It would be unfair for young Louis to be described as slow but bravely he joins his dad Michael, again hardly slow, to run with the Slow Warts. The danger for this young un is that his mind may become contaminated by the old un’s recounting all their medical ailments and the medication needed to treat them. Maybe this conversation was triggered by the climb (to Hope Cross) which reveals and exaggerates any physical failings we may have. Our health and well-being returned, however, at Hope Cross and down to Jagger’s Clough. It just shows the restorative effect of descending gentle slopes.
It was felt necessary to visit the quarry above Jagger’s Clough whose amphitheatre like shape would have perfect acoustic conditions for the distinguished oratory at any DPFR AGM. To add to the ambience, it was proposed that the weather ought to be windy, wet and cold, if only to limit the number of proposals to be debated and the length of any debates. I think we made some sort of proposal whilst there but I forget what, it was nevertheless voted in.
The unofficial DPFR AGM location (thanks to Michael)
There was much debate about the discrepancy of map heights for Nether Moor, Harvey 444m if you’re keen on totting up the amount of climbing or OS 442m if you want to be modest about it. We did climb up to the Moor and plotted our route to avoid the bracken as much as possible though the alternative heather was hardly easy. From the Moor we could see the runnable (?) patch of old burnt heather going steeply up to the edge path which took us via the top part of Jagger’s towards Blackden trig which we didn’t visit. Instead, we were determined to have another discussion about the location of Madwoman’s Stones this time with the added sophistication of Chris’s technical gizmo. However, it was temporarily not functional (it needed to be switched on and off we discovered at the pub) so Tom’s map provided the answer which was the middle group of stones as confirmed later on the Harvey map.
The northerly wind began to be felt so a rapid descent via the Knoll was made back to the cars and the pub (YBI) for a bit of a warm up and, of course, a recounting of various adventures from emergency plane landings, stolen property and a polar bear attack plus yet a few more medical stories.
A thoroughly enjoyable outing in good company!
Graham