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).