12.56 miles, 3,763 feet, 4 hours 3 minutes: Fairfield c/w. In cloud throughout - cloud base at about 400 feet. Visibility down to 30 metres or so at times. Not much wind. Extensive sheets of ice on the lower paths, lots of snow higher up, averaging about six inches deep, but with lots of drifts which made running harder than usual. Saw no-one else on the fell. Took a bad line off Hart Crag, had to retrace my steps. Microspikes from Nab Scar to Nook Farm.
Originally Posted by Graham Breeze
Surely Mike, locals would have addressed you as "gentleman"?
Precisely!
In the spirit of staying local, I forgoed the usual Sunday drive out to one of my usual haunts and started my run from home. After a couple of km of dreary residential roads, I finally hit open ground -well frozen solid mud and grass to exact. I then spent the next 1.5 hours exploring a network of footpaths and bridalways which although all within easy reach of home, I had never thought of running along before preferring to opt for more challenging hilly terrain. The run also included a glorious sight of a herd of deer bounding across the fields and a brief history lesson with a visit to the ruins of Halesowen abbey and it's fishponds. A most enjoyable morning's run and I will no doubt be back for more exploration next week. Approximately 15km but a measly 250m ascent.
The rebellion starts - I took a flask
14.20 miles 4:25
Canal - Brinscall - Abbey Village - Roddlesworth - back home Tockholes
Tricky underfoot for much of it. Bottle ice in many parts.
The canal looked quite ghostly. It was a milky white colour as the ice covering seemed to be thawing from the top.
Richard Taylor
"William Tell could take an apple off your head. Taylor could take out a processed pea."
Sid Waddell
Mrs Noel and I did some path finding around Axe edge and Knotbury today. Maybe 6 miles, but took us about an hour and a half with lots of dodgy nav and map checking. Good to be out, then good to be back and in a warm bath. This is what winter runs are all about.
You are in good company Noel. My navigation has found itself in knots around Knotbury too. A tricky mix of footpaths, tracks and farms unless one switches on.
What can also be confusing is that on the 1:25000 map the spot height 549m is marked on the map as Axe Edge but the Trig Point at 551m, known as Axe Edge, and nearly a mile away and with a road between them is unnamed.
However on the 1:50000 map both tops are marked Axe Edge.
Visibility good except in Hill Fog
There was about 20 minutes difference between my elapsed time and moving times. Other than a couple of comfort breaks, the rest had to be down to map reading stops and nav finding. It's amazing how it adds up and seemingly more so here where a miriad of confusing footpaths, bridalways and farm roads proved far more tricky to navigate than open fell side. Thankfully some of my route followed the Monarchs Way so was signposted for a a while.
I've already planned next weekend's jaunt in a similar vein but may cycle a few km to a different start point and then aim to extend to some of the quieter paths under the Waseley hills and so back on familiar territory.
An Hour and a half out to the north side of Otley. Bloody hell it was tricky through the mix of melting snow, ice and deep mud. Met 4 other runners who I know and didn't fall over. Had to strip off outside the back door to avoid marital disharmony (sp). Good to be out though
The fields near askwith looked rancid from the saddle of my bike.
Since I now start and finish all my walks and runs from my house I've been spending some time looking at the map the night before, to find footpaths I've not used before, to link together other footpaths I'm familiar with, to try to get a bit of variety in my routes. So today's walk involved quite a lot of new footpaths. Unfortunately, quite a few of these were over farmers' fields. By the time the mud sticking to the soles of my shoes had reached about 6 inches thick, I was beginning to regret my choice of route. But the real regret kicked in as I started walking past the sewage works. I'd seen it marked on the map, but I wasn't expecting it to be that bad! I tried taking a leaf out of Emil Zatopek's training regime, by holding my breath for as long as possible while I walked. With hindsight, that wasn't such a good idea. All that happened is that when I did need to take a breath it was a large gulp of putrid, fetid air, deep into my lungs. Not to be recommended.
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