Dovedale Climbing and Walking Meet

Members: Dave Wylie, Greg Nunn, Kate Harvey, Oi Ding Koi, Colin Maddison, Lucie Crouch (meet leader) and Gareth Williams (meet leader)

Prospectives: Izy Somers

 

Despite some of the forecasts being less than perfect, the day turned out to be dry and very pleasant, if a little hot and humid at times. On arrival in Milldale, the consensus was for walking first with the possibility of a climb later, so seven of us set off for the walk which had been planned by Lucie. The eighth attendee, Colin, hadn’t arrived yet and was to join us later.

The walk of around 15km took us to the east of Dovedale, skirting Baley Hill to the east. We came upon a lime kiln before continuing south and descending into Thorpe village, passing an active shooting range with loud cracks of gunfire going off regularly. Turning back north, we paused at the southern end of Dovedale. Some of the party ascended Thorpe Cloud whilst others kept guard over the rucksacks at the bottom.

From here, we walked north along Dovedale, pausing at the Tissington Spires. Gregg, Izy, Ding and Kate continued along the dale back to the start of the walk, whilst others stayed for some climbing. Gareth led Silicon Wall (HS 4b), followed by Dave and Lucie. Just before the ropes were pulled, Colin turned up for a quick ascent of the route. A little higher up the scree brought us to Ten Craters of Wisdom (VS 4c) which Colin led and Gareth followed. A spectacular route up some very compact limestone with awesome pockets and threads.

It was now time to wander back to the cars (and bicycle!) for the journey home, which was longer for some than others. Colin had taken the train to Buxton, then cycled to Milldale – bonus points for the environmentally friendly transportation – but his wasn’t the longest journey. Greg and Izy had made a day-trip from London for the meet so that Izy could attend the required 4 meets within 6 months to apply for club membership. Impressive dedication!

Thank you to all who came along and made the meet a success. You can find an interactive map of the route we took at https://my.viewranger.com/track/details/MTExNjQxODc=.

Gareth Williams