St Cuthbert's Way - adventures in Celtic Christianity country

A couple of years ago we were in the Cheviots for New Year, and came across a few of the St Cuthbert's Way waymarkers on fence posts. Then in the Morebattle community shop we discovered the embroidered badge. Being suckers for an embroidered badge we bought them on the spot, which forced us to actually undertake the walk.

I had particular enthusiasm for this as one of the earliest books I remember reading was "The Wind Eye" by Robert Westall, which centres around St Cuthbert.

As previously noted, planning is something I do with some reluctance so I'd left it a bit until the last minute. Claire had got me the guidebook by Ron Turnbull earlier in the year, and the route website is really useful. A couple of weeks before our week off I had a frantic afternoon of booking accommodation (a fretful business for an OCDer - the fear of getting the days wrong is absolutely crippling) and we were set. 

Oh, except I hadn't figured out how to get to Melrose. Oops.

So a couple of days before we were due to set off, I worked out the trains. There are hints online that there is a bus to Melrose from Newcastle. This seems not to be true any more, so it's either bus from Berwick, or Edinburgh and the Tweedbank railway option. The latter seems to be much quicker, so bank holiday Monday saw us catching a succession of trains from home to Preston, then Edinburgh, then finally Galashiels. All of the trains ran to time, it was a weirdly relaxing journey.

Since it was only a few days we had quite small bags - 20l and only about 4kg each with all our clothes etc. I've included a kit list below, including comments on what was useful and what wasn't.

At Galashiels we walked along the cycleway picking up turf zones until we got to Melrose. Scotland being the home of Turf, there were lots of zones to be taken (but we didn't keep them for long). Found our hotel (the George and Abbotsford), left our bags and went for a wander around the abbey. It was gloriously sunny if a little breezy and cold.

Sunshine in Melrose

Melrose Abbey is of course ruinous. It has some interesting features (including a bagpipe playing pig) and a museum with monastic piss pots and a fragment of medieval glasses frame. Well worth a visit. We chatted briefly to an Irish tour guide from a Christian tour company who was guiding a party of American pilgrims. All the talk of pilgrimage gave me an earworm: "To be a pilgrim" - a hymn from school days. It stuck with me for days.

monastic piss pots

Back to the hotel for dinner, and a drunk man in the bar was talking extensively about French pop music. The George and Abbotsford was nice. Decent pub food, friendly and helpful, clean and with a good shower.

Tuesday morning and we were ready for the off. An extensive breakfast with lots of vegetarian haggis and we headed out to the abbey for the start. I had thought for years I was allergic to oats. Apparently not, which is useful news, especially in Scotland.

Eildon middle & south from north

From the abbey we headed up into the Eildon hills. We saw a group of 3 walkers as we climbed up to  Eildon north to take the Turf zone & look out at the hill fort/hut circles. Coming back down onto the route we met a couple we were to see frequently over the next few days (we eventually learned they were Vera and Paul) and their husky (we were introduced, and I forgot her name. Unusual - I usually remember pets names and forget the humans).

Shortly after we encountered the other three - from Newcastle by their accents. Both these groups were doing the route on a similar schedule to us. We were surprised by how many people we saw (but apparently there was a TV program about the SCW recently, which might explain it).

Bowden well

Day one from Melrose to Jedburgh was a longish one for us, with lots of lovely riverside paths and pleasant villages. We stopped for a delicious lunch at Mainstreet Trading Company in St Boswells and resisted the temptation to buy books. Approaching the A68 we debated the unofficial route avoiding the main road, but discovered that the main route is actually set quite a bit back from the road and is pleasant. We passed along Dere St, which was more varied than a Roman road has any right to be, then through the very pretty Monteviot estate woodlands to Harestanes.

Bowden church organ

From there it was a fairly short walk to the turn off for Jedburgh.

Bouncy. Near Drybergh

We opted to overshoot the lane through Jedfoot and follow the Abbeys Way, which turned out to be a good move as it followed field paths rather than tarmac. The walk through Jedburgh itself to our hotel (the Royal) was long and roady, but we picked up a couple of Turf zones on the way. There is a nicer route along the river, but we didn't discover it until the morning. Jedburgh is a nice little place with a decent co-op, and we were able to pick up a few bits of food (plus some wine), including plenty for our evening meal the following night as we were staying in an out of the way B&B.

The Royal was pretty average. The water pressure was terrible and there was a loud hum from possibly air conditioning that went on all night, and in spite of the sign outside they weren't doing food. They did have a drying room for boots/shoes, and there was an excellent restaurant round the corner - the Capon Tree Town House. Booking recommended, although they did fit us in (alongside another group doing the Way - 5 women who we'd see from time to time, including right at the end).

Next morning we took the footpath along the river out of Jedburgh, then through the woods on the way up the Abbeys Way. We had a pretty easy day planned, only about 20km finishing at Linton, not far from Morebattle. 

Cessford Castle

The route continued along valley and river, passing ruined Cessford castle with a bit of a road walk into Morebattle. At Morebattle we stopped at the village shop for a coffee, encountering various other SCWers. Getting coffee from the machine in the shop (bean to cup - decent machine coffee) I noticed Club biscuits out of the corner of my eye.

I'd booked us into a B&B at Linton - while there were rooms available at the Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm, having stayed there before I wasn't prepared to pay 180 quid a night. It's OK, but it's a bit basic. 

From Morebattle we left the SCW and followed the Kelso road out to Linton. I now had "if you like a lot of chocolate" added to my earworms. The combination became "If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit be a pilgrim".

Passing motorists on the minor road gave us lots of space, it was a nice afternoon and generally it was a pleasant walk, for tarmac. At the Old School House B&B we were welcomed by Annie and spent the remaining part of the afternoon playing Struggle for Catan in the very cosy and pleasant rooms there. We'd brought three packets of roasted veg couscous, some dried parmesan, some dried mushrooms and some cashews from Jedburgh Co-op. Plus wine of course. The combination of ingredients made for a hearty and filling dinner, made with nothing more than a kettle of boiling water. A look at the visitors book showed that Annie can provide a meal for those on foot if requested, and if her breakfasts are anything to go by you'd be well advised to ring ahead and ask.

After a delicious breakfast of very rich scrambled egg on toast (Claire went for porridge), yoghurt etc. we set out on a much longer day ("how far are you going today?", "Wooler", "Bloody hell!"). We've been to the Cheviots a couple of times now and got to know the area a fair bit. We were on familiar paths over the high point at Wideopen Hill and down into Town Yetholm. The path along the river is nice, with lots of bird life. We stopped for something to eat at Kirk Yetholm village green, then set off towards Wooler. This leg was another 17 miles on top of the 5 we'd already done, with 2 big climbs out of the Bowmont and College valleys. It was chilly up on the tops but still fairly bright and clear, we had good views out towards the coast and the company of curlews and larks.

The border - close gate SECURELY

We passed the group of 3 (we only ever caught one of their names) at the top of the climb past Yeavering Bell. There were just two of them, struggling with blisters and wrecked toenails. The third, Tony, had gone off ahead and we passed him not long before we reached Wooler. We dropped down into Wooler at 6pm and, after booking at the very good Italian restaurant on the High St, checked into the Arlington (some self-check in rooms in the town centre). We've stayed there before and know the routine, but I'd forgotten to buy milk so popped out to the coop. We're fond of Wooler (although our first experience there was the spectacularly appalling Tankerville Arms).

A delicious meal (seafood risotto for me, pizza for Claire) and a good night's sleep, and we were ready for an easier day out to Beal. Before that though, we had some breakfast in one of the cafes, then popped up to the Wooler hostel to meet Tim of Trail Outlaws. Tim and I have been talking about open source timing software, and I'd mentioned we'd be passing so we stopped off for a brew and a chat. 

At 10.30 we got on, heading out towards Weetwood Moor. Deep in conversation we (I) missed the most obvious way marker on the entire route and had to backtrack. This was a tarmac heavy day, with a lot of quiet country roads. The weather started to threaten and, while we were stopped getting waterproofs out, a fighter jet came roaring straight towards us then banked directly overhead. I did wonder if they were using my APRS radio as a convenient pretend target.

St Cuthbert's Cave

Waterproofs on, we plodded through the rain to St Cuthbert's Cave. By the time we reached it the rain had stopped, but we sat in the cave anyway to eat last night's pizza and drink tea from flasks.

After that we climbed to the top of the ridge and started to work our way down through the woods towards Fenwick. We passed Vera & Paul, then shortly after found a slow worm basking in the middle of the path and chivvied it into the long grass where their dog hopefully wouldn't find it.

At Fenwick we were just in time to have a coffee and some cake at the lovely little coffee shop. Then we crossed over the A1 (which took some time as there was quite a bit of traffic) and started through the lanes. Almost immediately we passed a farm with what looked like quite a large medieval hamlet attached to it - all ruined and surrounded by Heras fencing.

At the railway crossing we stopped and phoned the signal box, gave a needlessly pessimistic estimate of how long it'd take to cross, and crossed over.

At last we reached the tank traps and the shore, and we were looking across at Lindisfarne. Tomorrow we'd do the last little bit, across the sands.

It turned out to be further than I thought along the road to the Lindisfarne Inn - it's right up at the side of the A1 rather than at Beal as I thought. Ne'er mind, it's all training.

We had a nice enough pub meal at the Lindisfarne. Rooms are a bit pricey for what it is, but the food is hearty and the service is excellent.

But.

7am, we were woken by a large party of cycling lejog-ers on an organised trip. Banging on each others doors, shouting and clomping around in cleats. I'm a heavy sleeper and it took a long time to wake me up, but by the time I did wake I wasn't at all happy. Judging by the angry shouting I heard shortly after the lejog-ers had made no friends at all. I went out to have a word with the organisers - while I wouldn't have to share a hotel with them again, maybe they could be encouraged to behave better at their next stop. Big organised groups like that are often a nightmare, and there was audibly one bloke who never stopped talking at the top of his voice.

So, we had our breakfast and packed up for our final leg. Just after we left the hotel it started to rain and got very cold. May on the Northumbrian coast. We got to the causeway about 1045 and the matrix signs said the first causeway crossing was 1020. According to Ron Turnbull's guidebook we shouldn't set out across the Pilgrim's Way until 1120. It was far too cold to stand around for half an hour. A small group of runners from the Holy Island Marathon were sheltering behind a marshals car waiting for the crossing. We opted to walk out on the main causeway.

About halfway across we could see the Pilgrims Way was clear, and the runners had set off. So we cut across the sands to join the line of posts. Apart from one place where it was above my knees it was fine, and definitely the right way to reach the island at the end of the walk. It was bloody cold to be knee deep in north sea water though!

We found a table in the nearest cafe and drank some coffee to warm up, then went for a walk around the abbey and museum. The bus back to Berwick wasn't until 4pm so we had an easy afternoon of pottering around, and another spell warming up in the cafe. There was a huge queue for the bus, but we just about all fitted on.

Trains back from Berwick worked out OK, and we were home with a very happy cat by half eight.

The St Cuthbert's Way is a lovely route. A bit tarmac heavy in places, but with some beautiful scenery and a really strong feeling of connection to the past. At 60 miles it's a pretty short long distance path and approachable by anyone. The Cheviot section includes a couple of climbs and more of a feeling of isolation. As a trip it's best planned well in advance as accommodation can be limited in some places, and will probably be fairly costly regardless. Last minute meant limited accommodation options and hence a couple of 22 mile days. The start point at Melrose is far easier to reach by train than it looks.

Monastic Christianity, Pilgrimage and History

While I'm very much no longer religious, I have a fondness for the idea of pilgrimage and the simplicity and asceticism of that and monastic life. Walking St Cuthbert's Way gave me a sense of closeness to the history of Northern England and St Cuthbert's own closeness to nature. One of the books I was carrying (on my phone) was Stephen Graham's "The Gentle Art of Tramping" which complemented the walk nicely.

It was interesting to note though, that Lindisfarne Abbey only ever had a few monks on rotation from Durham, while the majority of the people there were farm workers, servants and guards. The monks were effectively management, charged with the running of an outlying branch office. In many ways medieval abbeys were just commercial entities, mainly concerned with running their farm holdings and accumulating capital (in the form of buildings, land, and goods) even while the individuals lived in considerable austerity. St Cuthbert himself played a role in the shift from the more ascetic Celtic tradition to the Roman tradition, with all it's pomp and power. Ultimately though, Cuthbert returned to asceticism, retiring to the life of a hermit on Inner Farne. With, no doubt, thousands of puffins and eider ducks.

Kit list

• UD Fastpack 20
• yellow merino t shirt
• grey merino hoodie
• grid fleece
• Montane fireball
• paramo windproof
• wallet
• primaloft gilet
• patagonia shorts
• patagonia leggings
• 3 walking t shirts
• waterproof coat and trousers
• powerbank
• phone
• book (Les Huit Coups de l'Horloge by Maurice LeBlanc) [plus 'The Gentle Art of Tramping' on my phone)
• watch charger & usb C cable
• APRS radio transceiver
• soft water bottle
• ti flask
• 1 pair waterproof socks (worn on Lindisfarne after my shoes got wet)
• 1 pair warm evening socks (not worn)
• 2 pairs merino walking socks
• altra lone peak shoes
• socks for evening
• cap
• mittens (Montane prism mittens. Not very good unfortunately)
• underwear *5
• toothbrush/paste/shower gel
• antihistamines
• guidebook
• compass
• monocular
• light walking trousers for the evening (should have taken shorts)
• small first aid kit & leatherman micra
• buffs
• travel game (Struggle for Catan)
• spare drybag for laundry

Lessons learned

I forgot to take boil-bags and sporks for food when we didn't eat out.

Arguably I didn't need both the primaloft and a merino hoody for the evening - given the forecast was OK I only ended up wearing the primaloft on the last day, and that was to warm up while sitting in the cafe/walking around Lindisfarne. 

I could have done away with 3 synthetic t shirts and taken another merino to wear during the day (if I'd remembered to do the woollen washing a week earlier).

I didn't use my windproof at all. It's a comfortable thing in the right conditions but probably too niche to bother with for multi-day. 

A notepad and pen would have been nice.

Fellsman 2026 part 2 - post mortem

 Claire and I have (obviously) talked a lot about how the weekend panned out. Both of us had firsts to learn from - she'd been nervous about walking the whole thing and it turned out to be a massive success.

For my part, I wanted to understand what had gone so wrong that I never recovered at Cray. I've struggled at that point before, but not to the point of having to retire.

From the start, I thought I was managing OK. My pace was similar to last year, I consciously slowed down when I felt like I was overheating, but the wheels still fell off.

Here are what I think were the key failure points:-

1. I struggled with the scrum at Kingsdale. It was overcrowded and there were people (and poles) everywhere. I found it really intimidating and got out as soon as I could. That probably meant I didn't eat or drink enough. What I did eat was a couple of biscuits.
2. I was flustered at Dent by losing my survival bag (it turned up later - I'd mixed up the dry bags in my kit when repacking on the Friday night, my driving licence and survival bag were left behind). While rationally I knew once they'd said I was OK to continue that I was going to be OK, I just wanted to get out of there. Didn't eat or drink enough. The veggie option of cheese and onion rolls always makes me a little queasy, so maybe skip those next year.
3. At Stonehouse I stayed until I felt a bit better, but I still didn't eat enough. My baseline for "OK" was too low - similar at Redshaw.
4. Fleet Moss I stayed until I felt quite a bit better, but I could have eaten more bean stew and had a cup of tea and that might have made the difference. The cramp and the altra gaiters made it hard to change my socks (in spite of the incredibly kind help I received from another participant) and that wasted a lot of time I could have spent eating.
5. It's a long long way from Marsett to Stake Moss. I delayed eating because I was focusing on getting to the CP. I should have had food in the front pockets of my bag, at all times.
6. I had no conception of time at all at Cray. When the medics asked what I planned to do, I was saying "I'll feel better soon, and then maybe I could carry on". It wasn't until they told me I'd been there 2 hours that I realised it wasn't happening. If I'd remembered my glucometer I'd have been able to see what a shambles I was.
7. When I did eat, it was mostly "my mood is going, better have something sweet" then I never followed up with protein/fat/starch. 

Point 1 - feedback to the organisers, part of this is just the layout of Kingsdale lends itself to chaos. Also, carry a filter bottle. There were plenty of streams along the way, I could easily have replenished water as I do when out on my own.

Point 2 - keep spare/alternative stuff in a separate bag to the kit check bag. Once I've repacked the kit check bag should be empty, that tells me I haven't forgotten anything. That's what I've done in the past, but I was just rushing this year.

Point 3 & 6 - carry a glucometer. Check at defined, planned times.

Point 4 - Altra gaiters are no use at all on the Fellsman

Point 5 - I have front pockets in my bag. Use them. For proper food.

Point 7 - Unsurprisingly, this is the crux of it.

It's interesting that I have a harder time under event conditions where there is support than I do solo. I should stop taking CP food (I mostly didn't last year). I used to have a rule that I didn't eat sweet stuff on a race at all. In the last couple of years I've had some success eating tiny quantities of sugar to lift my mood. I think that's  tricked me into thinking I can get away with it, and this time I massively misjudged it. Each time I eat sugar to lift my mood the resulting crash is a little bit worse until I'm too ill to carry on.

The vomiting was unusual. I suspect dehydration was the culprit there, although I do have my doubts about the strength of that coffee.

There were multiple points where I could have avoided problems, mostly by drinking/eating more or waiting longer in CPs. I was worse at Cray than in previous years but avoiding any one of the failure points would probably have made the difference between "bad but finishing" and DNF.

Action points:

Carry a filter bottle

Carry a glucose meter

DO NOT EAT SWEET FOOD!

Write an explanation sheet, and carry it. Medics & CP teams rightly assume that someone presenting with diabetes-like symptoms should be treated as diabetic, and that won't help.

Fellsman 2026 - If it stops being fun, do something different

Warning. This is one of my longer posts, because there's a lot to remember next year.

tldr; I got dehydrated, didn't eat enough proper food, repeatedly ate sweet stuff to try and manage my mood and ended up severely hypo (worse than I've ever been in an event) at Cray. The dehydration made it difficult to keep food down to fix the problem. I ended up retiring after a couple of hours in the CP.

Some of it was good though - the new route via Marsett is great.

The end of April and once again the Fellsman comes around. A new route this year, via Marsett instead of the long road stretch to Yockenthwaite. Plus a less welcome but understandable diversion around the SSSI between Blea Moor and Boot of the Wold.

For anyone new to this, the Fellsman is an annual Scouting Association event, open to the public. It's been going since 1962 which makes it one of the longest standing ultra distance events in the UK. It's more of a fell race than a trail race, and traditionally more of a hike than a race. It's open to walkers as well as runners, with an overall cut off at 30 hours. It's 100km (actually more like 105km nowadays) and around 3800m of climb. Some of the terrain is pathless tussock and bog, much of it is pretty remote. The kit list is famously comprehensive (wind goggles, 5 long sleeved layers) and the kit check is notoriously thorough.

It has a longstanding following from the old-school fell/hill running community and an established culture and tradition. In recent years it's had to modernise a bit to attract enough entrants to keep going, but the resulting blend of modern and traditional is quite unique.

I've said before that the Fellsman always has something to teach you, more so than any other event I've done. The combination of time of year, terrain, kit requirements, horribly early start, and probably a few others make it unique, and that's what makes it compelling. It's harder than a lot of hundred mile events. I've never DNF'd the Fellsman before, so there are definitely things to learn here.

The weather forecast ahead of Saturday was warm and sunny. Apparently in the run up lots of people were posting on FB, emailing etc saying "Do we HAVE to take all this kit even though it's going to be sunny?!".

Yes, you absolutely do.

While I'm still not convinced the goggles belong on the mandatory list (advisory maybe) and I'd possibly welcome a slight further relaxation of the sleeves rule, I know only too well that a sunny day in the Dales in April can mean dangerously cold at Fleet Moss (and beyond) in the dark. The old routes used to bring us round the edge of Yockenthwaite Moor in the full force of the cold wind before Cray. The new route removes that, but adds a genuinely awful drawn out climb that slows you to a crawl, straight into the prevailing wind.

As usual we drove up Friday night and headed straight for registration. As usual the queue was enormous. It moved faster this year though, as the kit check wasn't "every item" as it has been in the past (although I still had the safety pins in my first aid kit counted). Since they were only asking for certain items it would probably have been quicker to take kit already packed (since you'll know where things are when they're packed, compared to loose in a big Ikea bag. One for the feedback form.

We saw Nick in the school hall and went over for a chat, then went back to the quarry to pack our rucksacks and get some sleep. We were packed by 10pm, and in bed by 1045.

The alarm at 4.50 was horrifying, particularly being the 3rd saturday in a row (Calderdale Hike, Birthday Bash, Fellsman). We got dressed and brushed teeth, then went to get the bus to the school. At the school we had time to drop off finish bags and have a brew, then we were on the bus to Ingleton.

More tea and last minute bag tweaks at Ingleton, and problem number one:  I couldn't find my driving licence. Thankfully I had a photo of it and the checkers were happy with that. We got down on the field, and after a briefing we were away at 8:32.

I had a list of my CP times from last year, and my tentative plan was to pace myself roughly on that. I got to the top of Ingleborough in 58 minutes - 2 minutes up on last year which was close enough to be satisfactory. On the plateau crossing I caught my toe under a large flat rock that already had my other foot on it and pulled HARD on my left hamstring. It hurt a lot and bothered me until past Gragareth.

At the Hill Inn. I was still bang on schedule. I was pleased to see another runner holding a gate for a farm vehicle as we passed through and had a chat with her along the next section. It was feeling a bit warm, but quite early yet. A couple of biscuits at the Hill Inn and a swig of my peanut butter.

The 3 Peaks crew were much further along in their preparations than usual, and there were a couple of marshalls and a raynet member standing by at the bottom of the steps. The radio operator was startled to get a "7 3" from me as I passed (an all purpose "best wishes" type of code used by radio amateurs - more like "bye" but probably the nearest thing to "eyup").

I was passing a few people as I climbed, but nothing excessive and I kept my pace down once I reached the track. Clip & Felltrack at the summit, then start to descend. I passed Karen on this stretch as I usually do, along with Bill Johnson just behind her. My shoe was rubbing so I stopped to adjust laces and grabbed some malt loaf out of my bag.

The descent to Kingsdale was fine, and I reached the CP bang on time having dropped the 2 minutes gained. I drank half a litre of water, refilled my bottle, ate a couple of biscuits and got on. Claire and I talked about this later - the layout of the CP at Kingsdale makes it prone to congestion and difficult to get at food and water. I could probably have done with more water and food here, but the crowding was freaking me out. That's a problem I've had in CPs in other events, and before at this one.

Gragareth is famously hard work, but I enjoy it. I pushed on up to the top, seeing Julian Brown coming back from the CP as I approached it. Julian is a similar speed to me these days so I was OK with my pacing.

The top of the ridge was a bit less boggy than usual, although I was starting to feel the sun a bit. With hindsight this should have been the point where I rethought my plan for the day. I soon got to Great Coum, staying a bit too long on the path away from the CP before cutting down the hill, I saw a nice neat trod below me and backtracked a little to get down the left hand side of the reentrant to join it. I was already cramping a bit, but that's happened before here and wasn't an alarm bell. Yet.

Clipped at the CP and on down the track. Flinter Gill was as unpleasant as Flinter Gill always is. Claire says it's fine if you just stop trying to run and walk down it, and it isn't noticeably slower.

I reached Dent CP and was directed to kit check, as I expected. This was problem number two of the day. No sign of my survival bag. I went through my kit thoroughly. Not a trace, The kit checker went away to confer and came back. I was informed that although I was missing an item of mandatory kit, they were happy that I was carrying so much warm gear plus the famous poncho, that they were happy for me to proceed. I could get kit checked again, and wasn't guaranteed to avoid a DQ but for their part they were OK with it. Big relief, but I was now really flustered and I think that added another straw to the camel.

I filled up with water (2 bottles this time, since I'd pulled my second bottle out whilst looking through my bag), picked up a couple of cheese rolls (which I think I might avoid next time - I'm not sure they agree with me) and a brew and set off walking.

The road section out of Dent isn't too awful and I soon reached the Craven Way. I pushed a bit up the hill, but didn't run at all, and I was starting to feel a bit crap. I think I'd already not eaten enough or drunk enough - it came on very quickly.

I walked across the top of the moor, barely running at all. At one point I decided that I was just not enjoying myself any more, and should stop off for a rest and some food. This was a theme all day, and it's a dangerous cycle for me: "low mood, eat something sweet, recover, low mood again, eat something sweet". The sugar spikes and drops from the sweet stuff feed the low mood and the whole thing cycles downhill until I'm (spoiler alert) wrapped in a blanket at Cray. Again.

Just as I was getting up again Julian caught me up and I ran/walked along with him and chatted for a while. He was having trouble with his hip, and his knee where he'd fallen on Ingleborough and had decided to take it slow today.

Down at Force Gill there were a few folk not sure of where or how to cut across. The way marker points to Blea Moor once you get down close enough to the bridge, but the path is a bit vague and not really visible. On the other side I climbed up to the main track then, after a short way, cut right towards the summit. It might have been better to stay down by the stream a bit longer - I need to investigate this route a bit. The climb to the summit was long and difficult, although the ground isn't too rough - apparently there's a good trod to the summit if you stay on the track long enough.

I clipped at the summit and carried on walking, with little bits of running down through the woods towards Stonehouse. Once on the road I ran the rest of the way quite steadily to the CP, then stopped in Stonehouse for a long pause to get myself on a better footing. Lots of water, tea, mediterranean pastry swirl and some cheese wraps, but probably not enough. I could have stomached a lot more food here, and since I planned on walking a while that would have been OK. I still felt a bit rough with sore legs when I left the CP and started up Arten Gill. I was definitely in much worse shape than I've been here in previous years.

At the top of Great Knoutberry I checked the tracker, and Claire was at Stonehouse, so not far behind me. I debated waiting for her at the top of Arten Gill and decided to carry on but figured she'd catch me up eventually.

Still walking pretty much all the time, I crossed the moor to Redshaw. At Redshaw I was feeling quite bad. I had a hot dog wrap, some more malt loaf, a couple of biscuits and some tea. Someone's poles slid off the table onto my head while I was sat, which startled me and left tea everywhere. While I laughed it off at the time I was a bit irritated by it later - pole etiquette is really starting to be a problem, both out on the course and in CPs.

Andy McFie popped up while I was regrouping, and left the CP a couple of minutes ahead of me. I went in the bog up to my knee by staying too close to the fence (should have known better). At Snaizeholme I clipped and carried on, trying to run a little bit.

I ran quite a bit over the Snaizeholme estate section to the Cam road, and again along the track to the turning up Dodd Fell. My quads were cramping on the climb, but actually no worse than last year. I started to think I might be on top of things now the sun was dropping and it was getting cooler.

Across the delightful bogs of Dodd Fell and through the beaconed gates to Fleet Moss CP. No sign of Dirk, apparently he'd been pig-napped particularly early this year.

At Fleet Moss I had planned to layer up and change my socks. I'd got very cold on Dodd Fell and could see my breath in the marquee. A kindly fellow participant who'd retired helped me to get socks and shoes over my wet, cold, macerated feet, and I ate some bean stew. The bean stew was an amazing restorative and I left Fleet Moss feeling genuinely better. Until I got outside where it was absolutely chuffing freezing. My quads were still pretty sore, but I managed to get running down the road. So, so cold though.

Problem three: while sorting evening kit out at Fleet Moss I discovered that I hadn't locked my head torch and it had been on in my bag all day. It was pancake flat. Obviously being me I had a 2nd lamp that was just as powerful as the main one, so that was OK. 2 head torches or a spare battery - excessive? Obviously not. The point of the Fellsman mandatory kit is to get round no matter what the eventuality, and an accidentally discharged main light shouldn't stop you.

I got onto the path down to Marsett and acquired a couple of companions who didn't know the route. I was mostly on top of it, although I did fail to spot the same left hand path coming out of a gate that we missed during the recce. Annoying, given that I'd made a point to remember.  I had a lovely chat with a guy who came from Edinburgh and who was doing the Fellsman as BG prep. When we got to Marsett his wife and kids were there to cheer him on, which was really sweet.

Back on the way. Up to Stalling Busk with a group of 3 others. I know this section pretty well. The climb was hard going and it was getting really cold again. I put off eating until we reached the CP, which was a mistake as it was a lot further up the track than I remembered. The crossing to Cray was shorter though, and we were soon descending to Cray CP. 

At Cray one of the medics looked at me: "are you OK?", "mmm, not sure to be honest". They parked me in front of the heater and fed me rice pudding and some unbelievably strong coffee. The medic came over to check on me and "Mmm, feeling a bit better but sorryIhavetoleavetheroomrightnow". Much vomiting later they parked me in the medical tent and kept an eye. We had the usual explaining about fast gut emptying and reactive hypoglycaemia. I really need to print out and laminate a card for these occasions. Claire arrived when I'd been there maybe 90 minutes, and stayed until the medics told me I definitely shouldn't continue.

I would have preferred to stay at the CP and eventually carry on, but my time sense was pretty badly messed up and I wasn't aware that I'd been there for 2 hours plus already, so the chances of me improving enough weren't great. When I get very hypoglycaemic the effect is very much like diabetes and my awareness is severely impaired (like being drunk), and it can take a fair while to come back. The medic crew at Cray were fantastic and took really good care of me, and were rightly firm with me when I wasn't thinking clearly. 

So, Claire headed onwards at my insistence, and I settled down with a brew to wait for the bus back to Threshfield. I had an enjoyable chat with Chris Driver about all things Fellsman (Chris has been involved with the Fellsman for 40 years), met lots of other participants on their way through the checkpoint, and generally had quite a nice time considering. Back at the school after a flannel wash (hot water!) I bumped into fellow Craggrunner volunteer Ben Foulds and we had a chat over some food. 

It was disappointing not to finish, but I do keep trying to remind myself you can't always guarantee to get through any ultra distance event, and especially the Fellsman. Too many things went wrong yesterday. I'll probably dissect the problems in a separate post. In the meantime I'm both philosophical and bitterly disappointed.

Claire eventually came in at somewhere around 22 hours. She'd walked practically every step, and spent half an hour with me at Cray. If I'd binned the idea of running as soon as it got rough going, at least until the sun dropped and it got cooler, I'd probably have finished and not spent most of the day feeling sick and hating it. That's the big lesson for me from this year - if it's stopped being fun, slow down to a fast walk, take rests and treat it as a slower outing. I tried to do that, but left it too late.

DNFing did also give me the opportunity to see things from slightly behind the scenes. The size of the logistical undertaking at the Fellsman staggers me. No other grassroots volunteer run event has anything like this complexity. If I wasn't so wedded to taking part I'd love to be on the other side.

It's noticeable that they've gained a lot of new sponsors, as well as managing to fill the event completely this year. In many ways it's a different event to what it was in the old days, but enough of the old culture persists for it to still be a fantastic event. It's a hard tightrope for the organisers to walk - modernising enough to get the numbers and keep the event alive, whilst still retaining it's essence. I can only applaud everyone involved for how well they have done and continue to do that.

Things that worked well

• Clip (like a small clothes peg) to hold my tally on my rucksack
• Mild cheddar wraps should have been OK, but the heat, nausea and dehydration stopped me eating
• T shirt and separate sleeves.
• The mediterranean swirl was actually OK, a reasonable substitute for cheese scones. I should have taken two. Or maybe 3, and fewer cheese wraps.
• My watch lasted far longer than expected on ultramax mode and accuracy didn't seem to suffer.
• The (maybe 20) extra grams of carrying the Zebralight saved me from a retirement at Fleet Moss - a good backup torch is a better idea than something minimal.

Things that didn't

• Not convinced by the SeaToSummit mug. The tea tasted rubbery and unpleasant. The Whitefurze screw tops are better.
• Spare bottle should have been to hand so I could fill it without stopping to look for it.
• Altra gaiters with King MTs are a waste of time and just make it hard to get shoes on/off.
• I concentrated too much on "big food" and didn't eat malt loaf/cereal bars that might have helped. I found 3 nut bars in my bag afterwards, I should have eaten those.
• The Altra King MTs rubbed on the top of my foot above my big toe, which they haven't done before.

Lessons learned

• I'll repeat it, because it's important: if it stops being fun, do something different. It's better to finish slow than burn out. I knew this, and I did slow down, but much too late and I wasn't committed enough to it.
• More food in the front of the bag. It's fine to carry food in the back when walking, but when running it needs to be accessible.
• Gaiters, for Altra King MTs. Almost entirely pointless.
• When things start to go wrong, don't worry about eating a lot of food and feeling bloated. I could have eaten more at Stonehouse, and should have.
• It's a feckin long way from Stalling Busk to Stake Moss CP - EAT FOOD!
• Water was probably THE key problem
• I didn't drink enough at Kingsdale due to the crowding and jostling
• I should carry a filter bottle on the Fellsman

Kit

• Ember insulated windproof
• inov8 primaloft
• Element waterproof
• UD Fastpack 20
• goggles (bog standard woodworking goggles)
• foil poncho
• SOL survival bag
• sleeves
• short sleeved shirt (saunders one)
• Bridgedale merino socks (plus second pair in bag)
• Altra King MT 2.0 shoes
• 2nd baselayer (long sleeved)
• windproof gilet
• cycling hat
• buffalos
• OMM windproof gloves
• compass
• Petzl torch
• Zebralight spare torch -
• spare socks
• Buffs
• Shorts
• OMM leggings
• survival bag
• first aid kit
• waterproof trousers
• whistle
• race number belt 
• clip to hold tally on rucksack pocket
• Sea to Summit mug
• plastic bags for bits of food
• powerbank & watch cable
• gaiters
• two water bottles (UD ones)
• ID
• glasses
• soft cup for rice pudding etc
• spork
• Fellsman 26 map

Total bag weight was around 5kg. It felt like a lot, but looking at FB posts it was pretty normal.

Food

• Peanut butter
• salted cashews
• salted peanuts
• Cheese wraps
• malt loaf
• jaffa cakes
• chocolate buttons
• mediterranean swirl

Finish kit

• Shower gel
• flannel
• towel
• warm clothes

Calderdale Hike 2026 - a cake lovers paradise

The Calderdale Hike is one of the 'old school' events - a longstanding fundraising event for the Scouts that was popular long before people even talked about "trail racing". The first time I did the Hike was in 2019, when I first started doing a lot of ultra-distance events. It was on Claire's "always wanted to do" list, and we needed some mileage ahead of the Fellsman/Hundred, so it was a natural one to do this year.

Lovely rainbow greeting us back to Sowerby

Some other random connections with the Calderdale Hike: it's closely linked with Calderdale Radio Volunteers (the emergency comms branch of Halifax and District Radio Society, my local group since I started experimenting with amateur radio earlier this year). It used to be a regular part of the Runfurther series - I was in the thick of the issues with results in 2022, and the acrimonious disputes between "walkers" and "slow runners" about the early start. More on that later.

One of the things that's unusual about the Calderdale Hike is the regular change in route. Every 3 years there is an entirely new route with new CPs. It's a nav event, although a suggested route is published on the website (as a pdf map, not as a GPX). In an ideal world you work out the route you want to follow ahead of time, consider alternatives and make decisions. For the second time I had to do that in a big hurry, although it did work out mostly OK.

There is a distinct early start for walkers on the long route, which is very early indeed. This is the point that has been at issue in previous years - slow runners who weren't confident about finishing in 11 hours have entered as walkers, and some very competitively minded walkers have seen running as "cheating" and complained to the organisers. Obviously no organiser wants to invite complaints from participants so a firm exhortation is given that any running on the part of a self-declared "walker" is against the rules.

It's worth noting that the fastest walker was (again) Bernard Corfe, who disappeared into the distance from the start at an absolutely astonishing rate and finished far faster than a lot of the runners, without ever running a step. The difference between running and walking is ambiguous, especially at very long cross country distances, and at olympic race walking levels often cameras are needed to discern the difference. 

IMO if you're interested in competing, then it's a race. If it's a hike, you shouldn't care if someone else finishes faster.

...anyway...

We got up to Sowerby at about 6.30am. What seemed like half of Calderdale rescue team was on kit check. They were a bit dubious about my quite worn Altra Lone Peaks (oops, never even thought about that!) but let them pass.

There were only about 15 people on the early walking start, and we got going more or less on the dot at 7. Most people took the same route down the hill along the walled steps, then through the mill on the other side. After that a few people took different routes up the hill.

After the first CP the far side of Norland Moor we carried on along the road before realising we'd missed our turn. Some faffing about and some really nasty paths (a lot of paths in the vicinity of Sowerby Bridge are little maintained, and uncooperative landowners are a bit of a plague) we got back onto our chosen route. A weird wiggle through someone's yard that involved shoving a pallet out of the way, then a steep climb up a muddy bank (all perfectly legit paths) took us to Barkisland and more familiar paths.

Withens Clough from the Calderdale Way

The next CP was by Ringstone res. Many antenna were in evidence, and this was a theme at all the CPs for the rest of the day. I was nosying to see what they were (mostly 2m I think). Someone had been fairly close behind us for quite some time, but we lost track of him just after this CP as he took a different route down to Ryburn.

Our route to Ryburn wasn't fantastic. We took a direct route round the moor instead of faffing around small paths, but the stile was missing at the end of the farmland and we had to clamber a bit (yes, still a legitimate path!).

At Ryburn we were on paths we'd used in some of Chris Goddard's local walks, and we crossed the bridge and started heading up to Ryburn res, munching through some pastries on the way. On the way around the res we passed a group of half a dozen or so who had started just behind us. I think they went the right way when we went wrong at the first CP.

Up past Baitings res (cake at the CP!) and on up Manshead. This is very familiar ground for me - I've been up this way a few times lately. On the way over Manshead we passed another few people, then we opted to take the Calderdale Way rather than the path by the river. That meant we could push on fast rather than faffing with the steep steps. I later calculated that it was about .5km further, but still think it was probably faster (.5km at 10min/km == 5 mins. I'm pretty sure faffing with the steep slippy steps down from Turvin lane, plus picking through the mud before arriving at the Hinch would take longer).

At the Hinch we ate some (more) cake and pushed on. Up the steep slope towards Stoodley Pike and down the other side. We caught up the group of 4 who'd opted for the road early on just here, although it seemed like they were losing one of their party as he was limping badly.

Down to Stoodley Lane and we paused to remove waterproofs (and eat more cake) before heading up towards Blackshaw and Dukes Cut. There was some sort of altercation going on at Dukes Cut as someone was making a very big production of getting a small 4x4 through a very large gap. More cake.

At the far end of Dukes Cut we took the Hoofstones Fell Race route towards the Hameldons before turning right on a clear path I'd never used before that took us all the way over to the Pennine Bridleway above Widdop. Nice path, one I'll use again.

Widdop. LOTS of cake! An easy stretch along the road, with a couple of minor turns to get to Walshaw. At Walshaw two runners came up behind us wondering about the best way. We suggested the track down through Hardcastle (which was our route choice, although not the recommended route), and then the rain started to hammer down and we put waterproofs back on.

All the way  through Hardcastle to the Blue Pig (EVEN MORE CAKE, very very jolly volunteers!) and then along Hebden Water into Hebden Bridge, which was heaving with early evening boozy tourists. Along the Greenway to Mytholmroyd, and the CP was in the bus shelter near the bottom of Hall Bank.

We walked briefly with a medium route walker up Hall Bank but pushed on ahead, through Nab End quarry and along Moor Lane to Moor End and the final CP. As I expected the path across the road from the CP was blocked (it has been for years) so we followed the road down to Mirey Lane, taking the path across the fields to cut out a pointless tarmac loop.

Down through Sowerby village and back to the cricket club to complete the route in 10 hrs 45. We could actually have entered as runners, just about!

The finish was quieter than last time I did the event, and a delicious jacket spud and a cup of tea were very welcome. We chatted for a while with two runners who'd been timed out at Widdop, before packing up and heading home.

I didn't enjoy the Calderdale Hike so much the first time I did it. I found the cliquey-ness of the local running clubs rather hostile. This time I really enjoyed it, it's just my kind of event.

Massive thank you to everyone involved in organising - all the volunteers on the CPs and at the cricket club were really friendly, and thank you to whoever baked all that cake.

Radio stuff

I took a little Lora-aprs tracker with me to see how much of the route had coverage. It did pretty well except for the empty wastelands over near the Hameldons and Widdop.

Kit

• Montane element stretch waterproof
• Kalenji waterproof trousers
• Patagonia Terrebonne jogging bottoms
• short sleeve awdis t-shirt
• Rab fleece hoodie
• Paramo Fuera windproof (black one)
• UD Fastpack 15
• compass
• OL21 map
• malt loaf
• Ti thermos of chai
• UD water bottle
• Patagonia nanopuff gilet
• buffalo gloves
• SOL survival bag
• buffs
• Zebralight head torch
• SOTA lora-aprs radio
• First aid kit (blue one)
• Altra Lone Peaks
• Bridgedale socks
• powerstretch gloves
• Ron Hill cap

Food carried

• Malt loaf
• salted cashews
• couple of nut bars

Saddleworth 15 Res's - blagging sweeping duty for a nice day out

 Sweeping is the plum job everyone wants, mostly. Most of the time I do whatever job needs doing, but once in a while I'll actively request a jolly. Last year's 15 res's was one of those, but unfortunately I wasn't able to complete the route as the final runner got timed out a long way behind cut off, and I had to cut the route short and run in a more direct way.

This year I asked again, in the hope of getting to the end. I did, just about. But we'll come to that later.

The 15 Res's is the ultra distance route in the Saddleworth Res's event. You can do 5 (about 25km), 10 (the original route, a beast of a fell/trail marathon) or 15 (similar to the 10, but 61km with 2000m of ascent and obviously 5 more reservoirs). The Saddleworth Res's is one of the bigger events run by Craggrunner, and one of the most popular.

Claire and I stayed down at the venue (Saddleworth Cricket Club) Friday night, and got up about 6.15. Registration started at 7 but people started arriving earlier, so we were straight onto kit check and registration pretty much as soon as we got out of bed. I had a couple of pain au chocolat and some nice coffee while I handed out maps and t-shirts to participants. It was a mad rush for the first hour, thankfully I'd packed everything the night before but did almost set off with the wrong shoes on. I picked up a map (last year's map - this is important later...) and marked up my marshalling point, made sure I had food, emergency kit, first aid gear etc. About 4-5kg in total, a good weight to be carrying for a long day of training.

Near Greenfield Res

I needed to be setting off at 7.30 to get to my marshalling point at "the easy route" junction. The climb up Rimmon Pit Clough is gnarly and difficult, and there is the option of climbing up onto the side of the clough and bypassing the rocks. No one took it this year though, and quite rightly - I regard the character building experience of Rimmon Pit to be the highlight of the race.

Once the last of the 15 runners came past, my fellow sweeper Emma arrived. She was to join me from here until Marsden (or Castleshaw depending on how she felt). We hadn't met before, and set off up the track chatting.

There were still early start 10 res runners coming up - the cut offs on the 10 are much more generous than the 15 - so we were gradually working our way up the clough and standing aside for runners to come through. Once we got up onto the moor top it was a bit easier, and we trundled along talking about work, running etc.

At the A635 road crossing CP someone had left a tracker for me - we'd been short on trackers for crew in the morning, so a few had been reassigned later from the ones where people hadn't showed up. That reminded me to switch on the Lora/aprs tracker I've been experimenting with. I scarfed down some bits of malt loaf, peanuts, mini cheddars etc and we got going.

We were trying to push along and get the back of the pack into view. This got easier once we split from the 10 res route, and we caught them up at Castleshaw CP.

At Castleshaw I stopped off for a brew and munched my way through more peanuts, a few wraps and a small amount of sweet stuff. Then on we went once more, walking fast up the road and then up the track. We made a slight nav error here (I was conserving watch power by sticking to the paper map and took the wrong track) then cut down through the fields to the path. More field paths, and then we were at the control on the fence near Rooden reservoir. Back across the horse field and up a concrete lane, then more fields all the way to the stream crossing under Pule Hill. This was a lot shallower than last time I'd crossed it (the Stanza Stones route in October) but still cold. Emma was starting to feel the climbs a bit and I eased off climbing up to the road.

The path isn't very distinct on the way round Pule Hill, but eventually we were on obvious field paths and tracks, then down to the road and up to Marsden Cricket Club where we found Steve, Sally and Max on CP duty, and a few runners just finishing up.

I stopped for a natter with Sally and a quick cup of tea while Steve nipped out to collect the signage, then said goodbye to Emma and headed out. Once again I wasn't clear on the right route out of the cricket club, but after a quick chat with Steve sorted it out. I pushed on fairly hard up the track to Wessenden as I wanted to keep the rearmost runners just about in sight, and once I saw them I eased off.

At Wessenden CP I caught them up again, and stood around for a while chatting. Stu Smith was there representing Peak Medical which was a nice surprise (reminds me, must book my First Aid refresher...). Stu checked I'd picked up my tracker - he'd delivered it to the previous road crossing CP. Once the runners got ahead I set off to keep them just about in sight.

Hopping over the wall at the nearest stile, I stopped to put my insulated windproof on as it was getting chilly. The Pennine Way climb up Black Hill is a series of small reentrants, and I couldn't see the runners ahead of me. Eventually I caught a glimpse as they reached the top of the climb and onto the plateau, and they were perhaps 3 minutes ahead.

They hung around the trig for a few minutes, and as I approached they started shouted "oh no, it's the sweeper - GO BACK!". So I hid behind a peat hag.

Once they moved on, I went up to the trig, ate a nut bar and did some bag faffing. I did notice that they seemed to be heading off slightly more westerly than I would have expected, but last time I was here I went well past the trig before heading south, so I didn't think it was particularly odd.

Once I'd finished bag-faffing I set off after them, and quickly noticed that the trod I was following was heading west rather than south. I veered round and got on to try and get them in sight again. About this time my phone started ringing, but every time I answered it cut off. Eventually it worked long enough for Claire to tell me that they'd gone the wrong way, and could I try and attract their attention.

I got onto a high peat hag overlooking the valley and gave a few hard blasts of the whistle. I could faintly hear voices but couldn't see anyone. Eventually after a few minutes of whistling I spotted them heading back along a fence line towards the right route, so I started making my way to meet them where they met the route.

It later turned out one of their party had hearing problems but was faster than the others, and had taken off in the wrong direction but couldn't hear them calling him! They eventually rounded him up and got back on track.

I was keeping an eye on progress and the overall average pace was still around 11:40 min/km, so as long as they kept the pace up they'd get in before the cut off. They pushed along well across Tooleyshaw Moss, and as we dropped down to Crowden I caught them up. I was looking at the map in my hand, which said the cut off at Crowden was 17:45, so I told them they had about ten minutes.

The back of the pack on Tooleyshaw Moss

There was a bit of a debate at Crowden - it turned out the correct cut off for this year was 17:30 (I had last year's map, remember?), but they were moving well so I advocated for them to carry on.

We set off from Crowden again, and I caught them up very quickly getting head torches out etc. One of the party was Lee (The Sunday Pootle), and he was putting his Gopro light on. I chatted with him as we climbed Laddow rocks, about races and training.

A couple of navigation questions on the climb up, but I know this bit pretty well and we were OK. I could see the time ebbing away though, and they really needed to speed up once we got on the flat at the top. The next few km are boggy and wet, but OK ground and I hoped they'd be able to pick it up a bit. Sadly I think tiredness and the stiff climb had got the better of them and we plodded slowly as far as Chew.

At Chew, Claire phoned through to one of them to let them know we were going to close the course and they needed to drop down the road. I stayed with them to the top of the road, where I found a load of signage. Ah. What about the signage?

I tried ringing Daz, but he'd left his phone behind when he set off up to Dovestone car park to collect us. Claire said he'd planned to bring in the signage the next day, but I was certain that a) our timed out runners were fine on the tarmac and weren't in any danger, and b) I could collect all the signage from the rest of the course and still get back in not much longer than it would take to collect them and transport them by road.

I picked up one 40cm x 40cm signboard and the big metal pole holding it, then ran at a brisk pace over Alphin Pike pulling pin flags as I went. I got a call to say 2 people were showing on the Open Tracking page as static on the summit, but I was only a few minutes away so should be able to reach them quickly in case there was an issue. As it turned out, the tracking was incorrect and they were just about at the finish.

Down the steep rocky final descent laden with flags and poles, collected a few more signboards on the roadside, and I got back to the cricket club a couple of minutes after Daz arrived with the timed out group. Disappointing - I'd hoped to beat them!

A much better situation than last year, when I arrived pretty much as we had to vacate the venue - I was able to have a leisurely pie and some cheesecake as there were still a few people around. 

It was a shame the last few weren't able to complete - we do our best to get everyone round as much as possible, but with an ETA past the time that we needed to hand back the venue we had to pull them out. Lee got an eventful day of filming, it should make a good video!

Thanks to all the marshals who fed and watered us on the way round, and the race control team who kept an eye on everyone.

tracking from aprs - radio-nerdfest

Kit

• Patagonia Terrebonne jogging bottoms. They were fine until I had to run hard, then they were a bloody nuisance. Too tight around the calves, they tend to pull down.
• Awdis fluo green long sleeved top
• Altra King MT 2.0 - trying them out for the Fellsman, they were ideal
• UD Fastpak 20 rucksack
• Ron Hill running cap
• Montane polartec alpha pull on
• Montane Element waterproof
• Kalenji waterproof over trousers
• Bridgedale merino socks
• Kalenji lycra undershorts
• Montane windproof gilet
• Montane prism jacket
• 3 pairs gloves
• 3 hats
• 2 person emergency shelter
• group first aid kit
• poles
• ti thermos
• water bottle
• Lora APRS radio (reasonable coverage of the route once I left the Dovestone valley)
• Survival bag
• marine whistle
• Suunto compass
• lots of buffs
• Petzl Nao headtorch
• Zebralight H600fw backup torch

Food

• 4 cheese scones (ate one)
• nut bars (ate 3)
• peanuts, several humous wraps, some jaffa cakes, lots of malt loaf

Litter found

Nothing that looked likely to be from the race.

• A wrecked walking pole
• A well rain-rinsed gel packet
• various small bits of plastic waste

Lessons

• Navigation from Black Hill trig towards Tooleyshaw Moss is a problem, we should probably flag it.
• Comms is a serious problem in the latter third of the course. Mobile phone coverage is really patchy at Crowden, and even worse up on the tops. We might be able to do something with mesh or voice radio for this.
• We need a handy laminated card for sweepers with the cut offs (and signage to collect?) - a multi page pdf is of limited use when you're standing in a bog with no mobile signal. I'd printed out a single sheet with various bits on, but it was too big to have handy along with my map. Maybe have a single sheet of sweeper instructions accompanying the map on waterproof paper.
• The cut offs on the 15 Res's have no leeway at all. On other events we can usually be flexible, but on this one we have absolutely no breathing room.
• The Alphin Pike finish is much much better than the Chew Road (although the last bit of the traditional route through the woods is quite nice).

I make this ultra number 43. Getting close to the 50!

Trollers Trot

 I did Trollers Trot as an organised event in maybe 2010 or so. I don't remember exactly what year, and information online is sparse. My memory of it was very vague, and was confused with other events that start at Threshfield.

Claire wanted to get some distance in. We're entered for the Fellsman this year, and while I did quite a bit last year between solos and a few races, injury has got in the way for her for the last 14 months. We've been picking off some of the LDWA "any time challenge" routes over the last couple of years.

So, Saturday morning we got up inhabitually early and drove out to the southern end of the Dales. The traditional LDWA route starts from the Bolton Abbey car park, but I was reluctant to give the duke 15 quid for storing my van for the day, so we set off from Hetton instead. That turned out to be an unexpected blessing.

I'd had a bit of a battle with the GPSs that morning and been unable to get the gpx file onto a handheld. I'd put it on a phone, and in any case a quick look suggested I knew the route pretty well. We set off along the road to Cracoe in the rain.

At Cracoe we crossed the road and walked up to the church. We've both been this way several times before, so we were reasonably OK with where we were going.

Once we got onto the moor things got to be a bit hard work. The wind was driving the drizzle into our faces as we headed east across the fell. The clag was thick, no view was possible, and occasionally we'd pass other walkers or MTBers on the estate track. It was a fair old way across the moor to the road crossing at Halton Moor (10km or so), and we were looking forward to a break from the weather. The unexpected blessing though was that we got the grimmest section done right at the start.

From Halton Moor to Bolton Abbey was familiar as we'd passed this way fairly recently, although it was foggy that time too. This is a lovely stretch in nice weather, and I resolved to plan a route that crossed it on a summer evening, as I used to on my long mid week runs home from work. We remembered to pay a visit to Middle Hare Head, adding that to our Summit Bag list, and dropped through the pleasant plantation into Bolton Abbey. Turning right towards the hole in the wall and the village proper, in order to join the official route as defined by the LDWA gpx file, we opted for an early food stop at 'Tea on the Green'. After a very welcome spell of warm and dry, a nice lunch (egg mayo sandwich for Claire, onion bhaji wrap for me) we went back out into the slightly improved weather and crossed the river. At Cavendish Pavilion we took the turf zone on the bridge, then carried on along the river and up the hill to climb towards the Valley of Desolation.

We'd passed this way recently too, and spent some time talking about the walks we'd done around here. The path along the beck was distinctly dodgy with some slippery ground, and we were glad to clear it into the plantation at the top. From there it's a longish trudge uphill to Simon's Seat. We encountered a group of young men in full waterproofs at one of the picnic spots, and they were pretty much the only people we saw all day

Around about this point was (as I found out later) when I got a positive radio link. I've recently been learning about amateur radio, and was carrying a dual band vhf/uhf handset broadcasting APRS every 5 minutes (don't worry if you don't understand or give a bugger about any of this). I got a few connections with a gateway on the far side of Bradford 26km away on the way up to Simon's Seat, which was a nice milestone for me.

At Simon's Seat we visited the trig, admired the view of a solid wall of fog, and picked our way down the hill towards Skyreholme. Some birds were taunting us by calling, then stopping as soon as we got Merlin or BirdNet running on phones.

Down at the lane we crossed onto a path across farmland, and I had a chuckle about the rather loudmouthed runner I'd met here when I did the LDWA event.

Skyreholme.

So. I am a bit of a torch nerd. I never go anywhere without a torch. I'm mildly obsessive on the subject of torches anyway, I had actually thought on first leaving the van "I'm not sure I've got my torch". Given that I have OCD and my brain is a constant clamour of "CHECK THE THING, CHECK THE THING" and the one thing that you absolutely-must-not-do as an OCDer is listen to the evil OCD fairy saying "CHECK THE THING", I had ignored these misgivings.

This was a bad thing.

A very bad thing.

Because on digging into my bag to get my torch out at Skyreholme, I discovered that the OCD fairy was, for pretty much the first bloody time in my entire life, not kidding. I *had* left my head torch on the bed in the camper.

Fuck, frankly.

But, we are nothing if not practical and my beloved was carrying a spare torch. Not a head torch, but the Zebralight SC53 I had lovingly gifted her after she'd mentioned needing a backup. As backups go this was a pretty good option - I know it'll last 3 hours comfortably on medium, which is tolerable for walking. Plus I had about an hours worth of light from my "if all else fails" Olight in my first aid kit. So, we were OK for now. Plus we were a couple of hours from Threshfield which features a late night Coop and a petrol station. All good.

We carried on up the stunning Trollers Gill, the showpiece of the route. We were starting to lose the light but it was still a striking view. We hadn't come this way up the Gill before and it was really impressive. A few minutes pause for a cup of chai (handy hint - tea is rank from a thermos. chai tastes perfectly ok even after a few hours).

On the other side of the road from the gill we got onto the endless farm track down to Woodhouse. Claire had been here last out of the two of us, for the FRA relays. We were having a lovely time walking through the fog and the dark.

The path was a bit slidey and hard work down into Woodhouse, then we were onto the river bank. Here we could get some distance covered quite quick, as it was getting late and we were conscious of not having spare batteries for the torch. We soon got to Burnsall and made a note to come back and eat at the pub (I've eaten there a few times, it's good). I was fretting a bit about the suspension bridge. I wasn't relishing the idea of crossing it with Claire's torch in my hand, the OCD fairy would make that a very unpleasant experience ("THROW IT IN, THROW IT IN"), but I had the brilliant idea of zipping it in a pocket and lighting my way with my cheapo emergency light for the crossing.

After the bridge we slipped and slid our way up to the weir at Threshfield and crossed over. Last time I was here (about 20 years ago) there were fish visible from the bridge, but the stream was too fast and muddy today.

Some road wiggling through Threshfield brought us to Threshfield PRIMARY school, and suddenly everything made sense. My mental reconstruction of the route was based on it starting at the secondary (where the Fellsman finishes) which never fitted with my recollection. The primary school looked familiar and completed the picture.

A quick out and back to the garage for batteries, crisps and some food for our dinner and we were on to the final leg. We turned off the busy main road early and sneaked illicitly through a gate onto Moor Lane, then walked fast up the tarmac, then gravel, then finally bog out onto Boss Moor. A gate led to a small pond, and I suddenly knew exactly where I was. As we crossed Boss Moor to the road the rain stiffened and it started to get unpleasant, but we only had about 3km to go. Down the walled track to the moor above Winterburn reservoir, then slippy wet grass down to the gate into Moor Lane. It was getting wetter and wetter, but we were soon back in the village.

We dumped waterproofs in the back of the van, grabbed dry clothes and jumped in the cab, stripping off and changing opposite the rather gastronomic Angel at Hetton. But the windows of the van were steamed up and it was dark.

Leaving the village about 9.30pm, we were home around 10.20 and some quick sauteeing got dinner ready before 11. A long-ish day in heavy rain, but nice to get an ultra-just-about distance done, an interesting bit of personal history revisited in an area I love, and a very enjoyable day out. Next time I'll remember a spare torch.

46km/1300m. 10 1/2 hours elapsed, including a leisurely lunch.