Kath - Our Walks

Family Member's Interests Kath - Our Walks - 2009

Like my late brother Clive, I and our family love to be outdoors walking in the countryside and we take the opportunity to do so whenever and wherever we can. Clive was able to write in detail about the walks he did and some of these are recorded within this website but now I intend to carry on and write about our walks. However regretfully, I cannot hope to match his detail so I hope you will forgive if the accounts appear a little sparse, I always leave the navigation to those much more qualified than I, and so, if you are looking for routes to our walks, you will not find them here!

(Note to myself - if I leave the navigation to others more qualified then why do we still sometimes get lost, sorry not lost, sometimes not necessarily always know exactly where we are?).

Jan 2009 - Lake District - Under Catbells and Derwent Water shore walk
	It was a glorious New Years Day, just the kind of day to be out in the lovely Lake District. We parked on the roadside at Hawksend and walked up the road a little before taking the wide path below Catbells. John stopped to take some video of the surrounding hills, Clive of course would have reeled off the names of these but it's me doing the writing now however I will have to try harder with names and places in the future.
Who could pass this by and not find "the time to stand and stare" (no daffodils here) and then of course try to capture it on camera.
	Our way ahead, with David and Josie leading, was a little iced up in places but it only added an extra sparkle to the hills, a treat indeed, it was hard to take your eyes from them. One of the party (who shall remain nameless to prevent embarrasment) went for a slide at one point and we were all suitably sympathetic (well, nearly all) no harm done but you do need to be wary at all times whilst out on the hills.
These icicles were set to stay for sometime in the cold air, they hung in deep shadow on a small outcrop of rock above our path.
	We dropped down to cross the road, then walked along it to take a path on the right into Manesty Park; the trees hid the sun for a while and it became very chilly until we reached the lakeside path.
Peter and Barbara on one of Derwent's landing stages looking for a nice shot of the area.
	The ice on the lake was thicker nearer the end of our walk, Peter, Josie and Barbara were testing it out. I love the sound of skimming stones on ice so we spent sometime there once again just playing.
The frost on the grass had us all reaching for our cameras before we made our way back to the road and the cars.

Sep 2009 - Peak District - The Roaches and Lud's Church - 7 miles
	The Roaches as well as being a fine place to walk provide some of the best gritstone climbs in the Peak District. We parked in the lane that runs parallel to the escarpment and started our walk by taking the path up towards the crags.
After passing to the left of Rockall Cottage (now a climbing hut) you gain the ridge by following the path through the crags, I did not count the steps, too busy catching my breath as it had been a while since I had done a steep walk.
	We came out onto the open heather moor on the top of the ridge. There was a tempting path looking right but our way was left to walk to Roachend, we shall return to the right hand path another day.
We came across a seat made out of stone below a plaque carved in the rock declaring that the Prince and Princess of Teck visited this site on August the 23^rd 1872. As you can see from the picture I was not brave enough to sit on the said seat, it is not reported if the visitors used it either.
	There are very good views from the escarpment across the Cheshire Plains, we sat for a while just taking it all in. We were blessed with good weather on our walk so could see clear across to the hills of North Wales. In the picture is Tittesworth Reservoir.
The one thing that catches the eye while you walk the ridge is the shape of the gritstone rocks, they almost shout out “climb me” and I would have had a go if I was thirty years younger.
	I trekked across to Doxey Pool to take a photo, John reluctantly followed. It was a little muddy in places and we took our time, not wanting to sink into any of the Peak District bog. I must own up to calling this pool a Tarn when I first spied it.
You may just be able to see the trig point that we made our way to before carrying on towards Roach End.
	Just before dropping down to continue our walk to the road John took this picture, the rocks formed a frame for the view towards the hill in the background called the Cloud. We have walked this hill many times, it was also my very first summit, I was 18 when I was taken along with John, his late parents plus my young niece Maria to see the very splendid views from the trig point.
After crossing the road we turned right into an access path for about 50 yads and went through the narrow stile to go downhill over rough moor, following the yellow way markers we reached Gadback Wood. After walking down a rough stony path through the woods we came to a very muddy track and had to take detours for some while.
	The way led us to Lud's Church, so called, so they say, because it was used as a refuge for Walter de Lundank a follower of Wycliffe who held dissenting services here in the 14th century. Great care is needed here as the steps down to the bottom of the ravine can be very slippery, on the day it was very wet in there with a large pool of water to get around before we could make our way up and out the other side.
We followed a sandy path at the edge of the woods, then across the moorland to go up again to the lower ridge before coming out at the road below the enscarment. It was all road walk from then on to the car but we did have the nice views to accompany us along the way. This picture is looking back up at the skyline and the shapely Roaches.

New Dec 2009

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