Mount Famine with Achla

Achla is one of my work colleagues, and we both get the same day off during the week. This Tuesday we decided to go out together to climb Mount Famine (473m). Unfortunately, we picked a rather wet day. We had planned a slightly longer walk than we actually managed, as we decided to head back to the pub after the first summit. By then we were more than a little damp!

I've been unable to find out why Mount Famine is so called. Doing a google search for it, just produces several links related to the fell races starting from Hayfield, which is where our walk also started. Despite the rotten weather, we did, in fact, see a fell runner on the top. He looked significantly wetter than we were!

We parked and started our walk from the visitor centre, and walked through the village of Hayfield to find a path leading alongside the river. We picked up signs for the Penine Bridle Way, which we followed for a while before turning right up a short hill and over a stile (always fun with Monty) to gain a ridge. On a fine day this would have afforded great views across the valley, but we had to be satisfied with a misty view across to the hills beyond. We descended from the ridge to cross the bridleway, and then ascended Mount Famine itself. There was a path on the ground, although nothing on the OS map. We walked amongst the sheep (keeping Monty on a short lead), and had a final steep climb up to the summit.

The walk books and websites say that the view from Mount Famine is one of the best you get of Kinder Low, which is the highest point on Kinder Scout. You can, apparently, also sometimes see the spray from Kinder Downfall, which is a large waterfall coming down from the plateau. I've only ever seen it from the top, never from the valley below. This whole area was the centre of a significant event in 1932. On Sunday 24th April that year, about 400 ramblers set off from Bowden Bridge Quarry to climb up onto Kinder Scout. They were trying to assert their 'right to roam', and this mass trespass had wide reaching repercussions, leading ultimately to changes in the law, and the widespread freedom we now have to ramble and roam around the countryside. Those of us who like to walk and ramble have a lot to thank these 400 trespassers!

Once we had taken our photos at the top, we decided that we would be better placed in a pub, rather than out on the wet hills. We retraced our steps to the bridleway, and then walked back along it to the village. A pleasant lunch was had in one of the hotels, washed down with a 1/2 pint of Cumberland Ale.

Although the weather was grim, it was, as ever, great to be out. We managed to avoid talking continually about work, and both felt better for our exertions. Thanks, Achla, for joining me for hill number 25! Only 15 to go!!

The Long Mynd with Jen and Nick

The Long Mynd has been on the list to do with Jen ever since I started the 40 hills challenge. Jen is one of our oldest and best friends, and she got married to Nick last December. Nick, on the other hand, is one of our newest friends, having only met Jen a couple of years ago! We met on Saturday to climb the Long Mynd with both of them, planning 2 hills along the way.


It was a glorious day, warm and sunny, so we packed our picnic lunch and plenty of water, and set off from Carding Mill Valley by the National Trust tea room and shop and headed on up the valley towards the hills. We took the path up towards the waterfall, which was not as impressive as when we were last here in the snow in January. Most of the climbing was done here, and once we reached the Shropshire Way we headed for our first and highest peak:


Pole Bank with Jen


The higher we climbed, the greater our views, particularly looking back East over Church Stretton to Caer Caradoc, Lawley, Hope Bowdler and other (to us) nameless hills. As we approached the summit, Jen got into her stride and powered up the final slopes, beating us all to the trig point and toposcope. Once there, we had views West towards the Stiperstones and beyond. It was a little hazy, but nevertheless, better than being in the cloud! Jen has (wisely) got Nick to carry their lunch up the hill in their picnic rucksac, so they were able to enjoy drinks out of a wine glass (I never checked to see if they were glass or plastic...)


We all enjoyed lunch, and managed to take our photos of ourselves at the top before a crowd of other walkers arrived to spoil the view! We also saw a few mountain bikers around, cycling over the top. I also noticed that this part of the Shropshire Way is also part of the Ride UK network for horse riders. There were no riders around today though. Plenty of sheep, skylarks and crows, but no horses...


After lunch we headed off the top via a small path East down to the road, which we followed North for a short way, before picking up a path on the right signed to Townsbrook. This route headed up and down a bit (mainly down) until we could see our next destination:


Yearlet with Nick


Now, a word about Nick. As mentioned earlier, we are still getting to know him, and so, what to say about him? He is a writer, and has his own website. He is fond of horror stories and mysteries/legends, and has particularly liked those bits of my blog that have referenced local stories - check out The Roaches and The Wrekin for examples. So, what to say about the Long Mynd? There don't seem to be that many legends or stories about the Long Mynd, but I have discovered that some local legends have it that both Wild Eric and the White Lady haunt the Long Mynd. Wild Eric was a Saxon warrior, and while I'm not sure who the White Lady was meant to be, she apparently likes joining in with local dances. We didn't do any dancing, which is perhaps why we didn't see her on our walk. Further research (well, a quick google search) makes me wonder whether my original information was correct, and whether Wild Eric is, in fact, Wild EDRIC.

The tale of Wild Edric is both beautiful and sad, as all good storied tend to be. Edric was a great Saxon Lord in Shropshire, and loved to hunt in the Shropshire hills. Legend has it that one day he came across a beautiful maiden, whom he took back to his manor. He discovered she was non other than Godda, a Fairy Queen, and we married her. She agreed to marry him and remain in human form so long as he never reproached her for being Fairy. All went well for many years, until one day he lost his temper and broke his vow. She returned to the land of the fairy, and he never saw her again. He became a wild man, hunting for her across the hills. He died shortly after, but the legend tells that he can still be seen hunting for Godda across the hills...

He was not out hunting while we were there...

Yearlet looks like a small detour on the map, but when you get to the bottom of it, just as the path would otherwise descend back down towards Townsbrook, it seems like quite a climb. The direct route up (which we took) was steep, but not too long, and we managed it without too much difficulty. Jen, once again, managed to find some extra energy to storm up, allegedly running part of it! We found her sat on the cairn. The views from here seemed even better, and we could see Caer Caradoc better than before. We enjoyed a short rest before heading down, steeply, to the small pond which I assume is Townsbrook.

By now Monty was thirsty, and very hot. He managed to reach down for a drink from the pool, but I thought he could do with a cooling dip, so 'encouraged' him to jump in (OK, so I pushed him...). He was fine, although Bethan did accuse me of being 'very mean' to him. It certainly cooled him down!

It was only a short walk form there back to Carding Mill Valley, and the cars. We enjoyed a cup of tea and a scone and Bethan had a huge ice-cream.

It was a great day. Thanks Jen and Nick for these hills, and especially to Nick for the inspiration to research about Wild Edric...!

Hen Cloud and The Roaches with Lynn and Dave

Last Tuesday we finally fixed a date to go out with my parents in law, Lynn and Dave. The day before, I was worried we were going to have to cancel, as the weather forecast was rotten. This was particularly naff as we'd just had 2 sunny days over the bank holiday. We decided we would go anyway, but did move our start time back slightly as the forecast improved in the afternoon. We met at the Roaches Tea Rooms to fuel up before the walk, and can thoroughly recomend it as a place for a cup of tea, a peice of cake, or even for a full meal!

After the tea and scones we moved the car up the road and parked in between Hen Cloud and The Roaches. Our first objective was:

Hen Cloud with Lynn

Hen Cloud is a lump of gritstone sat at the southern end of the Roaches ridge. It stands out clearly weith great rock formations, and is usually a haunt of climbers. Currently, however, there are nesting peregrine falcons, so climbers are being asked to stay away. The Roaches can be found in the Staffordshire Moorlands, and are a popular spot. On a clear day the views are tremendous, although unfortunately today it was a bit misty. We had better views than on some of my hills (see The Cloud with Rach), but not perfect! The Staffodshire Moorlands can be an erie place in the mist. There are a number of legends and supposed hauntings, including the legend of the ghost of the headless horseman. This phantom was supposedly decapitated in Yorkshire during a battle between the English and the Scots, and his horse brought him home to the Moorlands, and then promptly died himself. The horse and his headless rider have supposedl been seen riding the moors ever since.

Thankfully, there was no sign of him while we were there...

Hen Cloud is a steep climb, but only short, so just as you start to think your out of breath, you're at the top. The very top seems to be a slab of rock which sits at an angle, with a not insigficant drop beyond. Lynn and myself stood upon in slightly nervously, thankfull that the wind was trying to blow us back onto solid ground, not out into the void! We had a short wander around the top looking at the rock formations, then retraced our steps back to the cars for our lunch before heading back to tackle:

The Roaches with Dave

The Roaches are named after a slight change to the French work for rock (roche), and is an apt description. It's a rocky gritstone ridge that sticks up out of the surrounding countryside. A great place for climbing, and indeed there were climbers there while we were out walking. I remember as a boy in the cubs and scouts talking about The Roaches being a good spot for abseiling, and you can see why when you're there. We climbed up with Hen Cloud behind us, finding the path wind it's way up between the rocks to the ridge. Form there it was a fairly easy walk along to the top, some 1-2 miles along. The views were great, even with the mist, and we could see 3 of my previous hills, which was good as when I climbed each of them , I'd had no view at all! We could see The Cloud, Shutlingsloe and Shining Tor.

As you walk along the ridge, you will come to a pool. This is known as Doxey Pool, and legend reports that not only is it thought to be bottomless in the middle, but that it is haunted. Tales tell of a mermaid called Jenny Greenteeth being seen in the pool, luring the unsuspecting to a watery grave. We were fortunate enough not to see her, and Monty was particularly fortunate to escape after running into the mud at the edge of her pool!

One of the creatures it was a shame we did not see during our walk were the wallabies. They had been released onto the moorlands during the war, but the feeling now is that they have not survived, which is a shame - it would have been nice to see one!

After we reached the top, and took our customary photos, we decided to cut a corner of our proposed route, and took a beeline down the side of the hill to reach a small road by heading pretty much due East. Following the road South, then picking up a footpath, we were able to make our way back round to the bottom of Hen Cloud again. A handy bench had been placed, and we enjoyed sitting for a few moments reflecting on our walk.

Although we had not seen a great deal of wildlife, we had heard plenty of birdsong, including skylarks and I'm sure a Curlew, although I'll have to check that! It was another great day to be out, and we all enjoyed ourselves. Just being outside (and missing the rain) was enough to lighten our spirits! Thanks to Lynn and Dave for my 21st and 22nd hills!

Pillar and Red Pike with Simon and Monty!

Finally, after a very long break, I'm back climbing some hills! A variety of things have kept me away until now, including the weather! Last weekend we had planned to climb Wansfell Pike with Andrea, but the forecast was dreadful, so in the end only Simon and I went up with Monty to the Lake District. We arrived at Wasdale in the early afternoon, and ate our picnic lunch at the National trust car park at Wasdale Head. While enjoying our sandwiches we noticed some people in the car park clearly waiting around for something, with all the appearances of some kind of event going on. We decided it was likely to be for some runners attempting the Bob Graham Round. Bob Graham ran a hotel in Keswick, and in 1932 decided that for his 42nd birthday he would climb 42 Lake District peaks in 24 hours. This he duly did, although no one could really believe it. It took many years (until 1960) before anyone matched the feat. The round consists of a 72 mile circuit of 42 of the highest peaks in the Lakes, and involves a total climb of 27,000 feet. It's worth visiting the site of the Bob Graham 24 hour club just to see what's involved! The link is here. Sure enough, we hadn't been there long before a very tired looking runner arrived at the car park to be sat in a deck-chair and supplied with hot tea and food! It was hard to believe he still had a significant number of peaks still to climb! We then headed off for a stroll in the hills ourselves. We weren't planning a big climb, and so just climbed up between Illgill Head and Scafell to find Burnmoor Tarn, before ascending Great How (523m). We then contoured around back towards Wasdale and returned to the car. After a great evening meal in the Wasdale Head Inn we found a place to camp alongside Wast Water.

We got some sleep, but Monty (the dog) decided that it was better to lean up against the inner tent where I was sleeping, and also seemed to prefer to sleep essentially lying on our heads. It was interesting...

Pillar with Simon

The next morning, relatively early, we struck camp and moved the car to the National Trust Car park at Overbeck Bridge, at the base of Yewbarrow. We jogged into Wasdale Head, and enjoyed a nice cup of tea from the Inn before starting off again! The route took us into Mosedale and up to Black Sail Pass, where we turned left to climb the ridge up to Looking Stead and then onto Pillar (853m). It was quite a climb, but worth it. The weather was perfect, and the views incredible. Scafell and Scafell Pike dominated the view beyond Kirkfell, South, with the hulk of Great Gable just to the North of them. Looking North East we had views of Haystacks and the Honister Pass, with High Crag and High Stile due North. From the very top we could look down into Ennerdale and Ennerdale Water, and to our West was the sea. North West we could make out the hills of Southern Scotland. We spent a cold, but happy time eating lunch on the top trying to work out which hill was which. We think we could see the Dodd's with Hellvellyn in the distance, and could make out the unmistakable shape of Blencathra. I made a short video, but some of my words are drowned out by the wind!

Red Pike with Monty!

Leaving Pillar we scrambled down to Wind Gap (very interesting with the dog) and back up again heading towards Scoat Fell, but then taking the path South towards Red Pike. It was a bit up and down, but no significant climb. When we made it to the trig point (828m), we then realised that it was an almost sheer drop down from there back down into Mosedale - not somewhere to overbalance off! I've just been told by my wife, Rachael, that people will say that doing a hill with the dog is cheating, as "he's not one of your friends!" I would dispute this! There is nothing in the rule book for this challenge that says I cannot climb a hill with my best four-legged friend! I must say that Monty had a great day. There were a number of scrambly sections we had to manage, and he did plenty of leaping up onto rocks. The most interesting section was yet to come, however, as we didn't know what was lying in wait for us at Yewbarrow. To get there we had a great little run across the top of Red Pike and down to Dore Head (486m).

From there we had fully intended to climb up and over Yewbarrow, which is a terrific looking hill. What we didn't know was that this would involve a fair bit of scrambling. This would have been fine - nothing too exposed or challenging, but with the dog, it was a different matter. After having to pick him up and lift him onto rock ledges a few times, we began to think that we should perhaps turn back. When we met a family coming down who pointed out that it was even worse getting down the other side, we retraced our steps and instead kept Yewbarrow to our left, and walked back to the car, with an ever increasing view of Wast Water ahead.

Overall, this was a top walk. A challenging climb, superb views and great company (both Simon and the dog!). Simon finished the afternoon with a quick dip in Wast Water (very cold, but protected by a wetsuit). His challenge to himself for this year is to swim outside at least once each month. I think I'll stick to the hills!

Thanks Simon, and Monty for a fantastic day, and for helping me with hills 19 and 20! I'm half way there!

The Dartmoor Tors with Zack, Nick, Lottie and Mel

This weekend we travelled down to stay with our very good friends in Devon. On Friday we made our way to Dartmoor to climb some of the Tors. We had hoped to manage 4 in one afternoon, but we didn't. We did, however, make it make the following day to climb the 4th! The weather was very mixed, and cold, but we all survived to tell the tale.

The first hill we managed to climb was:

Haytor Rocks with Zack

Haytor Rocks (457m) is a popular spot on Dartmoor, and there were plenty of people around. Zack chose this as his hill as it is one of his favourite places on the moors. After a short but steep climb up from the car park, you can scramble up the rocks which have steps cut into them. From the top you get great views across South Devon to the sea. You can even see along to the Dorset coast. This was the first of my 40 hills where we had a view of the sea, and after a number of hills done in a cloud, it was fantastic to be out on a clear day. From here we could see all the other Tors we planned to climb that day, none of which were too far away, which turned out to be a good thing! After climbing up onto the rocks and admiring the views, we took a compass bearing, and headed off to:

Howell Tor with Nick

To get to Howell Tor (402m) from Haytor, you have to cross the remains of a granite tramway. This forms the start of the Templer Way. In 1722 James Templer was born in Exeter. After spending his early childhood as an orphan, he ran away to sea, making his fortune in India. He returned to England and, with his son James II, built a canal (the Stover canal) to carry clay between Teigngrace and Newton Abbot. In 1820, James II's son, George built the tram way to carry granite quarried from Haytor down to the canal for export. During the 1850s the granite quarries became uneconomic, and the tramway fell into disuse. The 18mile Templer Way follows the route of the tramway and then the canal from Haytor to Teignmouth. You can still see sections of the granite tramway today. We enjoyed the walk over from Haytor to Howell Tor, and climbed up the rocks when we arrived.

We then turned south to head for:

Saddle Tor with Lottie

This was a slightly longer walk than the one from Haytor, and we also had to cross a stream and a few marshy patches. While my feet remained dry in my walking boots, Rach was only wearing canvas walking trainers, and Zack managed to step into a puddle that came up over his wellies. There were, consequently, wet feet all around. Where the ground was dry, we found ourselves having to walk through prickly gorse and heather. While I am always up for walking 'off-path' I think everyone else decided that all future walks would need to stick to the main paths...

When we arrived at Saddle Tor (428m) we climbed up to the top.

The views were, again, fantastic, but also meant we could see the large, black cloud approaching at high speed. We had just decided to stop and boil some water for a hot chocolate, and thought we might have enough time to do that before the heaven's opened. We were wrong. The gas canister decided to loose pressure, and the water took rather a long time to boil (in fact we ended up not waiting, and drinking 'luke-warm chocolate' ...yum...) the cloud arrived and deposited a blizzard of snow. We managed to huddle together in the shelter of the rocks. By this point we were all getting quite cold, especially those of us with wet feet (Nick, Rach and Zack). It seemed that the 4th Tor was probably not a good idea, and we made a bee-line back to the car. We'd somehow managed to enjoy all weathers, and Nick commented that we'd seen four seasons in one day!

That night we managed to (almost) dry out our footwear, and so on Saturday we braved Dartmoor again for:

Hameldown Tor with Mel

We parked the cars in a very small car park and first headed up Hookney Tor (497m). From the top you get a great view of the Bronze-Age settlement of Grimspound. If you are interested in archeology and history, then it's well worth following the above link, as there is a wealth of information about the settlement. Essentially, Grimspound consists of a collection of 24 huts (or the remains of them) surrounded by a wall, enclosing the village. No-one knows for sure why the wall is there, it may have been for defensive purposes, or more likely to contain the livestock. We walked down and through the enclosure, checking out the hut circles before heading on up to Hameldown Tor (529m). We were blessed with some great views. Looking North West we could see clouds gathering over the higher points of Dartmoor, and the land was covered with snow. To the South and East we could see across to Haytor (see above) and also out across towards Exeter (East) and the sea (South). The highest point on Hameldown Tor is actually Broad Barrow. This is the largest barrow in the area, and Mel and I trekked through the snow to it with Lottie, going via the Hameldown Cross (remains of) on the way. While on the top of Hameldown Tor, we were on the Two Moors Way , a long distance (102miles) footpath from Ivybridge in the South to Lynmouth in the north. This path links both Dartmoor and Exmoor, crossing both from South to North. We retraced our steps back to the trig point, and then down to Grimspound before making our way back to the car for a much needed cup of tea.


All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our few days in Devon, both for the company (excellent as always), the food (Mel, your cooking was up to it's usual high standard) and, of course, for the hills, which have been the most Southerly and Westerly ones done so far!

Thanks to you all for a great trip and for helping me with my 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th hills!

The Clywds with Lucy, James, Andrea and Thomas (yes, that's 4 hills!!)

On Sunday, we went to The Clywds. This is a great little mountain range on the border between Flintshire and Denbighshire, you'll want OS Explorer 265 if you want to go there. I'd already walked with Nick up Shining Tor, and this time we went with his whole family. The plan was to try and walk the ridge, taking in 4 hills, one for Andrea, his wife, and one for each of their 3 kids, Lucy, James and Thomas. And guess what - we did it!

Moel Famau with Lucy

We started from the car park and view point at Bwlch Penbarra (SJ161605) and followed Offa's Dyke Path north up to the summit. This was a bit of a climb, but over a mile and a half or so, and therefore never too steep. Moel Famau is a popular spot, and so there were plenty of people around for this part of the walk. When you get to the top, you find Jubilee Tower. This was built to commemorate the golden jubilee of George III in 1810. It was meant to be completed with an Egyptian style obelisk, but it was never fully finished and in 1862 it was blown down in a storm. The obelisk was removed to make it safe, and only the sturdy base remains. At least this was then able to give us some shelter from the wind at the top while eating our packed lunch. Considering we were feeding 8 people and a dog (including 2 growing teenagers) I think it was a remarkable feat just transporting the food to the top! Moel Famau summit was the highest point of our walk at 554m and Lucy was given the honour of claiming it as 'her hill'. She and Bethan did well managing this walk, as it was quite up and down, and they were both pretty wet after only a short time! Once we'd re-fuelled, we continues along Offa's Dyke path towards our next goal:

Moel Dywyll with James

King Offa ruled Mercia from 757 to 796 AD. The area that he governed effectively made him an early King of England. Offa's Dyke is an earthwork which kind of follows the Welsh/English boundary. It is not known whether it was a defensive structure, or just an established boundary agreed with the Princes of Powys. Work was allegedly started on the dyke in 785 AD. The Offa's Dyke National Trail runs for 177 miles from Sedbury Cliffs on the Severn Estuary in the South to Prestatyn in the North. Our walk was entirely along this trail, and while I couldn't convince myself of seeing a dyke, we did see hill forts. Moel Dywyll (475m) is the next hill along the trail gong north, and we immediately left most of the other day-trippers behind. It would seem that most people enjoy the trip up to Jubilee Tower, then head back to the car. We, however, were doing a linear walk, and were obviously much more hardy...It was a great trip along. It had started snowing at the top of Moel Famau, and we started off feeling a bit cold, but soon warmed up as we pressed on. The nice thing about ridge walking is that you get to go downhill for a bit after reaching a summit, so we made good progress until the slow climb up to Moel Dywyll. None of us could really pronounce it, so if there are any Welsh speakers out there who would like to tell us how to get our teeth around the word 'Dywyll', then let me know! After a quick photo stop at the cairn and a chat to a group in training for Ben Nevis, we resumed our trek this time to:

Meol Llys-y-coed with Andrea

Now, a word about the weather. The weather forecasting app that I use on my iTouch promised a bit of cloud, but otherwise sunny and dry. We started quite well, with some views into the valley, but the clouds soon came down. The snow we experienced at the top of the first hill soon eased, and we were left with a wet mist. We all ended up pretty wet. As the walk progressed the mist became worse and worse, so by the time we reached Moel Llys-y-coed (465m), we couldn't really see a thing. The summit for this hill is actually off the path. The photo of us pointing is of Andrea and I pointing to the summit somewhere in the mist. We clambered over the fence to find the summit, leaving the rest of the party behind. There are no photos to record that final ascent, but I will always remember it. There are some days when you just have to dig deep. As I said, we didn't get a good view of the hill because of the mist, but I think it looks a bit like the picture you can navigate to by following this link. After rejoining everyone else, we began the descent down to where we had cunningly left a car. This was where we found the snow. The steep, north facing slope had patches of deep ice and snow. This led to a great deal of impromptu sledging while sat on our waterproof trousers. The uploaded movie clip gives you an idea! The kids had a great time (and so did the adults and the dog...!)

Once back at the car, Rach and Andrea left with Bethan and Lucy to fetch the other car, while I climbed:

Moel Arthur with Thomas

Moel Arthur is a hill fort. It was built about 2,500 years ago, and has impressive ramparts to the north, not that we could see them very well today. From the car park, an obvious path (still Offa's Dyke trail) ascends to the right, and then shortly after reaching a fence, you follow a path left up to the summit. The 'gateway' through the earthworks into the fort is obvious and impressive. The top is marked by a cairn, and I'm sure there are great views from the 456m elevation. As it was, there wasn't a lot to see in the mist, so we jogged back down to the carpark to wait for the girls. There was just enough time to boil some water with the stove for a cup of hot chocolate before they arrived with the cars.

It was a great day and we all enjoyed it. Now we've discovered The Clywds, I'm sure we'll be back, hopefully on a clearer day!

Thanks to Lucy, James, Andrea and Thomas for great company and for helping me up my 11th, 12th, 13th AND 14th hills!!

Shutlingsloe with Peter (in the rain)

Peter and I have been trying to coordinate our diaries to climb Shutlingsloe for some time. We finally managed to arrange to go out today - probably the wettest day we've had for some time! Nevertheless, we stuck to our plan and took our dogs over to the Macclesfield Forest in order to wander around under and within a large cloud. Shutlingsloe is locally known as 'The Matterhorn of Cheshire' due to it's distinctive shape, which unfortunately we were unable to appreciate today. According to Wikipedia the name derives from old English 'Scyttel's hlaw' meaning 'Scyttel's (personal name) hill'.

We started our walk at the visitor centre near Trentabank Reservoir, and walked up through the trees following signs up to the hill. The rain was persistent throughout the walk, and we got drenched. It was particularly nasty at the top, with horizontal rain whipping into your face! Not really a day for photos...
Once we'd reached the summit, we continued East off the summit, and then worked our way round North back into the forest and some shelter. We enjoyed a great walk through the forest, and the dogs were very happy running around amongst the trees. We managed to work our way back to the road, then crossed over to explore more of the forest on the other side before finding a small road further north which we followed around back to the car. Thankfully the rain abated just enough for us to do a quick change in the car park, before heading off to the local pub.

A much needed drink and meal at Leathers Smithy allowed us to dry off a bit. It was a great little pub, and clearly a local favourite judging by the lack of space in the car-park! I enjoyed a vegetarian wellington washed down with a half of Robinson's Unicorn, both excellent.

So, that's a quarter of the hills done! Thanks Peter! I'm hoping for better weather for the next hills, although I guess I can't guarantee that in February and March in the UK...