#177 – Y3P – The Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge

Posted on 15/06/2015 by Paul Shorrock
Approaching Pen y Ghent on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge walk

Approaching Pen y Ghent on the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge walk

In July 1887, two teachers from Giggleswick School near Settle decided to have a stroll over Ingleborough (724 metres/2375ft). When they got there, Whernside (728 metres/2388ft) must have looked inviting in the distance, so they carried on. At Whernside they must have had a good view of Pen y Ghent (691 metres/2267ft) which was eight miles away as the crow flies, so they continued their walk to include that peak as well. By the time they had finished, they had completed what was probably the first Three Yorkshire Peaks walk.

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Posted in 3. Yorkshire Dales | Tagged , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

#176 – The Roaches Edge in Staffordshire

Posted on 01/06/2015 by Paul Shorrock
The Gritstone edges of Staffordshire

The Gritstone edges of Staffordshire

Staffordshire is not exactly an area known for its mountains, but it is the home of a fine set of gritstone crags known as The Roaches. Rock-climbing had been popular at The Roaches since the earliest days of the sport – the crags are near to the big towns and cities of Northern England and are of easy access. This area has a huge importance in the history of rock-climbing in the UK, and it was one of the places where climbing standards rose dramatically in the 1950’s.

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Posted in 4. Northern England | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

#175 – Tal y Fan in the Northern Carneddau

Posted on 18/05/2015 by Paul Shorrock
Tal y Fan seen from Foel Lwyd

Tal y Fan seen from Foel Lwyd

The route (heading clockwise)

The route (heading clockwise)

The Roman invasion of Wales, completed in 78 AD, must have been a real culture shock to the locals in more ways than one. The Romans must have appeared to be in a permanent state of ‘hurry up’, building roads that were the equivalent to the motorways of today, but I guess you might well be in a hurry with places to invade and rebellions to put down. One of their routes takes advantage of the pass between the high Carneddau Plateau and Tal y Fan, the northern outlier of the Carneddau range.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

#174 – Mynydd Du (The Black Mountain) in the Western Brecon Beacons

Posted on 04/05/2015 by Paul Shorrock
On the Fan Hir Ridge – Mynydd Du (The Black Mountain)

On the Fan Hir Ridge – Mynydd Du (The Black Mountain)

The route, starting from Dan yr Ogof

The route, starting from Dan yr Ogof

In previous posts I’ve mentioned my attempts to learn some of the Welsh language now that we live in North Wales. I don’t have the language skills to ever hope to get to conversational level, but I’m getting a reasonable vocabulary of place names. Mynydd Du in the Western Brecon Beacons is a pretty easy, it means ‘Black Mountain’, but in the Eastern Beacons we have Y Mynyddoedd Duon, which means ‘The Black Mountains’. Lots of potential for confusion there then!

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Posted in 6. Mid and South Wales | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

#173 – The south-east mountains of the Carneddau

Posted on 20/04/2015 by Paul Shorrock
Creigiau Gleision above Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir

Creigiau Gleision above Llyn Cowlyd Reservoir

The route – anticlockwise starting from Capel Curig

The route – anticlockwise starting from Capel Curig

Our short outing onto the north-western hills of the Carneddau (see post #172) had the feel of a spring day about it, and with a few more days of settled sunny weather on the way, I decided to make the most of it by re-visiting the route I had abandoned three months earlier in the gales of December (see post #165). So, the next day I was at the south-east of the Carneddau range, ready to have a crack at Creigiau Gleision again.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

#172 – The North-western hills of the Carneddau

Posted on 06/04/2015 by Paul Shorrock
The North-western hills of the Carneddau

The North-western hills of the Carneddau

The route

The route

The mountains of the Carneddau in North Wales seem to be a regular theme in this blog, and no wonder – the pointy mountains of the Glyderau and Snowdon ranges attract more interest and consequently more crowds, but the high plateau of the Carneddau is a wild quiet place, largely avoided by walkers apart from those who are already converts.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

#171 – Visiting the neighbours – Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation

Posted on 23/03/2015 by Paul Shorrock
Cwm Lloer below Pen yr Ole Wen and Carnedd Dafydd in the mountains of the Carneddau

Cwm Lloer below Pen yr Ole Wen and Carnedd Dafydd in the mountains of the Carneddau

Each spring, my mountain rescue team (North East Wales Search And Rescue) go on-call for an evening and night looking after our neighbouring area, while the resident team (Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation) have their annual dinner dance – it’s a good arrangement and Oggie team return the favour by looking after our ‘patch’ when NEWSAR have their Christmas ‘do’.

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Posted in 5. North Wales, Aircrash Sites | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

#170 – The Cambrian Mountains of Mid-Wales

Posted on 09/03/2015 by Paul Shorrock
Looking east from Pumlumon Fawr towards Pumlumon Llygad Bychan

Looking east from Pumlumon Fawr towards Pumlumon Llygad Bychan

The route

The route

Although many in the UK will remember the late summer of 2014 that lasted from September until the end of November, it’s easy to forget that August was well rainy, and Chris and I spent a soggy few days in Mid-Wales dodging the showers. One of the walking targets for the trip was a corner of the Cambrian Mountains near Aberystwyth called Pumlumon (it’s pronounced ‘Pimlimon’ and means ‘Five Peaks’) but our first attempt was abandoned due to the rain.

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Posted in 6. Mid and South Wales, Aircrash Sites | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments

#169 – Brecon Beacons day – Craig Fan Du, Corn Du, Pen y Fan and Cribyn

Posted on 23/02/2015 by Paul Shorrock
Brecon Beacons skyline – Pen y Fan is the highest peak towards the left

Brecon Beacons skyline – Pen y Fan is the highest peak towards the left

Looking towards Cribyn (centre) and Pen y Fan (left of centre)

Looking towards Cribyn (centre) and Pen y Fan (left of centre)

The route (clockwise)

The route (clockwise)

Living on the edge of the Clwydian Hills, with Snowdonia just an hour away by car, it’s easy to ignore the other hills and mountains of Wales. Last summer we took a trip south including a couple of days out in the hills, and our attention turned towards the Brecon Beacons. I’ve written about the Beacons before (see post #38) and we haven’t had a bad day here yet – Pen y Fan (the highest peak in the Beacons) was on the menu again, but this time from a different direction.

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Posted in 6. Mid and South Wales, Aircrash Sites | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

#168 – Mynydd Sygyn and the Pass of Aberglaslyn

Posted on 09/02/2015 by Paul Shorrock

The leader of the party bringing his two companions to the steeper finish (JB)Winter in Snowdonia (JB)

As I write this, Snowdonia has been transformed to an Alpine Winter Paradise, with people enjoying the snow-covered mountains. What have I been up to, you may wonder – I’ll tell what I’ve been up to, I’ve been getting over a monster of a cold! So, rather than sit sulking, thinking of the great winter conditions that I’m missing, I went back to look at the glorious weather of last September.

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Posted in 5. North Wales | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments