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12 May A superb day with the Ramblers – a tough
walk, super scenery, good weather and keeping the best bits to last. Do you need
more? It has taken over from the Clun walk as the best of the year (and I did
say this nicely to John Rhodes who led the Clun walk) It was a long drive up to the Dark Peak and the blossom
was out on the trees. Ros who was in the car with us was raving about the spring
time which got me into quoting Houseman (or rather misquoting)
Well the poem is about the delights of cherry blossom. Actually the sentiment gets even more poignant with my adaptation.
The walk was one of John Merrill’s peak district walks;
I used to do a lot of his but I’ve tended to look more to Shropshire and
mid-Wales for special days out. We parked at Mam Nick before skirting around
south of the Castleton road, finally emerging at Bradwell. Pleasant scenery with
views of Eyam Moor and Stannage Edge. However the real walk only started after
we got past Bradwell. First there was the big pull up on to Win Hill. This comes
in two stages separated by a contour path which looks down on Ladybower
Reservoir and Yorkshire Bridge. This view was stunning with the sunlight on the
water. The final pull through the woods takes you up to the rocky pinnacle of
the hill. This is a highlight of the local scene. Most of Win Hill, like the
surrounding ones, is rounded and green but there is this triangle of rock at the
end of the ridge. It really stands out so you can always pick out Win Hill. We
had lunch sat in the rock ledges immediately below the summit. The sheep here
know how to scrounge left-overs. The path off plunged steeply down to Hope. We still
nevertheless passed people running up. When I’m feeling charitable I think
“Isn’t it wonderful how God made us all just a little bit different” More
often I think “Nutters!!” This steepness in the descent lead to considerable
aching in the shins. The reward was to have to climb all the way back up again
to Lose Hill. Then there was a much easier mile or so back along the ridge to
the cars via Mam Tor 19 May Well I did go out today but I'm not going to say anything about the walk (other than it was very good). This is partly because I forgot to change the batteries in my camera so I didn't get any photos. More importantly I was prewalking for the Ramblers and I don't want them to see where I'm taking them. So look again in the middle of June and all will become clear. This
should have been a really good day’s walking with the Ramblers. The walk was
advertised as Wigmore which I recognised as being in Herefordshire. That seemed
a long way, but it was only about an hour and a quarter from Newport to Wigmore.
The area is lovely, even though I am not greatly familiar with it. The day’s
enjoyment was much reduced by the amount of rain. I
can’t describe the walk in great detail. Much of the early section was on the
Mortimer Trail from Newport to Mortimer’s Cross. There we picked up the path
that we used at the start of the Ludlow coach ramble a couple of years ago. That
involves a big climb up through woods. It was pouring it down at this point (a
big contrast from the coach ramble) and we took shelter in a barn to have lunch.
Once again thanks to the National Trust for this – it is part of the Croft
Castle. We had
a brief burst of afternoon sunshine with some splendid views. However when we
dropped off it started raining again and we cut off the final section, walking
back on the road.
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