The 'Beagles' went to Stanage Edge on Tuesday. This escarpment of millstone grit runs roughly north/south in Yorkshire and from the top there are 360 degree views with Sheffield somewhere over to the east and further over to the west if one goes over the Snake Pass, Lancashire. The huntsman and hounds of the Oakley Foot Beagles joined us so we exercised a pack based on hounds from three different hunts. But they all kept together as one pack as though they had always been so.
The weather was indifferent with a strong west wind over the edge of the escarpment and squally rain showers , gloom and the odd burst of sunshine. Our prevailing winter gloom does nothing for my photographs as to get a fast enough shutter speed they soon deteriorate over the equivalent of the 400 ASA setting, so 800 is what I tend to have to use and I am not happy with it. However here are a few images of what it was like on Tuesday.
This is the back garden of the Keeper's house
Setting off. It was actually more miserable weather than it looks here
There is an ald pack horse track along the top of the escarpment
Hard to see, but the keeper's cottage we set out from was just over the sunlit edge near the left
Looking west towards Ladybower reservoir. The A57 Snake Pass road runs alongside the right hand side of the lake you can see and over the Pennines into Lancashire.
Whenever I am in the overcast Pennine uplands, and here, there is lovely sunshine over in the east.
Few go without a stick to lean on.
It is hard to see the rain, but it did!
So more gloom. The conical hill in the distance is Win Hill.
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A bit of scent around the rocks
Well maybe not then!
Plenty to sit on when not leaning on a stick
Plenty to sit on when not leaning on a stick
Standing in the teeth of a gale and rain
Presumably a boundary marker. This side it was engraved WW and on the other WM
This interested me. A basin of water in the huge flat stone on top of the ridge
With two nicely cut straight channels running into it. It is an early 20C drinking basin for grouse.
Hounds pottering about in the rock of the edge.
But getting time to go home
I was disappointed that having claimed to have cured the leaks in my Brasher Superlite boots in the last post, yesterday proved that I had not. Both big toes ended up in a damp patch on my socks. OK so my feet weren't sloshing about in water. But this means that in all the years I have had boots of different types, other than wellies, I have never had a pair that has not leaked. In the days when I enjoyed running I wore Walsh fell running boots, which were super comfortable and had a most tenacious grip on everything, but I never worried then about the fact I always had wet feet. As a plodder now I am all for comfort and really don't want to have to resort to putting plastic bags over my socks inside my boots again to keep them dry. With all this breathable waterproof membrane technology there must be some good light boots that fit the bill somewhere, preferably leather outer, hopefully cheaper than the Basher ones, my second pair of failed ones..
