Words by Alex, Photos by Butty & Pete
Crew: Butty, TJ, Bern, Slim, Stunt
Route: Top of Bull Hill Lane, Tea rooms, “next to the wall” descent, Shooters clough, Shrine climb, Pym Chair, Jenkin chapel, Ewrin lane, Pike road, Blaze Hill, Poachers.
Conditions: Cool, Clear, surprisingly wet & muddy trails.
Notes:
After a beautifully sunny day, we have an evening of light winds, so time to make the most of the benign conditions to head up high for an overdue visit the Goyt!
Based on clear skies and plummeting mercury last weeks observed TNR correlation between temperature and number of riders predicts a small crew – and what a surprise.. we are five!
Excuse list this week included clonky van, clonky back, a couple of cases of manflu and a last minute emergency.
At Bull hill lane, the sun has set, but there is still plenty of brightness in the sky, and with a tangerine tinge above the horizon. The obligatory “am i overdressed?” discussion we are well warmed up with the climb to the start…the consensus is that we will need more layers at the tea rooms.
A little more traffic than usual on the new road, including the first couple of speedy motorbikes of the season. Great to see some tree planting in a couple of fields at Walker barn.
Bern the bolt is on his customary charge up hill, and sees a big group of riders come down from Windyways then turn up Charity.
The fading light is still enough to warm the mottled browns of the moors and brush the clouds with some purple, but best of all are the first calls of the curlews, who have returned for nesting season. All the dusky fun is finished by the time we are at the tea rooms it is getting properly dark.
The “Charity” riders come up from the Bottom of the Oven – mostly e bikers, so the Goyt choice is popular tonight!
Tis the last TNR to see the planetary alignment which has been our companion for most of the winter – with four visible. We can see two, but a lump of cloud is obscuring one section of the horizon, and the moors might be hiding something low in the east. Later closer inspection of some of our photo’s suggests we did catch mercury low down!
The track along the top from the tea rooms is surprisingly wet and muddy, but as is often the case, the extra bit of height seems to create some wind, making extra layers a must!
Further along, one of the ebikers helpfully holds the gate – he’s heading back with a failed rear brake. Butty finds a key on a battered fob with a business name on it – pocketed for decoding in the pub to try to re-unite it with it’s owner.
Time for the long downhill next to the wall! Some caution needed for the soft patches, but overall a great flowy run down to the turn for Shooter’s Clough. The clough is very wet in places, but there is a dry line on the left hand side of the worst section, and after crossing the stream and the following down to Errwood hall we regroup.
A couple of big hares have been spotted – a rarer TNR eye spy 🙂
We are out of the wind, and can enjoy the peaceful atmosphere for a few minutes before heading down the steps to the bridge.
The ascent to the shrine is more of a push than usual due to the slithery nature of the surface, but we all agree we need to do it as a decent again sometime!
Time to pop into the Shrine itself, admire the new wall “sculpture” and enjoy a revitalizing Whisky Mac!
More slidey grass before we hit the tarmac of the street, and climb to the crest at Pym’s chair.
Time check suggests an advance party might be needed to secure food orders, so e Butty and non e Stunt lead the charge. All riders accounted for by 8:45, and in the end Liz seems fairly relaxed about taking our order.
New Menu Alert! some new mains, but the sad loss of the baguette bargain options ;-(
Great to catch up with Bern, a bit of Salsa Fargo talk, nice skiing pics from TJ, and some general observations of life and the state of the world.
A lovely smooth Tamavoulin to finish with, and personalized bills on the till makes life very simple!
A cheeky whisky mac by the bikes before chilly rides home.