The Serious (Slow) Warts have always had an interest in the natural world and that was encouraged by the 100th birthday of David Attenborough. So, our spotting of four types of moorland birds and animals seemed very appropriate during our outing from Nether North Grain.
However, there was a dismal sight on the Featherbed Moss area on the opposite side of the road, very obvious from Over Wood Moss, a blackened hillside from the moorland fires of the previous days. Fortunately, Chris’s efforts at invoking the rain making gods (via Walter Trout: “Pray for Rain”) to do their stuff had resulted in the fires being damped down by a good dose of rain. Turning our backs on the grim view, we headed for the heights of the head of the Alport valley. This route choice was “planned” as we sauntered across the moor, a bit more detail was added to include a set of unnamed scramble-worthy rocks above The Swamp. At these rocks, we had an opportunity to shelter from the surprisingly cold wind (whilst Andy was overheating in Corfu) which justified our choice of multi layers of thermal vests etc.
The Swamp {and it is!}
Our next set of unnamed rocks involved a grand contour to “Bob’s Shelter” not to be confused with Bob’s Rock above the Blackden valley. It was on this contour that we had the pleasure of a rare sighting of a short-eared owl sweeping around the hillside; wonderful! Sightings of ravens and a kestrel completed our clutch of moorland bird life.
A further contour took us past a lake or, more likely, a large pond and dangerously close to,
and actually, on the Pennine Way at Hern Clough. Admittedly, fortunately, only for a short stretch (the Warts’ pathless terrain reputation was maintained). During this crossing of some bumpy, grough-infested ground, we had the pleasure of seeing a leveret dash across and into quite a large hole in the peat, soon re-emerging and disappearing at the sound and vibration of seven clodhopping fell runners (maybe on a good day) going close by.
After enjoying ourselves for nearly two hours, we were now in a state of “let’s get back to the pub quickly”, mood. Two competitive groups of two and five emerged to find the quickest line back to the cars minimising the big climb across Upper North Grain to Nether North Grain; the group of five won! The competitive spirit is still there with the Warts.
As always, pub discussions are erudite (we think) and varied, though the process of ordering a beer was confusing, perhaps becoming a defining characteristic of Serious (Slow) Warts. However, we were on the verge of a detailed possible explanation of Brownian Motion by Michael when the subject of the imminent (next Wednesday) DPFR AGM was introduced. Accordingly, we planned (!) our next venue to be nearby Dennis Knoll (at 5pm).
Our evening out was topped off by a brilliant sunset and we agreed we’d had a splendid outing in the nature of the Dark peak. Thanks to those who generously provided photos which have been used and to all for a grand outing.
Graham
