Keswick To Barrow 2011

Apparently our team has been accepted. Time to start training!

Some numbers

Statistics as recorded by my GPS from March to December 2010.

Total distance: 808 km (503 mi)
Total time: 166 hours
Average speed: 4.86 km/h (3.02 mph)
Average distance per walk: 15.56 km (9.85 mi)

Less Icy

Distance: 15.8 km (9.82 mi)
Time: 3 hours 17 minutes
Average speed: 4.81 km/h (2.99 mph)

The paths weren't like ice rinks this morning. A few days worth of being above zero took care of that, although it had refroze last night. I didn't lose my footing once.

Again starting from Chase Road Corner I headed past the German cemetery, then on to Brindley Heath. For a change I then headed towards Hednesford and bypassing the Pine Cafe I reached my former place of work. Back in 2005 they moved us back to Rugeley and sold the site to some developers, but it's only this year they've finally demolished the old building.

I followed the footpath around our old site and up around the golf course to where it crosses over the last hole. Then downhill to Maquis Drive. This the reverse of the way I've done the route before. I crossed the road and the railway line and walked up Kitbag Hill to the Visitor Centre. The poor National Service buggers who had to do it in full kit have my sympathy.

According to the Met Office, this mild weather is a brief respite and the snow could well be back in force next weekend.

Icy Cannock Chase

Distance: 6.63 km (4.12 mi)
Time: 1 hour 31
Average Speed: 4.37 km/h (2.72 mph)

Mid November I came down with the lurgi and spend two weeks at home trying to stay warm. Now that I've recovered I ventured out onto Cannock Chase this morning but didn't stay long. It wasn't that I was still ill, out of condition (just a bit) or that it was too cold. It was the lack of grip.

There's a weeks worth of snow frozen solid with a light layer of loose snow on top. Combine that with a temperature hovering around freezing and you have to be very sure of your footing. I kept to the edge of the paths, the ice rink in the centre was just too risky.

So just a short loop. From Chase Road Corner to Coppice Hill, then down the old Tackeroo line and around Brocton Coppice to the stepping stones. From there the picturesque walk up the Sherbrook Valley to the place where the path kinks away from the Sherbrook where I took the direct route back to the car. Chilly, but a lovely clear sky.

September to November

I've been walking but not blogging. The Sunday morning walks have been mainly on the Chase, but I've been up the Wrekin twice and around the Roaches once in late September.

Craster

Craster with Dunstanborough Castle

Distance: 12.8 km (8 mi)
Time: 2 hours 39
Average speed: 4.8 km/h (3 mph)

After Friday's fiasco today's walk was going to be less ambitious and much flatter. I decided on a coastal route and picked one that started at Craster and went south past Howick to Longhoughton before returning cross-county.

If last week was late summer, this week is definately autumn. A nice heavy rain and a strong wind blowing from inland. The car park at Craster was half-full, meaning there was about 50 car loads of other idiots somewhere nearby.

Craster is famous for two things; the kippers (very nice) and the ruins to the north (see above). For a change I was headed south.

The coastal path from the harbour rises gently until it is following the top of a low cliff overlooking the rocky shore. This is where the Whin Sill meets the sea so there is very little sand.

I past a forlorn looking flock of sheep. Periodically one of them would grow tired of being wet and attempt to shake itself dry. All this resulted in was a fine mist cloud briefly surrounding the sheep.

I met two walkers coming the other way on the coastal path, one with a large rucksack. They had the look of men who could hear the Jolly Fisherman calling so I did not detain them.

Thankfully the rain eased off and settled down to a fine drizzle that came and went on a whim, allowing most of me to start drying off.

There was a surprise waiting for me above the Howick Burn Mouth. I planned the walk by looking at the map and only skimmed the accompanying text, so I did not expect to find a reconstructed stone age hut on the cliff overlooking the mouth. It was based on excavations nearby of a hut dating from c8000BC, erected in 2000AD.



Crossing over the Howick Burn it was clear the Whin Sill was behind me as the beaches were now sandy. No sunbathers, though.

At Howdiemont Sands I headed inland to Longhoughton, then north across fields to the road that passes Howick Hall. The Hall is owned by a descendant of the second Earl Grey (local hero in these parts) and where my father went camping when he was in the Scouts.

From the entrance to Howick Hall it was back onto footpaths across country. You can see more bits of the Whin Sill poking out of the ground, forming hills and cliffs. Craster itself sits in a gap between two cliffs formed by the Sill and the car park used to be a quarry.

A much easier, if wetter, walk than last week. I go back down south tommorrow, so I guess I'll be back on the Chase come Sunday.

Around The Cheviot

Distance: 19.2 km (11.9 mi)
Time: 6hrs 57
Average speed: 2.76 km/h (1.72 mph)

I'm currently visiting my parents for a long weekend, seeing how my niece and nephew have grown in the 6 months since I last saw them. Normally when I visit around this time of the year, after the school holidays are over, I like to walk along the Wall but this year I thought I'd go further north into the border area and The Cheviot. It's 815 m above sea level, one of Englands highest peaks (and the highest outside the Lake District), and I've only been to the top once when I was less than hald my current age.

This was one another one from a Jarrold guide book. Starting from the Harthope valley loop around The Cheviot in an anti-clockwise direction with an option to go for the summit.

There are various places to park off the road in the Harthope valley so I left my car at the closest one to the start of the route and set off at about 20 past 1 on a Friday afternoon. As we shall see, that was my second mistake. The start is about 215 m high, so about 600 m to climb. The first part was up alongside the Hawsen Burn to about 460 m. Here I was reminded of the accuracy of weather forcasting, unlike the sunny intervals forecast for the RAF base on the coast I was faced with a fine drizzle that rapidly turned into a facefull of rain. Fortunately the rain died out after the first half-hour, leaving just the wind to contend with.

The route then descends down to the Lambden Burn at about 300 m. Pleasant though the view was, I do resent every step downwards I have to take before the peak. I was also suffering from a serious Ear Worm that was not going to go away. I know Stargazer is about 8 minutes long, so how come I was hearing it for over 7 hours?

I left the Lambden Burn at Dunsdale and cut across to the College Burn. Here I got to see the climb that awaited me. First from the College Burn up to Red Cribs (300 m to 490 m), then as Hen Hole came into sight the climb up beside it to Auchope Cairn (720 m).

Well the first climb nearly killed me. I'm just not used to slopes like that. I had a nice long breather at the Mountain Refuge Hut and reviewed the situation. I was already well behind my optimistic schedule and unlikely to make up any time. The weather wasn't too bad. I eventually worked up the energy to set off again. The second climb up to Auchope Cairn was worse than the first. I was down to 10 paces, rest, 10 more paces, another rest. Eventually I reached the Cairn and was rewarded with a fantastic view into Scotland and cramps in the legs.

Now that the ground flattened out, and the boggy parts had wooden planking or stone paths laid across them, I was able to get moving again. At Scotsman's Cairn I was within half a mile of the summit but decided against it. The sun was already setting and I was still nearly 4 miles from the car.

This next part was horrible. Picking my way down the hillside, trying to find the source of the Harthope so I could follow it down to the car. Even with the GPS I missed it and came down further east than I should and had to clamber down a muddy bank to get to the Burn. Even with the Harthope to follow it was't easy. I was criss-crossing the burn, picking my way through bogs, climbing up and down banks hoping handfuls of vegetation would support my weight for long enough. I realized I should phone my parents to warn them I was running late to discover, unsurprisingly, that there wasn't the trace of a signal. After ripping my trousers open and seeing the light fade I abandoned all efforts to keep my feet dry and just went for the quickest route.

Finally as darkness fell I was rewarded with an actual Public Footpath sign and a decent track away from the burn. I stopped to fish my torch out of the backpack to discover my first mistake: I'd left it on my parent's kitchen table. Fortunately the track quickly turned to a road and I simply followed it, trusting to my night vision and a high-vis armband.

At about 8:25 the GPS battery gave out (hence the stats at the top are incomplete), but that didn't matter. At around 8:45 I turned a corner to see a familiar looking bridge and a red shape that chirped and flashed its yellow lights when I used the remote. I stopped briefly at Wooler to phone my parents to tell them I'd be back by 10 and that the Cheviot had beaten me.