Daylight, so most of us weren’t burdened by head torches, though there were a few safety-conscious pessimists, me included, who did. Needless to say, thirteen Slow Warts, plus one dog, survived the evening without the aid of extra light. Now almost a tradition for the start of the summer season like that of the elite DPFR running to Hathersage Church, the Slow Warts started from the Strines Inn.
In retrospect, we were treated to comfortable well-watered soft ground across to the lower part of the Foulstone Road for our foray into the patchwork moorland of Brogging Moss. It is possible that a deep heather route can be a largely avoided by following the many burnt or mown heather patches to reach the Cartledge path. In so doing and being towards the back of the pack, I had the pleasure of seeing the silhouettes of the other highly tuned athletes on the horizon, an almost romantic view! However, our complacency in arriving at the Cartledge flagstones was short lived. Any thoughts of now speeding along them were spoilt by the distinct possibility of slipping off them. The combination of the water, the type of rock used for the flagstones and possibly our studs made for an ice like surface requiring a skilful bit of balancing. We should be grateful though, to be able to add this to the lexicon of Warting experiences.
Despite or because of these dangerous conditions, we were able to escape the flagstones on to the moorland and to Low Tor, our first checkpoint of this shorter outing, useful for accustoming a few returnees to the Slow Warts fold, after injuries, illnesses and general old age. These infirmities were becoming a theme for the evening except for those young aged ones who cruised along being unable to contribute to or even understand the ever-expanding catalogue of ailments. Such was the effect of these conversations that there was a rebellion about going to our second check point of Howshaw Tor which was missed as there was a preference to go directly to Back Tor. From here, we practiced our ice skating skills on more flagstones to Cakes of Bread. At least the slip and slide encouraged us to head for the moor as soon as the angle of least heather resistance would permit. We needn’t have worried, there was plenty of burnt and mown heather for us to speed along and then pose for a daylight photo at C of B.
As with most things in life, there is good and bad although their relative proportions may well be a personal matter. Having extolled the virtues of the burnt and mown heather, I was to change my view on the dash back to the Strines car park. I was entranced if not obsessed in my search for cleared and therefore, fast ground for the usual race to the pub. All very well, except if it leads in the wrong direction then any gains can be lost, so seeing other Warts ahead on the gradually climbing path on the opposite side of Strines Dike, only confirmed the possible bad, but not too bad, thing in life, something to be added to the Slow Warts’ experience lexicon.
The forecast rain fortuitously held off until we got into the pub where the theme of aches and pains continued to be chewed over along with the crisps and salted peanuts. Whether it was the beer or not, it was an increasingly jolly discussion which concludes as always that we’d had a splendid outing. Thanks to all and thanks to Chris for the track below.
Graham
