bus, who’d made up spectacular time to catch us up.
So now we were ten plus our four legged leaders who seemed to particularly enjoy the myriad of paths along side Porter Brook, all the way into Encliffe Park, stopping to try and catch sight of the elusive kingfisher at one of the ponds and taking a look at the Shepherd Wheel along the way.

By then the rain had arrived so there was much more interest in tea and cake in a nearby cafe rather than a soggy slog up the hill to the Botanical Gardens.

The 65 bus home arrived on time, while the 772 arrived early so two of the gang (plus dog leaders) leapt aboard the 65 which caught up and overtook the speeding 772, but cheered on by the bus driver, they achieved their ‘Mission Impossible’ and successfully boarded the rogue 772.

Thank you for fun company and a good day out. 5.4 + 10 miles.

Hazel

Hazel’s pictures


Walk Report Saturday 16 September 2023

Four of us left Hartington on a blustery morning, and nmade a quick ascent of Sheen Hill. Refeshment break enjoyed under some rocks before descending into a much calmer valley. Pilsbury Castle was our lunch spot, where we spent some time imagining the lay of the land during for this mediaeval settlement. A rising path led us back to the village for coffee and cake. A relaxed Saturday 7.5 mile outing. Thank you for good company. Ali.

THE CASTLE CHRONICLE # 3

The committee met on 14th September and this is the latest update to let you know what we have been getting up to.

Recent club highlights have been the successful summer trip to the Alps and the visit of climbing legend Catherine Destivelle. Special mention to Rosa who bravely followed Catherine up Right Unconquerable!
Upcoming away meets are planned to Crianlarich (New Year ‘24), Capel Curig (Easter ’24) and Braemar (May ’24).

Dates for your diary:
• Mick Fowler, veteran of many adventurous mountaineering expeditions, will be giving us a talk at the Grouse Inn on Thursday 16th November from 7.30pm. Mick’s talk is free but “Pie and Peas” will be £11. More details to follow.
• The club AGM will take place at the Norfolk Arms on Thursday 23rd November at 7.30pm. This will be followed by an outdoor-themed quiz with lots of magnificent prizes!
• Bookings are now being taken for the Christmas meet on 2nd/3rd December. This will be at Coldwell Outdoor Centre up on the Pennine moors above Burnley.
• This year’s ceilidh was great fun and another is planned for 23rd March 2024.

Clubroom matters:
Vanda and Paul have spearheaded an impressive revamp of the clubroom. This has included repainting, installing matting in the entrance and a general declutter and tidy-up. A poster for a talk to the club by Don Whillans is to be framed and hung in the clubroom.
If you have any bright ideas for events or activities to make more use of the clubroom please let the committee know.

Changes to the committee:
Several members of the committee are standing down this year. Chris Lunn is standing down having had the unenviable task, as president, of steering the club through the difficult pandemic years. Lin is standing down as vice-president – her finest hour was surely knocking heads together to reach agreement on the future of the clubroom! And Gemma is standing down as membership secretary after doing a fantastic job encouraging new members and promoting the club via social media.
There will now be three places on the committee available. If you are interested in joining the committee please let us know. This is a great opportunity to get involved with moving the club forward to a bright new future!

Review of club communications:
A reminder that the aim of this review is to:
• Simplify communications to make life easier for administrators.
• Reduce the confusion caused by having multiple communication methods.
• Give our communications a more up-to-date look to appeal to younger club members. and make the club fit for the future.
Option 1 is to use MeetUp as the main platform for club communication. The trial of MeetUp will now be paused. We are grateful to all club members who took part in the trial and completed the questionnaire. This has given us useful information about the pros and cons of MeetUp which will help us with our decision-making. Thanks are due to the team who were tasked by the committee with organising the trial and put a huge amount of effort into this.
Option 2 is to make administering the website less time-consuming and make some sections of the website, such as the message board, more user-friendly. The committee will now investigate options for and the cost of making these changes to the club website.
The committee is planning to make recommendations for club communications at the AGM. Please let us know if you have any suggestions for how the website could be updated.

Paul

Sept 8-10 2023 Tryfan, Wales

8 members stayed at the Gwern Gof Uchaf campsite at the base of Tryfan, (Eryri). We were blessed with good weather over the weekend. Activities were all climbing based, myself and Andy Ward, Leon & Andrew tackling Direct Route on Glyder Fach whilst Mary & Geoff climbed Slab Route alongside us. Julian & Marcelina opted for a day on Little Tryfan joined by a passing visit from Pete Hammond. The following day we decided to keep low down for an easy retreat before the forecast rain rolled in; Geoff and Mary heading to Milestone Buttress, Leon & Andrew going to Little Tryfan with the rest of us heading to Bochlwyd Buttress.
Best achievement of the weekend goes to Mary for getting a crane fly out of her tent all by herself.
Best gear rescue: came from a couple from Sheffield following myself and Andy up the last pitch of Direct Route.
Thanks everyone for another great away meet. Kial

Photos can be found in MeetUp with the following link (Can other attendees add their pics to the album? It would be good to have them all in one place).
https://www.meetup.com/castle-mountaineering-club/photos/33920394/

Baslow meet report 27th August 2023

The meet was moved from Castle Naze to Baslow due to the poor weather forecast. Five of us climbed and another couple turned up to watch. Short and sweet climbs on rock wafted dry by a stiff breeze between showers. Come 2.0pm all but two of us had chilled out. Josh [new member] and I wandered over to Curber and grappled with PMC1. A worthwhile day given the weather. Castle Naze awaits another time. Geoff.

Not the Wimberry climbing meet, Sunday 20 August 2023

Following a poor weather forecast the Wimberry Rocks meet was moved to Wharncliffe, further east and at a lower altitude. It turned out to be a good move with 14 of us enjoying generally warm and sunny conditions the whole day.
Classic routes were climbed in the Himmelswillen, Hells Gate and Long John’s Stride areas. The routes do not get any easier!
Welcome to Josh and Travis who climbed with us part of the day.
David

Saturday walk, Sheffield to Foolow, 19 Aug 2023 – report

Four of us set off in bright sunshine from Encliffe Park, busy with Saturday Park runners, to be joined by a fifth member at Forge Dam.
Up the Porter Valley Trail onto Houndkirk moor, where we competed with a large and enthusiastic off road biking group all the way to Fox House.
Snacks and banter while awaiting the arrival of our sixth member ( plus two excited Terriers, whose clear aim was to 1. lead the pack and 2 .Try and keep us together).
Grindleford Community cafe afforded more time for banter and pots of tea before a final yomp up the steep hill from Froggatt Bridge, along the closed road to Eyam and across the fields to Foolow.
Having made such good time, a certain member of the team managed to down two scones, jam and cream before going for an early bus…which never arrived….so it was necessary to support the Foolow well dressing village hall teas next door, where the gallant band drank more tea and ate cake, in support of Sheffield Children’s Hospital.
Lots of calories eaten and burned up on this 22k walk (13.67miles).
Thanks for great travel companions, good weather and always stunning views.
Hazel.

Coombs & Castle Naze walk-report 13 Aug 2023

7 members attended and set out from Coombs towards Castle Naze- just after the welcoming rain had stopped.
Once on the top we were treated to panoramic views of the whole area.We pressed on along the edge towards Coombs Moss undaunted by the strong wind and the odd passing shower-however the showers were brief and no-one felt the need to don waterproofs.
A delayed coffee stop (and lengthy chat) was taken just by the locked building on the edge of Coombs Moss (the nearby refuge was not inviting).We then pressed on as patches of sunshine appeared.Reaching the western end of the plateau we took a second break/lunch stop with more expansive views .
A steep descent then led us off the plateau to join the path leading to the White Hall Centre,but with the worst mud patch of the day-fortunately with enough strategically place rocks and an escape ramp to avoid disaster,especially for those without gaiters!
Pushing on ,by now in full sunshine, we enjoyed views of Errwood reservoir and the Goyt valley before continuing north above Fernilee reservoir.Field paths then brought us to Wythen Lache farm and the return to Coombs.A small deviation enabled us to climb to the an excellent view point with dramatic views of the Castle Naze wall and Coombs Moss with the valley and reservoir below.
The day was then rounded off, by some, with a traditional end of walk drink in the pleasant “Bee Hive” pub in Coombs.
Thanks to all who came with your great company.
Mike Doyle

French Alps 8 – 22 July 2023

14 members embarked on Ailefroide in the Ercins National Park in the southern French Alp, spread over a 3 week period.
The early arrivers managed to secure a big enough area on the campsite to house us all in.
The main activity was the multi-pitch sport climbing crags which littered the area within walking distance. This was mainly on granite slabs so a few of us decided on the single-pitch crag first to get used to the rock (and the heat!). Luckily there’s enough for everyone in terms of grades and if you wanted to top up your tan or stay in the shade.
Other activities people got involved in were the local via ferrata 3 miles away and another at Vallouise which was a Grade 3 and up up up, rather than in the gorge.
E-mountain bikes were hired by Lorna and Simon for the day to test out and although they weren’t a fan of the bikes, the tracks and trails were all a must.
The local walk took you to the Alpine meadow on the way to Clapouse, this was less than 2 hours walk from the campsite and had stunning views, a small snow field, beautiful meadows and the usual chamois. Gemma ran back down the mountain but later confessed she got overtaken by 2 kids!
More adventurous hikes took you on a loop to Lac d’Euchauda which involved a bit of scrambling.
A couple of mountain huts were stayed in including the Refuge du Glacier Blanc, Refuge de Pelvoux and the Refuge du Ecrins. Different parties took on different expeditions from the huts although the overall outcome was the ground was loose and melting. The guides and hut guardians told us that many weren’t going to the summits due to the conditions being harder now due to warmer temperatures. And even those that had visited the area 15-20years ago noticed that the glaciers had receded dramatically.
All those that took part in the expeditions made it back to the campsite in one piece although it was only Gemma that took to the cold-water therapy of late afternoon dips in the glacial melt water stream that ran through the campsite.
All in all, a brilliant venue for sport climbing for all abilities as well as access to the mountains of the Ecrins. No doubt the club will be visiting again in the future (before all the snow goes?!).
We should start and have an annual summer abroad trip for mountaineering and climbing so all get your thinking caps on for a 2024 venue….  Kial

It should also be noted on the Ailefroide Meet Report that club members accomplished many successful summits – Montagne des Agnaeux, 3664m (Geoff, Pete and Phil), Mont Pelvoux, 3946m (Kial, Adele, Mark, Geoff, Pete and Phil), Roche Fario, 3730m (David, Pete and Kial) as well as numerous multi pitch rock routes above the campsite. Phil, a friend of Geoff’s aged 70+, was a lovely guest on the meet who showed that age is no barrier to achievement and good humour. If we get the weather we deserve, then we surely did. My apologies for missing the other peak the intrepid Geoff, Pete and Phil did, within barely 24 hours of arriving at camp, as I don’t recall it’s name! Thank you Kial for organising such a truly successful alpine meet. Mark Proctor