Wildboar Clough scramble

Members: Claire Hawkins, Dave Wylie, Caro C & Michelle Harrison

I had unfinished business with Wildboar Clough having come 8 years earlier with a less committed friend and so this was a perfect outing for my first meet lead. Thanks for suggesting it Caro!

3 KMC warriors joined me on my mission: Caro, Mich and Dave Wylie. An early start of 8.30am was proposed and we were greeted by light rain, low cloud, and a midge fest we all hoped was limited to the car park.

Despite nearly all of the group having been on the route previously we managed to overshoot the path off from the Longden Trail by a good few hundred meters – clearly we were too busy debating what made for the best footwear for scrambles.

Once we found the path (which was extremely obvious – not sure how we didn’t notice it!!) Mich almost gained the club another 8 prospectives but after listening to a hard sell they moved on ahead of us.

Conditions in the Clough were damp, green and slimy in places, and very very midgy. Mich and Dave had sensibly come prepared with spray which was shared around – however between the 4 of us we still managed to donate at least a pint of blood to the pesky blighters.

Despite the conditions all sections of the scramble were climbed by at least 1 person.

There was clear relief at the top as a slight breeze was felt and the midges disappeared.

The group naved south over to the Blenheim Mk.I L1476 Crash Site for a snackaroo before heading south east to pick up the Pennine Way and headed back down alongside Torside Clough by which time the sun had come out and patches of blue sky had appeared.

Back at the car park a number of socks were rung out and it was concluded that there is no perfect footwear for wet scrambles – the only way to keep your feet dry is to avoid the water… although I think we made a great effort in making getting wet look fun.

Claire Hawkins