Plenty of Grouse at Millers House

Dorothy and I decided to try out one of the TGO Wild Walks from the November Issue. We started at Tower Lodge in the Forest of Bowland (SD614539) and set off North along a nice track. We immediately encountered a very ambiguous notice saying that there was going to be shooting on the Open Access Land and that we had to stick to footpaths. There was a very confusing map with different colours showing where the Open Access Land was. As our route was mainly on footpaths and seemed to follow the edge of the coloured area we decided to press on and see.

We turned East across White Moor following a concessionary footpath, although there wasn't really a path as such. These footpaths are a bit like the equator, imaginary. That reminds me of an old joke about the boy who thought there was a dangerous animal that circled the globe. A menagerie lion running round the Earth. Never mind...

On the way over to Millers House we could hear the hunting dogs. They sounded as if they were a couple of miles to our West so we felt reasonably happy that we weren't disturbing the shoot. In fact it was easy to imagine we ourselves were being hunted. When we stopped I put on my dark fleece to keep warm but it was going through the back of my mind that it also made me less visible.

At Millers House we stopped for elevenses next to a large millstone. It seems very unlikely that this was really a Miller's House. It's hard to imagine a less favourable spot for grinding wheat to make flour. You'd have to carry the wheat there and carry the flour back. Maybe it was less boggy then, but a more likely explanation is that this was where people made the millstones. After all, the rock here is Millstone Grit.

 

You'd still be left with the problem of getting the stones from here to where the miller really lived. You could put a pole through the middle and with a couple of people each side perhaps you could roll it down. Even if it where less boggy it would not be easy. Just making it in the first place must have taken an incredibly long time! Hats off to anyone making a living out of this.

We headed North and West to Wolfhole Crag. The shapes and colours made by the moss, the heather and the water are fascinating. Take this green pool for example. As the path is largely imaginary you need to concentrate on route finding. This could be fun in thick mist!

 

The sun came out while we eat our lunch at Wolfhole Crag and enjoyed views of Ingleborough and the Trough of Bowland. From here we went West and met some beaters. "Where are you going?" we are asked politely. "Over to Wards Stone" I said. I'm not sure they knew where I meant but we are asked to keep on the South side of the wall as they were shooting to the North. "No problem" I replied. Not sure they were happy to see us though!

 

Now the shapes and colours were dominated by the peat itself. The peat could be incredibly black like oil or a rich purple like the heather. With peat hags dominating the skyline.

 

From Wards Stone, the highest point in The Forest Bowland (580m), apart from the trig point a kilometre away that's a metre higher, you can see the Carneddau in Snowdonia and the Lakeland Hills. The TGO article suggested you could also see the Isle of Man but it was too hazy for that.

We dropped down to the gravelled track to the south of us and started to head back to our car but then we met the shooting party. Again these were beaters but they didn't want us carrying on into the area they were beating. After an amicable discussion we agreed to take a detour round them although I must admit I did find the concept of the moor being closed quite amusing. For a minute I thought the gentleman we spoke to had the wrong consonant. I can see how you can close a door but a not moor?

Anyway we all need to share the countryside and we'd had our walk while they had their shoot so no worries as far as I was concerned. It seemed like very well organised operation and I guess it needs to be. One is inclined to think 'poor birds'. However, I'm not a vegetarian although I try to eat free range food if I can. I guess it doesn't come much more free range than this. 

 

On the way back we saw a beautiful sunset over the mouth of the Mersey and the Dee. We rarely come to this area but you could easily be walking in the Highlands of Scotland and it's only an hour's drive from where we live. Up on the top it reminded us of another walk we did between Mayar and Driesh above Glen Clova. Only that, believe it or not, was a lot more boggy!

Night Navving

Last night Chris and I went 'Night Navving' near Widdop Reservoir (between Hebden Bridge and Burnley). It was a lovely clear evening, great for star gazing and not too cold. It is debatable whether this is ideal conditions or not because it depends why you are walking about on the hills in the dark.

Yes. Why are we walking around in the dark? Well a few months ago Chris came out with me in preparation for my Mountain Leader Assessment and now Chris is doing his in a few weeks. On the ML, as it is affectionately called, you walk round at night in a group of about four people. Naturally you have your head torches on. The assessor will point out a location on the map to one of the group and he or she will have to get there. Then another person is asked to take the group to the next spot.

A location might be at the corner of a path or the end of a wall - not too bad. On the other hand it might be a tiny kink in a contour line that you can only see when you look through the magnifying glass on the compass - much harder. The tough thing is that you have to take over from the person before you and you don't know where they were told to go. They may not even have successfully taken the group to the place they were told to. So you have to be on the ball, You need to know where you are on the map at all times. In the dark!

That's why a lovely clear night might not be the best conditions. On my ML it rained all the time and we were in mist so you really need to practice in bad conditions as well.

We set off from the car park along the track and then up through the woods until leaving the path to find a small group of rocks. This was the first location. Before going you need to decide what the locations will be. From there we worked our way around between groups of rocks, tops of small streams (re-entrants in orienteering parlance) and corners in the path before returning to the car.

We achieved about half of what Chris had planned. It takes ages in the dark over moorland to get anywhere.

So how can you find your way around? Well, your main tool is your compass. Take a bearing on the map and follow it. To decide when you have gone far enough you can estimate the number of paces and how long it will take. You would know in advance how many paces was 100 m on a flat path and how long that would take but you have to adjust that estimate to take account of the gradient and the underfoot terrain.

There are other tactics that orienteers use, that you can adopt. A good strategy is to try to break it down into 'legs'; walk to a wall, follow the wall to a corner, then take a bearing, for example. Following a wall is called 'Handrailing' and getting closer before taking the bearing is called 'finding an attack point'. You can use a catching feature. If there is something behind the target destination, then you know you've gone too far if you reach it. If you are heading for a point on a linear feature like a stream it is better to 'aim off'. Deliberately go slightly to the right or left so that when you hit the stream you know which way to turn.

That's just a sample. There are many static orienteering courses you can use for practice but you really can't beat being out in the dark. There is that slight frisson of excitement especially when a grouse suddenly takes off noisily about 2 metres away. It's exhilarating and of course it's fantastic practice in case you ever do get caught out at night.