Walking Review 2013

Although very different from some of my more peak bagging focused exploits in the past I would definitely count 2013 as a classic walking year. In total I managed 70 walks, all but two of which were in the north of England, the most walks I’ve managed in a year since before my daughter was born in 2007. From Axe Edge in the Peak District to Hedgehope Hill in the Cheviots, from Black Combe in the Lake Distict to Dalby Forest in the North York Moors I covered around 440 miles of northern England’s footpaths, bridleways and open access land. About a dozen or so walks, mainly with my daughter, were in places I’d been to before but the majority of my footsteps were along ways new to me.

I tried, as usual, to sample as many different areas as I could. With eight walks this was by far my most productive year of walking in the North York Moors and these walks in the Moors were some of the many highlights of the year. On the flip side I only managed two walks in the North Pennines and only three in the Peak District. With the latter this was partly due to my dislike of the drive down which involves plenty of motorway driving and / or driving through or round large towns or cities. I hope to visit the North York Moors many more times in 2014 as well as visit the North Pennines more than I have in 2013.

Without doubt my single biggest achievement in 2013 was finally completing the Wainwrights. Having started off with a bang in 2005 my rate of Wainwright bagging dropped markedly following a knee injury and subsequent operation in 2009. The last couple of years being so close to completing has been something of a source of frustration so it was with large sense of relief, as well as joy, that I made it to the top of St Sunday Crag on 2nd May to finally complete the set. In addition to completing the Wainwrights I also ventured into the Duddon Valley for the first time, particularly memorable was the walk up on to Caw, a fell that is excluded from but superior to many of the fells that make up the 214 Wainwrights. 

In making it to the top of St Sunday Crag it also meant that I’m only one top, High Willhays, away from completing all the English Hewitts (hills over 2,000ft with 35m of re-ascent). As this is situated on Dartmoor it may be some time before I complete this particular hill list. With the exception of 27 Deweys (many of which are in the Cheviots) I’ve now bagged most of the hills in the north of England that appear on the major hill lists. Perhaps it is for this reason that I’ve gradually begun moving away from planning a walk to bag a specific summit and towards planning a walk around visiting a particular feature or simply to explore an area I’ve not visited before. I think I’ve surprised myself as to how much I have enjoyed this approach and I’m planning a lot more of these kind of walks in 2014.

With my original walking partner Matt now devoted to running and limited opportunities for my wife and I to go for walks I’ve spent much of the last few years walking on my own. This began to change in February when I met up for the first time with Tim and Jack from the Bowland Walks website for a walk up on to Nicky Nook. We got on really well and we’ve subsequently met up for further walks in the Forest of Bowland as well as the Lake District, Peak District and Yorkshire Dales. In April I also met up with Wally from Sedbergh for a long promised walk in the Howgill Fells. Again we got on really well and had another fabulous walk across the Howgills in September. Forging these new friendships has been undoubtedly one of the highlights of 2013 and I look forward to more walks with Tim, Jack and Wally in the coming years.

Another enjoyable aspect of 2013 has been filming many of my walks and creating short 3-5 minute videos. I’d begun attempting this back in 2011 but my PC didn’t have the processor power to edit the files. I upgraded in late 2012 and put together my first videos at the back end of last year. This year I’ve produced over 40 videos that can be seen on my YouTube channel. I’m in no way narcissistic but I do enjoy spending the time filming short clips of me walking in the hills and being able to see myself in the environment I love so much. Similar to when I got a bit more serious about my photography, going out on a walk with the intention of creating a video adds an extra dimension to the walk, especially as you are keeping an eye out for what would make a good shot. Of course taking 100-200 photos a walk plus video footage does slow me down somewhat and the length of time it takes me to complete a walk has certainly increased in the last year!

After a particularly wet 2012 I managed to stay largely dry in 2013, a notable exception being an absolute soaking on Thieveley Pike at the beginning of December. Indeed, when looking back at the year I can have very little complaint about the weather. I certainly enjoyed more good weather than bad, which has most definitely not always been the case. Perhaps I didn’t take quite as much advantage of the late snows as I could have done but on the other hand I didn’t have the correct gear to have done so safely.

Due to the late snows there was a general delay in the appearance of springtime flowers and when they did arrive they seemed to do so in abundance. Daffodils could still be found well in to May, bluebells into June and I cannot recall seeing as many buttercups in the meadows and as much cotton grass on the moors as I did this summer. One theme of my walks from late April to early June was trying to find somewhere that the bluebells were in full bloom. From the Forest of Bowland in the west to the North York Moors in the east I went seeking bluebells with varying degrees of success. 

A major source of frustration has been the slow process of revamping my website www.mypennines.co.uk. Now four years old I wanted to give it a makeover but having spent a month on the redesign I found it extremely slow going updating rebuilding a website that now contains of 600 pages of content. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel and having not updated the ‘live’ website since May I’m hoping to get the new version online by the end of February. The time devoted to the new website has meant that numerous ideas for this blog haven't gone any further. I look forward to updating this blog more regularly in 2014.

Finally, after a great deal of agonising, are my favourite walks, views and walking moments of 2013...

Top 5 Walks of 2013:

1. Haycock and Caw
2. Howgills Traverse
3. Goathland to Levisham Station
4. Farleton Fell
5. Gunnerside Gill and Rogan’s Seat

Honourable mentions go to the Crummackdale Horseshoe, Whitcliff Scar, St Sunday’s Crag, Melmerby Fell, Hedgehope Hill, Caw, Hole of Horcum, Bride Stones and a lovely early morning walk around Fewston Reservoir.

Top 5 Views of 2013:

1. The buttercup filled view of Muker and Swaledale from Ivelet Side
2. The panoramic view from Farleton Fell incorporating the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Forest of Bowland and Morecambe Bay
3. The view of Ennerdale from Piper’s Crag as the light began to fade
4. The view along Combs Edge from Castle Naze in the Peak District
5. The view of the frost-filled Hole of Horcum

 
Top 5 Most Memorable Walking Moments of 2013:

1. Reaching the top of St Sunday Crag, my 214^th and final Wainwright
2. Walking through the narrowest part of the spectacular Avakas Gorge in Cyprus
3. Visiting the magical waterfall of Mallyan Spout near Goathland
4. Watching my nephew Liam, dressed as a Roman centurion, pretend to fight off the Pictish hordes on the top of Windshield’s Crag, the highest point of Hadrian’s Wall
5. Rescuing a sheep that had fallen into the Lancaster Canal at Tewitfields and which was unable to get out on its own

 
5 Least Favourite Walking Moments of 2013:

1. Suffering with some terrible blisters on a 10 mile walk in the Peak District that I’d acquired the previous day. One particular blood blister on my heel stayed with me for two months – this was all very unusual as I hardly ever suffer from blisters.
2. Dragging my daughter around Hollybank Woods, near Ripley, in the snow on her sledge.  It was back breakingly hard work not helped by the fact that she was cold, hungry and decidedly unimpressed with my plan to get her out on a winter walk.
3. Negotiating a large patch of wind compacted snow on my hands and knees at the top of the steep climb on to Yarlside from Kensgriff in the Howgill Fells.
4. Taking new friends Tim and Jack all the way to Littledale in the Forest of Bowland to see the bluebells only to find that they hadn’t flowered yet.
5. Finding a couple of dead sheep huddled together in a melting snow drift, just two of the many victims of the heavy snow in the spring.

Book Review: Great Mountains Days in the Pennines, Terry Marsh, Cicerone (2013)

With the exception of those covering the Pennine Way it is very rare to see a walking guide treat the Pennines as a continuous range of hills and provide a variety of walks covering the whole region. It is more typical to find walks about specific areas, particularly the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales. Therefore, When I saw that Cicerone were publishing a new walking guide called, 'Great Mountain Days in the Pennines' I was rather curious and more than jumped at the opportunity to review it.

 

The guide is written by the Lancashire-based writer and photographer Terry Marsh, a name that will be familiar to those who have collected a number of Cicerone walking guides. I for one found his book of walks on the Isle of Man of particular use when I spent a week on the island back in 2008. In his introduction Marsh explains that the walks in this book are largely confined to within 10 miles of the Pennine watershed, exceptions being routes on to Ilkley Moor, Pendle Hill and Ingleborough. Unfortunately this approach means that the Forest of Bowland and the West Pennine Moors, both outliers of the main range, are omitted entirely so don't expect to find a route up the likes of Winter Hill or Ward's Stone.

The 50 walks are organised from north to south starting in the North Pennines, perhaps the least visited and certainly the most underrated area in the Pennines. By happy coincidence the first walk in the book is a climb on to Thack Moor, which, following a survey proving that it reaches the magical 2,000ft mark in height, has the distinction  of being England's newest mountain . Presumably the book went to print just before Thack Moor's elevation to mountain status was known as it is not mentioned.

Each walk is generously illustrated with photos and contains an introduction, detail on the route (including OS map) and an overview 'Route Information' box that includes detail on distance, height gain, how to get there and where to find after walk refreshment. In what must surely be an editorial mistake this 'Route Information' box is missing on walks 23 and 48 (Rye Loaf Hill and Alport Castles respectively).

The walk descriptions are well written without being overly detailed. It should be noted that the book is quite large and would be quite unwieldy to carry around on a walk. This is perhaps a good thing as most of these walks definitely require the possession and ability to use the relevant map so it would be a mistake to rely on the book for direction anyway.

Occasionally Marsh lets himself go a bit with some nicely evocative passages, for example, he describes the South Pennines as, "a great swathe of harsh moors where the lovely orange and gold crystals of millstone grit have oxidised to a black that makes your eyes hurt and portrays, falsely, a land of darkness and dirt". His frequent description of the Howgill Fells as 'bosomy' will ensure that I for one will never quite look at those hills in the same light again!

Whilst opinions on the 50 best walks in the Pennines will always be a subjective one I think Marsh has, on the whole, chosen many of the routes, or at least variations that I would have picked myself. There are a few notable exceptions. It is a shame that Cold Fell doesn't feature. Not only is it the northernmost mountain in the Pennines, and one of only five Marilyns to be found in the North Pennines, it is also a great walk to the top with some stunning views. Personally I'd have liked to have also seen a walk around Crummackdale featuring Norber and Moughton, an area that is second only to Malham for limestone scenery. Finally there is Bleaklow, the omission of which from a book subtitled '50 classic hillwalking challenges' is quite frankly perplexing. Surely these were more worthy of inclusion than than some that are included and while I love the Howgill Fells did we really need three separate walks that visit the summit of The Calf?

These latter reservations aside it is a great book, especially for people who are not familiar with some of the less frequented areas of the Pennines. Marsh deserves a lot of credit for including places such as Thack Moor, Backstone Edge, Gragareth, and Thievely Pike and resisting the temptation to fill the book predominantly with routes in the Dales and Peak District. As a result even walkers, like myself, who have already explored a lot of the Pennines are likely to find much of interest in this guide.

Recommended.

'Great Mountain Days in the Pennines' can be purchased from the Cicerone website.

 

Completing the 214: My Wainwrights Journey

At 3.39pm on Thursday 2nd May 2013 I arrived, tired but elated, at the summit of St. Sunday Crag, my last Wainwright summit. I'd finally done it. It had taken ninety-three walks, 665 miles, over 219,000ft of ascent and 214 summits to get to this point, so some celebratory leaps in the air were called for (luckily I had the place to myself).

My Wainwright journey started more than seven years ago on 4th August 2005 when I first climbed Cat Bells. It was also my first proper visit to the Lake District and I was enchanted by the views of Derwent Water, the Newlands Valley and particularly the pairing of Hindscarth and Robinson. But it wasn't until the next day, when Lisa and I climbed Fleetwith Pike on our wedding anniversary that I well and truly fell in love with the Lake District.

 

It was one of those days when everything combined to make it perfect. The climb was steep with magnificent retrospective views of the Buttermere valley and the lakes of Buttermere, Crummock Water and Loweswater. From Fleetwith Pike we walked round to Haystacks before starting our equally memorable descent. At one point I remember turning to Lisa and saying, 'if there's a heaven I hope it's like this'.

The next day I got up early to climb Blencathra on my own, via the Hall's Fell ridge. At the time I was more used to the gentler ways of the Yorkshire Dales, so it's fair to say I found it more nerve-wracking than I would find Sharp Edge three years later when I was a more experienced fell walker. Still, it was a memorable climb and that afternoon I bought my first Wainwright book: Volume Five, 'The Northern Fells'.

Six weeks later, I had bought and read all seven volumes. It's hard to describe the impact Wainwright's books had on me. Beautifully laid out and jam-packed with exciting walks, lovingly detailed drawings and witty prose, it marked out an author who, in his idiosyncratic way, could describe the sheer joy of exploring the hills far more eloquently than I ever could.

By this time I'd decided I wanted to climb not just all the Wainwrights, but every Lake District fell that qualified as a Hewitt, Nuttall, Dewey or Marilyn. I'd only been hill walking for about a year and a half at this point, but I'd already discovered the joys of peak bagging and was well on my way to completing my first, fairly modest, goal: all the 2,000ft tops in the Yorkshire Dales.

I approached this new Lake District challenge with a real fervour. Over that first year I took numerous day trips, a week in a cottage in Uldale, a few days in a cottage in Chapel Stile, two trips to a B&B in Coniston as well as camping trips to Borrowdale, Buttermere and Lamplugh. By the end of 2006 I'd already bagged 86 Wainwrights.

Highlights of those early Wainwright walks include spending my 32nd birthday climbing Skiddaw via Ullock Pike and Longside, the splendid climb on to High Street via Rough Crag and Long Stile, my first visit to Helvellyn and Striding Edge, the atmospheric pairing of Dow Crag and Goats Water, and the Fairfield Horseshoe from Ambleside.

Equally memorable, for different reasons, was the frequent bad weather I encountered - particularly the heavy rain and thick hill fog I encountered when I climbed High Raise via Blea Rigg and Sergeant Man. In what is (so far) my only major navigational error, I contrived to descend from Greenup Edge into the morass of Wythburn rather than Far Easedale two valleys to the south. As punishment I had to endure a long, completely sodden walk back along the road to Grasmere, trying not to get flattened by passing traffic in the dark. Oops.

In the first half of 2007 I continued apace and bagged another 39. But that old cliché about having too much of a good thing proved true. After climbing Great Gable, Helvellyn, Bow Fell and Crinkle Crags in quick succession I overdid it and aggravated an on/off injury to my left knee on Middleboot Knotts, just below Lingmell, at the start of an ambitious route over the Scafells. I stubbornly continued over Great End, Ill Crag and Broad Crag on to Scafell Pike, effectively climbing using just my right leg. On reaching Mickledore I knew there was no way I could make it on to Scafell so instead, in the company of my father-in-law, I started the long, rocky descent to Wasdale via Hollow Stones. It was one of the most painful experiences of my life.

It took me a good few months to properly recover and in the intervening time my daughter was born, so there was a shift in my priorities - not to mention a reduction in how much time I could spend walking. Family holidays to Keswick in October 2007 and March 2008 helped keep things ticking over but my peak-bagging rate went into a steep decline.

Matters weren't helped by a bad back in early 2009 followed by another knee injury later that year. Another painful descent - this time off Seat Sandal in June 2009 - finally convinced me to go to the doctor. I was diagnosed with a cartilage tear in my right knee, which required an operation, and this knocked my confidence so much that I didn't set foot in the Lake District again until March 2011. Instead I sought solace in the less rugged landscapes of the Pennines (a direct result of this period was the creation of my website, www.mypennines.co.uk).

Managing my come-back climb onto Whiteside and the steep descent off Grasmoor in March 2011 was a big moment for me and reignited my hopes of completing the Wainwrights. Although I only had 29 to climb by this point I resolved not to overdo it again, hence me strictly rationing myself over the last two years.

At times, being so close to completion has been almost unbearable, like a huge weight around my neck. The last few walks seemed more like something I had to do rather than something I wanted to (which isn't to say I didn't enjoy the walks themselves). So at first, when I arrived at the top of St. Sunday Crag I felt more relief than achievement: finally! It has only been later that a real sense of satisfaction and pride has begun to sink in.

For me the Wainwrights have been a remarkable journey, physically, emotionally and mentally. But it's not a done deal - there are so many summits, tarns and ridges I'd like to revisit and new routes of ascent I'd like to try (Jack's Rake!). In fact, in many ways my journey may only just have started.

Music inspired by the hills

The beautiful hills and valleys of northern England have for centuries inspired some of this country's most famous poets, writers and painters. However, it seems that this is not the case with the country's most famous classical composers. One could search in vain through the catalogue of works of Britten, Elgar, Holst, Vaughan Williams or Walton for music inspired by the countryside of northern England.

In addition to my love of hill walking I also have a passion (nay, addiction) to collecting music. Over the last 4-5 years I've spent quite a lot of time exploring the music of well known, and not so well known, English composers and during this time I've discovered a small, but interesting body of work, that does have direct links to the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and even the Forest of Bowland. This blog is about this music and the composers who wrote it.

Perhaps the best known of these composers is Frederick Delius (1862-1934). Born in Bradford to German parents the young Delius was brought up in Yorkshire. After brief stints working in Sweden, and most notably on an orange plantation in Florida, Delius studied music in Germany before settling down in France. Probably his most famous composition is 'On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring' one of a number of quite beautiful musical portraits of nature. Delius composed a number of works inspired by his love of the hills including, 'Over the Hills and Far Away' (a personal favourite of mine), 'On the Mountains' and 'Song of the High Hills'. The latter is Delius's own personal vision of, "the joy and exhilaration one feels in the mountains and also the loneliness and melancholy of the high solitudes and the grandeur of the wide far distances". Interestingly, these works all seem to stem from his love of the Norwegian mountains rather than the landscape of his native Yorkshire.

The one work of Delius's that seems to have definitely have been inspired by Yorkshire is his 'Northern Sketches'. First performed in 1915 the work is an orchestral suite with the following sections; 'Autumn: The Wind Soughs in the Trees', 'Winter Landscape', 'Dance', 'The March of Spring: Woodlands, Meadows and Silent Moors'. It has been noted that the first two pieces in particular are, for Delius, surprisingly bleak, even desolate. On the other hand anyone with any knowledge of the Pennine moors near Bradford will know that, especially in autumn and winter, the words 'bleak' and 'desolate' are often apt.

Bleak Pennine moors in winter

 

After 1918 Delius began to suffer the effects of syphilis and by the late 1920's he had become blind and virtually paralysed. In 1928 a young Scarborough-born musician called Eric Fenby (1906-1997) travelled to France and volunteered to act as Delius's amanuensis. With Fenby's help Delius was able to commence composing once again. Fenby himself was also a composer, however he later destroyed most of his own works. One of the few pieces to have survived is the overture, 'Rossini on Ilkla Moor'. The piece apparently came about following a walk on Ilkley Moor with the actor and director Charles Laughton. Fenby skilfully takes the theme of the well-known Yorkshire folksong, 'On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at' and uses it as the basis for a work written in the style of the early 19th century Italian opera composer Rossini. About as far away from Delius's delicate nature pieces as can be imagined 'Rossini on Ilka Moor' is a brilliant pastiche and a hugely enjoyable piece in its own right.  

Ilkley Moor, not the best place to be caught in bad weather without a hat!

The piece by Fenby tends to be classed in that wonderful sub-genre of classical music called British Light Music. British Light Music tends to be fairly short, often descriptive, orchestral pieces in which melody and tunefulness is generally given more importance than the more intellectual strains of classical music. Although it had its heyday in the mid-20th century some of the most famous pieces of British Light Music can still be heard as the theme tunes for radio programmes today including Eric Coates's 'By the Sleepy Lagoon' (Desert Island Discs), Arthur Wood's 'Barwick Green' (The Archers) and Ronald Binge's 'Sailing By' used to precede the shipping forecast.

The vast expanse of Kielder Water

One of the most prolific composers of light music is the Rawtenstall-born composer Ernest Tomlinson (b.1924). After a period living in London after the war Tomlinson later settled down on a farm near Longridge Fell. In addition to a six year stint conducting the Rossendale Choir, Tomlinson also founded the Ribble Vale Choir in Longridge in 1989. The only 'northern' themed piece I've so far come across by Tomlinson is 'Kielder Water', a short orchestral piece commissioned for the opening of the Kielder Dam in 1983. The piece describes the tranquil beauty of what was, when it was built, the largest man made lake in Europe.

 

The beautiful Tarn Hows

Two Lakeland themed pieces of light music are 'Tarn Hows, A Cumbrian Rhapsody' by Maurice Johnstone and 'Striding Edge' by Matthew Curtis. Maurice Johnstone  (1900-1976), was born in Manchester and was, for a while, BBC Head of Music in the North. His 'Tarn Hows' is a fairly substantial piece of about 14 minutes which evokes the mood of the popular beauty spot in the morning, noon and evening. Johnstone also wrote a 'Pennine Way March' which I'd love to hear but which does not seem to be available on a recording. The Embleton-born Matthew Curtis (b.1959) belongs to a much later generation of light music composers. His 'Striding Edge' (2006) is a very catchy and surprisingly jaunty march, however, as the composer himself admits, anyone who approaches the real Striding Edge at anything like the tempo of this march would be risking injury or worse!

Striding Edge

A more extended, and more sombre work, that has strong connections to the Lake District is the 'Symphony No.3 - Westmorland' by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960). During the Second World War Gibbs and his wife were forced to evacuate their London home and move to Windermere. The Symphony No.3 was composed between 1943-1944 and was a reaction, not only to his new surroundings, but also to the tragic death of his son, David, who was killed in action on 18 November 1943. The subtitles of each of the four movements are, 'I will lift up mine eyes', 'Cartmel Fell', 'Weathers' and 'The Lake', the latter presumably Windermere itself. It is a moving work with many lovely passages and one which should be much better known.

Other than his 3rd symphony Gibbs wrote a number of other works inspired by the northern countryside including 'The Yorkshire Dales - Three Impressions for piano, violin and cello' (1926) whose movements are, 'Walden', 'Whernside' and 'Woodale'. The 'Three Pieces for String Quartet' (1927) has clear Lake District links with subtitles of, 'Above Blea Tarn', 'Winster Valley' and 'Loweswater: Calm After the Storm'. Neither of these two pieces seems to have been recorded and neither has his 'Lakeland Pictures - Eight Preludes for Piano' (1940). One piece that has been recorded is his suite for string orchestra 'Dale and Fell' (1953), whose three short movements, 'The Beck Climb', 'Rest at Noon' and 'Over the High Fells' describe in musical terms a walk out into the hills.

Walden, one of the less well known valleys in the Yorkshire Dales

Perhaps the composer most inspired by the north of England is the Manchester-born Arthur Butterworth (b.1923) who has for many years been a resident of Embsay, near Skipton. It has been said that, "virtually all his music has been the outcome of a contemplation of the aura of Northern England". Some of the more obvious of these includes the orchestral 'Dales Suite', another orchestral suite called, 'The Moors' and the 'Moorland Symphony' with words by the Saddleworth poet Ammon Wrigley. Whilst none of the above seem to have been recorded two that are available are, 'The Quiet Tarn' (about Malham Tarn) and 'The Path Across the Moors'. Both are beautifully scored and atmospheric orchestral pieces. Also worthy of note is his 'Coruscations', a depiction of the twinkling lights of the Morecambe Bay coastline as seen on a summer evening from a high and remote moorland road.

Malham Tarn

Although largely unknown to the wider public Butterworth is still by far the best known of a group called the 'The Lakeland Composers'. Their website features a few musical samples including a couple of works by Chris Gibbs, 'The Western Dales - 3 pieces for flute and piano' as well as a suite called, 'The Forest of Bowland'. The short extract to be found on the website is enough to make me wish that the full piece is available. Another member of the group, Leslie Meurant has written a suite for strings titled, 'From Eamont to Eden' and whose Piano Concerto No.4 is subtitled 'Rothay'. A short sample from his piano piece 'Neath Gable's Crags' can also be found on the Lakeland Composers website.

As the 'Lakeland Composers' website shows, the amount of music that is both inspired by the lakes, dales and moors of northern England and which is currently available on recording is probably the tip of the iceberg. Hopefully more of this music will be recorded in the future. Whilst many of the composers mentioned are fairly obscure it is not to say the music they have written is not worth listening to. It is anything but and for me personally I enjoy listening to a composer's attempts to put into music their feelings about the beautiful landscape I take such pleasure in exploring on foot.

Discography

The following works are all currently available on CD.

Butterworth, Arthur - 'The Quiet Tarn', 'Coruscations', Dutton Epoch, CDLX 7253
Butterworth, Arthur - 'Path Across the Moors', Resonance, LC 11303
Curtis, Matthew - 'Striding Edge', Campion Cameo, Cameo 2085
Delius, Frederick - 'Northern Sketches', Chandos, CHAN 9355
Fenby, Eric - 'Rossini on Ilkla Moor', Resonance, LC 11303
Gibbs, Cecil Armstrong, - 'Symphony No.3 'Westmorland', Marco Polo, 8223553
Gibbs, Cecil Armstrong, - 'Dale and Fell', Hyperion, CDA67093
Johnstone, Maurice - 'Tarn Hows - A Cumbrian Rhapsody', Resonance, LC 11303
Tomlinson, Ernest - 'Kielder Water', Marco Polo, 8223413

Variety is the spice of life - my walking year 2012

Considering that 2012 has just been named the wettest year on record for England and the second wettest on record for the whole UK it is perhaps fitting that it rained on both my first walk of 2012, on Pendle Hill on New Years Day, and my last walk of the year, on Whitestone Cliff in the Hambleton Hills. Whilst I did get caught in some real deluges (Green Crag in the Lake District and Alston Moor in the North Pennines spring to mind) I think that overall I managed to avoid the worst of the weather. Nevertheless it did still impact on the type of walking I did in 2012.



Wintry weather early in the year, particularly icy conditions meant that I avoided higher ground and instead led to my first forays into the Howardian Hills (nice but definitely not hilly) and the Arnside & Silverdale AONB (absolutely lovely) as well as a couple of walks in the North York Moors, an area that I've enjoyed re-acquainting myself with in 2012 and plan on visiting more in 2013.



The weather perhaps had its biggest impact on my Easter holiday in North Wales. I'd been particularly looking forward to walking in the Carneddau for the first time but it was not to be. For the most part the weather was wretched and the highest I managed to get was Great Orme and even then I got to the top via the cable car (a memorable ride). Abandoning my plans for the Carneddau I instead managed a series of short walks in between bands of rain exploring the small hills and headlands in the Llandudno / Colwyn Bay area. They were all very nice little walks but ultimately it wasn't what I'd been hoping to do.



Thanks largely to trips to the youth hostels in Wasdale (in March) and Eskdale (in September) I managed another 12 Wainwrights leaving me agonisingly five short of completing the set of 214. I did however complete both the Northern Fells and Southern Fells. If I'd made a concerted effort I perhaps could have done the remaining 5 over the course of the year but I had limited opportunities to get out to the Lakes during the summer (again partly due to the poor weather). Fingers crossed I'll get to do the remaining five (Caw Fell, Hartsop Above How, Haycock, Lank Rigg and St Sunday Crag) by the end of spring 2013.



Although I didn't quite manage to complete the Wainwrights I did manage the last few tops I needed to complete all the 2,000ft summits in the North Pennines and, by extension, the Pennines as a whole. My final top was Flinty Fell, perhaps not one of the most interesting 2000fters around. Instead the highlight of that particular walk was a return visit to the superb Ashgill Force, definitely one of my favourite waterfalls in the country. In terms of Hewitts this just leaves me with Haycock, Iron Crag and St Sunday Crag to do in the Lakes and High Willhays on Dartmoor to visit in order to have completed the set of English 2,000fters. To complete the English Nuttalls I just need to also do Yes Tor on Dartmoor and Caw Fell, Little Gowder Crag and, ahem, Pillar Rock. Not quite sure about the last of those but it would be nice to try and organise a 'smash and bag' raid on the two highest tops on Dartmoor sometime in 2013.

The 'new' area that made the biggest impression on me was the week I spent in the Scottish Borders in August. Staying in the lovely town of Melrose I walked the Eildon Hills twice and had a fantastic full day's walk in the Manor Hills when I did the Dun Rig Horseshoe just south of Peebles. I arrived at the top of the first Donald on the walk, Birkscairn Hill, in low cloud and rain. Minutes later the skies began to clear and within half an hour I had an absolutely fantastic prospect of the Southern Uplands. When I've completed the Wainwrights I'm going to give serious consideration to having a go at the Donalds.



Apart from the North York Moors another area I got re-acquainted with in 2012 was around my home town of Harrogate. Between April and July I did a number of short walks in the Harrogate area, including lower Nidderdale and lower Wharfedale. Despite bringing me into increasing contact with the dreaded cows I really (somewhat to my surprise) enjoyed these outings. Although most of these walks were fairly short my longest walk of the year, and indeed for a number of years, was the 21 mile Harrogate Ringway.



In total I did 64 walks over the course of the year, in addition to the areas already mentioned I also did walks in the Forest of Bowland, South Pennines and Yorkshire Dales, the latter including a visit to the trig point on Horse Head for one of my favourite views in the Dales. Whilst it would be tempting to spend most of my time walking in the Dales and the Lakes there really is so much great walking country elsewhere in the north of England that I much prefer to mix things up as much as I can. In walking terms variety really is the spice of life. One slight disappointment is that I didn't quite manage a step in the Peak District National Park, the nearest I got was Harridge Pike and Wild Bank which both stand above Stalybridge, just a mile or so west of the National Park boundary.

Anyway here (after a great deal of agonising) are my favourite walks, views and walking moments of 2012...

Top 5 Walks of 2012:

1. Horse Head & Birks Fell
2. Arnside Knott
3. Great Calva
4. Dun Rig Horseshoe
5. Harrogate Ringway

Top 5 Views of 2012:

1. The view of the Manor Hills, Tinto, the Pentlands and Moorfoots from Stob Law on the Dun Rig Horseshoe
2. The view of Eskdale from the scarp above Low Birker
3. The view of Ingleborough and Penyghent from Horse Head
4. The view of Dentdale from Galloway Gate on Great Knoutberry Hill
5. The view of Hackfall Woods, near Masham, from 'The Ruin'

Top 5 Favourite Walking Moments of 2012:

1. The rain and cloud clearing on Birkscairn Hill to suddenly reveal a huge expanse of the Scottish Border hills
2. Stepping out on to the seemingly endless sands of Morecambe Bay on a super walk from Arnside
3. Jumping into the Wharfe, near Linton church, to carry my daughter to the other side after getting half way across the stepping stones and finding a stone missing in the middle. I ended up with very soggy boots but we both loved it.
4. The late evening sunshine at Low Birker Tarn and the subsequent views over Eskdale made up for the horrendous rain and hail shower minutes before
5. The delightful walk along the banks of Long Preston Beck in an unsung part of thr Yorkshire Dales

5 Least Favourite Walking Moments of 2012:

1. On an evening walk up to the Huller Stones on Eavestone Moor a swarm of flies took a liking to me and followed me over a mile across the moor, very unpleasant
2. Getting drenched on the pathless moor between Flinty Fell and the trig point on Alston Moor, to make matters more uncomfortable I also had to cross a large stretch where the reeds were between waist and chest height.
3. Out of a number cow incidents I'd have to pick the occassion near Markenfield Hall where a whole herd of cows made a beeline for me from the far corner of the field to send me retreating back through a gate.
4. The tremendous rain and hail shower shortly after leaving the top of Green Crag in Eskdale, I don't think I've ever got so wet while out on a walk
5. Another unpleasant hail shower, this time on Pendle Hill on my first walk of the year