Activities

A right shower

stjohnstmarkchurchburyTuesday, August 13, 2019

We met on 10th August and Ralph offered to lead us on a walk through areas near Heywood. Coincidentally, Ralph had completed the same walk earlier in the week and got very wet. The forecast for the day was generally overcast with the chance of a heavy shower. But as is usually the case, that didn’t stop us.

A few of us gathered at Clarence Lido around 9.10am before walking towards Sillinghurst Farm to meet Ralph at the end of Castle Hill Road. Past the farm we made our way along Scotland Lane by the side of Walmersley golf club. Then we headed up to the highest part of our walk today and the path overlooking Owd Betts. The purple heather was still widespread across the area.

The weather had slightly worsened as we made our way along the side of Ashworth Valley. We continued to the Roch Valley where we stopped for elevenses. The river was noticeably swollen here. Our route continued towards Simpson Clough, Ashworth Road and further along the banks of the River Roch towards Summit. It was here that the weather changed considerably and we were caught in a very heavy shower for about ten minutes.

Wet walk in Prettywood

By the time we reached Summit we were all soaked. However, Ralph advised us earlier that Helen had invited us for scones and a hot drink when we finished our walk, so this kept us going. Our walk took us on towards Fairfield and then up through Prettywood and back to Castle Hill. The recent few days of heavy downpours had created a sometimes muddy terrain across the paths and tracks and it was like walking through a jungle in parts of the woodland with overhanging branches, but we still enjoyed the walk.

We were very grateful for the homemade scones with jam and hot drinks when we arrived back at Ralph’s. Helen was very insistent we came in. However, we were rather wet and had no wish to cause any mess, so we were happy under the porch way. I did get a snap, which Helen worried may have made her look inhospitable but that definitely was not the case and we managed to finish off several scones between us.

Thanks to Ralph for leading us and for getting showered twice in one week.  

Best foot forward, David Robinson

Our next walk is on Saturday 7th September. Paul is going to do Malham again for those who missed it last time. We may have to avoid the waterfall if the weather is bad. Please meet at St John with St Marks Church Hall at 9.00am for transport.  Please follow this link for a report on how the Malham walk went last time.