Words by Eric, Pics by Pete and Eric
Crew;
A Team; Stunt, Doog, Eric.
B Team; Slim
Pub; Dunc
Route; BL, NBR, Charity and extension, Cat, Danebower, Cumberland Brook, Wildboarclough, Standing Stone, Nessit, central descent, Bob’s bench, Sutton Hall.
Conditions; Amazing window in the weather, raining all day, clear 5pm – midnight, then more rain!
Stats; None of note
Offs; None.
Must be half term or everyone’s working too hard or something but we were just three at BL by 6.40. It was good to see Doog back in action after a layoff, and declaring that he is now free of Thursday childcare duties and looking forward to regular participation!
We were blessed with a few hours window of good weather and so the decision to go high was not a difficult one. As we set off up Old Buxton Road in pursuit of a hard charging Doog, we reckoned he’d spent the last 18 months on a turbo trainer rather than behind a perambulator.
The good thing about a small group is that progress is swift and with little fuss; the bad thing is that it doesn’t give too much exciting to write about. Up Charity Lane, a bit hot, down Charity Lane, a bit wet, along the extension, a bit sketchy, up to the Cat, a bit climby – get the drift.
……along Danebower; then whoa, excitement by the bucket load, a new gate! Not just any gate but a big gate with a little gate inside it, and it opens, on hinges that work, and it closes again, almost by itself.
In a mixture of sublime and ridiculous we spent a good few minutes firstly admiring the gate and then trying out Eric’s new stargazing app. Once through the “Stargate” (sorry) we were soon speeding down the Danebower descent; cosmic disaster was narrowly averted when Eric started a warp speed passing manoeuvre just as Stunt spotted the biggest black hole you ever did see. The escape zone had a rock the size of a small planet bang on the “swerve for your life” line; our two space cowboys passing either side and arriving safely back down to earth at the A54.
The rest of the route went pretty much like the first bit – smooth, in a rocky bumpy way. Over Cumberland Brook where the farm at the bottom seemed to have been taken over by baying hounds, probably practicing for Halloween, up to Standing Stone, round Nessit and down the central descent.
The thick carpet of autumn leaves made the track ahead look silky smooth and I guess we were lucky that no one fell foul of the enemy beneath.
On arrival at Sutton Hall we were greeted by Slim, sitting in the window cuddling an empty Leffe glass.
Only he and the barman will know what number that one was. Despite the classic route we got round quite quickly and were soon refreshing ourselves. The early start meant that we were just about fully refreshed when Dunc arrived – but in the true spirit of the 3 Orangeers, you can’t leave a mate to drink alone can you?