There was an almost existential threat to the Slow Warts as our very name was being questioned. Should we indeed be called Slow Warts anymore or something more appropriately slower particularly when the inclement weather had brought an air of lethargy to our group of eight? Rambling Warts, Wamblers, Strollers, Loafers……….? As with most of the Slow Warts’ debates, there was, thankfully, no firm conclusion, after all, we need more time to consider such weighty matters.
In the meantime, the inclement 26⁰C sunny weather had caused Andy to change his original southerly route today from the dusty Nether North Grain car park to a northerly one towards Swamp. (Its vague definition on the OS map seems to have caused the loss of the definite article, nevertheless retaining a dignifying capital letter.) We did manage to start the run but at a less than blistering pace, looking almost like a line of invalid war veterans with Moz wearing a polythene bag on one foot, Andy spitting blood after a very recent tooth extraction and the rest of us carrying a range of ailments, hobbling inelegantly up the path to the shooting butts. There was some effort nevertheless at style in the form of a few sunglasses, particular from Ben who claimed he was wearing them for purpose of fashion rather than function. The short red shorts of Chris and Moz’s headband also added some McEnroish historical style to the occasion in this otherwise desert of stylishness.
Such had been the previous couple of weeks of dry weather, that no longer did we have the sound of treading through gloopy bogs but instead the crackle of dried vegetation which reminded Moz of the crackle of frosty ground such was his delirium in the heat of the sun. Despite this, we did find flowing water in the upper reaches of the Alport and it was tricky to avoid wet feet if you wanted dry feet or it was easy for the wet feet enthusiasts. In later encounters with disguised bog dampness, a small, only small, degree of nostalgia for those wet winter days drifted over our group.
Our thoughts now concentrated on the climb out of the Alport towards The Ridge and an opportunity, in the clear weather, for the ever-competitive Tom to find an alternative faster route than Andy’s to the unnamed rocks slightly north west of The Ridge. There was also a search in this general area for a cave first introduced to us by Bob, however, no such cave was found at these rocks. Instead a rather magnificent carving, possibly of a fish, graced the rock which also gave us an excuse to relax in the heat. Our cave search continued as we contoured to another, smaller, cluster of rocks to the north westish. Here, there was a rock cleft with stones built up to provide some sort of shelter which was thought to be Bob’s cave, success? We weren’t sure but we hope to be back sometime.
The carving
Relaxing at the first set of rocks
The cave? And inhabitants?
Whether it was a touch of hunger or just the vegetation but it was noticeable that there was a significant amount of bilberry though with few berries as we crossed the Near and Far Fork Grains and Swamp for our return, avoiding being dragged into Upper North Grain, and its final non-Slow Wartish road finish. Instead, we enjoyed seeing a picnic scene in the Nether North Grain stream, a fine way to finish our ramble!
Welcomed as always at the Yorkshire Bridge Inn, our wonderful outing was a stimulus (not the beer, you understand) for a wide range of mental meanderings, historical anecdotes from Ewden and Bradfield including three feet tall stone circles, a tragic death in the snow and the villages lost in the building of the Derwent valley dams which according to recent proposals may be repeated in future. And, who would have thought that there could be a connection between Sir Hector Monroe, John Rooke Corbett, Alfred Wainwright and the local Ethel Haythornthwaite? All have had groups of hills named after them including Ethel, so there are now 95 of them in the Derbyshire area to be climbed and ticked off by obsessive obsessives.
So, despite Andy’s description of the “inclement weather”, we came away with a grand sense of joie de vivre. Splendid, thanks to all.
Graham
Track thanks to Chris
