The Road goes ever on and on; Down from the door where it began;
Now far ahead the Road has gone; And I must follow, if I can;
Pursuing it with eager feet; Until it joins some larger way;
Where many paths and errands met; And whither then? I cannot say.

[JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings]

Tuesday 25 November 2014

Gun

Having plenty of daylight and energy remaining following my jaunt up Shining Tor, as I headed back to Blackshaw Moor I decided that it would make sense to take advantage of today’s good weather and take the trip up Gun, which (in this morning’s re-plan) had been deferred until tomorrow.

Aside from the weather, being already out and about in Colin meant gave me the further advantage of being able to park a bit closer, saving a good mile of road-based out-and-back when compared with starting from the campsite. Not knowing whether there was any parking (moreover Colin-sized parking) very near to the hill*, Colin was abandoned in Meerbrook (a couple of kilometres east of my objective) and off I strode.

Grazing land bordered the road, giving me the initial impression that I was right that this wasn’t going to be an interesting hill. Then came a sudden change as I reached the summit of the road: off to the north was moorland, and that was the direction in which I was heading.

The patch of moorland isn’t large, but it’s certainly popular and affords excellent views, including Shining Tor, on which I had been standing a few hours prior:

IMG_7931

I think, but could be wrong, that Shining Tor is the rounded lump to the right of the notable peak

Incredibly, considering the number of people around, the only company I had near the summit was a radio ham (see, there he is in the photo below):

IMG_7932

My initial thoughts of ‘what a disturbance’ and ‘why does he need to shout?’ morphed into interest as I realised how far away were the people to whom he was talking (although I’m sure the distance didn’t necessitate the shouting!). Florida and Ohio were included whilst I was there, and he certainly seemed to be rattling through contacts without pause, so I didn’t disturb him with my nosiness.

On the spur of the moment, I didn’t turn to retrace my steps, but instead opted for a circuit, even though that was going to take me past some farms with the attendant danger of more killer-dog encounters. Fortunately, the only dog which took an interest that I would perceive as aggressive didn’t reach the path until I was safely over a stile and hot-footing it across a field.

Although cloudier than the morning had been, no rain arrived until a good couple of hours after I was ensconced back within Colin (after 4.3 miles on this little outing with 600’ of up), happy to have achieved all of this week’s hills in good weather.

The question now is what to do tomorrow?

(*as it happens, there is a parking area almost opposite the footpath to the summit, but it was also full)

11 comments:

  1. Very good, Gayle - but a shame that you couldn't join us in Macc last night. We hope your trip continues to go well. Feel free to drop in.
    M&S

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    1. That one was a very short trip (just targetting the three hills). I was home by yesterday afternoon, with just a short stroll taken in the greyness and drizzle on the way.

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  2. Ah yes, Amateur Radio - a fine hobby. Let me tell you all about it one day, you'll find it fascinating!
    ��
    JJ

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    1. Well I did spend a chunk of last night researching antenna, albeit rather more modest 3g ones, rather than those fine masts seen by shouting chaps atop hills.

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  3. Radio Ham. I can never hear those words without thinking of this chap :-)

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  4. Watch out for Raw Head (SJ 508 548) in area 36 of Relative Hills. It is listed there as a Marilyn but on checking the Harold Street website it is now listed as a Sub-Marilyn. That website includes all the Irish Ms giving a tottal of 2010 against the normally quoted figure of 1556 - looks like you soon wont have far to go? Quite a few corrections have been made to the list in the book and there are appendices listing some of them but it is best to check with Harold Street

    http://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/waypoints/download/?list=marilyns

    or

    http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk

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    1. Fear not - I printed out the 2014 update to the Relative Hills book and have started marking up the relevant pages with the changes.

      I have no illusions that I will ever complete the Marilyns (given I don't do boats, that rules out a few!), but I am on a mission with the England and Wales lists...

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  5. I reckon it is certainly worthwhile for the variety alone.

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  6. This Colin chap. Is he a car or a camper van?

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    1. I ought to make a page to decode the names of Vera, Susie, Connie, Rita and Colin!

      Colin is a campervan, who was originally introduced in this post here: Introducing Colin

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