Walk 18/2007 – Lady Clough, Pennine Way and Seal Stones

Sunday 26th August 2007

After leaving the “shorties” the brave group of eleven (safety in numbers) continued through the wood alongside the pretty stream of Lady Clough. As we climbed the clough we were able to look down upon a Heron standing in the grass of a sunny opening under the trees. Shortly after exiting the wood and safely negotiating the Snake Pass road we stopped for a drink break, the sun went in, grey clouds rolled over and Alison smugly pointed out that she was not wearing shorts and had a warm fleece to put on.

After another crossing of the road we walked toward Mill Hill (I hadn't realised we were in London) via the well-paved Pennine Way path, which according to the GPS does not quite follow the path shown on the map. Then it was the only noticeable up hill of the day onto Seal Edge where we sheltered for lunch behind the wonderfully carved gritstones of Seal Edge. Here Emma decided to hide the evidence of still being a ‘bread crust remover’ at the age of ??? by feeding them to a rather friendly sheep. Let me apologise to everyone who is now having their sandwiches taken from their mouths.

After wandering along the edge and doing some minor rock climbing and ‘how close can I stand to the edge without going dizzy’, we got to Fairbrook Naze. Looking down we thought we saw Alan and Claire far below us, and Emma (yes Emma again) shouted to them at the top of her voice, startling everyone with the decibel level reached. A look through binoculars confirmed that it was probably the “shorties” so more shouting and waving ensued. They seemed to look up before plodding on (Ed &ndash we weren’t plodding; we were bounding along in gay abandon. Can’t have been us). A little while later we noted that a rescue helicopter was repeatedly hovering and searching the area where Emma had first displayed her Sergeant Major credentials. Did we somehow cause those below us to call for help....

Report – Graham

In the “slow” group, or “shorties” as Graham has referred to us, Alan guided Claire who was experiencing walking in the Peak District for the first time. This involved holding hands at certain points especially where we went slightly “off piste” at one point and ended up traversing a narrow ledge above a 50 foot drop. Helpfully during this manoeuvre, Alan asked Claire if she was afraid of heights. However, Claire passed this challenge with consummate ease and was starting to get into this Peak District walking.

The route had been carefully planned so that the “fast” group would catch up the “slow” group on the second part of the walk. So on reaching the part of the route where we would meet up, we stopped for lunch. We thought we saw the “fast” group coming along the ridge, so we thought that if we started off at our “slow” pace, the others would catch us up during the afternoon and we could all finish the walk together. But as the afternoon wore on – no sign of the “fast” group. We even stopped for a tea break. Then we saw what we thought was the other group taking a short cut back to the cars, so we decided to press on as we now thought that they might finish ahead of us.

We got back to the cars but still no “fast” group. Still not to worry, we had parked the cars near the Snake Inn, so we would just have to sit in the pub garden and wait for them. It was almost an hour before they turned up. So we did 9 miles and they did 11 miles in an hour longer. So next time we’ll be the “slow” group and they can be the “not very fast” group.

Report – Alan

Pictures – Alan, Owen and Angela

Walk rating – excellent

It’s eyes down for a stream crossing. I think the “fast” group are definitely missing the strap adjuster.	The “fast” group along the Pennine Way.
‘Blond in derelict shepherd’s hut’. The “slow” group take it easy.	One week it’s horses, the next sheep. Emma pulls again.(He certainly looks horny, though!)
Emma, thought you might like a pin-up picture of your new beau.	There’s some glorious scenery along the edges of Kinder.
Some more.	There are also some strange rock formations.
The “fast” group attempting to become the “slow” group.	Graham’s on top of the world. I hope he can get down again, he has the map with him.
He’s at it again.	The heather is in full bloom and adding colour to the views.