High Rigg and Dale Head

High Rigg (NY308220; 357m)

With Mick off away to work at 6.30 this morning, I thought I may as well make tracks at the same time. He went south and had a tiresome journey, in Monday rush-hour traffic, of two and a half hours (to do under 100 miles), whereas I headed north and was parked up at my first destination in under half an hour.

Having parked to the SW of my objective, my final approach to the top was from its NW side, so it felt like a bit of a round-about route to take. However, it was exceptionally easy and before I knew it I found that the craggy outcrop in front of me (on a hill of many craggy outcrops) was, in fact, the top. I recalled that, in his Pictorial Guide, Wainwright had said of the final climb from the Church of St John in the Vale that ‘anyone full of the joy of spring will do it in 15 minutes (authors time: 35 minutes)’. Whilst I’d like to think that my time of 9 minutes is attributable in part to being fit after all of my recent hills, I think it was more to do with the fact there are now lots of well-trodden grassy paths, making an easy ascent even easier.

Yet another summit selfie

Had the Church of St John in the Vale (which sits high between two valleys, at the end of a little lane to the east, and on a byway from the west) been an old and interesting looking one, I might have gone and looked at it on my return leg. However, it looked a surprisingly modern, so I took a slightly more direct route down, with the added bonus that I kept off tarmac for longer.

The same pleasant paths on which I’d started my walk also ended it, and a few minutes later I followed a tractor out of the layby. Or, I followed it almost the entire length of the layby, before it decided to reverse, completely oblivious to a hulking white van behind it. The way the farmer started when I sounded Colin’s horn was quite comical, and onwards I went, to my next hill, via Booths in Keswick for a few more calories to keep me going these next few days.

(3.8 miles, 700’)

Dale Head (NY223153; 753m)

The weather forecast for the first three days of this week is almost identical, with very low winds and fine starts to the days, but with cloud building and the risk of thunderstorms and torrential showers in the afternoons*. With the way the cloud was building as I approached Honister Pass, once I parked Colin in a layby a third of a mile to the east of the pass** I didn’t tarry too long over my coffee and hot cross buns before I set out up the pass thence up the hill.

A few other people had also thought Dale Head to be a good bet for this morning, but not so many as to make it feel busy, and it was a straightforward, if exceptionally hot and sweaty walk. I had to remind myself that the heat is good training for next month in the Pyrenees, although I was pleased when, about three-quarters of the way up, the cloud blocked the sun and, with a hint of a breeze blowing, it became a much more pleasant temperature.

Looking worried, but slapping a grin on my face all the same

The views from the top would have been outstanding if it hadn’t been for the haze. Indeed, my phone told me, on my first attempt, that it couldn’t take a panoramic shot because not enough detail was visible.

A lovely shape of valley, but the detail is lost in the haze

There are other hills I could have visited from Dale Head, but I think that I’ve been up all of the surrounding hills before (I do hope I’m right in that thought, otherwise it was an opportunity wasted!), and as my accommodation for tonight was going to provide me with mains electric for the first time since I left home last Tuesday morning, I was happy to have a pre-noon finish and to spend the rest of the day charging a ridiculous number of electronic gadgets and frittering my time away with my book and a couple of radio-programme downloads.

(3.4 miles, 1500’)

(*The forecast has held true today. One downpour, as I’ve been typing this, has been particularly akin to stair-rods.

**I thought I would have to pay for parking at Honister Slate Mine today, so was happy to find a layby within a ten minute walk; I subsequently found that there’s also a National Trust car park at the top of the pass.)

In The Last Month

We set out for Scotland on 5 May and walked our first hill late that afternoon. Exactly 31 days later, at noon today, my tally for the month (which also included 7 days at TGO Challenge Control and a quick visit home) stands at 50 hills.

The incredible statistic is that of those, I've only had rain on three and only had cloudy summits on two.

Apparently the weather will continue to hold for the rest of this week so I will try to make the most of it.

(Ha! As I type it's just started raining (not entirely unexpected - clouds have been building all afternoon - but as I'm not on a hill, it doesn't affect the stats.)

Holme Fell and Claife Heights

Holme Fell (NY315006; 317m)

Setting out from a nice car park along the dead-end road to High Tibberthwaite, lying to the west of Holme Fell, our ascent included a chat with a couple of MRT chaps manning a drinks station for the Lakeland Marathon (we were, apparently, just ahead of the first runners) and an encounter with a border collie which removed the sun cream from the back of my right leg with its tongue. So, reasonably uneventful really...

Our descent included the accidental herding of a Belted Galloway all the way down to the gate on the track at the foot of the fell.

The hill itself is a small and easy one, with plenty of animal trods to ease passage through the heather and bracken for those, like us, who shun the less-direct main trodden line. It's not a bad viewpoint either, and at the time we were up there barely a cloud was to be seen in the sky.

It was a short walk (again) but not a bad little hill. Our stroll (which could have been made a little shorter - not that any further shortness was necessary - by starting from one of a number of pull-ins we found along the road on the east side of Pierce How Beck) came in at just 2.7 miles with 600' of ascent.

Claife Heights (SD 382973; 270m)

Being in the car today, the drive to Far Sawrey was quick and easy, even in the face of oncoming little cars whose drivers seem to think they're three or four feet wider than they are.

The village hall there provides parking in return for a couple of pounds in their honesty box and it was ideally positioned for our purposes. Even better, they also have benches, which gave us a nice place to perch to eat our sandwiches (it was only 11am but once again I was hungry enough to eat a scabby dog).

The walk up to Claife Heights, approaching via the track to its west side, was relatively uninteresting and the summit likewise with only a tiny snippet of a view visible through the trees...

...so we opted to return via the path to the east of the summit in the hope of getting to look at Windermere below us. The path itself was slightly more pleasing, but the views largely still absent. It went down as the least interesting hill of my trip so far.

With 3.75 miles walked (750' of ascent is my rough guess) we were back at the village hall and off to Ambleside to fondle a bit of gear and to eat ice-cream.

Lingmoor and Loughrigg

Saturday 4 June

Lingmoor (NY302046; 469m)
There was a bit of a change in the weather this morning: it was overcast and noticeably humid. The latter feature made me regret (vocally and repeatedly, until Mick told me to shut up) that I hadn't selected shorts as my legwear for this first of two tops today. It also made the going much harder than it has been on all of the recent hot (but low humidity) days.

We weren't out outrageously early, but still early enough to have the hill to ourselves. On the downside, at that time the cloud hadn't had the opportunity to lift and whilst we were well below it, it did mar the views of the surrounding tops.


I was glad to get to this top and not recognise it as I hadn't been 100% sure that we hadn't been up there before

The first people met were when we were paces away from being back down at valley level. Then they came thick and fast.

With 5.2 miles walked, with 1300' of ascent, we arrived back at Colin (parked at Elterwater) in time for elevenses (I was so hungry today that elevenses comprised over 800 calories and I was still ready for lunch an hour later) and in view of how busy our immediate surroundings had become the decision was made to sit out the next few hours, watch the world go by and not set out again until at least mid afternoon.

Loughrigg (NY347051; 335m)
Half past three came, people started returning to the car park from their walks, and we adjudged it a suitable time to set out into what was now a hot and sunny afternoon.

A rather pleasant little walk was had up to this excellent viewpoint, from where we picked out routes we'd taken over surrounding hills. A different path was taken to get us back down (which avoided an excess of descent-to-reascend), forming a lollipop-shaped walk coming in at 3 miles.

Having seen how incredibly busy it is around Elterwater, I'm glad that I stuck around the edges of the Lakes for Bank Holiday week. I'm hoping that next week will be a bit calmer, as most of the rest of the hills on my target list are in more popular areas.

Whin Rigg, Illgill Head and Dent

Friday 3 June

Awaking early again this morning (for no good reason - there were no little lanes to be tackled whilst they were still quiet) I peeped outside to find another cloud-free day - the fourth in a row.

Illgill Head (NY169049; 609m)

As I only had one Marilyn on the agenda today (Illgill Head), with an incidental Wainwright thrown in (Whin Rigg) I thought I'd make a decent walk of it by forming a circuit by continuing to the north off Illgill Head towards Wasdale Head before looping back via Burnmoor Tarn and Miterdale.

Somehow I managed to restrain myself from eating my sandwiches at 9am at the top of Whin Rigg, making do with a handful of fig rolls, which staved off the rumbling for, oooh, at least ten minutes (it was a hungry day today!).

The way up to Whin Rigg had been fine, with increasingly lovely surroundings, but the continuation to my main objective was really superb, as I shunned the main trodden line and took to the less obvious path running along the edge of the steep slope which falls down to Wastwater screes.

View from the top

One woman and one backpacker were seen on my way up to the fantastic viewpoint of a summit. A couple and their dog were passed as I started down towards Wasdale. They were the only people I saw until almost at the road end in Miterdale.

Burnmoor Tarn

At Burnmoor Tarn (so picturesque!) I was sorely tempted to throw in a detour over to Scafell Pike (I talked myself out of the impulsive scheme in the end due to a lack of food and the knowledge that Mick would like to do that one with me) and in Miterdale I finally stopped for lunch. Incredibly I managed to last until 11.30 before the sandwiches met their end. A few clouds had formed by then, and for a couple of minutes the sun was obscured - for the first time on this trip.

It was a most enjoyable circuit (10.5 miles, haven't calculated the ascent), but I was back by just after noon, with a whole afternoon stretching out in front of me.

Dent (or Long Barrow) (NY041129; 352m)

As Mick isn't able to join me until late this evening and as he needs to be at work before 8 on Monday morning, the chosen location for this weekend's rendezvous is in the Ambleside area. That left me without any more Marilyns that would sensibly fit into my afternoon ... except that on a perusal of the map I realised that I could go and visit the one on which I'd not even made any notes for this trip, on the basis that it's too much of an outlier.

Then the thing happened which I always knew, when I started pursuing Marilyns, would happen at some point. After a 15 mile detour to visit this hill, it came into sight and my first thought was "I've been up there before".

Yep, Dent lies on Wainwright Coast to Coast route, but for some reason I'd not ticked it off.

What to do? Well, as I'd taken the trouble to drive out of my way and as it was such a nice day, I thought I may as well go up it again.

I didn't join the C2C route until I was out of the forest, right by this bench...

... where, in 2008, I recall pausing for painkillers for a headache (funny the things that can stick in the mind!). Suddenly I was in a snake of people heading up to the top. Many of them paused every 5 paces to admire the view - and who can blame them? It was a gorgeous day and the views were outstanding. Plus, if my memory serves, this is the first hill, on the first day, of the C2C route so could come as a bit of a shock to the system.

Reaching a big cairn where a dozen people had stopped, I paused also for summit photos ...

...before realising that this wasn't the top. Onwards I went, pausing again at the proper summit, where the local dogwalker behind me assumed I was uncertain as to the onwards route and started shouting to me to continue straight on. He was a bit taken aback that I wasn't on my way to Ennerdale.

Once I'd visited the tuft of grass half an inch taller than the rest, which lies five paces off the path (so at least I can justify the return visit on the basis that I have walked those extra five paces with half an inch of ascent) I did continue straight on, as the dog walker was so eager for me to do, as I thought I may as well make a circuit of the outing.

Back at Colin, parked by the river where lots of children were swimming and splashing, I'd walked exactly 4 miles with around 800' of ascent.

Then it was a drive around to t’other side of the Lake District. The long way around. Without the use of any narrow, steep passes.

Whitfell, Hardknott, Harter Fell

Another really excellent day has been had under the most stunning of blue skies. In fact, my afternoon of hanging around in Eskdale (amongst other things, sitting on a bench outside the church which is conveniently within range of a BT wifi hotspot and steps away from the ice-cream-selling village store) has been as good (although in an entirely different way) as the morning’s hills.

Whitfell (SD159930; 573m)

With a drive up Hardknott Pass featuring in my plan for the morning, the alarm was set especially early today so I could be up and down Whitfell and on the road before most tourists were even thinking about breakfast.

And, if you're going to be up early then what better way to spend those hours of lost sleep than with a gentle walk up firm grass, with rocky outcrops and sea views within sight, under clear skies?

It was a joy! I even took the tiny detour onto one of the rocky outcrops (Buck Barrow) on my way down for no other reason than because it was there. (postscript: bonus! Just discovered it's on various hill lists so an extra tick too.)

Back at Colin it was time to tackle some more tiny roads, with the intention of driving to the top of Hardknott Pass for my next two hills. That plan got modified when the reality of the pass appeared ahead of me. It wasn't so much the thought of getting Colin up to the top, it was the thought of having to crawl back down in first or second gear so as not to have a repeat of the Spanish-smoking-brakes incident. So, I parked at the bottom of the pass and quickly replanned for a circuit taking in:

Hardknott (NY231023; 549m) and Harter Fell (SD218997; 653m)
The first thing I needed to do on this circuit was to get to the top of Hardknott Pass and, as not a single car passed me going in my direction during that 2km (1000' height gain), I didn't have the opportunity to stick out my thumb, so I walked.

Reaching the cairn at the top I was off tarmac for the rest of the outing (ignoring the few paces to cross the pass to get to my next hill) and onto a path which I'd read is 'intermittent'. I lost it on the way up and took what was, perhaps, a slightly harder route than was necessary. I managed to follow it on my way back down.

A particularly big grin on the summit

Crossing the road to get to Harter Fell I fully expected a path. After all, there are paths everywhere in Lakeland and surely lots of people choose to approach this hill from the top of the pass? For a while there was a trodden line too, per my expectations, but then I lost it shortly after a stile and a huffing-and-puffing yomp ensued until I picked it up again. Then I lost it again. Taking the direct line, I was heartened by the sight of a person not far above me and hoped she was on a path (whilst also hoping she wasn't going to think I was on the path and head in my direction). She wasn't, but the going from there was easy.

With its two big rocky tors, and stunning views over, well, lots and lots of hills actually, but most notably the Scafells...

...it was a magnificent place to be. I visited both of the tors, just to be sure, although I was pretty sure that the first one I went up (the one nearest to the trig) was the highest.

Two chaps at the trig were intent on not speaking to me, save for a cursory 'hello' (goodness, how can anyone British not mention the weather to a stranger when in the midst of a spell like this?!), so after a little tour of the summit, down I went.

A ridiculous excess of cairns made sure I couldn't possibly miss the line of the path down to the bridleway which took me back to Colin.

In deciding not to take any lunch with me on this outing I'd calculated my expected timing and estimated that I'd be back at noon. It was one minute past when I blipped Colin's blipper and climbed into his superheated interior. Lunch had to wait a while longer as I was parked on such a wonk there that food preparation was not feasible!

With the options of finding another hill to fill my afternoon or just sitting around I opted for the latter today - and have had a jolly good time of it. All I'm lacking for perfection is Mick, but an exchange of emails this afternoon (I have no phone signal, or I would have just spoken to him!) has arranged a plan for a rendezvous tomorrow night, meaning that I will have company for my weekend's hills.

Last Night

My kipping spot last night was absolutely superb in terms of location. Not only was it perfectly placed for this morning's first hill, but it boasted this view out of the front window:

from what I can see on the screen of my phone, that snap doesn't even start to do justice to the reality of the vista

Out of the side window I had an extensive view of the sea and the Isle of Man. It was so good that I made a special effort to stay up until sunset so that I could witness this:


I also caught the glow of sunrise (Funnily enough, out of the opposite window) at 3.45 this morning, although having peeped out at it I then prioritised going back to sleep over grabbing my phone for a photo.

I'm so glad I didn't miss out on such a quality* kipping spot, as nearly became the case. As Colin isn't the most agile and nippy of vehicles on narrow/wiggly/steep roads, when cars get behind me I always pull over as soon as I can to allow them to pass. My considerate nature nearly backfired on this occasion when I got to the parking spot to find it full, including two of the cars I'd let past not long before. Happily, a motorhome saw my indecision as to what to do and gesticulated that he was about to leave. My evening of spectacular views was saved!

^{(*okay it wasn't perfect in all respects - that road became surprisingly busy at 5 o'clock this morning. That didn't bother me on this occasion as I was getting up then anyway.)}

A Fine Four

What a cracking day I've just had in sunny Cumbria! It started bright and early with:

Top o'Selside (SD309919; 335m)

Bit of a spurious waypoint at the start/end of this track. I didn’t take a swim in the lake at either end of the walk!

 

The early start was brought on by my desire to negotiate the 3.5 miles of little-road to my chosen car park before the masses were out and about. I only met one car on my way in, and that one came so fast around a bend, on a bit of road that didn't seem wide enough for a Colin and a car to pass, that I was braced for the sound of metal on metal. How we avoided each other, and how I also avoided the wall to my left, I know not, but it left me sufficiently shaken to want to get this hill done and myself away from this little road as quickly as possible.

A good path sped me up the first half of the hill, then, at a farm building, I had a choice: left or right would most likely take me (slightly longwindedly) to a path heading up to the summit. I chose neither, opting instead to go straight up the slope in front of me. It's probably not a decision I would have made had it been two or three weeks from now, but for the moment the bracken is still short enough not to be an impediment.

big cairn, but that's not the true summit

With the true summit of this hill not being marked by any feature, I took time visiting all the bits that looked like they might be an inch higher than the rest, then loped back down via the direct route of my ascent. It seemed steeper on the descent. I take that perception as being indicative of me being reasonably fit just now; I like it when I stop noticing steep ascents so much!

By 8.30am, which was within an hour of setting off, I was back at Colin, with 2.3 miles walked and 950' of ascent. Pausing not for a moment more than necessary before tackling the road again, I met not a single vehicle on my return journey, which took me back to the A road, thence to:

Kirkby Moor (or Lowick High Common) (SD260040; 333m)

A small windfarm and lots of quarrying (historic and current) scar this hill, so it was a surprise to find it to be a pleasant little walk up to the cairn marking its high point. Being knocking on for 9.30am by the time I reached the top, and with the sun gaining warmth, I did wonder why I hadn't dug out my shorts - something that didn't come to pass until after the next hill. Sometimes my perception that the effort of taking off my shoes, in order to get changed, is more trouble than the comfort of wearing something different really is way off!

evidence of old quarrying ahead and to the right and a wind turbine peeking over the ridge

sea views and sunshine

Twas just a little outing at 1.7 miles with 550' of up.

As my parking place here was a layby on the main road (lots of buffeting from passing cars) I didn't pause immediately on my return for a cup of tea but made tracks to the church car park at Whicham for:

Black Combe (SD135854; 600m)

The church at Whicham has provided a large car park on an honesty box system, which was a pleasant and peaceful place for elevenses before I headed off up Black Combe.

After all the fighting through heather in Scotland it's still a novelty to have paths on every hill and this one seemed particularly well-trodden, even though it wasn't heaving with people.

Good company was had for lunch in the summit shelter with a family; it was the daughter's (age 11 or 12, I would guess) first hill and after initial hesitation as to the enjoyment value of slogging up hills, by pudding she was talking about her next one. A convert :-)

The gradient of the path was perfect for striding down, so it wasn't too long before I was roasting in Colin's interior (29 degrees!) and pondering whether to sit around for the rest of the afternoon (it wasn't quite 1pm) or whether to do one more hill.

The stats for this one were 4.5 miles with around 2000' of ascent.

Muncaster Fell (SD112983; 231m)

This one didn't sensibly fit next into my itinerary, but it had the dual appeal of looking quick and easy and of not involving any little lanes (the obvious next hill involves driving a narrow pass - I'm trying to restrict all such roads to early mornings, or evenings).

The free car park at Muncaster Castle provided me with a good place to leave Colin (although it looked alarmingly full at first glance, there were spaces in the far back corner) and some gentle waymarked paths took me up this hill. In common with all of today's tops, the views spanned 360 degrees and were superb. So close to the sea...

...with blue skies above, and with lots of the Lake District hills clearly visible to the north east:

I walked back down with a smile on my face, fully appreciating how lucky I am to be able to be out enjoying some hills on a day like this (whilst Mick 'enjoyed' the inside of a conference room - but it was his choice to work this month!).

This last hill of the day came in at exactly 3 miles with an easily-gained 550' of up.

Gummer’s How (SD390885; 321m)

Ah, Gummer's How. A special hill for me. One that really left its mark when I was just a toddler...

That last visit was in 1975, when I was transported up in a baby carrier on my father's back. At some point in the outing he tripped, went flying and, in the process, catapaulted me out of the carrier. There was a collision between my head and a rock and it must have been reasonably dramatic as, some 40 years later, I still have a little scar on my forehead* to show for it. If it hadn't been for that mishap and the resulting scar I doubt very much that anyone would have ever mentioned to me that I'd been up this hill.

I've long wanted to see the place that scarred me, and it's surprising that it's taken me this long to get around to it. Happily today's outing was entirely uneventful. Unhappily I can't remember the last time I encountered such a high percentage of people intent on blanking my greetings. I suppose that's what you get for visiting a quick and easy stunning viewpoint during school holidays.

Even so, I did enjoy this rocky little pimple and the views it afforded up and down Windermere.

By adding a circuit of the summit I brought the total distance for this one to a whopping1.4 miles with around 350' of ascent.

As tempted as I was to squeeze in another one, the day was marching on and my intended kipping spot was in the opposite direction to my next hill, so I called it a day, very happy with my two little walks.


<sup>I met this chap on the path on my way down. I included my foot in the snap to show how small he was.

(*As an aside, that's not the only scar I collected on my forehead as a young child whilst in the care of my father. Two years later I was in a lawnmower shop with him when I tripped over my unfastened shoes, resulting in a coming together between my left eyebrow and the blade of a lawnmower. Unlike the Gummer's How incident (and even though I was only 3 at the time (going on 4)) I remember the lawnmower encounter and the resulting trip to A&E.)</sup>

Whitbarrow (SD441870; 215m)

Having arrived home late on Sunday evening, and with a plan forming in my mind to be off again this morning (Tuesday), my single day at home was spent doing exciting things such as laundry, shopping and cleaning Colin (particularly removing the remains of eight billion flies from his front end and windscreen). What I ran out of time for was planning, so my intended early departure this morning was pushed back a couple of hours so that I could spend some time flicking between maps, hill-bagging.co.uk and StreetView, and making notes. At a quarter past nine, as I climbed into Colin, the time had come to make some sort of decision as to how to order my hills and it seemed to me that the most obvious thing to do was to head for the nearest first.

Arriving in the south Lakes three and a bit hours later it was to find that my intended parking area (near Millside) would have had plenty of room if it hadn't been for the three cars parked there being evenly spaced at about 20 feet apart. It turned out to be in my favour as, whilst looking for somewhere to turn around, another parking area was found which was nearer to my chosen path.

I've not downloaded the gpx file yet, but I'm pretty sure that the waymarked permissive path that I followed bore little resemblance to any of the lines shown on the map, but that didn't matter as its direction was perfectly clear as it took me through pleasant woods, up onto the lovely limestone ridge and along to my objective.

Having made the decision to take this trip on Sunday night, it was a full 24 hours later that it occurred to me that it's a Bank Holiday week, and school holidays to boot, and thus not an ideal time (for one who has so few demands on her time) to be heading to one of the busiest holiday destinations in the country. The thing that convinced me to go ahead regardless was the good weather forecast and, as I made my way along this ridge in the sunshine, with clear views all around, I was certainly happy with where I was.



Half a dozen other walkers were seen as I made my way out and back, so it was hardly rammed up there either.

A little bit of a corner was cut as I made my way back through the woodland, which brought the whole outing in at 5 miles with (I would estimate) 900' of ascent.

There was another hill in my afternoon, but as it was such a special one it's going to get a post all of its own.

Innerdouny Hill and Lendrick Hill

This is going to have to be a very quick blog post. Having arrived home last night, I’m planning on setting out tomorrow morning to collect some more hills and, at 8.30pm, I haven’t even started looking at which hills and in what order.

Innerdouny Hill (NO032073; 497m)

We woke in fog. Most of my ascent was in fog. Even as I approached the trig it hadn’t quite cleared…

…but by the time I got there the views had opened up in most directions:

Cunningly taken selfie so as to cut off the sticky-up bits of hair!

5.8 miles, 950’

Lendrick Hill (NO019037; 456m)

I’d noted duff information about this one, but in my favour, as I found that the break I needed to take through the forest was much nearer to my starting point than expected.

It was steep going through the break, and sometimes slippery with that mossy stuff which doesn’t adhere to the earth below it

 

It was a good hill to finish the trip, as once out of the forest, the views were superb:

And once again my hat hid the hair situation nicely:

I couldn’t decide in which direction to take the selfie, so took two:

Then I ran back down, except for the steep bit through the forest break, which I took rather more cautiously. I hate to think what was going through the mind of the chap I passed on the forest track when he saw some mad woman running towards him in a Tilley Hat, with thick trousers rolled (at unequal lengths) up above her knees, and poles in her hands. The look on his face and his failure to return my greeting suggested that he was a bit taken aback either by me or my appearance.

Back down at Colin, coffee and an early lunch was accompanied by the entertainment of a Mini rally passing by. The oldest dated back to the early sixties; the newest just a few years old. Some sounded healthier than others. Some tooted and waved, perhaps thinking we were sitting there because of the Minis passing, rather than it being incidental to our day. Even though it was incidental, it was quite good fun to watch them passing:

And then we drove the 300 miles home, which took all of the rest of the day and most of the evening too.

2.3 miles; 700'.