Tuesday 30th March 2021 - Hutton Roof crags and trig
There have been many interpretations of "stay local." I have complied and only walked from home during this lockdown. Even though this is an AONB I have become, perhaps ungratefully, bored with repeating the same ground time after time.
Arnside has been overwhelmed with visitors at various stages of the pandemic and now national newspapers have included our village in a short list of the most recommended places to visit. As I drove out this morning the place was heaving with not a single place left to park a car and a long queue outside our local shop who, to give our friendly proprietor his due, has stuck rigidly to masks and limited numbers at a time. I was going to buy a sandwich for later but just drove on.
I drove ten miles deliberately parking in a remote spot to avoid the Hutton Roof trig carpark. Strangely when I arrived at that carpark it was not full and I tramped onwards ascending through scattered woodland and archetypal limestone scenery. After twenty minutes I only needed a short sleeved shirt. The ascent was demanding but not too steep, just a good workout. There were only a few others about and after the trig, when I headed into more remote terrain, I saw nobody. Once walking on more level ground across cropped turf, and well drained dry limestone paths I had a feeling of euphoria not experienced for many a month. It was like reading nothing but the back of the corn flake packet every morning for a year and then suddenly finding yourself reading Evelyn Waugh's Scoop, or Graham Greene's Our Man in Havana, both books reaching for me the pinnacle of enjoyment and humour with two authors, otherwise serious, having fun, but with such style and skill.
What a feeling of liberation, but with a hint of foreboding fearing that we will be scuppered again by those who are selfishly in denial of the blight. As one who has no problem with walking alone or with a like minded companion I have absolutely no understanding for or empathy with those who gather together at popular honeypots with hundreds of others they do not know. Rather I would gladly pay not to have to do that.
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| Walking into Dalton from my remote parking further up the road |
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What I thought was a stone circle at Dalton. A local resident told me it is the remains of a medieval village from the 1500s - Google gave more info: http://www.matthewpemmott.co.uk/2006/09/dalton-deserted-medieval-settlement.html |
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| What my friend Pete would call a proper garden: interesting plants almost as per nature - no regimented geometrical patterns |
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| From the road on the way to the Hutton Roof trig car park |
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| Zoom to yet another shot of Ingleborough |
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| Closing in on the trig. Down to shirt sleeves only now |
Here I am commenting on your post when I should be writing up my walk from yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI agree about your choice of books and I don't even have a cereal packet to read, just the BBC morning news, which is depressing with scenes of litter and louts.
Well done for driving 10miles, I'm sure it was good for your car if nothing else.
Despite climbing up at Hutton Roof scores of times I don't recollect visiting that trig point.
I'm wondering where will be safe this Easter weekend - probably the back garden.
I identify with that feeling of euphoria: within minutes of leaving the car yesterday we found ourselves on a narrow path through heather and even though that heather is currently brown and dormant, I couldn't mistake the smell of the plant. It suddenly felt like I could be in Scotland, rather than 15 miles from home. A fabulous feeling.
ReplyDeleteAs for the comparison with only reading cornflakes packets for a year, I can very much identify with this example. Our Big Walks predated us having smartphones, and thus there wasn't the option of reading books via that means. We also neither of us wanted to carry the weight of a book (actually, Mick did leave Land's End with Lord of the Rings, but intentionally left it at a B&B in Launceston). Starved of reading matter, we found ourselves daily poring over the map and reading the back of every food packet we opened. When, in Kinloch Hourn, we found a newspaper in our accommodation (a long disused house) we relished reading it from cover to cover ... even though it was over five years old!
The potential scuppering of freedom: as we faffed in Erica yesterday, reading ourselves for our outing, we watched a group of mid-30s(ish) women congregate. They all arrived in separate cars then, as the last one arrived, a squeal went up and they all went in for a big group hug, clearly oblivious that the fact that the end of the 'stay at home' order doesn't negate the need for social distancing.
(Goodness, you don't hear from me for weeks, then I leave another of my epic comments.)
BC - The Hutton Roof climbing crag is a long way from the trig which is situated way on the other side of the road coming over from Burton - that crag was a pleasant venue on a summer's day.
ReplyDeleteThe litter problem is beyond all comprehension - the scenes on tv tonight of parks so messed up made me feel sick in the stomach and ashamed to be British. I wonder what these people would think if it was like that when they arrived there? One lot had lit a bonfire about ten feet across on the perfect tended turf of what is an ornamental park. I wish somebody could think of a practical way of inflicting severe punishment on these yobs.
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Gayle - Your first paragraph demonstrates one of the many reasons why we have been friends over the years, like minds...
Heather in bloom at great expanse on the moors is one of my all time greatest joys.
It seems that stupid and inconsiderate lack of attention to observing life saving measures is not only confined to the yobbo brigade but also from your description mature middle class types who should know better. I despair.
How wonderful to get away from home and go for a good walk in a less familiar place. Smells are so evocative aren’t they? The gorse is flowering in my driveway and its scent takes me instantly back to my coastal walks. As for people’s behaviour in leaving litter, lighting fires, ignoring the distance rules... well, I just despair.
ReplyDeleteRuth - good to hear from you. I hope you also will be able to wander further from what I understand are the confines of the city. When I walk with my friend Pete we often encounter the scent of muck-spreading, at that I draw the line, but Pete insists he enjoys it. Chacun à son goût.
ReplyDeleteVery nice walk conrad. I don't think 10 miles from home can be classed as too far. Just the fact that you question it shows you care. Ulike all the idiots in parks leaving their rubbish. These people are probably the same ones who campaign to save the planet. We have been too busy in the garden to get out and walk so its good to read a post from someone who has. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAlan R - Thanks for your comment. I hope you too (and two) will be able to get out a bit further afield shortly - for me, blow gardening, I hate it. It is rewarding to see the finished result, but that is always too short lived snd then one has to start over. I will probably keep a low profile over this Easter break unless I have a brainwave for some spot that will be for certain quiet.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of gardening but Sheila loves it. This job started out just changing the rotted fencing and ended up a makeover. But on the bright side, its probably not going to get done again. We won't be going anywhere over Easter either. Wait for the kids to go back to school.
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