A Windy Evening on Shining Tor

Sunday 21st July 2013

Shining Tor from Pym Chair, returning via Lamaload Reservoir

Distance: 9.5km; Ascent: 330m, Cool and breezy; Solo
See tracked route in new window

I had a rare opportunity to head out for a walk this evening so I jumped at the chance to head up onto Shining Tor and the surrounding moorland. It was warm and dry when I left home in Stockport, but by the time I reached Pym Chair it was noticeably colder and quite windy with occasional spots of drizzle - quite a change from the weather of the last few weeks! Therefore before setting off walking at 7:30pm, I changed out of my shorts and donned a fleece!

Heading towards Cats Tor

Spear Thistle

It was good to be out walking again and there were reasonable views south along the ridge towards Shining Tor, although the cloud kept intermittently covering the very highest bits of the hill. Since my last hill walks back in May, summer had well and truly arrived in the hills which meant that there were plenty of wild flowers to brighten up the moorland with little splashes of colour :-) There was also loads of bog cotton, even though most of boggy ground seemed to be pretty dry after the warm weather.

Slabbed path past bog cotton

Lots of bog cotton!

Soon I reached the windy summit of Shining Tor (Marilyn, Dewey), where I spotted for a quick break in the lee of the trigpoint.

The summit area of Shining Tor

My original plan had been to return to Pym Chair by way of the ruins of Errwood Hall, but instead I decided I fancied heading northwest over the moorland to reach Lamaload Reservoir, which would take me over new ground for me.

Heading NW from Shining Tor

After passing through some moorland pasture that was clearly popular with some cows, I crossed a small hill to be rewarded with a good view down to the reservoir. The sky looked to be clearing and for a few minutes it seemed I was going to be rewarded with a glorious sunset; alas however the cloud returned too soon this time!

Lamaload Reservoir

Foxgloves

I took a good path down past lots of foxgloves to reach the road at Lamaload Reservoir as dusk approached. I now had a 2.5km road walk to return to my car at Pym Chair. This passed uneventfully and I reached the car just after 10pm after a most pleasant and enjoyable evening hillwalk :-)

posted from Bloggeroid

Dunham Massey Deer

Sunday 28th July 2013

Spotted these deer this afternoon whilst we were enjoying a family day out dodging heavy showers at Dunham Massey.

posted from Bloggeroid

May in the Highlands

Although I didn't take part in this year's TGO Challenge, I still managed to have a week of walking in the Highlands during the first week of the event, and this post is an index of the various different walks that I did that week.

Sgurr a' Choire Ghlais from Carn nan Gobha

The weather was mixed with the first few days being quite stormy, with fresh snow on the tops, but it gradually became more settled and sunny as the week went on.  Most of week I spent doing day walks, although I did manage an overnight backpack in Glen Roy mid-way through the week.  See the links below to my blog posts for more details on each day, along with links to my Social Hiking maps from the week.

• Day 1 - A wet afternoon ascent of Tinto on my way north to the Highlands (Social Hiking map)
• Day 2 - A long day over rough ground to climb two of the Eastern Fannichs Munros (Social Hiking map)  
• Day 3 - A morning walk up Little Wyvis before the storm breaks! (Social Hiking map)  
• Day 4 morning - Creag Dhubh: A rocky peak with excellent views of the Monadhliath Mountains (Social Hiking map) 
• Day 4 evening - The walk-in to Luib-Chonnal bothy and the cheese & wine party :-) (Social Hiking map for the two day backpack)
• Day 5 - Two of the Carn Deargs of Glen Roy (Social Hiking map for the two day backpack)
• Day 6 - A fantastic day's hill walking up Bynack More and Creag Mhor in the Cairngorms (Social Hiking map)
• Day 7 - An excellent round of three of the Glen Strathfarrar Munros with fantastic views (Social Hiking map) 
• Day 8 - A misty ascent of Beinn Liath Mhor Ghiubhais Li from Loch Glascarnoch (Social Hiking map)
  
• Day 9 - A short circular walk up Moncreiffe Hill on the edge of Perth on my way home (Social Hiking map) 

Abney Hall Park from the River Mersey

Wednesday 10th July 2013 

A short afternoon walk along the River Mersey to reach Abney Hall Park on the edge of Cheadle 

Distance: 8.5km; Ascent: 70km; Warm and dry; Solo

See tracked route in new window

As I had a couple of hours free this afternoon I decided to head out for a walk along the Mersey to East Didsbury, which would allow me to investigate Abney Hall Park on my return.  I wandered through the terraced streets of Edgeley and across a footbridge to reach the Trans Pennine Trail along the north bank.

Looking downstream from Gorsey Bank Footbridge

It was pleasantly warm as I walked westwards alongside the river, but I was glad that it was a few degrees cooler than of late!  There were plenty of wild flowers around and I soon came to the remains of the bridges that carried a railway line from Stockport to Didsbury and onwards into Manchester city centre, which may one-day be rebuilt to extend the Metrolink tram line from its new terminus at East Didsbury.

Heading west along the Trans Pennine Trail

Remains of an old railway bridge over the Mersey

I continued downsteam past a rugby club and playing fields to reach Cheadle bridge, where I turned left along the busy B5095.

Looking downstream towards Didsbury

Looking upstream from Cheadle Bridge

After a few hundred metres I crossed the motorway and turned left into Abney Hall Park.  Following the main driveway I soon reached the impressive Abney Hall, which dates from 1847 and according to the park's website was visited a number of times by Agatha Christie.

Abney Hall

Abney Hall Park

After leaving the park I picked a route back home by way of footpaths and side streets.  I also came across a large flight of steps on a supposed cycle route, which seemed to render the cycle route a little pointless!

An unexpected find on a path that's signposted as a cycle route!

Soon I reached Alexandra Park and Sykes Reservoir, where the geese seemed to have decided to cluster in just one section of the water, before returning to the car and home after a pleasant hour and a half walk.

Sykes Reservoir

A Short Stroll along the River Mersey

This afternoon I headed out for a short stroll to walk along the shady banks of the River Mersey with my daughter, in an attempt to escape the ongoing heat which in my opinion is a little bit too hot at present! 

It's a pleasant 4km walk that we can do directly from our front door in Stockport, which is quite nice!  Below are a couple of photos of the Mersey from the Gorsey Bank footbridge followed by a further two shots of Stockport viaduct, which carries the main railway line south from Manchester.