The Nab with the church Youth Group! Yes - Hill number 40!!

The weekend before my 40th birthday I was involved in taking the church youth group away for the weekend. We stayed at The Peak Centre in Edale, and as I was involved in planning the programme, managed to fit in a walk to include a hill! The weekend overall was a great success I think, with the young people seeming to enjoy themselves. The centre itself was fantastic, with superb accommodation and amazing resources. We enjoyed indoor rock climbing, archery, a campfire, excellent food from local caterers Jo's Pantry, and, of course, the walk for my 40th hill! The kids were a pleasure to go with, and except for an unfortunate incident with a sprained ankle and a trip to A&E in Sheffield (nothing broken - phew!) there were no problems all weekend.

The walk we did on the Saturday morning was from the centre, across fields to Ollerbrook, then up hill through more fields along Oller Brook to reach 'Open Country' (access land where you can walk were you want, although we didn't tell the kids this!). You then pick up a path on the left leading up to The Nab, where you get fantastic views across the valley to Mam Tor beyond. From there it is a simple matter of following the path down back into Edale.

Edale is a fantastic place if you like the outdoors. The Pennine Way starts here. If you wish you can follow this national trail 268 miles north into Scotland. We didn't. I had, of course, started one of my other hills from here as well, when I climbed up on to the Kinder Plateau with my mum via Ringing Roger.

Walking up to The Nab with the kids seemed a very fitting end to my 40 hills. It was a privilege to take them away and to have felt that we had done something for them. They didn't all find the walk an easy one. Although it was not that far, there were some steep sections. I like to think that they all enjoyed it, although I suspect they preferred the rock climbing and archery!

I'd like to send a huge thank you to all the kids who came on the weekend, for making it a great time of fun and friendship! And, of course, for completing my 40 hills in the nick of time!!!

The Clent Hills with Pat and Paul

The Clent Hills are an oasis just outside Birmingham. I'd never been before, and was really glad to get there to climb 2 hills with my aunt and uncle, Pat and Paul. We were joined by my mom and dad, my brother, and, of course, Monty the dog! First of all, credit where credit is due, I found this walk on the Walking Britain website, where you can find it as walk number 2716, or just click here. It turned out that Pat and Paul had done this walk before, so there was no chance of us getting lost! We picked a fantastic day to walk, with glorious sunshine. We parked at the NT car park described on the website, and ate our picnic lunch before setting off. We particularly enjoyed the rhubarb polenta cake that we had made with a cup of tea!

You start the walk by turning your back on the hill right next to you, and setting off in the opposite direction. By crossing various fields, you find yourself at St Kenelm's church. Nipping behind the church you can check out the source of the River Stour (aka muddy hollow) and there is a small poetry trail about Kenelm, who was a Prince of Mercia, apparently murdered at this spot in the ninth century. Some legends have it that the water first sprung up at the moment that Kenelm was killed...

After leaving the church we started our first climb. Initially through a field of peas, then into woodland beyond, we eventually found ourselves at the trig point of:

Walton Hill with Pat

This was actually the highest point of the walk, and gave the best views looking South and East. The Lickey Hills seemed just a stone's throw away, with the Malverns further South. Walton Hill is an area of common land, now owned by the National trust, as was most of the area we walked today. We could see across the valley to our next hill, and could equally see we had to descend into the valley first before another climb!

This we obviously then did, dropping down to the village of Clent with it's church. We quickly entered woodland criss-crossed by many paths. The directions from the website were excellent, and kept us going in the right direction. We eventually cleared the woods to find ourselves atop:

Clent Hill with Paul

We first stopped to look at the toposcope, giving us great views all round to hills on the horizon. On a clear day you can,apparently, see the Berwyns, which was my first hill last year with Jamie. Leaving the toposcope we headed further uphill where the summit is marked by 4 standing stones. It would be nice to believe that they were pre-historic, like Stone-Henge, but I'm afraid they are not. Lord Lyttelton of Hagley hall had a number of follies erected in the 1750s, and these stones were one of them. I still prefer to think of them as some kind of neolithic monument...

From the top it was an easy matter to find our way back down again through the woods to the car.

Once again, a great day out. fab company, and 2 great hills. By my calculation, that just leaves one to go...

The Stiperstones with Jane, Eric, Hannah, Emily, Sam and Lizzie

The Stiperstones is a great place to go with kids. It's easy to get to the top if you choose your car park wisely, and the rocks are fantastic to scramble over! We had wanted to walk a hill with my aunt and uncle, Jane and Eric, and on the day we arranged they were looking after their grandchildren, so they came too. We had quite a group in the end with Rach, Bethan and my mum and dad as well, not forgetting Monty the dog! We met at the car park at The Bog, and as we were last to arrive found everyone else in the nearby tea-shop. We dragged them out, and set of to join the Shropshire way, which then leads you up onto the ridge. It's a pretty easy walk, uphill, obviously, but not too far. The worst we had to deal with today were swarms of flying ants! It really was grim at times, and I think I was lucky not to swallow a few!

The rocks at the Stiperstones are apparently unique - Stiperstones Quartzite or something like that. I'm not much of a geologist, but suffice to say they are impressive. You can scramble up and onto various sections, and if you want to reach the trig-point then you have no choice other than to put hands on rock. Most of us did. The summit was covered in ants, so we didn't stay long.

The kids enjoyed the walk, and eating the bilberries that were growing all around!

There are various legends associated with the area. The most common one involves Wild Edric (again). This time we find that after fighting the Normans for years, he finally settles a truce with William, only to be cursed for doing so. Legend has it that he was cursed to spend the rest of eternity down in the local mines, waiting to come out and fight whenever England is in danger. Apparently he was last seen during the Falklands War...but thankfully not today!

One of the best bits about the walk from The Bog, is the visitor centre/tea room. Here you can buy homemade cake, drink tea and find out about the local area. Staffed by volunteers it is a great find. They are happy for you to walk in with muddy boots, dripping waterproofs, and dogs! They believe they are the only tea room in Britain to have gas-lighting. If you are going to the Stiperstones, stopping off here is a must!

All in all, a great day, a fab walk with good views (we could see The Long Mynd, The Wrekin and various other hills looking towards Wales), and great company. Thanks to all who joined me for today's walk!

Raw Head with David

Raw Head is the highest point along the Sandstone trail, and the county top of the newly formed Cheshire West and Chester county. David and I had been trying to find time to get out for a walk together, and had very nearly co-ordinated to climb a Spanish hill, but our holiday's didn't quite fit together (we caught the ferry from Bilbao that they arrived on the same morning). In the end, we managed an early bank holiday Monday walk with our dogs. Monty found himself up against 2 large and boisterous Labradoodles, and they had a great time!

The weather was perfect, with clear skies and great views in all directions. We parked at the top of Coppermines Lane, and followed the Sandstone trail all the way to the top of Raw Head. You get particularly good views looking North towards Liverpool and The Wirral, but as the walk progresses, you can also see West to the Clwyds, and the South, where Bickerton Hill dominates the foreground.

There are a couple of points of interest on the walk, but we didn't divert for either, wanting to make sure we were back home with our families for the rest of the Bank Holiday! The first is a well that you can nip down to have a look at. I've seen it before, and unless you are into 'well-spotting' (is anyone?) then it's not as exciting as it sounds (and I don't think it sounds that exciting!) Of slightly more interest, a little while before you reach the top, you can scramble down from the path to find a large cave. It's not naturally made, but has been quarried out by locals wanting sand for their floors. It really is quite impressive, and if you want to check it out, you will need a torch! It's a good divert if you have kids with you, as they love to explore inside.

We stopped at the trig point to admire the views and to drink a quick cup of tea (thanks for bringing the flask David!). I've read somewhere that not only is there a summit trig point, but also a summit cave. Rumour has it you can crawl all the way under the summit and come out on the other side of the hill. We didn't find the cave though.

The walk down initially takes you past some very steep drops just off the path. Thankfully neither we nor the dogs strayed significantly off the path - it would have been a very rapid descent down...

All in all we really enjoyed the walk. Perfect weather, perfect timing getting us back not too late, and, of course, perfect company! Thanks David for hill 36!

A wizard walk over Alderley Edge with Becky, Samuel and Harry

This week we met up with our friends Becky and Oli, and went out with Becky and their two boys for a walk over Alderley Edge. Now, I know how difficult it can be to encourage children to go for a walk, so we made sure we found one with plenty of interest! This walk over Alderley Edge had a definite mystical theme! We essentially followed a combination of 2 walks found here. We started on the Mottram Quarry Walk, and then when we reached The Beacon, we diverted for a short while onto The Wizard walk, then back to the Mottram Quarry walk to the end from The Beacon again. The start at the Mottram Quarry car park is at the bottom of the hill, although I believe you can park at The Wizard Inn car park and avoid most of the climb. We walked through the woods, with the dog running around in the trees and the children playing. The walk kept us on fairly level ground for quite some time before we found our uphill path. It wasn't too steep or too long, and the kids managed it easily. Once at the top we started looking out for all things magical!



The story of The Wizard is essentially that many years ago a farmer was walking across The Edge taking his mil-white horse to market to be sold. He is stopped by an old man who offers to buy the horse, but the farmer refuses. The old man tells him that at the market, although many will admire the horse, none will offer to buy it, and that he will therefore buy it on the farmer's return trip. Sure enough, the farmer has no luck at market, and returns back over The Edge again, only to be stopped once more by the old man, who has now turned into a tall and imposing wizard. The wizard leads farmer and horse to a rock, and with a magical tap of his staff, he reveals large iron gates leading into a cavern. Following the wizard inside the farmer finds a cave full of sleeping knights, each with a milk-white horse (also asleep). there is one knight who has no horse. The wizard shows the farmer a cave full of jewels, telling him to take what he wishes in exchange for the horse, which the wizard buys for the currently horseless knight. The wizard goes on to explain that the knights are waiting for the time when they will awake for battle during which they will save the country...needless to say, that despite much searching, no one has ever been able t find the magical gates ever since...(and neither did we...)



The story kept the children interested in the walk, and they were particularly impressed by the Wizard's Well, where someone has carved the face of a wizard into the rock above the well. It's a bit indistinct, but I think that only added the mystery of it all! In addition to the wells, there was the 'Golden Stone' to find, which looked more green to me (see the photo with the children on a rock), and the Druid's Circle, which I'm afraid to say is not a real druidic construction! There used to be a building on the top called The Beacon, but this has fallen down long ago. As you might have expected, beacons were lit here in the past - most notably to warn that the Spanish Armada had been spotted!

Probably the best find on this walk, however (particularly for Bethan, Samuel and Harry) was the rope swing! We found it in the woods, and the kids had a great time playing on it. There's something irresistible about rope swings I think, and I was very tempted to have a go myself, but I'm sure it would have ended in disaster if I'd tried! We managed to engineer the walk so that we went to it twice, which kept them walking!

There were two view points during the walk. One from 'Castle Rock', which is the site of an attempt to build a castle in the past - apparently they didn't get further than the foundations, then built it at Beeston instead. The views from here were expansive and we could see Manchester to the North. The other view was towards the end of the walk and looked more Eastwards - we could just make out White Nancy sitting above Bollington.

All in all, this was a great walk. We all enjoyed the trees, the views and the mystical stories. Thanks to Becky, Samuel and Harry for a great day, and hill number 35!

Cadair Idris with James

James is my brother-in-law, and had initially said he wanted to climb Scafell Pike with me for his hill, but when it came to the logistics of getting to Wasdale Head, up the mountain and back home again in a day, we had second thoughts! We then thought about Snowdon, and very nearly went for it, but at the last minute decided on Cadair Idris instead. It was a good choice. Neither of us had ever previously climbed it. The weather was perfect, with great views in all directions (Snowdon to the north seemed to be shrouded in cloud, confirming our 'correct' hill choice for the day!). We climbed up via the Minffordd path which takes in the spectacular Cwm Cau with it's lake (Llyn Cau). Cadair Idris translates as the 'Chair of Idris'. Legends tell that Idris was a giant, and the Cwm does look like a large chair for him to rest in! Our walk took us all the way around the Cwm, covering about 9 miles in all, and quite a bit of up and down!



From the top we had views down to Barmouth, north to the Snowdon hills, West across to the Llyn Peninsular, and South to hills that We were unable to name. Looking east were more hills, we suspected the Berwyns could be seen, as well as a small part of Lake Bala. We'd been told that cadair Idris has the best 360 degree view in the UK, and I can believe it!The whole day fantastic. They say Cadair Idris will change you. In fact, the stories say that if you sleep a night on the mountain, you will wake up either a poet or a madman, or not at all...! We made sure we got down in the daylight, just in case!

After leaving Minffordd you climb steeply up the valley with the tumbling river to your right. It takes a while to reach Cwm Cau (at least an hour), and although you've already gained a lot of height, you feel like you are still at the bottom of the mountain (the photo's of the lake show you what I mean!) We then climbed up onto the horseshoe ridge, and round to the summit. There is a large stone shelter on the top, which would be very inviting in bad weather, but when we were there it was shorts-and-tee shirts all round sitting outside for your lunch. Apparently the shelter is built on the site of a previous shelter initially erected over 100 years ago. The original shelter was served by a local woman who used to climb up each day in the morning, and then serve cups of tea to all who made the ascent during the day. There was no one there giving out drinks to us...

From the summit we headed East to Mynydd Moel, with spectacular views down to Dolgellau. We then turned South and headed down off the mountain to our start point. A good day out, great company and superb views.

Thanks James for this 34th hill! It was a cracker!

Walking up Volcanoes Part 2: Puy De Dome with Bethan

The day after Puy De Sancy, we climbed Puy De Dome. This is another volcano, and again is higher than anything in the UK at over 1400m. Bethan should be proud to have climbed the second highest of my 40 hills, and she did it without the aid of a cable car!!

When Rach decided to 'upgrade' her hill, Bethan decided that she would like to upgrade hers as well! Puy De Dome is a mountain just asking to be climbed, and if you visit the Auvergne, you really have to make the trip. The volcano is visible for miles around, and the highest of a chain of volcanoes in this area. There is a road that winds it's way to the top, but we parked at a col and climbed. The first car reached the summit in 1913, but the toll road only opened in 1926. It took us about an hour to get to the top, walking up a steep, switchback trail all the way up. The views were great, but would have been better if the weather was clearer. As it was, we had to settle for a slightly misty day, with a bit of light rain at times. You could still see the local volcanoes with their craters clearly visible though.

Thankfully there were lots of benches along the way to stop, rest, and admire the impressive views. When we did eventually arrive at the top, it was to discover a large plateau. Apparently, this is a very popular spot locally for hang-gliding and parascending. With the weather being a bit iffy, we saw no one today engaging in either sport, which was a shame. The area at the top is so large that a famous challenge was set in France a century ago to be the first person to fly from Paris and land their plane on the top of Puy De Dome. There is a statue celebrating the achievement of Eugene Renaux who was the first to manage this in 1911! There are quite a few other things to find on the top as well. There is a visitor centre, which was strangely closed, and a radio transmitter station. There are also the remains of a Roman Temple, which had subsequently been turned into a Church. Clearly the lofty location had inspired thoughts of higher things.

We walked all the way around the top, and ate our baguette and cheese (a very French lunch). There were plenty of other people around who had also walked up, some in very inappropriate clothing (handbags and silly shoes...) but they all seemed to manage it! Coming down was much quicker!

The weather gradually deteriorated as the day progressed. By that evening we progressed from showers to rain, and then thunder storms. I've included a video here of the rain coming down at the campsite. It was heavy, and quite exciting. It actually rained much harder later that night!

Thank you, Bethan, for managing to climb this hill with me - the second highest of all my 40hills, and with no 'cheating' by using a cable car!!