Monday February 2nd

 Black Hill- David Solo

A chilly, windy and misty day and anyone sensible would stay at home. Nevertheless, David was off to Crowden for the year's first trip to Black Hill. It was relatively sheltered on the way up to Laddow Rocks, but at the top it was very windy. I had to swap my knitted hat for a securely fitting Buff- I really didn't want to lose my new hat!

With the wind as it was, I was anticipating coming back the same way (along the Pennine Way) as the top of Tooleyshaw Moss is very exposed. The mist was blowing in and out, as well although this was less of a consideration as the path is relatively clear and certainly familiar.

Approaching the summit plateau

...and less than a minute later- horizon visible!

I stopped at the trig point on Soldier's Lump, sheltering from the breeze in the lee of its plinth. Although I'd set my compass in case the visibility was bad, by the time I left the mist had cleared and the wind had died down a bit, so I was pleased to do the loop via Tooleyshaw Moss.

No mist but a definite list!

Crossing Hey Moss, I was just below the cloud level and the outlines of Bleaklow and the quarry at Highstone Rocks was visible below the murk.

Bleaklow and Highstone Rocks quarry

On a sunny day, the trig on Hey Edge is quite easy to spot and aim for. Last time I was here, a caterpillar tractor was parked on Hay Moss and it had clearly been busy since; the path up to the trig was more like a track. Today, the trig was just about visible- if you knew what you were looking for.


Despite the weather, it was a great day out; I wasn't in a hurry and spent quite some time looking at contours and correlating them with the landscapes that I could see- such as they were!

A walk of 8.9 miles with 600m ascent.



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