Members: Bob Kelly, Dave Shotton, Dave Bone, Michelle Harvie, Mark Garrod, Keith Williams, Iain McCallum, Phil Ramsbottom.

* Special Green Star Award

To Mark and Michelle - not only did they use the train, they also cycled into Manchester to catch it.

This is a complicated report as the meet started as four, gained two, lost them, they then carried on to meet up with the other two; for the rest of us the only contact with this last pair was by text message.

So if you are still with me:

Myself, Bob and the two Daves met up as arranged at Victoria station and managed to find the right train despite cryptic directions from the guard. We left Marsden on time at 08:11 and made decent time to Snoopy's caravan at the old Isle of Skye Inn where I insisted on my bacon butty. Suitably refreshed we carried on through the mist to Black Hill, Bob pointing out a Short Eared Owl hunting a short way from us, this was soon chased off by a Curlew.

Mark and Michelle caught us up at the top of Black Hill having caught the later train and run to catch us up, they then walked along with us until we reached Crowden. Just before Crowden, we were entertained by a pair of Peregrines calling to each other just above the path. Shortly after this Mark and Michelle decided that the pace was not good enough and carried on running, Dave Bone did spot them just below the top of Torside Clough, after that the only trace of them was the smoking footprints in the peat.

We crossed Torside Dam at around 12:30 and climbed up steeply up Torside Clough, by then the mist had gone and the sun was starting to break through as we settled down for lunch at the top. It was notable how different Bleaklow is starting to look after the reseeding which has taken place over recent years, this and the dry weather made it look a much more friendly place.

As we crossed the Snake road at the summit a slight shower was very welcome on what was by then quite a humid day, although it would have been much less pleasant without the breeze. Just after that we left the Pennine way to see the last notable bird sighting of the day. A Golden Plover, Bob had been identifying their call all day but said that we would never spot one - well we did thanks to his vigilance.

We managed to hit the bridge over the river Ashop spot on before starting the character building grind up to Fairbrook Naze, not easy after about 18 miles but we made it for 16:20 and rewarded ourselves with a good rest. From there it was just a case of following the Northern Edge of Kinder to the short crossing, I was hoping to meet up with Keith and Iain around here, they had opted to do a shorter route starting from Torside dam, up on to Bleaklow, down to the Snake Inn then back up to Kinder (as perfected by Mr Stubbs). Unfortunately they proved to be too fast for us and were on the train before we dropped off Kinder, probably accompanied by Mark and Michelle who they met around Seal Stones.

Back to the original four; from the South side of Kinder we dropped down into Grindsbrook where we lost the pleasant breeze to be met with a distinct wall of heat. We arrived at a very busy Edale at 18:20 but it was 19:45 before we felt they we were rehydrated enough to make it to the train.

The real irony of the day was the cloudburst which hit Manchester as we got off the train, after 23 miles over the moors I had dry boots, I got them wet crossing Manchester city centre.

NOTE: this is to replace the Edale Weekend in the handbook.

Please join me on one of the big classic Pennine walks. If you have not done it before - now is the time to put that right. If you have done it before isn't it about time you did it again?

The plan is to catch a train from Manchester Victoria. If you prefer, you can drive to Marsden and meet us at the train station - although how you retrieve your car is up to you.

For the outbound leg, the following train will be used:

07:40 - arrives Marsden 08:11

Cost £7.50

The train times for the return from Edale to Manchester Piccadilly are as follows:

17:47 - arrives Piccadilly 18:32

18:46 - arrives Piccadilly 19:32

19:47 - arrives Piccadilly 20:32

21:08 - arrives Piccadilly 22:05 (please let's avoid this one)

Cost £8.90

If you intend to come along please get in touch either by phone or email. Let me know your preferred time, so that I can finalise the details and send out a further update.

The route is pretty straightforward - up the Wessenden Valley to Wessenden Head, cross the A635 and on to Black Hill, over that and down to Crowden. Cross the Torside Reservoir dam, up Torside Clough on to Bleaklow, over this to the top of the Snake Pass. So far it is just the Pennine Way. From the Snake we will pass over Featherbed Top, down Upper Gate Clough to the ruined shooting cabin in Ashop Clough, over the footbridge before the big grind up to Fairbrook Naze. From here it is in the bag, follow the North Kinder Edge to Seal Stones before taking the six minute crossing to the top of Grindsbrook which will lead us down to Edale.

Snoopys bacon butty caravan is usually set up by the site of the old Isle of Skye Inn at the top of the Wessenden valley, which is a nice distance to do before a breakfast stop. After that we will be on our own until we arrive at the fleshpots of Edale.

Return from Edale will obviously depend on the speed of the party, but there are trains at roughly hourly intervals (I will certainly not be running to catch one).