Shutlingsloe by Torch Light

Tuesday 18th December 

An evening wander up to the misty summit of Shutlingsloe above Macclesfield Forest

Distance: 5.5km; Ascent: 230m; Dry but misty on the summit; with Martin, Sue and many others

See tracked route in new window

This morning as I was getting ready for work Lynsey asked if I was still planning on joining Martin for his evening walk up Shutlingsloe today.  I was glad she asked as somehow I had managed to forget all about it!  Therefore at 7:30pm I met Martin, Sue and many others at the Trentabank carpark in Macclesfield Forest.

We set off on good tracks up through the forest by torchlight, with a mainly clear starry sky above us, to reach the edge of the woods.  Much of the path over the open hillside has been slabbed and some of the slabs were a little slippy due to tonight's low temperatures.  Around here we entered the mist and soon reached the trig point on the summit of Shutlingsloe (HuMP, Dewey), where I tried to take a few photos but the mist and an almost flat camera battery conspired against me!  However I did manage the following shots:

It was a bit misty on the summit of Shutlingsloe!

Trig point on Shutlingsloe

Shutlingsloe trig point in the mist

Boxes of flapjack and chocolate brownies were offered round as we gathered around the trig point.  After 20 minutes or so we descended, returning the same way back to the car before adjourning to the nearby Leathers Smithy for a well earned pint of real ale :-)  It had been a good evening out walking - many thanks to Martin for the invite!

Martin's somewhat more detailed account of the walk can be found here, complete with lots of photos of the gathering on the summit.  Also see my account of pretty much exactly the same walk, but in daylight, from July last year.

N.B. 13/02/13 - Post date updated to actual date of walk, i.e. 18/12/12 (from 28/12/12)