Six of us were promised an excursion on one of the 23 (no I don’t why 23 either) best epics in the Dark Peak. And we managed to complete it. The wettish weather was enough to encourage Chris to wear his faithful stylish Bloomers and the rest of us to Read more
In the warm glow of the pub last week, we’d decided on Birchen Clough for this Wednesday but, without Andy who had been at the seaside and had caught driver’s knee on his return, we’d have to invent our own route. Was it going to be north, west, south or Read more
Odin’s mine was still just in faint daylight as the nine Slow Warts, unaccustomed to the limestone terrain, braved the silty and slimy path alongside a deep and steep narrow gorge. In full daylight, this may have given the vertigo nerves a bit of a twitch but in the semi-light Read more
Daylight, sunshine and warmth, was this our last venture into the heart of Dark Peak before the torchlit winter? The imminent clock change to winter time prompted us to agree to an early 3pm start from King’s Tree using another of Andy’s routes, As ever, challenging, despite the lure of Read more
We had a route with three checkpoints and a “checkpath”, the latter to maintain it and to remember Tony Keddie whose foot path is now in the DPFR Slow Warts legend. Also, on the list were Bamford House, Cogman Cabin, Lost Lad or thereabouts and the small wood near Far Read more
All paths, no rough stuff, what’s happened to the Slow Warts? The combination of hard Alpine walking and some serious Yoga (Moz suggested he’d fallen off his Yoga mat) had scuppered Andy for today’s outing from the Snake bridge. However, we did enjoy the crossing of Fairbrook to remind our Read more
Yes, we’d agreed to return to the Strines for our Wednesday outing for which Moz (in the absence of Andy, in the French Alps) had chosen a fine route, keeping up all the traditions the Slow Warts would want; a hill or two, plenty of well-watered rough ground, geological and Read more
We were promised a gentle run by Andy to ease Chris back into the harsh reality of the Dark Peak after his extended stay in the soft sands of Portugal. We ten even started in the civilised urban surroundings of Low Bradfield, appropriately in the Sands car park. There was Read more
Four last week, eight this week, all out to enjoy probably the first serious downpour of the summer for the Slow Warts. We were also forecast a “feels like temperature” of 8 C for added refreshment. Not daunted, we set off from Nether North Grain and admired the chocolate brown Read more
It was holiday time and Slow Warts were taking a rest from the Wednesday rigorous training regime. This, and the annual moorland restrictions for grouse shooting reduced our choice of venue and, possibly, our numbers to just four. A notable absentee was our leader who was busy singing in Unthank. Read more