A varied weekend

       6.45 am on Saturday and I was scraping ice off the car windows but 3 1/2 hours (190 miles) driving later and I was registering for the annual Cake Race in Kiln Green. By now it was a beautiful day with blue skies and bright sunshine and very little wind (in contrast to the gale of last year). Perfect for fell racing, though this is really more like a trail race, much of it being run on sections of the Standedge Trail, Pennine Way and Kirklees Way. The first mile + is a relentless, moderate uphill along a stony track before heading out across Rocher Moss and Black Moss between Black Moss and Swellands reservoirs on stone slabs across undulating terrain before the drop down Blakely Clough with the rough steps to the stream and the steep rocks out of it. The field was already spreading out after the first mile or so but I still had three or four people in my sights to chase down/hang onto and several in hot pursuit to keep me moving.

     Then it's the narrow path snaking back up to the weir below the waterfalls on Wessenden Moor. This year a rope had been strung across the weir to be used as a handrail for any who felt wary of the crossing. The water was fairly slow moving and the weir is probably 5' wide (not really a weir at all!) but it was still reassuring to have the rope handrail even if only used in a vague way. From here you descend gently to the dam across Wessenden Reservoir where I overtook one man. Then the long run along Butterly Reservoir on a wide path. Two more men picked off and the leading woman (Gaynor Keene, as it turned out) in my sights - but over 100 yards ahead. By now we're six miles in and the worst is to come: a long flight of stone steps down the side of the dam. You try to work up some sort of rhythm only for the last 30 or so steps to suddenly be much narrower and you have to suddenly change your stride pattern. Along the bottom of the dam and then the climb up the opposite flight of steps - 167 of them! Enough to turn the knees to jelly. However, I managed to keep running to the top and in so doing pick off another man and close within a few yards of Gaynor. There's short section of rough, tussocky terrain as you circumvent a golf course. I finally managed to pass Gaynor and another man (named Oliver I discovered later), but they weren't for giving in easily. Rejoining the Stanedge Trail there's another mile or so of climbing. Somewhere before the summit both Gaynor and Oliver came back past. I don't know whether I should have responded better but before I knew it Gaynor was pulling away and eventually finished 29 seconds clear. Oliver seemed to find the uneven, slightly rocky/stony track even harder to cope with than me and I eventually managed to pass him again. But I'd made my move too soon. As we rounded another bend with 1/2 mile to go he came past again. He didn't gain much ground but I just couldn't get anything more out of my legs and he finished 9 seconds clear. All in all a very enjoyable run and a real race to the end. Shame I didn't quite get my first win but in the past Gaynor has always been over a minute clear, so good to get closer. 37th of 152, 2nd lady, 1st lady vet.

"Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting married! Somebody's getting somebody's getting somebody's getting somebody somebody somebody somebody...!
Somebody get some flowers!
Somebody get a ring!
Somebody get a chapel and a choir to sing!
Somebody get an organ to play!
Cause somebody's getting married today! "

      From Kiln Green it was on to Bolton and the real reason for my trip north. On Sunday my brother got married. A few hiccoughs but on the whole everything went smoothly and it was a happy and memorable occasion - probably one of the rare occasions when my brother and nephews all looked smart for several hours at the same time. And I would like to bet it's the only church wedding where the bride walked down the aisle to.... "Somebody's getting married!" from the film "The muppets take Manhatten". The expressions on the faces of most of the guests were priceless! The rest of the service was very conventional. The sun failed to shine but at least it stayed dry.

The one when I discovered I had the 'not quite right' map....

According to the weather people yesterday, after starting dull and overcast, would brighten up by late morning with long sunny spells in the afternoon. On that basis I had an early lunch and then set off for a run over a bit of the Pennine moors. As I set off to drive the short distance to Belmont it was still heavily overcast even though it was past noon; by the time I reached Belmont it was drizzling and ten minutes into the run I was enveloped in moderately thick clag. So much for the forecast! Still, it was good to be out, at least it wasn't windy for the first time in ages and the lapwings were singing somewhere above. The familiar run up the east side of Winter Hill, then I took the middle path down to Belmont rd and on northwards over the 'river' Yarrow onto the west side of Anglezarke moor. I didn't have my compass out and after coming round the second woods I must have gone too far NW instead of NE because after a short while Round Loaf was visible, whereas I'd intended going over Hurst Hill. A change of direction and some running over tussocks without a trod to ease the way was required.

The night before I'd consulted my newish map of the West Pennines and decided to try a new route over Wheelton, Withnell and Roddlesworth Moors, through Tockholes then up the NW side of Darwen Moor to the tower before heading back to Belmont. I'd never been over these moors before, largely because they looked rather flat and uninteresting, but having now covered most of the higher moors it seemed like time to at least visit these lower ones once.

I didn't take the map I'd consulted with me since I knew I had another, older, smaller one already in my running bumbag. Now, having crossed Hurst Hill and heading further NW I decided to get the map out and confirm that the stone wall I was contemplating using as a handrail (still no trods) down to Black Dean Brook was in fact the one intended (I'd only been over this section of moor once before and that going in the opposite direction and with thick snowdrifts changing the appearance of the landscape). It was at this point I suddenly discovered/remembered that the map I had with me only reached about one third of the way up the new moors I intending running over!

Well, the stone wall was indeed the one I expected and I followed it down into the clough debating as I ran whether to head over the new route regardless. After all, I simply had to head north for a while and then west. But if the paths were difficult to find that might mean crossing long stretches of rough tussocks and if they got so deep/high as to be unrunnable it could get frustrating. Having crossed the brook I opted instead to run up the clough then climb onto the main track leading up to Great Hill. By now the clag had dispersed and the view was reasonable, which actually made me glad I'd been forced to change my route – Looking north from Gt. Hill over the three moors I'd missed they looked every bit as uninteresting as I remembered (from this lofty perch at the compass wall) and the map suggested. Far better this run over the tops.
So I picked up my familiar path eastward down into the valley, over the main road and up the west side of Darwen Moor, looping north past the tower before taking a different path south and west, dropping down Turton Moor and along the side of Longworth Moor back to the car. And by now a hazy sun was finally pushing its way through the clouds.

Cake race

   You can see many things on a Pennine fell race. OK, most of the time it's just the ground 2ft in front of you, but if you do raise your eyes there are usually vast expanses of open moorland, some of it covering steep cloughs and valleys, other times more undulating and expansive, sometimes with rocky outcrops. You can often see a reservoir or three and, these days, usually at least one wind farm. There are spring lambs, birds on the wing and ..... llamas! Well not often, but there were today. Just two, a brown and a white one. Not running free across the moor but peering curiously across the wall from a field near the start/finish of today's race. 
    It wasn't the only unusual feature. It's called the Cake Race because if you bring a homemade cake you get free entry to the race. While the runners are out pounding over the moors someone judges the cakes. This has to be the one and only time I'll enter a cake baking competition! 
   A less welcome oddity was the long flight of stone steps going down by the dam on Butterly reservoir and the corresponding and equally long flight going up the other side. But is the up or down worse? Up is obviously harder but I did pass 7-8 people whereas I was passed twice on the downward flight. 
   And when, oh when will this fierce wind die away? The steps don't actually get you very high so after contouring round between the local golf club and the reservoir there is still a 500ft climb onto Marsden Moor. By fells standards it looks rather tame, but that's without taking the wind into account. A super strong head-on wind makes running on the flat hard work, especially when you already got 7 fast miles in your legs; going up even a moderate incline is tough. Two of the men I'd passed on the steps had already re-passed and got away. I spent most of this climb tussling with two others but I lost concentration as we crossed a small brook and they got away too. I thought I was running strongly on the long descent to the finish but still got taken by another two! Ah well. 86 mins for 10 miles and 1,700ft climb is not so bad.

     The day had started with heavy, threatening cloud, in fact just before the race there was a fierce squall. However, by early afternoon it was brightening up and I went for a walk on a different section of moor and enjoyed blue skies and sunshine, though the wind became, if anything, even fiercer and nearly blew me off my feet several times (I maybe need to carry a heavier rucksack just to weight me down). There was surprisingly few birds to be seen – or perhaps not so surprising; what bird in its right mind tries to fly in such a gale? Plenty of twites (I think) and a few crows but not much else. I was slightly disheartened to discover that part of the pleasant little path down Willykay Clough (approaching Marsden from the west) which I had walked last summer has now been covered with great slabs of stone to 'preserve' it. How many more miles of the moors will be covered with these eyesores which are so horrible to walk/run on (so lots of people ignore them) and dangerously slippery as soon as they are wet, let alone icy?

   At the sight of Pule hill across the valley, I suddenly remembered I'd wanted to climb it last time I was in the area, but was then heading north, so today I modified my route slightly and took it in. Well worth the windswept climb and I enjoyed a sandwich stop on its south side with long views over Marsden and Wessenden Moors. All in all an excellent day out.

Winter Hill - Grain Pole Hill tour

       A strong, glacial wind blowing over the west Pennines today but the sun came out as well in the early afternoon as I headed off for a run. Since that strong wind was an easterly, today was perhaps not the ideal one to head westward from where I'd parked but I wanted to investigate a part of the moors I've not visited for decades so after climbing Winter Hill and heading north up Great Hill I took the path westward towards White Coppice. The day was even clearer than when I was up here a few weeks ago so not only did I once more have a clear view of Pendle to the NE but also the Bowland fells to the north and the coast to the NW. Another of those days when running is a joy. Underfoot the ground was mostly frozen and hard but with enough of today's snow melt to provide plenty of splotchy, splashy places and, inevitably, the odd patch of mysteriously unfrozen bog to take you by surprise as you suddenly sink knee deep. There were some surprisingly dry bits of moorland but at other times I was running atop snow drifts at least 2-3 ft deep (and hoping the snow was still frozen and iced enough to bear my weight). The path down towards White Coppice was pleasant, easy running – until I turned off it southward across the open moor to Grain Pole Hill. It was intersting crossing the brook on a 6 inch bank of snow, not knowing if there were reeds underneath or just water – and therefore not knowing how wet I'd get if the snow gave way. It didn't. I stopped for a while to admire half a dozen lapwings on the top of Grain Pole Hill but it was too cold to hang around for long. 
     The next interesting bit was when I realised I was no longer on the open moor but in a field with five horses, all standing unhelpfully in front of the stile I needed to cross. I'm not a great fan of horses, mainly because I've nearly been knocked over by them cantering over-enthusiastically towards me in the past. I decided to circumvent them and head for a different gate but, even though I'd slowed to a walk, they all came trotting towards me once they realised I was no longer heading towards them. Well at least the stile was now free so I circled round and reached it suffering nothing worse than a strong nudge in the shoulder by the most insistent of the horses.
     I was now on the bottom of Rivington Rd and there was no path across the next three fields to the track above (and it's not open access) so I headed west along the road. Thankfully a snow plough must have been through last week or this short section could have been quite tricky – the original drifts blocking the road must have been four-five feet deep. I then decided on an impromptu detour over the Pike instead of the direct route over Winter Hill. There were lots of people around the pigeon tower but not many on the Pike. From there a simple up and over Winter Hill back to the car. Very enjoyable.

Horrocks Fold to Rivington

      The day once more dawned bright and sunny and as I had to go out this morning anyway I decided to add on a detour to Horrocks Fold and have a run over the moor to Rivington and back. It was a glorious morning - blue sky and bright sunshine, cold but no wind – as I made the initial steep, rocky climb round the side of the old quarry and then the much more gradual, undulating ascent up the moor. Most of the snow had melted but there were plenty of ice patches covering the bog. Most of the ice was the thin variety which, when you step on it, cracks open so your feet get a cold bath in the icy water below. However, for the most part only the top few inches of bog were unfrozen so it was mainly limited to wet feet – but there are always a few patches were the bog has thawed more deeply to ensure the occasional deeper sink.

           I hadn't intended to go all the way up to the masts and the trig point beyond since the aim was to run past the Pike and drop a mile or so into the valley below while still keeping under 12 miles. But it was such a wonderfully clear day I couldn't resist the extra climb to the top. Unfortunately the weather was already beginning to close in a little from the west so although there was a brilliantly clear view NE to Pendle, I couldn't quite see the Fylde Coast to the NW. The views across the moors and reservoirs closer by were crystal clear.

          Having already passed the masts I decided to keep going and arced round along the path heading over Noon Hill but branched off halfway down to head towards the Pike. I've still not decided if there is a continuous path across this section of moor. Where I turned off it's a fairly obvious one but after a few yards I always find myself bounding over the rough tussocks with no path in sight. I usually chance onto other sections of paths as I cross the moor, but never for long. I'm not sure if there is a full path and I'm just useless at following it or whether the sections of path really are not connected at all.

I was pleased I'd included the run past the Pike as I found what I hope will be a better line down its steep side for race day. I passed a large group of teenagers carrying huge rucksacks on their way up as I ran down the hill. Presumably they were doing a practice walk for DofE or similar. Since I was only doing this section as a recce for next week's race and the race goes straight up and down, once I got to the road I had to turn around and go straight back up the way I'd come down, passing the same group of teenagers. I think one of the leaders/teachers must have been afraid I was setting a bad example wearing only fell shoes (which she probably mistook as standard trainers) not walking boots on the rough terrain as she called out some warning about ankles as I went passed.

         Below the Pike I turned off right along the track for a short while before continuing the climb back over the moor and down to the car. Needn't have worried about the distance. Even with the detour it was only 11 miles.

Wardle - Cragg Vale round

      Yesterday dawned bright and sunny and since the weathermen were predicting that it would turn dull and damp today I decided to take a day's holiday and get out for a long run on the moors even though I suspected my legs hadn't fully recovered from Saturday's race. I drove out to Watergrove Reservoir and for the first few miles intended following the route of the Wardle Skyline race. I did, in an approximate sort of way, and at least ended up on the top of Rough hill as planned. There was a cutting north wind but the sky was blue and the sun was bright and the views were extensive in all directions. I thought the snowy weather had been coming up from the south but Pendle(?) in the distant north looked much more snowy than where I was. A lone crow kept buzzing me as I crossed Rough hill. I dropped east off the hill and left the race route to head in a zig-zag way northwards towards Todmorden. So far the snow had been in small patches and drifts but on the northern slopes the patches were much more extensive. Either because the snow obscured them or because I simply don't know the paths across that area as well as I hoped I took an unintentional detour or two and spent more time than I would have liked consulting the map to get back on track or ensure I didn't make too many more detours! But even the detours are enjoyable on such a clear day. Stoodley Pike stood out clearly to the east, but disconcertingly distant considering I knew I wanted to run past it and almost an equal distance further east. Crossing Weather Hill there was the incongruous sight of recently burnt moorland poking through the snow. Goodness knows how or why it had been burnt at this time of year. Another, very small detour, this time to avoid cows blocking the path, then I dropped down to the northern edge of Walsden and within a few hundred yards crossed the railway, the canal and the A6033 – busy valley! 

      From there a fairly straight forward climb up the facing moor (I could finally put the map away), past Gaddings Dam and eastward to Withins Clough Reservoir. The terrain on this side of the valley is much more boulder strewn so you have to watch your footing. And this day most of the ground between the boulders had collected a glassy layer of ice – I resorted to microspikes for a while. Along the south of the reservoir, east to the edge of the moor and a steep drop through the woods into the valley south of Cragg Vale. There's only a B road to cross this time before heading along some wider tracks for a mile or so. The map was back in my hand now as I hunted for the unmarked path SW to Great Manshead Hill and Manshead End. At first it was a moderately obvious path (once I decided on the correct one) and it would have been easy to continue along it, contouring west of the hill but I wanted to go over the hill and fortunately spotted the much smaller trod splitting off to the left and over the summit, even though there was once again plenty of snow obscuring the landscape. This was pleasant running on a longish but not too steep climb. The hills to the east looked more snow-laden. From Manshead End there were good views south and it's a fairly quick descent to the A58 at the bottom of Baitings Reservoir. 

      I didn't fancy 2 miles on the road to get to Blackstone Reservoir so I planned on taking a detour along the old pack horse road southward for a mile or two until it met the Pennine Way. The map had been put away again some time back and I assumed a pack horse route would be easy to pick out. Not so, and with several extra, unexpected access points along the road the map had to come out again to make sure I got the right point. This was a rough old section with no obvious path and I dropped back to the A58 at the eastern edge of Blackstone Ressie rather than the western. From the western edge I picked up the Pennine Way and headed north. I don't always enjoy such a wide, man-made track but my legs were beginning to tire a little and I was happy enough for the respite from the rougher paths, though an increasingly strong headwind meant it wasn't exactly easy going. A mile or so later I turned off down the small, rough path to Summit. 

       Back over the canal, the A6033 and the railway, except that is hidden in a tunnel at this point. A steep climb back towards the moor and decision time: should I stick to the plan and head NW over Fox Stones, Turnslacks and Crook Moor back to Rough Hill or turn SW along the Pennine Bridleway which contours round the bottom of the moor? Past experience had told me that none of the paths shown on the map heading NW really exist in any obvious sense on the ground so I knew there would be some rough terrain and at least two steep cloughs to dip into and out of if I stuck to that plan. The bridleway, by contrast, is wider, easy to follow, not steep. But going over the top is nearly always more interesting than around the bottom or even the middle so I headed NW. I climbed Fox Stones but then, in spite of myself, was lured too far south by the comparatively easy running on a wide trod I'd come across. I realised my mistake as I approached a familiar drystone wall. It was tempting to continue the southward run but I decided again to head back north and crossed the second clough. I eventually popped up onto Turnslacks a couple of hundred yards south of the shepherd's shelter. I climbed up to it but I musn't have eaten enough carbs the day before and I was really beginning to run out of energy at this point so I abandoned the idea of continuing all the way to Rough Hill so I could complete the recce of the Skyline race. That middle mile would have to remain a distant memory from last year. Instead I turned back south and the straightforward run down the ridge to Shore – straightforward apart from another minor detour around another herd of cows! Crossing the Pennine Bridleway it was again tempting to turn off along it as a pleasanter route back to Watergrove Ressie but I wanted to remind myself of the last, slightly painful, 1.5 mile section of the Skyline route. Painful because it's along a mixture of rough track, cobbled road and another rough track, all of which, on race day, you're trying to maintain a decent speed over. I'm glad I took that route. I'd forgotten that, just as you think it's all downhill to the finish, it actually contains a short climb and then another, barely noticeable incline, but which continues for too long on tired legs! A useful reminder should I do the race next month. Once back in Wardle there just remained the 1/2 mile up the cobbled street to the reservoir. 

       Very tired but it had been an excellent day out. What had I seen? Well, just lots of moorland really but it's always interesting to see the varied colours and textures of different sections of moor and the huge contrast when the sun disappears behind cloud and suddenly a bright landscape looks quite bleak and forlorn. Yesterday there was the added interest of seeing how the snow had collected differently in various hollows and cloughs and which sections of moor were virtually snow free. A lot of the ground was frozen, some places icy but some places the bog was soft and in one memorable spot the bog was covered by a layer of ice which proved to be thin and covering thick, glupy, orange mud into which I sank at least 9 inches and had a hard time extracting myself from. There was surprisingly little wildlife to be seen. I saw only a few groups of crows and heard a few other birds when crossing the valleys. I'd seen very few people either come to that – a few walkers on the path to Stoodley Pike, a runner before the path up to Great Manshead and a couple more walkers near the pack horse road. Not many in 27 miles. Or perhaps it wasn't surprising given the harsh wind.

Stan Bradsahw Pendle Round

The clag was down as I drove towards Pendle this morning, not a promising sight. And it wasn't just the top of the hill, at least half of it was lost in the greyness. I didn't really lift any before the start of the Stan Bradshaw Pendle Round but the snow did start to fall, lightly, as we set off along the first track. As we made our way up the first long climb (about 1 1/4 miles of it, gaining 850ft) runners soon began disappearing into the clag and I wondered whether that 14 mile run last week had been such a good idea. My legs didn't have much power and I didn't pass as many people as I would expect. That meant I was doubly glad to reach the summit: it meant flatter running and the cutting east wind which had been freezing my left ear off was to our backs as we turned west along the northern ridge. The snow was falling more heavily for a while and I was running hard, or so it felt considering there were still over 7 miles to go, but the field was already strung out, or at least my section of it was, and I was keen not to let the man in front of me disappear completely into the clag. I was pretty confident I could find my way to c.p. 2 without problems since I know that part of the hill and the path is reasonably clear (if you know where to look!). However, I was equally sure I didn't know the way from c.p.2 to c.p.3, at least not the best one and not in this clag. There's no path as such, just a series of trods, if you can find them; and if not rough moorland to cross. I did manage to hold on and then, as we passed c.p.2 the clag suddenly vanished! It didn't gradually lift or thin, we just suddenly ran out of it. That was quite a relief. It's useful to have one man in your sights, but it's actually far more reassuring to have a whole line of runners spread across the next 1/2 mile or so – one man may be taking a wrong route, it's less likely that 20 are (though it has been known). The improved visibility also meant we had good views out to Sabden and Higham, (if you had time to lift your eyes). I seemed to be managing the rough ground and even the descent better than at Flower Scar a fortnight ago but I was still losing places. We hit the path along Churn Clough Reservoir, the lowest point in the race, the snow had stopped and we were sheltered for a while from the wind, ahhh. The first climb from the reservoir is nothing major (about 90ft in 1/2 mile) but it's still tough, perhaps because the first section is real hand-to-ground scrambling and you're still running on small, rough trods. However, some of my usual strength seemed to have revived and I climbed well, at least compared to those around me, and gained quite a few places – only to loose some of them again on the next dip! No respite, the next climb begins immediately after crossing Brook House Clough and while again short (1/2 mile), at 1:5, it's no piece of cake, but I gained more places. The first part of the following descent is gentler before becoming a 1:4 plunge. Amazingly I only lost 1-2 places as the snow began to fall again. We were heading for the dam on Upper Ogden Reservoir and you have to remind yourself at this stage that you are NOT nearly home. After crossing the dam you hit the track along the reservoirs which we had started the race on. If we turned down it, it would be a simple 1 1/4 mile gradual downhill to the finish. But no, we simply cross it and begin the final ascent. It's very short (1/4 mile) but 1:5. I'd lost touch with the people ahead of me and didn't gain any places. In fact, annoyingly, at least three people over took me on the last mile long run-in. It's steep in places, but the ground isn't rough here and even I can handle it. It felt like I should have been able to speed up, but the accelerate button didn't seem to work (actually looking back at my race stats (I ran the first mile as quickly as the last), it did, just not as much as for some others).

I really enjoyed the run, it's an excellent route, though from a race perspective it didn't feel like I did as well as I would have liked (though the fact I couldn't accelerate and that my calves are ridiculously tight now, suggest I did give all there was to give on the day.) Official results aren't posted yet so I don't know my position but 1hr 35 for 9.5miles/1900 ft ascent is perhaps respectable after all – almost 4 minutes faster than in 2011, but that can probably all be accounted for by the better conditions (at least six men went under the previous course record).