Here is the story of my day:

I left Southport at the ridiculously early time of 05:55 as light was just beginning to break. I had no intention of listening to Tim (of Tom Tom fame) trying to get me to go via Leyland and onto the M65 – quicker the route may be, but at that time of morning I had no head for left turn, right turn, third at the roundabout etc. I was far happier taking the A59 up to just outside Clitheroe then jumping on the A671  then A6068 towards Barrowford then taking the turn off that would bring me over Noggarth Ridge and into Barley at 7:08. By 7:20 I was dressed in traditional walker’s gear (the hat, cape and broomstick being left in the car for later) and en route for what I had planned on being the “easy” walk which was a three mile romp across the lower face of Pendle Hill facing Barley.

Can you tell what it is yet? By the time I’d got back from my first walk the construction of the numbers was complete – well done you very hard working people!

It was kind of nice and peaceful to have the streets, paths and even the fields to myself. The description that I had been given of the “easy” route was that it started as a split in the usual path that leads up the side of Pendle (the dreaded steps). In reality (at this time of the day) the path was so vague (and as we all know I have had issues with vague paths) that I had no idea as to where it began – so I did the full steps route up to Big End instead. It was hard going! I had many stops and all the time was aware behind me there were men writing 1612 in truly massive letters on the side of the hill, when I first arrived at Barley the “6″ had already been completed. By the time I would reach Barley once more the other three numbers were also in place! After some moments at the summit taking in the lovely morning atmosphere – it’s been three years since I last had Big End to myself I surveyed the land for obvious cairns to follow back to Boar Clough. The last time that I came up here aiming to descend Boar Clough I involuntarily went back down via Deep Clough Spring which was incredibly steep and quite wet. I didn’t want to do that again – even if it did take half a mile off the route. Fortunately I successfully followed cairn after cairn the only real problem being that wet peat is incredibly slippery and it nearly had me over on numerous occasions.

Here are some photos that I took en route:

Can you believe that last time I missed this and it wasn’t even a foggy day? In the background are the famous flags that I’d never seen until this day!

The “lonely Hawthorne” which is in fact a Rowan Tree…same family ‘tho!

The track down passed the more scenic Lower Ogden Reservoir

I arrived back at Barley at 9:55. Having reached Big End in one hour and ten minutes; that meant I had taken considerably longer to get down the hill than I had to get up it! I blamed the slippery path down Boar Clough for this but then congratulated myself anyway for not falling down, not having an heart attack and for finally finding where the flag path begins so that I can ascend – descend via Ogden Clough at some point in the future. Here is the route that I took:

View PWW Route in a larger map

Still at least I was no longer in that queue and look at that obedient dog!

I hadn’t seen that many Witches in one place since I worked at Hampsons!

Next thing on my day’s itinerary was the Guinness World Record attempt at the largest number of people dressed as a witch congregated in one enclosed place…or something like that! Ted Robbins was compare and it has to be said he did a fantastic job! I hate queuing, I hate standing around, I hate being in crowds and I had just walked up and down 900 feet over five miles so was really in need of a good “sit down” which was being deprived to me (didn’t want to get the cape all muddy!). Ted kept my spirits up. We managed to amass a total of 482 witches- let’s hope that nobody beats that record for some length of time as it was really frustrating standing around for half an hour having just walked for five miles…or did I mention that already!

Hooray to finishing the 1612 sign but the queues were getting a bit tedious!

After the GWR I treated myself to another excellent cup of Nescafé from The Cabin before setting off for the second leg of my walks in Pendle for the day. It has to be said that I was feeling the mood, so many people aiming to walk up my favourite hill was instilling in me a desire to ascend it again…the queues soon put paid to that notion. After almost an hour we were at Pendle House, if anything was going to convince me not to do Big End again it was the sight of marshals strung out in an highly visible sign right across the base of the hill…the “easy” route was beckoning and I heeded its’ call!

Another photo of Lower Ogden Reservoir from Under Pendle(ish)

If I thought that Boar Clough was muddy (and it was) this had nothing on the “easy” path! That being said, the views were somehow better than normal as what I could now see to my left I could normally only see by either turning around (never a good move on the Pendle steps) or whilst having my socks blown off (metaphor) atop Big End. It was a relief that the queues had thinned out to nothing, now there were groups of four to six, couples and the odd solo walker (like yours truly), this made for swift progress. Although there was a climb and a very definite one at that it was not too long before hitting the apex of the climb where I shared a word or two with various marshals. The mood of the people was excellent and I rejoiced in my decision not to go up the (bigger) hill again. Perhaps this was a sense of elation owing to having broken away from the masses whom I imagined might not be quite so joyous trapped in a queue of hundreds whilst baking away on one of the steepest slopes in England. Finally after after a few gatepost entrances I began the long and steep drop back down towards Barley via one grass slope and the same long tarmac path which I had traversed some hours earlier…even receiving a free bottle of water which was well received as mine had warmed up a bit by this stage.

Upon arrival at Barley I received my completer medal – and cheekily inquired as to the likelihood of my having two since I had done both walks. I received only smiles for an answer! I did meet with all three of the days organisers, one of whom I had previously informed of my plan to walk to Stang Top Moor, I enlightened him that I would still be doing that…in an hour or so. As one that had completed the course I was entitled to a free beefburger and I consumed this along with another cup of Nescafé and sat down in my car for a few minutes. So far I had covered roughly eight miles. Here is the “easy” route on Google Maps:

View PWW Route 2 in a larger map

1612 – as viewed from across Lower Black Moss Reservoir

Stang Top’s Road

After some moments of rest and relaxation and a general drinking in of the atmosphere around me, I headed off once more for my final walk of the day…to find that illusive ordnance survey column on Stang Top. I walked along Barley Road and took the first right hand turn off which would lead me passed both of the Black Moss reservoirs (Upper and Lower) both of which are bigger and more ornate than the Upper Ogden but not as impressive as the Lower Ogden…a very definite favourite has emerged here! The sky was beautifully blue by now and the sun banged down on me and oh how I wished that I had put any kind of sun block on. Fortunately the views across to Pendle and it’s temporary dressing were a joy to observe. I met a family from Colne walking along the path and we shared many a tale of our various walks within this Forest of Pendle (as it is still known on ordnance survey maps). After gaining from them an oversight into a good route back from Stang Top Moor I bid them farewell as the track led onto Black Moss Road. A right hand turn after some distance brought me onto the single track road that is Stang Top Road and from here after getting confirmation from a couple tidying the hedges I would eventually find that pesky trig point, the existence of which I had been aware for over a year but who’s physical form at close quarters had thwarted me on two previous botched attempts.

At last the illusive trig point on Stang Top Moor

Stang Top Moor

The wall style for which I had been told to keep an eye alert soon came into view and I had half a mind to use it until I noticed the huge gate akin to the field supported no lock. Given my previous experiences with Pendle styles – I tend to twist ankles upon descent, I opted for the gate – even though it proved to be a pain in the rear to close!

Stang Top Moor is not a pretty place! Think Lake District view then divide by 1,000 and that is its’ wow factor! I had previously read other walkers’ reports condemning the place as a dumping ground – even Pendle advocate Jack Keighley referred to items near to the summit as “Junk”, evidently this has now been cleared up, but the view of Stang Top Moor on its’ own is not worth the effort. The view from its’ summit (actually three metres higher than the trig point) certainly is worth all effort expended in the climb up! My ordnance survey map (OL41) gave me the impression that there was a path which would lead me in the general direction of Barley but a few metres away from the o/s column and indeed there was…which very swiftly became indistinct and then vanished. I had already attempted to simply cross the field and climb over the wall but opted out of this course of action for two reasons:

1. I could not say for certain that there was not a bull in the next field
2. The farmer had seen fit to string barbed wire over the top of the wall!!!

Alice Nutter – sorry for the image quality (or lack thereof!).

Thus, as with most of my solo attempts, I had to do a retrace of the steps all the way to the gate and the road beyond. Now came a long, increasingly hotter descent back to Roughlee – although I had never walked Roughlee before the afore mentioned Mr. Keighley has and I could remember gleaning from his works the distance from Roughlee to Barley is negligible at best. When I finally hit the bottom of the hill (thank goodness that I was descending and not ascending in this heat), I was more than a bit relieved to see the sign informing me that there was just one and a half miles to Barley. I did see Alice Nutter – one of the alleged Pendle Witches executed 400 years ago! No, the heat was not having an hallucinogenic effect on me – this is a wonderful commemorative sculpture crafted by David Palmer and brainchild of Pendle councillor James Starkie.

The one and an half miles back to Barley was not the hardest of the day…but it was probably the hottest. I made my wearily way to my car and removed my three seasons coat as quickly as possible.
Here is the route of my final walk of the day courtesy of Google maps:

View Stang Top Trig Point in a larger map

At 16:45 I began my journey home having spent a whopping eight and an half hours here today, I had walked in excess of thirteen and an half miles and ascended roughly eighteen hundred feet…and loved it all!

If you would like to know more about the event and a bit of the history of the place and past events surf on over to:http://www.pendlewitchwalk.co.uk

Here is the Twitter page: https://twitter.com/#!/pendlewitchwalk

I arrived at Barley having taken primarily the A59 all the way up to and through Preston then taking the A671 just outside Wiswell up to the A6068 at Padiham where I headed past Higham and Fence before turning off at St Anne’s Drive then over Heights Road, Spenbrook Road through the centre of Newchurch and down Cross Lane, for some reason my sat nav had decided to send me to “Witches Galore” as opposed to Barley car park; but as I am now familiar with the area I made it to the the said car park for 9.00. At this time there were but four other cars here, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

The Pendle Inn with the Pendle view

By 9:15 I was walking onto Barley road and was greeted by this wonderful,if only slightly threatening distant view of the steps route that I would have to take today and on the 18th of August. I really could not have wished for better weather and made it a mission statement of the day to simply enjoy the walk in this lovely weather and to not attempt anything in the least bit heroic. As I ambled over one of the three wooden footbridges that I would traverse the realisation of just how noisy the sheep were today began to set in.

Stang Top Moor with Aitken Wood atop its’ summit

With the sky being a nice summer blue – not so clear that the sun beats down on oneself and drains one’s energy, but blue enough to allow for some views that are not normally associated with this rain, cloud and generally grey hotspot. In the grand design of things it has to be said that Stang Top Moor is quite insubstantial, a joy to behold granted but not something that normally imprints itself in the psyche…until this day. Today I could scarcely keep my eyes off it and promised myself that I would return one day strictly with the intention of finding the elusive o/s trig point somewhere at the edge of the summit!

No slipping and sliding and jumping at Fell Wood today for me!

The section of the walk in-between Brown House and Pendle House is always a delight – even in much worse weather than to what I was being treated. Again I drank in the views, this time focusing on the generally ubiquitous and somewhat eerie Fell Wood. Having walked through this gloomy yet captivating little forest with its’ treacherous eastern footpath I was more than a tad relieved that today I didn’t have to skid and slide around that path and I wouldn’t be on edge wondering ‘what was that noise?’ emanating from practically every tree. From here on the walk took on a tougher tone as I traversed the field linking the two “houses” (Pendle and Brown). Soon I would be at the foot of the Barley steps and from there the walk would take on a more arduous character.

A four legged friend…

Only from some distance had I seen any other walkers – a group of sexagenarians, now as I neared the infamous steps more became apparent as they also tottered their way up the very steep slope, no photograph which I have taken highlights these unfortunate yet masochistic soles so you’ll have to take my word for it…I was not alone. For a moment or two as I dwelt on the threshold (or leaned on a gatepost) I was joined by a little companion who hobbled around searching for items unknown! The time for procrastination was over I now began my assault upon the steps…so from the bottom of the steps to the o/s column there would be no more photographs. At roughly half-way I decided to have a bit of a break for a few minutes. I sat on a rock and watched as others further back down the steps also appeared to be struggling. I waited a few more minutes and eventually invited a chap wearing a “Black Cat Brewery” t-shirt to “pull up a rock” as he also sounded ready for a break. We did the usual guy thing and talked about the toughest hills that we had climbed so far – his was Snowdon, mine was this! Some moments later his wife caught us up so I bid my farewell and shot up the rest of the slope with all the speed of…someone overweight walking up Pendle Hill!

By this time, probably over an hour into the walk; other walkers came into view or bounded up behind me including one family with a rather reluctant son who was being “encouraged” by his mum! This gave me the impetuous that I needed to dig a little deeper into my reserves, I was overtaken by a rather attractive girl and her boyfriend whom both smiled politely as they powered on passed me and at this point I gave way to the “encouraging” mother and her kin (including a dog). Very close to the apex of the path the “encouraging” mother and her family were also now sat on some rocks and after a brief conversation I carried on to the top also passing attractive couple who for some reason now at the other side of the style over which the path to Downham begins.

The march onto the summit now began as my pace seemed to pick itself up! I glanced over my shoulder to see who was right behind me and noticed with some dread that it was the attractive couple once more! They were physically fit, attractive, dressed in expensive-looking walking gear and spoke with accents that portrayed a certain social standing…but this was my walk, on my hill and I’d be damned if they were getting to the O/s trig column before me. I dug deep, then even deeper and finally after pretty much a three hundred yard jog…I reached the ordnance survey column first, put both hands upon it, thanked God, stumbled to one side and had a good coughing spree!

The Forest of Bowland Peaks

It was some moments before I could compose myself and have a slurp of Ginger Ale and a chomp down at one of my rather drab Tesco Chicken Salad sandwiches. I took a number of photos but none of a decent enough quality to be able to discern which hilltops were which, the sky was a bit more hazy at this time and this did not lend itself to clear photography. The wind was beginning to get up a lot as well, the summit of Pendle is never a warm and welcoming place but the views on a very clear day are usually better than what I was experiencing I decided to head off in the direction of Boar Clough sticking to what I believe will be the walk of August 18th.

The Moss Reservoirs

The big cairn…with Spence Moor lurking behind!

Herein lay the problem, I have never descended Boar Clough only gone up it and from 180 degrees the route for me was indiscernible. The rule is generally ‘follow the cairns’ but as a power Nordic-walking couple passed by me I opted to follow them…this would prove to be a mistake as they disappeared into the distance and all that I could recognise was Fell Wood and a reservoir that I assumed to be the Upper Ogden Reservoir which turned out to be the lower one! The route which I had taken back was definitely not the Boar Clough route but it also was quite picturesque and something of a nice diversion – but by goodness was it steep??? At one point I passed by a sign which indicated I could go in one direction towards “Under Pendle” or the direction from which I had stumbled was “Ogden Hill” I recollected seeing this on o/s maps and it was on my “to-do” list – hurray an unexpected tick-off!

An huge style had the potential of dividing me into two separate people (temporarily!) as I traversed it backwards, my right foot was searching for a step that it would never find but I did manage to keep my balance as I landed on my heels!

Quite a few more cars now.

After descending some more and passing through a number of sheep-filled fields I finally hit tarmac no more that an hundred yards away from the path that starts out from Barley as the road Barley Green. This diversion had taken a mile off my journey and it was hard to be disappointed about that bonus! I stopped and chatted to two ladies whom asked me if I had been “up top, was it clear and had I managed to see Blackpool tower”? I replied that I had been at the top via the steps (which made then both ooohhhh and rub their thighs) and that with my eyesight I was lucky to have seen Ingleborough (I forgot to get a photo of that!). The drop down into Barley via the ever-improving Barley Green was sheer walker’s paradise and I made it with joy (the sensation – not a girl I had met!) at the car park and 11:47 – it had taken me just two hours and thirty something minutes to ascend and descend the toughest hill in Lancashire!

{YES! Again!}

It’s no secret of my willingness to tackle Ribblesdale’s  arduous and infamous twenty five (or thereabouts) mile and three peak challenge over the mountains of Pen-Y-Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside (in ascending order of height).

I attempted it in 2010 and abandoned at Ribblehead owing to lack of preparation and fitness (For a late spring day the weather was atrocious!). Since then I have vowed to do it on a number of times as part of a group but nothing has materialised. Eventually, have rounded up the same group of hardy volunteers whom took part with me in 2010 and coerced them into committing to a date in June 2012.

Now having already completely made a  pig’s ear of my last attempt, I am getting really serious for this attempt and have planned a number of training routes – as I did in 2009/10. I have already been a none-smoker now for the last fifteen weeks, have stopped eating the skin off roasted chickens and am beginning to  (finally) take my health seriously. This time however the idea will not be to set myself ridiculous tasks such as going up and down Pendle twice in the same walk! (I did it, but my word did my feet suffer the day after!) This time I am picking achievable targets.

And they are:

1. The Circuit of Pendle Hill

   

   Valley between the giants...

   From Barley visitor centre
   I shall walk up Cross Lane and then down into Newchurch-in-Pendle passing by Witches Galore and Saint Mary’s Parish Church. Then I’ll head along the peaceful and scenic Wellhead Road, over the unbelievably steep Saddler’s Height and then  through the eerie yet captivating Fell Wood. Now having descended the tiny steps that lead to the bridge which will take me over Lower Ogden Reservoir,I shall start to make my way uphill by passing Upper Ogden Reservoir to reach the bottom of Boar Clough. Then it’s onwards and upwords to the summit at Big End. Next I shall turn 270 degrees head back towards Boar Clough but turn off left in order to take the grit-stone path back down to the base of the Barley Steps at the back of Pendle House but avoiding the steps (I hate those bloody steps!). From here it is a gentle stroll back to Barley visitor centre via Ing Head and Ing Ends.

   Distance = about six and three quarter miles. I aim to do this on Sunday January 29th.
   
   View Pendle Hill Tour on 30th Oct 2011 in a larger map

2. Rambling around Rivington

   

   The Edges and Winter Hill

   This one starts at the Rivington Hall Barn car park but oddly enough Rivington Pike is the last summit covered on this seven peak stride where good weather is essential! I will head off down Sheep House Lane towards Parsons’ Bullough Road over Alance Bridge and onto Moor Road. This now becomes a bit of a long drag as for the next mile and an half as we head up then downhill towards White Coppice ultimately turning right through a large gate just outside of the hamlet. The path now leads us along a sheep-filled common for some distance before filtering off left for the ridiculously tough stretch which will lead up towards Great Hill (our first summit!) via DrinkWaters and a few deserted farms.

   The path by now has become far more gentle as we reach the summit of Great Hill with its’ impressive stone shelter the views open up in all directions. For now it is a twenty minute march downhill towards Redmonds and then up Spitlers’ Edge (our second and third summits). Here is where the good weather factor comes into play as the descent of Spitlers is a tricky affair where the going after a good downpour is just awful! After the Spitlers slide I’ll cross the Belmont Road towards Hordern Stoops whilst cringing at the prospect of the climb ahead of me…until I turn passed the difficult and steep trek that is the northern face of Winter Hill and turn right towards Rivington once more. After a few hundred yards another turn off on the left hand side appears, I’ll go through the gate here heading slightly uphill and passing yet another left turn which if followed would take me steeply up towards Winter Hill. The next left hand turn-off is the one to take as this will lead us to our fourth summit of the day, the oddly named “Noon Hill”, then following a more or less due west line on to the trig point at Winter Hill – our fifth summit and the apex of the walk in all sense of the word!

   From here the end is in sight, but for the most part that dry weather which we so require is going to be an asset! The walk straight down “Winter Hill” road is not in any way a challenge, the crossing of the peat moorland in order to cut across Crooked Edge Hill and to Two Lads (our sixth summit!) is at best, messy, at worst one could possibly sink to one’s knees here if the weather has been bad enough. The descent is a brief and bumpy one following the path that naturally opens out in front of me and leading me to a tiny flight of sandstone steps with the Rivington / Blemont Dog Hotel on my right hand side. Turn right here and wind one’s way up another instance of Belmont Road. The going underfoot from here and for the next few hundred yards is somewhat hard, cruel would be a better description as essentially we are walking on a road that is a mixture of cobbles and sandstone. Eventually after heading slightly uphill a right hand turn-off over Brown Hill (not on our summit list as it is rather indefinable!) will lead us to the bottom of the final climb up the northern aspect of Rivington Pike. This is by far and away the steepest ascent on the walk (because we didn’t do Winter Hill from the north!) and I would imagine that after a few days of rain that this route up the pike could teeter towards treacherous – but still more enjoyable than the multitude of steps 180 degrees around the hill that we shall be descending after stopping atop the pike to admire the spectacular 180 panorama. At the bottom  of the steps cross the same Rivington / Belmont Road that has accompanied us at varying points throughout the day, keeping the toilet block on your right hand side, drop down the multitude of paths that ultimately lead one out at varying points on the lane to the car park or at the back of Rivington Barn Hall.

   The distance is anywhere between 10 and 13 miles according to Google Maps and I aim to do this on Sunday the 26th of February 2012.

   
   View All Around Anderton in a larger map

3. Pen-y-Ghent to Ribblehead and back

   

   Pen Y Ghent

   Well, seeing as this was effectively the walk that I did when I aborted the main three peaks walk in May 2010 then it seemed like a poignant conclusion for my preparation of the 2012 three peaks walk. (Although in honesty I will probably be walking most weekends if only locally; in-between the end of this walk and the event itself in June.)The walk starts at the overflow car park just off the B6479 around the back of the Crown Inn Hotel. I shall head towards the Pen-y-ghent Café, cross the road and head off uphill towards Brackenbottom farm. Over the stile and into very steep terrain that is occasionally broken up by some easy scrambling over limestone. After a mile and an half (or thereabouts) and a number of steps and stiles the path joins with the Pennine Way as it meanders up the south west face of Pen-y-Ghent. There are two notable steep sections during the climb up to the summit but the last five hundred yards is a delightful parade up to the ordnance survey column.

   Over the stile we go and hopefully the drop down the side of Pen-y-ghent won’t involve me falling over as it has on the previous two occasions! When the Pennine Way path forks off to the left to head back into Horton I shall bear right and head in the general direction of the mosses (Red and Black Dub). For the next six miles it will be a mixture of slippery grass over limestone, undulating mounds, occasional good quality grit-stone paths and the almost ever-present mud, always lurking and waiting to splatter me in highly visible places!

   The walk back will be a much less arduous task – albeit a far less scenic one as far as my immediate environment goes. At what has become known to be as “The Fourth Peak” – an hot food and beverages van that is parked at Ribblehead on bank holidays and weekends, I shall turn around and pretty much head back to where I came from via the B-road back into Horton In Ribblesdale.

   If however, my feet,legs and back are feeling fine then I won’t do this and instead will turn the walk into a four peak challenge as I head off towards Park Fell in order to climb this fell, traverse Simon Fell and then the easier route up Ingleborough before doing another about turn and heading off over Simon Breast Fell and Sulber Nick back into Horton In Ribblesdale. Some might say that if you are going to go to those lengths then surely wouldn’t it be just as well to do the 3-peaks walk in proper? They would have a point, but for me the messing about to get up Whernside is far greater than the expenditure of energy that it will take to get up Park Fell (which is not as high as say Pendle Hill) and across Simon Fell (which is up a slope so slight that it borders on insignificant!). The aim of the practice or training walks is to achieve the achievable – not to set myself silly goals and for me to attempt all three peaks at the end of March (when I plan on attempting all three at once). In summing, I will be walking up and down Pen-y-ghent and onto Ribblehead then back in Horton in Ribblesdale via a scenic and strenuous route or via tarmac and concrete roadside pavements.

   The date for this walk should be: Sunday the 25th of March, 2012

The perceptive reader would probably assume that I never completed the full challenge, and he’d be right. Sorry folks, this is something of an anti climax but owing to bad clothing choices – one football shirt and one cheap rainproof jacket, terrible weather conditions – oh how it rained relentlessly; and general state of ill-preperation, I got as far as Ribblehead and then caught the train back to Horton in Ribblesdale – looking rather worse for wear!

The walk itself started off bad for me as my worst fears were realised within ten minutes of the start. I had feared that my colleagues would set off at a blistering pace – blistering doesn’t even begin to describe it, there was simply no way that I could keep up and by Brackenbottom Farm I was lagging. By the time that I had reached the infamous 1900′ section (where the saxifrages decorate each late spring) I was on my own. A very kind-hearted colleague did keep holding back for me…then obviously he would set off again as soon as I caught up to him…how I remember now with a wry smile the countless times that I did this to Chris (my fianceé) on Pendle Hill, Catbells and Whernside last summer. Irony is a bitch when it comes back upon you!

It rained for most of the day and when the rain did subside the temperature dropped. I slipped and had my entire right hand side mud-kissed before we had even reached any of the two main moss sections: Red Moss and the notorious Black Dub Moss that as luck would have it were relatively incident free…for us. After some eight miles I decided to shed some excess, useless burdens – my Go-Outdoors walking poles. I had never attempted a walk using two poles prior to this day yet for some reason thought that two poles would give me an edge…maybe coming downhill – no, going uphill – no, on the flat – a resounding no! Thus the poles may now still reside on the right hand side of the road on the B6479 about 100 yards south of the “Fourth Peak” – the beverage and hot snacks van that parks in this vicinity on major three peak days.

In summing am I disappointed to have not completed the full challenge? Once again a resounding “YES” but at the same time I am not embittered, I vow to do the walk again next year – in August when even the wet weather should still be warm, and, there WILL be less of me there at that distant time. I have re-uptaken my urban walking with renewed vigour having clocked up 45 miles in the last three weeks – and this will be profoundly improved upon with the addition of another urban walk during the week and one rural walk at weekend. Further to this, I will try my best to visit the gymn at least once per week in order to do some treadmill miles (always the easiest miles) and with some good fortune I hope to get out and about on my bicycle at least once per week . I am hardly going to be in the house at all this summer!

I’m nearly there! recently I have done a bit of urban walking and my shins have felt like someone has used starch on them after only a mile or so. This can be the very start of a down spiral towards failure. It HAS to be combatted! This coming Saturday (weather permiting) I aim to do something about it by driving over to North Yorkshire and doing FOUR peaks.

No, I haven’t taken leave of my senses. I am not going to do all three and then one more for measure, I plan on doing the following:

The route is to go from the B6255 at Chapel le Dale, over Souther Scales to the top of Ingleborough, turn-around, come back down to Simon fell via the west ridge, up and over Park Fell, head for Ribblehead and join the three peaks route up and over Whernside. Then we would hit the B6255 again at Chapel le Dale.

From other walker’s blogs I gather that this route is something akin to 14.5 miles – my longest walk since being a little kid and those seemingly endless hikes over the Howgills that my headmaster used to inflict upon us on a yearly basis. So in a nutshell I am going to give myself NINE hours. If I can do this in that length of time then I think that in a month’s time I will be able to do the whole 25 mile, Yorkshire Three in-between twelve to fourteen hours. And that will be good enough for me…until next year when I shall do the whole thing in reverse starting at H.I.R and ascending Ingleborough first!

A few months after we had ascended Whernside and I bid a regrettable farewell to the area, I happend to mention at work my willingness to do the full challenge…but with others that I knew with me. For someone at my current physically declined level I sumised that I would be taking leave of my senses to do the walk alone. With others around me (whom I already knew) we would be able to spur each other on, plus it would be nice social occasion where we could discover a bit more about each other and ourselves (as anyone ascending Ingleborough from Chapel le Dale will concur, you find a lot out about yourself when first confronting “The Wall“.

I asked two of my colleagues at work if they both fancied coming along with me and to my astonishment they both agreed. I was to be further surprised the next day when I had sent my e-mail to the entire department and ultimately there were fourteen positives! Since then the number has dropped down again to 13 which might be perceived as the start of the bad omens – save for the fact that one team member has roped in her husband and sister – so no tridecaphobia as of yet!

At the time of this post I must admit to be somewhat apprehensive – I have not even begun serious training for what will be an extremely strenuous challenge – this is in part owing to ill health (two colds in January) and lethargy. Very shortly I will begin power walking around the neighbourhood, I don’t have a problem with the hills themselves as they hold no surprises for me and to be honest…none of them are as tough as Pendle Hill!

At the same time I would happily attempt the route at a fortnight’s notice, anything to be back in North Yorkshire would be fantastic. There are many things that I am looking forward to about the walk; the sense of comrardary and team bonding, the sense of trepidation on the morning of the walk, the (hopefully) sense of unbridled achievement upon successful completion and finally the main one for me: the views of Pendle Hill, Cross Fell and on a clear day even little old Parlick from atop of all three mountains. It’s going to be fantastic!

As a spin off from this event, we thought that it might be a great idea to do the whole thing in aid of Mountain Rescue of England and Wales. To sponsor us please visit the following site: http://www.justgiving.com/itservicesdoes3peaks

Ever since Dave Hill of the band A-Pencil showed me an Ordnance Survey map featuring Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough I had wanted to climb these wonderful sounding hills. And as of May 2009 I have become mildly(?) obsessed with them. In June 2009 my fiancée and I ascended Pen-y-Ghent and I loved it. Three further visits to the Chapel le Dale area (on one of which the mist was so thick that the upper half of Ingleborough appeared to be lost so we didn’t even attempt it!) and we had ‘bagged’ the trio!

What started off as an observation on Pen-y-Ghent transformed into a ‘thing’ on Ingleborough and into a downright obsession after Whernside – we had observed the “Three Peakers”. Although scornful of them at first by the time I had completed Whernside I had made my mind up that I too would become a “Three Peaker”. What is a “Three Peaker”? I assume you’re wondering.

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The café runs an antique clocking machine upon which Three Peakers are able to ‘clock out and in’ for proof of their success or failure. The upside of this in contrast to the tie-flicking ability afforded to successful completions is that this offers a checklist for those walkers still out on the mountains at the end of the day. It is said that if a walker clocks out but has not clocked in some considerable time later the staff at the café will make efforts to contact the relevent authorities in order to track down the missing persons.