in good ol' GOC!

Where i can understand the lingo, folk understand me, 300m ASL isn't pie in the sky but reality and the sky to ground ratio is near on perfect!

So clearly i've managed to get my Bro's steam powered PC to sort of work which means you get a Sunday post after all.

Lets catch up then. Healthwise, the head cold has improved some and the ulcer is much reduced so that's all to the good.

But lets go back to Thursday. I was still feeling a bit pants but realistically, with a dodgy forecast for Friday, if i wanted a ride it would have to be that day. I hatched a plan, a shorter ride, down into Brizz then across to Bath, meet Aunty B for a cuppa then back. And so it was, clearly not 100% but not too bad, not a lot of metres gained but a bit over 57km in total on a lovely day. So i had my ride, the next fortnight or so's exercise will be all on foot.

For Friday that took the form of a walk down to IKEA for their cut price breakfast after which i sorted my stuff out for the trip, checking forecasts and deciding what to take for both Yorkshire and Germany.

And so to Saturday, travel day 1. It was a lovely day, hot air balloons were already in flight as Aunty B took me into the centre for my coach. And there's a tale. So it was, for reasons unknown, 30 minutes late departing which was crucial for what followed. We only got as far as Gloucester before the motorway ground to a halt - literally. Five, ten, well eventually we started moving again after some twenty minutes, the issue had been a car fire which we would've been ahead of if we'd set off on time.

So now we were some fifty minutes plus behind schedule which meant i had to cancel my coffee und cake that i'd arranged with a friend in Sheffield. We eventually rolled into Sheffield still fifty minutes late but there was no rush now, even my onward bus (i still had @ 10km and a short walk to go) was running late by 10 minutes! I finished the day with a slightly longer walk from my Bro's flat, he's away until tomorrow so i needed food and i treated myself to a proper pizza shop pizza from my fave perveyor - well it is my holiday after all.

As i mentioned last time, today i had planned to do a longish walk, not quite to the National Park but only just shy and reaching over 300m. The forecast actually looked terrible, wet, windy, not really long walk weather but looking outside at eight am it looked pretty okay so i committed to at least the first leg from which i could chicken out. The whole walk would be within Sheffield so bailing out wouldn't be a disaster and there were three potential cafe/shelter stops along the way too.

I set myself a goodly pace for the first, essentially downhill section to Beauchief (pronounced Bee chuff in these parts) before moving into Abbeydale Woods, a deciduous forest once owned by Beauchief Abbey. From here i'd be almost entirely on trails/dirt paths until the end of the walk, and most of that in the woodland that fills the Sheffield river valleys. My planned route was just over 14km at which point i expected to catch buses back to my accommodation, i got to @ 6km, where i crossed the road out to Hathersage, before the wet arrived.

Not an issue, its a bus point and just a little further was the first cafe. I decided to grab a cuppa then evaluate the weather so that is what i did. By the time i'd drunk and rested, the dampness had abated so i committed my legs to reaching the next bail out point @ 4km further on, another cafe too! Up the Porter Brook it was then, almost to Ringinglow where i left the trees to climb to the highest point, 314m asl. From here it was all downhill, literally.

Across Ringinglow Road and a short stretch of tarmac took me to the next field path, past cows and into the Porter Valley at Forge Dam, the second cafe/bail out point. There had been a bit more damp but not enough to really wet me so, back under the trees, i set off along the quite busy Porter Brook trail. In times of yore, this valley was home to maybe a dozen watermills used primarily for metal working, Forge Dam, Iron Wire Dam and so on, possibly the most famous being Shepherd which is now preserved by the City and today was a running day, not just the wheel but inside all the ancillary gear was busily providing free entertainment rather than fine scythes.

I was approaching the end of my planned route now, across Rustlings Road into Endcliffe Park, more mill sites, the last potential cafe stop and the memorial to the USAAF crew who perished when their stricken plane ditched in the Park during WW2. By now the threat of wet seemed remote so, feeling reasonably fresh, instead of catching a bus i continued along the Porter Valley along Ecclesall Road into the city centre. I was starting to get a bit footsore now so, pausing only for an ice cream, i headed to get a bus back out to south Sheffield.

That wasn't the end, i still had another 2km and a quick stop in Aldi before i could take the walking shoes off. Twenty point six kilometres walked, over 26k steps and the 296m gained is more than i managed on Thursdays bike ride! All that and i never left Sheffield. It was an excellent walk, you can't do anything half as good in Avonland, its one thing i really miss in my current 'exile' from GOC. (my daughters walking group were out in the Dales near Skipton today, even higher and wilder but not so far!)

Well that's me up to date, tomorrow i'll take a somewhat shorter walk - the weather is looking good for that, over 20c and sunny, then it's back, repack the case ready for Tuesday's long travel day.

I'll post when i get the opportunity but until then,
Tschussie,
Madeline Anafrid