2022 - Runs & Rides in Pictures

 January 2022

Nomads meet Badgers on Pendle

Rivington Night Runner - Race

Maybe I'm a bit old & rusty but still look lean & mean

Underground Art!

Ouch!

February 2022

A ride along the Ribble - Railway Bridge Preston

March 2022

Hells Mouth Beach - Porth Neigwl

and take only pictures !

Ribble Estuary

Dean Clough Reservoir

Brown House Bridge - Leeds to Liverpool Canal

April 2022

Winter In The West Pennines (Day 2)

December 2022

On the second day the weather was again perfect for a winter walk and yesterday had inspired me to further explore some of the lesser known paths around Sunnyhurst and Darwen Hill.

Resisting the urge to climb up to the tower I made my way along Sunnyhurst Hey

Once again getting distracted and photographing the snow on the trees

Blue skies and sunshine the best tonic for winter blues

At the top of the track up from Ryal Fold

I was retracing my steps from yesterday because it had given me the idea for a new/different route for the running club I belong to 'Clayton le Moors Harriers'. We run from a different location every week and it was soon to be my turn to lead a run from the Sunnyhurst Pub.

and so back up Dragon Hill

Back on track after reconnoitring for my run I stopped on the embankment of Sunnyhurst Hey for a hot drink and to enjoy the winter sunshine

and 

while I sat there a Kestrel landed on a fence post.

I had just managed to grab a shot of the Kestrel when a Barn Owl flew right between us, I spun round and snapped a photo as he flew past, but when I turned back the Kestrel had also flown.

I was soon joined by a Robin

I thought perhaps he had come down to scrounge some crumbs from my biscuits

but he just went busily about his own business 

whilst keeping a beady eye on me

As the last of the winter walkers made their way back, I too decided it was time to go home and close another chapter on a great winters day in the West Pennines.

Winter In The West Pennines (Day 1)

December 2022

The last blog I wrote was in 2015, it was about a walk I did along the The Cleveland Way, a long distance footpath in the North York Moors. In the meantime work and other commitments prevented me from posting other blogs. However having recently retired I have the time and the opportunity to resume blogging again.   

Retired - Yeah!!!

I wrote my first blog back in 2011and my first foray into blogging "Its Grim Up North" was based on an evening walk on Darwen Moor, so it seemed fitting to re-start blogging again in this corner of The West Pennine Moors, as it is where I live.


After a very mild Autumn, cold air from the Arctic pushed down over the UK and for about 10 days in December 'high pressure' meant that daytime temperatures struggled to rise above freezing and overnight temperatures dropped to lows of -10C. Of course now being retired the opportunity to go out and enjoy this fine weather, albeit very cold, was irresistible.

I started my walk in Sunnyhurst Woods and made my way up to the reservoir which was Sunnyhurst Hey.



A lot had changed since I took this photograph for my first blog, i.e. water.


Sunnyhurst Hey Reservoir constructed in 1875 but in recent years problems with the embankment due to poor construction were considered too expensive to repair, so the reservoir was drained and made into a wetland and moorland nature reserve.



I continued on my walk but didn't get far before I was distracted by the beautiful effects created by the cold weather and snow.

 Winter Images.

I pressed on climbing up above Stepback Brook, which is believed to have got it's name because in this place during the Civil War, Oliver Cromwell gave the command to his troops to "step back and go no further" during bad weather.

Continuing up and over Dragon Hill with great views over The Forest of Bowland.

Earnsdale Reservoir

Bleasdale bathed in winter sunshine

On Cartridge Hill the snow had stuck and frozen onto the barbed wire fence

but it was the distant views that caught my eye again

Great Hill

Winter Hill

Cloud was moving in and the light was fading so it was time to start making my way down off the moor.

Looking back at Stepback Plantation and the trees at the top of it's brook

Back at Sunnyhurst Hey (wetlands) I just managed to catch the afterglow as the sun set below the clouds, a great finish to a great winters walk on the moor.

The Cleveland Way - Introduction & Planning

As soon as the Pennine Way had been proposed in the 1930's The Teeside Ramblers Association pressed for the creation of a similar long distance route and the Cleveland Way was officially opened in 1969.

During its planning it was referred to as the "North York Moors and Yorkshire Coastal Path" which is a good description for the diversity of scenery; i.e. moorland, escarpment, woodland, forest, cliff tops & sea that is encountered on this long distance footpath.

My first encounter of the CW was when I was 15, it was 1973 and my dad Arthur and I spent 10 days on a camping/backpacking trip exploring and photographing it, memories of this adventure are now few and I have not been able to locate any of the photos that we took. So it was time to refresh memories and re-visit the CW, this time alone. 

Hours were spent researching trying to establish the whereabouts of camp-sites and shops for food and water etc. Google and other peoples blogs helped along with pouring over maps and even reading the original 1972 guide book by Bill Cowley.

 I even pinned the original 1970 Ordnance Survey 'One Inch to One Mile' North York Moors Tourist Map up on the bedroom wall to aid with the planning. 

I had a target of six days, or five and two half days to be exact, to complete the CW. The plan was to walk 10 miles on the first day, which would also include the travelling time to and from Yorkshire, then I would have to average 18 miles a day for five days, leaving a 10 mile walk to finish and then travel home on the last day.

I had to travel 'light' as I knew the moors and cliffs of North Yorkshire would be no easy stroll and be as self sufficient as possible so I wouldn't be constrained to stopping at camp-sites, I could camp wild if necessary. 

I also didn't want to resorting to buying any new or expensive equipment, I already had some good kit although it was getting old so things like the 'trusty old' Saunders Jet Packer Tent were resurrected from the loft cleaned and re-proofed.  

The only thing I did indulge in was a new rucksack, a Karrimor Panther 65, which turned out to be a great investment, the quality of the materials, stitching, webbing and buckles seemed to be equal to that of rucksacks of up to twice the price and once I had got the adjustable back system set to suit me it carried the load superbly and I never gave the rucksack a second thought throughout my trip, which is always a good sign of a good piece of equipment

So equipment was selected weighed and reviewed some discarded then weighed and reviewed again the target was to get the 'dry' weight down to 10kgs then with food and water I shouldn't exceed 15kgs.

Equipment Weight List

The adventure started for me with the train journey, it feels like you are about to do something special if you catch a train, feelings that are probably deeply routed from my childhood when holidays always started with a train ride, there is always something special for me in catching a train. 

York Railway Station

A return ticket from Blackburn to Malton was £30.80, which I thought reasonable and and from there it was a bus ride to Helmsley. Malton was a very interesting country market town well worth a return visit but with no time to explore because my onward journey was by bus, it was a very scenic bus ride (£4.50) through beautiful countryside and pretty villages an hamlets.

and so I finally arrived at Helmsley, ready to start.... (see Cleveland Way Day 1)

Cleveland Way - Day 1

Helmsley to Hamleton Inn (Sutton Bank) via Rievaulx Abbey - 10 miles.


Alighting off the bus at Helmsley Square I was disappointed to see the throngs of people and cars all clogging the market square, it was a Tuesday afternoon in September, the school holidays were over and I had expected to find a quiet market town. All chances of a photograph of the square and the Feversham Memorial were spoilt, however a quick look down some of the backstreet's  revealed just what a pretty place Helmsley is.

The stream that runs through Helmsley

It had been a beautiful morning, cloudless skies had made the train journey over the Pennines and across the Yorkshire Plain very pleasant and boded well for the start of the walk, however clouds were now building.

All Saints Parish Church Helmsley

There were so many things to see, I knew that inside Helmsley All Saints Church there were some interesting murals, which included a 6 metre long dragon and a copy of the painting 'Veronica's Handkerchief' and then there was the 900 year old Helmsley Castle

Helmsley Castle

but time was getting on and I was itching to get started on the walk. I made my way to the start passing this garden on the way.

I guessed that the yellow bike was celebrating the recent visit of Le Tour de France to Yorkshire and the lady in the period costume on the right remembering the 100 years since the start of the Great War of 1914-18 but I wasn't sure about the guy in the middle maybe he was just a 'common or garden' scarecrow.



Then finally after weeks of planning I made my first steps towards Filey

Start of The Cleveland Way at Helmsley

It's a long gentle climb out of Helmsley across the fields towards Rievaulx with some nice views of Helmsley if you take the trouble to look back. I pondered on my journey ahead and the fact that ultimately I had a train to catch that was 6 days and 109 miles away and the idea of a blog title came to mind;

"You Have Only 6 Days, 3 Hours and 17 Minutes, To Catch A Train" 

I laughed to my self because it sounded like the famous line from the Flash Gordon Movie;

 "Flash, Flash I love you but we have only 14 hours to save the Earth"

Common sense obviously prevailed, it was not a very descriptive title for anyone searching the internet looking for information on the CW.

I had planned on a small detour to look at Rievaulx Abbey along the way and hopefully get some photos but from a photographic point of view the lighting wasn't very good.

Rievaulx Abbey

However it was well worth the detour the impressive remains are set in a tranquil valley and a pretty hamlet.

Rather than retrace my steps back along the road I opted to walk over the fields to Bow Bridge, cross the river and return to the CW through the woods.

I pressed on to the next village Cold Kirby and on route passed literally thousands of game birds obviously being bred and fed for 'the glorious 12th', as it was now September I could only think that these were the lucky ones, so far!

Cold Kirby

I didn't see a soul as I walked through the village everybody must have been indoors the only welcome being a stand at the side of the main street selling home-made flapjacks.

The lack of people and the dark late afternoon skies only added to the feeling of 'it's getting late' so my thoughts started to turn towards 'were was I going to spend the night'. My original plan was to get to at least Sutton Bank giving me the option of camping at The Hambleton Inn. 

I arrived there just before 6:00pm and the door was closed so I decided to carry on to the next point of interest i.e. the White Horse of Kilburn but after arriving at Sutton Bank escarpment and realising that the chances of getting any photos were now over for the day and the thought of a very long and lonely night camping wild I hastily beat a retreat back to the pub. On arrival the front door was now open and very welcoming, inside the landlord who is accustomed to Cleveland 'Wayers' was very hospitable and said that I was more than welcome to pitch on the lawn at the rear of the pub and if I was coming in for a bite to eat there would be no charge for camping, 'that seemed fair enough'.

I went outside, pitched the tent, sorted my sleeping bag & mat out then went straight back into the pub where I indulged in a couple of pints of Theakstons, then Breast of Chicken wrapped in Bacon, served with Creamed Mash & a White Wine Leek & Bacon Cream Sauce with Side Veg. for £13.95. It had been a long day and by 9:00pm I was ready for bed, there had been a couple of guys and a dog sat in the corner and when I went outside they were pitching their tents in the dark. They were also doing the CW and after a brief chat we all retired, little did we all realise at this stage that it was going to be the start of a friendship and 'The Adventure of Three Men and a Dog'.  I slept soundly until 6:00am when the noise of traffic speeding along the A170 woke me up.