Disturbingly, it was bright and sunny, not our usual challenging weather for our outing from Cutthroat Bridge the day before the official first day of Spring. The Spring feeling stirred a wealth of excuses, Andy was in Chamonix, Chris had returned from six weeks in Portugal, not running, Tom had Read more
Well, seven Slow Warts tonight, more than twice the number at the last two outings, and no Jim, who was apparently recovering from his weekend. For Tom, it was a revisit to the area where Boz’s race was held the previous weekend, Blackden. It’s a formidable start with not only Read more
Guess where we were? Most Slow Warts would identify the area if they’ve experienced the long uphill concrete surfaced drag at the end of races from the elbow of the road to Midhopestones. This area, of course, has the added bonus of plenty of heather, it also has, in Jim Read more
There had been excuses from three Slow Warts so we were left with six of us, although only five (Famous?) set off together from the actual Yorkshire Bridge (not the pub), Jim O was doing his own recce/winter series race from Moscar. In planning the outing, it was felt that Read more
Like most places on the Snake Road, there are only a few limited parking spaces but we were welcomed at Rowlee Bridge by Jim O, without a hi-viz jacket, directing us into a muddy space. He continued his duties for the other three cars neatly squeezing them in so effectively Read more
What is extreme sport? Climbing Everest without oxygen support, rowing the Atlantic, running the Pennine way or traversing the sides of Abbey Brook, the latter being the Slow Warts’ January challenge from Fairholmes. We didn’t know it was going to be a challenge until later. Andy’s route seemed more like Read more
There can be a snag in referring to the Met. Office mountain weather forecasts which I did before setting off from Snake Bridge. The “feels like” temperature (apparently a 1⁰ drop for a wind speed increase of 10 mph?) was forecast to be –3⁰C at Kinder Low, so with four Read more
An unexpected encounter in the Ewden valley resulted in the questioning of our group sanity by ourselves and by a local farmer who had spotted lights moving down the valley. He’d come out to investigate, only to find seven old bemused men stumbling around in the dark. Whilst not actually Read more
Is it a subconscious desire for warmth that the Slow Warts have visited a series of fireplaces during recent winter outings? A few weeks ago, we came across the ruins of a small stone hut with a fireplace and a still intact chimney, above Lawrencefield quarries. Last Tuesday’s (yes, Tuesday, Read more
To avoid the results of the excesses of New Year’s Eve on New Year’s Day, which happened to be a Wednesday, the Slow Warts decided on an outing on New Year’s Eve morning. By going on Tuesday, we would surely avoid the usual Slow Warts’ Wednesday woeful winter wet and Read more