Members: Christine Beeston, Andrew Croughton (*), Martin Heaton, Alan (Liverpool) Jones, Dave Lygate, Ian McCallum, Lester Payne,

Guests: Ian Roberts & Pete ?

Having successfully palmed this meet onto me, conjuring up some poor excuse, Zoë lay sleeping peacefully as I dragged myself out of bed and peered out at a grey, dull sky. I set off northwards, hoping that no-one would turn up and I could drive back home again to bed.

The further I drove, however, the brighter the sun shone, and by the time I reached Brotherswater, it was a lovely morning and a small but enthusiastic group of five awaited.

We walked down Grisedale, admiring the unfolding views and consequently missing the conventional approach to the scramble. We had to double back slightly and slog up the slope, allowing Christine and Dave (whose journey had been delayed) to catch us up. Andy had continued up Grisedale intending to meet us on the top of Fairfield.

Easy scrambling led straight onto the crest of the ridge, and gradually increased in interest until we reached the crux, a fifteen foot wall of about Diff standard. It was a bit greasy in the conditions and a rope was requested. Lester led up and the rest followed. An exposed section followed, then easy scrambling took us to the summit of St.Sunday crag. A lovely scramble, but it seemed over too soon !

We still had quite a long way to go, and by the time we reached the top of Fairfield, Andy had long gone. We stopped for a while to admire the views (arguably the best view point in the Lakes, in my opinion), before descending the ridge above Hartsop, which seemed surprisingly long, and headed off right down a steep path which led straight to the car park. After an extensive search, Andy was found in one of the Patterdale pubs.

(NOTE - not a weekend meet)

4th August - Classic Lake District Scramble. Patterdale - Pinnacle Ridge - St, Sunday Crag - Fairfield. Climbers - escape from those tiny gritstone crags and get up a mountain. Walkers - try a classic horseshoe with a bit of added spice. Pinnacle Ridge is a fairly short, but steep, scramble onto the Fairfield ridge (the northern one, much better than the southern). Optional ghyll scramble descent. As featured in the current High mag (May). Meet Cow Bridge car park (GR 404134) near Brothers Water, at 10:00 for a 10:15 start.