The hint of a less Harmerian outing, suggested by Bob, happened to bring out not only the knarly old Slow Warts but also some members of the young and younger fast Warts. Louis and Dad Michael were joined by Dave H (a guest appearance?) and the rest of us at Fairholmes for a gentle warm-up to Lockerbrook before an educational trip to the alphabet stone* (thanks to Louis and Tim) and then the big climb to Jubilee cabin. Here, there was a discussion on the building method used to produce the corrugated concrete wall surface. Such are the mental exercises carried out to avoid thinking about the climb up and the climb to come. However, we were encouraged to move on quickly to escape the attentions of the flies until we reached the draughty high ground near Madwoman’s Stone. We gravitated into yet another debate about whether we were where we thought we should be but Chris provided the definitive answer with his technology (see his track below). We were there!
There had been a shout for Druid’s Stone and 444 or 442m but sense prevailed over these ambitious plans as, instead, we opted for Crookestone Knoll and various routes down to the bridge over the River Ashop. A slow grind of a climb up the rocky track brought us back to Lockerbrook for a rather pleasant though long track back to the carpark. I had a family get together at the William Hill rather than at the Slow Warts’ regular haunt of the Yorkshire Bridge Inn and, in so doing, knowingly abandoned Tom to the charity of others to get him back home. Thankfully, he did get home!
Graham
- The Alphabet Stone. Take the track from Lockerbrook Farm towards Rowley Farm and watch out for the first barn in a field on the left-hand side. Immediately opposite a wall junction and on the right-hand side of the track there is a small rock outcrop where the alphabet stone sits (SK160895). The lettering is a bit obscure. Good Luck!