Chipping Trigs Saturday 27th August

Meet on the Chipping village car park behind the Cobbled Corner Cafe, ready to run at 9:00.

Head northish to Fairsnape:-

Thence south westish (these are orienteering terms) to Beacon Fell:-

There is a coffee shop on Beacon.

Then eastish to Longridge Fell:-

No snow at this time of year?

There's a fair amount of road between each of them, so trail shoes advisable.

Then back to Chipping, where I'm planning to eat a (late?) lunch in the cafe.

Total distance perhaps 16 miles, with the opportunity to head back to Chipping whenever you choose.

I'll be leaving Grimeford Lane about 7:50 and can fit in up to three passengers, four if they are tiny.

Saturday 20th August

I'm UTUPing and hoping for company.

Three Peaks

On Saturday September 10th I am going to run (very slowly) the Three Peaks of Yorkshire. If anyone fancies joining me for part or all of it, you would be very welcome. Accommodation on the Friday night can be provided.

BOFRA

Last Saturday I ran my first ever BOFRA race at Arncliffe gala. For those of you who are not familiar with BOFRA races, they tend to be short, sharp and brutal, and Arncliffe was no exception.
Now short sharp races are not really my thing but Arncliffe is near here and the BOFRA Chairman is a friend of mine, so I entered. The race was only 1.7 miles but had 500 ft of climbing. The first quarter of a mile was along a muddy lane then it ramped up. At the top of the climb there was a tricky half mile circuit around a rocky summit before the plunge back down.  The mathematicians amongst you will have worked out that the climb was about 0.35 miles long and therefore very steep indeed. However, living up here my descending skills have improved, so it wasn't too bad and afterwards I reckoned that I had enjoyed the experience.
One interesting point, there were 12 V60s in a field of 98, showing that old fell runners keep going on and on.

Coope's Dozen

I enjoyed a brief outing on the route last Saturday, great to see folks.  A few pics from the day below : )

 

Rivington Trail Half Marathon

JtE has asked me to post this:-

"I think that I once mentioned to you that my granddaughter, Vicky, as a member of Chorley Ladies Football Club who marshall this event, ropes me in to help with the marshalling. I have consequently become aware of the quality of the event and have thought how suitable it is for members of our gang to participate in. I have noted that, for example, Tony Hesketh and Suzanne Budgett always participate. The course covers an area well known to us. You can find details by going to www.209events.com and looking under latest uk events listings, or by Google going to Rivington Trail Half Marathon 2016 Race Details Half Marathon List. The event takes place this year on the 1st. October."

I understand that Chorley Ladies FC play at quite a high standard, but further progress is currently inhibited due the the lack of facilities at their ground. They receive recompense for their provision of marshalls, and whilst I imagine that won't made a lot a lot of difference to their overall financial position - every little helps.

Over to you guys.

Coope's Dozen - 30th July 2016

A good turnout for yesterday's outing with many old and a few new faces.

Eighteen of us toed the line (thank you Mark for manning the camera).

I understand ( I couldn't see from where I was ) that the springer spaniel lead the assembled throng off, but was called to heel before he was able to complete the course.

Of the sixteen starters, seven completed the dozen. Three managed eleven tops, one did nine (yours truly), one completed eight, two baled out after seven and our roaming photographer covered a lot of ground.

That only makes fifteen, apologies to Speedy, I'm not sure how you got on.

Special thanks go to Duncan and Christa for feeding us all and also for retrieving our last runner.

Also, thank you all for turning out, see you again next year.

Comments, extra photos etc welcome.

More Evening Sunshine on Winter Hill

In the absence of Nic'O and the delayed arrival of SN, EtU and I tackled the boggy and slutchy conditions underfoot.  Traversing the mighty Winter Hill massif via the Quarry Path and the Trespass Stone we met up with SN at the head of the Shooting Hut Path.  Together we summitted at the Trigpoint and were rewarded on the descent to Two Lads by the low evening sunshine illuminating the grasses on the mast road.  A fine evening to be out :)

 

 

Weakened Warrior Promotions - Upcoming Events

1. Coope's Dozen - Saturday 30th July - This fine classic returns for yet another year. Starts at the Top Barn 9:00 sharp (ish). Bring a friend.

2. Tri Winter Hill - Saturday 6th August - Not well supported in the past, but soldiering on. Starts on the Horrocks Fold car park on Walker Fold Rd at 9:00.

3. Chipping Trigs - Saturday 27th August - This is a new expedition, much more 'doable' than the Seven Passes. It's about 15 miles of mixed road and fell starting and finishing at Chipping on the edge of the Bowland Fells. Start time not yet finalised.

Further details on any or all of these from edswift@btinternet.com

An Evening on Winter Hill

A rare outing for me these days on Tuesday evening, in the very good company of Nic'O, SN and EtU.   The photos capture the conditions, with a bitter wind on the tops making it feel more like October than July :)

 

 Nic'O donning an extra layer on the boggy path up to the Trig -

whose idea was that then!

 One man an his mountain - I insist that jacket is replaced 

by another red one when the time comes EtU

 Heading to the path up to the res

 

 The Bog cotton in profusion looking lovely

  Manchester, catching the rays from the Trespass Stone

 Ribbons of Cotton Grass - sky of two halves

 Sun on the sea on the Fylde Coast

 

 

 That Tree!

 Cyclist at Two Lads

Thursday 7th July - Tockholes Gala Fell Race

I'm having a go - start is from Weasel Lane, Tockholes at 7:15. Planning to have a beer after, anyone up for it?

Saturday 2nd July

For those of you that haven't had enough of me recently, I'm UTUPing.

Tour of (some of) the Central and Western Lakeland Valleys - Saturday 25th June 2016

The plan was to visit a number of the main Lakeland valleys, using seven high passes; the 'seven' being based on my having reached the final year of my seventh decade. 'Seventy' somethings might have  been more apt, but I was at a loss to come up with anything that I could do 70 of.

The passes were to be as follows:-

1. The route from Great Langdale passing below Silver How and thence to Grasmere.

2. Easedale to Greenup Edge and down Greenup Gill to Stonethwaite in Borrowdale.

3. Honister Bridle Path (north side of the motor road) to Honister Quarries.

4. Loft Beck Crossing and down into Ennerdale.

5. Black Sail Pass to Wasdale Head.

6. Burnmoor Corpse Road to Boot in Eskdale.

7. Three Tarns back to Great Langdale.

Five of us toed the start line, a little later than planned, and on this occasion, I was not responsible for the delay! The wise three of the party had already judged that the planned route was a little ambitious, and had agreed that shortcutting for home, soon after Honister was a sensible option. I was planning to go for broke, and YJ went along with my aspirations, more, I feel, out of a sense of brotherly duty, than with any great expectation of success.

We crossed over to Grasmere successfully in good spirits and although I called for a photo-shoot in the village, no-one stopped and by the time I had got the camera out, there they were, gone:-

The photography was a little more successful on the way up Easedale:-

And again on Greenup Edge:-

The descent to Stonethwaite was a little slow and we could see that we were falling behind my sketchy schedule. However, we soldiered on and subsequently stopped at the Honister Quarry Sky Hi Cafe for refreshments. It was on the approach to the Quarry that we became aware of the amount of activity taking place all over Lakeland on our chosen day. There were a number of  parties awaiting, or already tending to, Bob Graham aspirants and at least one ultra event involving visiting the ten highest peaks in he area.

It was here that I agreed that my plan to complete the whole route was not achievable and that we would all return to Great Langdale together. We headed to the two Gables, passing to the west of Grey Knotts and Brandreth. At this point it appeared that the weather, which had so far been very kind might be taking a turn for the worse.

From another aspect, Great Gable is included in 'Britain's Favourite View', not appropriate for this exposure:-

Then we needed to plan our return in a little more detail:-

We opted for Windy Gap, between the Green and Great Gables, but I don't think anyone had remembered just how much scree was involved, both on the way up and on the way down. Near the col we met a runner who was looking for 'Joss's squad'. Apparently the big man was out celebrating his eightieth birthday with a run over 30 tops. We didn't see them but follow this link:- https://www.facebook.com/iwcharters/media_set?set=a.1213785458634583.1073742020.100000094225343&type=3 

We were in the clag for a little while and experienced some precipitation, but as we descended it cleared and we were able to doff our waterproofs again.

Then it was down to Sty Head, up to Esk Hause and on towards Rosset Gill:- 

On the descent we met a number of competitors in Triathlon X, follow this link:- http://www.wasdalex.co.uk/index.php/enter-2016 - and we thought we'd taken a lot on!

We reached the New Dungeon Gill complex just short of  12 hours after having left. Most of us feeling a trifle weary by then, but generally agreeing that we'd had a fine day out.

I'll sign off by thanking everybody for their company, navigation and for getting so far in front of me that I completely lost sight of them on only a few occasions. Hope you all got home safely.