DARK PEAK NEWS Summer 2012 - Dark Peak Fell Runners

DARK PEAK NEWS 

Summer 2012 

• Dark Peak Ltd? – why we may have to rethink 

how the club is organised 

• Clued up – how the legendary calendar box 

drove you all mad for a year 

• Big bang – and a lucky let off for B***t L*****y! 

• Long, cold, wet – the low-down on Totley Tunnel

Dark Peak News February 2012 page 2 

In this edition» 

est. 1976 

www.dpfr.org.uk 

President: Eric Mitchell 

Chairman 

Tom Westgate 

Stumperlowe Hall Rd 

Sheffield 

S10 3QT 

0114 263 0632 

chairman@dpfr.org.uk 

Treasurer 

Tim Hawley 

Jasmine Cottage 

Main Road 

Dungworth 

Sheffield 

S6 6HF 

0114 285 1633 

treasurer@dpfr.org.uk 

Clothing and Eqpt. 

Richard Hakes 

454A Loxley Road 

Loxley 

Sheffield 

S6 6RS 

0114 233 9912 

kit@dpfr.org.uk 

Women’s Captain 

Kirsty Bryan-Jones 

2, Sunnybank Cottages, 

Jaggers Lane, 

Hathersage, 

S32 1AZ 

01433 650213 

ladies@dpfr.org.uk 

Secretary 

Rob Moore 

2 Kerwen Close 

Dore 

Sheffield 

S17 3DF 

07766 520741 

secretary@dpfr.org.uk 

Membership 

Ann Watmore 

26 Robertson Drive 

Sheffield 

S6 5DY 

0114 233 8383 

memsec@dpfr.org.uk 

Men’s Captain 

Rob Little 

Flat F 

91 School Road 

Sheffield 

S10 1GJ 

07791 283861 

men@dpfr.org.uk 

Website 

John Dalton 

1, Cannon Fields 

Hathersage 

Derbyshire 

S32 1AG 

01433 659523 

webmaster@dpfr.org.uk 

LIMITED LIABILITY 

Fell running has been shaken by the death of Brian 

Belfield in the Buttermere Sailbeck race. In the wake of 

the tragedy, Dark Peak officials are asking whether the 

club is adequately protected from legal liability should 

things go wrong. 

News, page 4 

CHAMPIONSHIP COUP 

We did so well with the Edale Skyline this year that the 

FRA have asked us to put it on as a championship race 

next time. A feather in the cap of new race coordinator 

Ian Fitzpatrick, though he’s too modest to say it. 

Skyline report, page 20 

FRED FLINTSTONE, 

MEN IN TIGHTS 

A cross dressing gem 

from David Arundale takes 

the Jura in the caption 

competition, as Kirsty and 

Nicky take centre stage for the 

next round of the contest. 

Caption competition, page 10 

delve to fourteen 

and there you will find the Calendar Box mysteries to 

puzzle your mind. 

The year of the box, page 14 

WHISKY, BEER, CAVA, MORE BEER 

Yes, it’s nearly time for the annual Dark Peak Festival of 

Alcoholism and Irresponsible Parenting, also known as 

the Thornbridge weekend. Full details in the flyer from 

Kirsty and Simon. 

Page 46 

Dark Peak News 

David Holmes 

615, Loxley Road, 

Loxley, 

Sheffield, 

S6 6RR 

0114 234 4186 

news@dpfr.org.uk


The bit at the front 

Paddy Buckley 2 David Holmes 0 

AS I TYPE this I’m licking my wounds after a second abortive attempt at the Paddy Buckley 

Round. Things were going so well for the first 20 hours and then everything fell apart between 

Cnicht and Bryn Banog. To go so quickly from moving strongly to being a shuffling wreck is 

humbling and brings home just how much this relentless round demands. I really respect those 

like Willy Kitchen who have toughed it out and got round inside 24 hours. He did it despite an 

absolute drenching on the last leg over the Snowdon range, (perhaps better than the absolute 

tongue-lashing he would have got from Nicky if he’d considered packing in at that stage). 

You can read Willy’s tale on page 32. Others who’ve defied the lousy weather to achieve long 

distance successes include Dave Lockwood and Alan Yates on the Joss Naylor, and Keith 

Holmes, Mike Nolan and the victorious Dark Peak women’s team on the Bob Graham. As 

I write, Nicky Spinks is shortly to attempt the women’s individual speed record for the Bob 

Graham and the rain is finally forecast to ease. Let’s hope the sun shines for her in every sense. 

Safety first 

That Paddy attempt has left me both physical and mental scars. I have a neat three-inch line 

where I gashed the leg on steel mesh hanging off a Snowdonian stile. Lower down are two 

gouge scars where I ripped my shin in a rock hole below the Rocking Stones. Fell running may 

not be as dangerous as some outdoor activities but it is certainly hazardous and those hazards 

can become serious if we don’t treat them with respect. Was I doing that when I went out alone 

on Derwent Edge in freezing rain and gales with thin tights, an ultralight OMM top and a 

flimsy pair of gloves? I think I knew the answer as I sat behind a wall on the verge of exposure 

with hands so cold I couldn’t even retie my shoe laces. On the news pages of this edition, 

and in the chairman’s notes, are thoughts about the awful tragedy that befell the Buttermere 

Sailbeck race this year. We don’t yet know exactly what happened to Brian Belfield, so we 

should not rush to judgement. But I put my hands up and say that there for the grace of God. 

Our new chairman Tom Westgate is now asking the club to begin a debate about the standards 

we set for protecting ourselves and others. No doubt more will follow on this in the next 

edition of Dark Peak News. Tom, Mark Harvey and others have tried to lead on safety since 

that dreadful fright we had a few years ago when Ruth Batty glissaded off a craggy drop during 

a snowbound Warts run. Have their efforts always been treated with the respect and seriousness 

that they deserve? 

Thanks 

To everybody who has made this bumper edition of Dark Peak News possible. Particularly 

to club captains Kirsty and Rob for their upbeat accounts of what you’ve all been doing. And 

especially to Tim Mackey, who has toiled tirelessly to make the mag look so good. The mag 

will now settle into a cycle of twice-yearly publication in summer and winter. The next one 

is due in December. First come, first served if you want to get your material published. Dave 

Lockwood has already set the lead... 

Dave


News 

Lake District tragedy 

Sunday 29th April 2012 will be recorded as a sad day in the history of UK fell running, after 

a 63-year-old man took part in the Buttermere Sailbeck race in the Lake District and failed 

to return from the hills alive. Mountain rescue volunteers located Brian Belfield’s body some 

distance from the race route early the next morning after he failed to return to his hotel room 

in Keswick. He appeared to have strayed from his intended course in severe weather and poor 

visibility. 

It is too early to say what lessons, if any, are to be learned from the tragedy. The cause of 

death will be determined by a coroner after an inquest hearing, meaning the full weight of 

judicial process will be brought to bear in examining what happened. In the difficult interim 

period, The Fell Runners Association has offered its support to Brian’s family, (he was a 

longstanding member), and to Dark Peak members Mike and Hazel Robinson, who organised 

the race, (see chairman’s notes, page 7). 

This is the fifth death in competitive hill running since its emergence as a mass participation 

sport in the 1970’s. Given the numbers taking part this accident rate is arguably quite low, but 

the latest tragedy has inevitably concentrated thoughts on the need to maximise safety 

standards, and to protect race organisers against potentially crippling legal bills should things 

go wrong. The FRA has reissued its standing advice to race organisers regarding the wording 

of disclaimers. It has also reminded all competitors that they must ensure they know the rules 

of the sport and that they understand the risks they run when they take part in a race. The rules, 

and the wording of the standard disclaimer, can be found on pages 13 to 17 of the FRA 

Calendar. 

With this in mind – and without in any way wishing to prejudge what happened at 

Buttermere – Dark Peak club officers have been discussing whether the club is structured in a 

way that provides adequate protection from legal liability. Secondly, and perhaps more 

importantly, they have been asking whether we do all we can to ensure that people taking part 

in club events understand the hazards involved and their personal responsibilities. This second 

point will be the subject of ongoing discussion, based on the continuing principle of individual 

responsibility and a minimalist approach to rules and regulation. 

On the first point, club secretary Rob Moore has commissioned an opinion from one of his 

legal colleagues at Taylor and Emmett. The note from associate solicitor Peter Crawford can be 

found on the Dark Peak website (www.dpfr.org.uk). It makes it clear that the club’s current 

status as an unincorporated association leaves officers and event organisers at risk of personal 

liability for injury or damage should things go wrong. It suggests two possible options for 

change: becoming a company limited by guarantee, or becoming a mutual society. Both would 

involve substantial changes to the club’s legal status, but club officers are exploring how we 

could achieve this without visibly affecting the way we actually run the club. Any cost 

implications appear to be limited although it is likely the club accounts will have to be audited 

by an outside party.


It is the committee’s understanding that neither of the options would affect the day to day 

running of the club, and indeed most people would not notice any change whatsoever. But 

before going any further, the club is now canvassing opinions and thoughts from other clubs 

that have faced the same issues, and from the FRA. 

Club chairman Tom Westgate is now inviting all club members to have a say, with a view to 

achieving a consensus option that could be taken to an extraordinary general meeting later this 

year. 

“The Rucksack Club and several mountaineering clubs have gone down this avenue,” said 

Tom. 

“As a club with a minimalist ethos, this is not an easy option and we want opinions and 

views from across the club, especially the long standing members and officials. We have 

already been discussing the issue with a few of you. In most instances the structure of the club 

would remain entirely unchanged.” 

“If the committee wants to take it forward, and at this early stage it seems likely, then as a 

club we will all get a chance to both discuss it and no doubt vote for it or against. To help move 

things along we now invite all club members to respond to me or any committee member. 

From there we will put forward a recommendation to be approved or otherwise at the EGM.” 

All change for club champs 

THE CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS and club dinner are both moving to new venues this year. 

The race will start at 10am on Saturday November 10th, at or near the Dog and Partridge 

pub on the Woodhead Pass, GR SE178012. This year’s race coordinator Andy Harmer is still 

recceing his options, and has yet to decide whether to start from the pub car park or possibly 

further up the road at the road junction by Windleden Edge. Drinks will definitely be in the 

pub afterwards. For those of you don’t know it, it has a fine selection of real ales and food and 

has been a regular in the Camra Good Beer Guide for many years. If you want to chalk up a 

good time the man not to impress is Lewis Ashton, who has taken over handicapping duties 

from Roy Small. The dinner will be at Abbeydale Golf Club on Twentywell Lane in Dore. 

According to its website, this is “a great place to play golf and relax afterwards”. Clubs at the 

ready! Still needed is a volunteer to organise the dinner and handle bookings - chat to club 

chairman Tom Westgate if you think you can help. Entertainment to be confirmed but there 

are rumours circulating of a DIY dance band featuring club members and to be coordinated by 

Dave Markham. 

Whisky-a-go-go as Thornbridge gets into gear 

AT THE END of August the sun will shine, the birds will sing and Dark Peak Fell Runners 

will again descend on the Thornbridge outdoor centre for a long weekend of pleasure and sin. 

Organisers Kirsty Bryan-Jones and Simon Patton are building on last year’s alcohol-fuelled 

theme with the promise of a “beer and whisky tasting quiz” as a prelude to the traditional 

Saturday evening barbecue, (with beer provided by the club), and on a more genteel note cake 

and cava in the afternoon. There’ll also be races for both juniors and seniors, and a possible 

repeat of last year’s spectacular cyclo cross race. Plenty for the kids, maintaining the traditional 

family theme, (they always manage to look after themselves despite their parents’ inebriation). 

Cost is £10 per-adult per-night and £5 per-night for the kids. Full details in the ad on page 46.


New chairman and treasurer take office 

LONG-SERVING chairman and treasurer Paul Sanderson and Lynn Bland both stood down at 

the agm in May to resounding thanks for everything they have contributed to the club during 

their years in office. Stepping up to the plate are Tom Westgate as chairman and Tim Hawley 

as treasurer. The meeting also heard that Helen Elmore has now volunteered to be deputy 

women’s captain, helping Kirsty to keep our team in top form and fighting fettle. 

Dark Peak women smash Bob Graham record 

KIRSTY AND HELEN were certainly cracking the whip in the Lakes at the end of June when 

a Dark Peak women’s team took nearly three hours off the 21hr 48min record for the ‘Billy 

Bland Challenge’ established by Helm Hill last year. Our team of 13 did the 62 mile Bob 

Graham route from Moot Hall to Moot Hall in 18hrs 51mins, also establishing section records 

for legs two, three, four and five. Not bad when you consider they set off in foul conditions 

and experienced persistent wind, rain and hail on the way round. We hope to carry a full report 

in the winter edition of Dark Peak News, (that time of year being more consistent with their 

experience on the hills). Congratulations to all involved. 

The club’s “official” Dark Peak weekend was abandoned after it became apparent the 

runners would be swimming across the valley from Threlkeld to Clough Head. The scheduled 

attempt on Friday 22nd June coincided with severe weather warnings that suggested safety 

could be at risk and runners would have little chance of completing. Keith Holmes scrambled 

an ad hoc attempt 24 hours later with a scratch team of supporters and managed to get round in 

23hrs 27mins in conditions that were still quite foul. The debris and flood-marks on the way 

round confirmed that it would have been impossible just a day earlier. 

Keith’s success came fast off the back of his breeze round the Joss Naylor Challenge in late 

May. Dave Lockwood and Alan Yates have also chalked up 24hr Joss successes, (more in the 

next Dark Peak News), and Mike Nolan completed a 23hr 43min BG in difficult conditions 

just before Dark Peak News went to print. Congratulations to Willy Kitchen, who became the 

first Dark Peaker for some time to do a sub-24 Paddy Buckley, getting round in 23hrs 39mins 

despite a drenching on the final Snowdon leg. The less said about the editor’s attempt a few 

weeks later, the better. Apologies if we’ve left anyone out of this long distance round-up; if so, 

get in touch with the editor and we’ll make amends in December. 

John Dalton gets a new mac 

WELL, STRICTLY speaking that should be a new Mac, but Apple being all lower-case-cool 

we can probably bend the grammatical rules to facilitate a corny headline. The club committee 

has sanctioned spending of about £2,000 on a Macbook for the club webmeister. It’s a highspec 

and robust machine that will ease John’s workload. It also means the whole website will 

be in one place, making it easier to pass it on to somebody else if, as John says, “I pop my 

clogs half way up a mountain”. The computer will also be used to calculate Skyline results in 

real time and will be available to help the running of other club events.


Access guidance 

BOB BERZINS has produced a detailed guide to our rights and responsibilities when using 

access land in the Peak District. It follows one or two misunderstandings in this year’s Odin 

Mine race that resulted in a farmer complaining that runners had trespassed on his land and 

climbed over field boundaries. Bob’s guidelines can be found on a new set of ‘Access’ pages in 

the members’ area of the Dark Peak website. 

Your moors, your ideas 

THIS WAS the title of a series of workshops run by the National Trust back in the spring to 

ask for suggestions about the running of their High Peak Moors estate, (which includes Kinder 

and huge swathes of the Bleaklow, Alport and Howden Moors areas). A small group of club 

members went along to one of the workshops, where the grouse shooting community was also 

heavily represented. The Dark Peak members were eager to play down suggestions that people 

running across the moors with head torches pose a significant risk of disturbance to birds and 

wildlife. The Trust says it has received nearly 1,000 comments, both through the meetings and 

through its website. It will consult on a draft Master Plan in September, but in the meantime 

has posted initial reactions to the comments at: http://www.high-peak-moors.co.uk/files/Your%20 

Moors%20Your%20Ideas%20Workshops%20-%20NT%20responses.pdf The draft comments 

suggest access for fell runners will remain “same” so it looks as though our views have been 

heeded. 

Club hut gets a 

spruce-up 

OUR BELOVED club hut at Tha 

Sportsmen is looking a good deal 

tidier after Roy Small and Tom 

Westgate decided to chuck the 

festering old sofas and chairs in 

a skip and get club “handymen” 

Rob Cole and Roger Baumeister 

in to install bespoke benching and 

clothing hooks. “Reaction to the 

benching seems to be favourable, 

not surprising given the quality 

of the work and our newly found 

tidiness – thanks to all those 

involved,” said Tom. 

Chase checks out the facilities 

Dark Peak gets national radio exposure 

ANY CONNECTION between the erudite Dr Stephen Martin who was heard on Radio 4 last 

month talking about the parasitic varroa mite and our own plain-talking Steve Martin? Good to 

know that Dark Peak’s intellectual firepower is getting the recognition it deserves.


Dark Peak Fell Runners contact details update June 2012 

New members 

Forename Surname Telephone Address 

Ben Coales 01246 460 984 10 Coniston House, Spinner Croft, Chesterfield, S40 2DG 

Steve Dean 01332 342246 8 Bank View Road, Darley Abbey, Derby, DE22 1EJ 

Mick Edwards 01283 537055 21 Bretlands Way, Stapenhill, Burton-on-Trent , DE15 9SH 

Graham Gagg 07710899974 710 Spring Bank West, Hull, , HU3 6LH 

Ian Gibson 0114 2801839 71 Ridgehill Avenue, Intake, Sheffield, S12 2GN 

Ben Howarth 0114 2556284 44 Southview Crescent, Sheffield, , S7 1DH 

Livia Hull 07969282639 39 Glossop Row, Oughtibridge, Sheffield, S35 0GH 

Nigel Jeff 01433 659229 1 Old Post Office Row, Bamford, Hope Valley, S33 0DY 

Bob Johnston 0114 2663577 48 High Storrs Road, Sheffield, , S11 7LE 

Sue Kirkbride 01433 659229 1 Old Post Office Row, Bamford, Hope Valley, S33 0DY 

Heather Marshall 01433 659836 4 Greenhead Cottages, Ashopton Rd, Bamford, 

Hope Valley, S33 0DB 

Dan Middlemas 01947605030 21 Summerfield Lane, Stainsacre, Whitby, YO22 4NU 

Tim Rippon 07800 820380 7a Garden Street, Sheffield, , S1 4BJ 

Christopher Vardy 01142305741 36 Ringstead Avenue, Sheffield, , S10 5SN 

Wayne West 01246 556634 100 Calow Lane, Chesterfield, Derbys, S41 0AX 

Richard Wheeler 07920772164 217 Heavygate Road, Sheffield, , S10 1PH 

Change of address 

Jo Armistead 07812 365915 2 Townend Farm, Whitby Road, Easington, TS13 4NE 

Chris Armit 07855638241 29 Falaise Way, Hilton, Derby, Derbys, DE65 5JT 

Rob Cole 07967365677 3 Edgedale Road, Sheffield, S7 2BQ 

Rachel Findlay-Robinson 07914884262 12 St Ann’s Green, Leeds, LS4 2SD 

Rhys Findlay-Robinson 07976 721622 YHA Buttermere, Buttermere, Cockermouth, Cumbria, 

CA13 9XA 

Callum Gilhooley 0751 080 2693 5 Blair Castle Stables, Blair Atholl, Perthshire , PH18 5TL 

Andrew Howard 0034610598345 12 Firthwood Ave, Coal Aston, Dronfield, Derbys, S18 3BQ 

Mark Gray 0114 2352653 8 Woodholm Road, Sheffield, S11 9HT 

Tim Hawley 0114 2851633 Jasmine Cottage, Main Road, Dungworth, Sheffield, 

S6 6HF 

Don Jenkins 07985 941700 33 Batworth Drive, Sheffield, , S5 8XW 

Alan Jones Modrejce 13, 5216 Most Na Soci, SLOVENIJA 

Paul Pycroft 07949 153653 17 Station Road, Walkeringham, Doncaster, DN10 4JL 

Ed Richardson 01433 639260 10 Dewrwent Avenue, Grindleford, Hope Valley, Derbyshire, 

S32 2HB 

Ronnie Staton 077914 71532 20 Bacon Street, Gainsborough, Lincs, DN21 1DQ 

James Twohig 07781 5630010 110 Upper Valley Road, Sheffield, S8 9HE 

Richard Wren +61 7 3113 3073 Unit 5, 9 Baird Street, Windsor, QLD 4030, AUSTRALIA


From the Chairman 

The chains of office have been handed over. I am not sure how I find myself here but I am 

happy to put the spade work in. 

Firstly I, and no the doubt the whole club, would like to thank Paul and Lynn for their 

sterling work. They did so much for the club and we thank them. 

Unfortunately I feel impelled to offer some thoughts on the sad death of Brian Belfield at the 

recent Buttermere Sailbeck race. To quote from Graham Breeze of the FRA: 

“Brian’s death is a tragedy for his family and friends and the sympathies of all fell runners 

will be with them. The Sailbeck Race is organised by Mike and Hazel Robinson. As we all know 

they are experienced competitors and race organisers but they now face what everyone who 

has ever been associated with race organisation prays they will never have to endure. Of 

course our first thoughts should be for those who grieve for Brian Belfield but our sport can 

only exist because of people like Mike and Hazel, and they deserve all the support we fell 

runners can give them.” 

As most of you know, Mike is a long standing member of Dark Peak who has consistently 

raced with Hazel at the sharp end from their Kendal home. It is reassuring to know that, as the 

national umbrella organisation, the FRA is providing Mike with advice and support. Paul 

Sanderson and I have also spoken to him. Dark Peak has more FRA members than any other 

club, but at times like this I feel we should encourage even more members to join – at £12 

per-year is this too much to ask? 

As you may have read on page four, the tragedy has prompted the Dark Peak committee to 

reflect on the club structure and how we organise our runs and races. We all cherish the 

informality of our low-key events, but they now attract many more people than they once did. 

Are we are doing all we can to run them safely, and to prevent the organisers being liable 

should anything go wrong? We need a broad range of views on these difficult questions, so do 

please take the opportunity to chat to committee members about your opinions 

On happier ground, as I settle into the role I’ve been taking soundings about our many 

recent achievements.* Taking last year’s national championships we had Judith, Lloyd and 

Mick first or there and thereabouts in their respective categories, the MV40 team was second 

and the MV50 team first. In the FRA relays the men’s A team was first, the B team eighth, 

MV40 team second, MV50 first and the women’s team fourth. Nicky Spinks took the 24-hour 

Lakes summits record and generally sets long distance standards for the rest of us to follow 

with ever more records in her sights no matter what life throws at her. We compete in numbers 

and quality in the Lakes races and recently had 21 runners at Jura. We have club events that I 

think stand up against the best ‘official’ races. And what about our other “Dark Peak BG 

Machine” - the flying team who have just taken three hours off the women’s 24 hour Billy 

Bland Challenge record? Details via Ian Fitzpatrick’s iPhone-crafted blog on our incomparable 

website, (thanks, John). We are in a good place. 

Tom 

*And I apologise immediately to anyone I’ve unwittingly left out of this brief overview!


Caption competition 

This time we give the 

stage to two of the 

club’s record-breaking 

women runners: 

women’s captain 

Kirsty-Bryan Jones 

can be seen leaving the 

scene as her partner, 

long distance legend 

Nicky Spicks, stays 

apparently rooted to the 

spot. What was going 

on? That’s for you to 

decide... 

Hmmm... maybe 

this one was a little 

too esoteric? Fewer 

comments than usual 

and less smut, which 

was surprising given the potential 

references to cross dressing and 

kinky sex, (maybe Dark Peak 

members like it straight?). Still 

some gems though. The runner 

up came from Rachel Findlay- 

Robinson: “What do you mean, you 

were joking about the model scouts 

turning up today?” The winner, 

taking ten out of ten for ingenuity, is 

David Arundale: “I think I can win 

it! If you give me each of your cups 

and those stockings, I can enter as a 

woman”. Jura on its way.


The questionnaire 

Stuart 

Hale 

How old are you? 

47 years-young 

How did you 

start fell running? 

Unfortunately I used to live down south. 

Fortunately, the Peak District was less than 

a couple of hours drive away. So back in 

my twenties I started to plan a trip up here 

every month to six weeks. I started running 

on the fells, initially on paths and trails before 

discovering the joys of heather bashing, 

grough scrambling, tussock hopping and 

finally peat-bog baths! My first fell race was 

over at Longnor. Being from the ‘flat lands’ me 

and my club mates had the proverbial taken 

out of us something rotten until my best mate 

ran the locals ragged and finished in the top 

three!! That was the benefit of trail running on 

freshly ploughed clay-infested fields! 

When did you join Dark Peak? Not sure – 

2005 or 2006? 

Why did you join Dark Peak? Because 

Debbie told me to! Say no more… 

How many miles a week do you run? 

Erghhh… I dunno? As part of the knee rehab 

I did do a weekly count-up and was hitting 

the 30 mark. Seriously, though, who cares? 

The more time on the fells the better, slowly or 

faster. 

Admit it, what’s your current weight? Too 

heavy. Setting up Accelerate and two knee 

ops put paid to training and then I couldn’t 

find a cure for Deb’s mum’s cooking, beer and 

cheese sarnies. 

What’s your top training tip? Remember 

to recovery train – and that means slowly! Put 

the strength in to get the speed out and don’t 

ignore good technique. 

What’s your favourite race? Not sure… I 

love the local races with a country fair or similar 

attached. Then there is the OMM… Not that 

I am racing too much these days. Still getting 

the knee sorted and when I do I’ll be looking at 

ultras. I really like the look of the Ultra Tour of 

the Peak District. 

What’s been your best moment in fell 

running so far? Sunset on Derwent Edge, 

one January evening. Clear and frosty, with 

colours that you just couldn’t have improved 

with Photoshop. 

And the worst? Being told I needed a second 

knee operation. I was told that running might 

have to go on hold for longer, and that if the 

news was bad after the op then running may 

be a no-no altogether. So far, so good though. 

I’m back on the fells, albeit one step at a 

time… 

What shoes do you use? I am lucky in that 

I get to try loads of shoes out and I have a 

cupboard full of pre-production samples, 

shoes on wear-test and those I have been 

given to try. I still prefer New Balance 101’s, 

Minimus Trail and Mizuno Wave Harrier. The 

new Saucony Trail Kinvara is also looking to 

become a trail favourite as well. 

And how do you get your socks clean? 

Step 1: Shake off the worst of the peat-bog. 

Step 2: Soak for half an hour in boiling water 

and bleach. 

Step 3: Rinse and scrub with oven cleaner. 

Step 4: Rinse and then wash by hand, rinsing 

again. 

Step 5: Throw them away. 

Step 6: Buy a new pair from my favourite 

running shop Accelerate – www.accelerateuk. 

com, 629, Attercliffe Road, Sheffield, S9 3RD. 

No one said I couldn’t blatantly advertise here, 

did they?


Features 

A word in your shell-like 

Ian Winterburn’s fascinating piece about moorland military history provoked a lot of interest 

when it appeared in the last edition of Dark Peak News. Since then there have been some 

equally fascinating new developments. Ian takes up the story… 

Is it dangerous? 

Do you remember me talking in the last 

piece about the old Catenary Defences near 

Midhope reservoir? These were long steel 

cables strung between huge concrete bases to 

prevent the Germans flying low enough to do 

a reciprocal ‘Dam Busters’ job on the local 

reservoirs. Since writing the piece I have had 

a good nosy round and have found the bases 

and weights of the original defences. Nearby 

are the remains of an old truck that sank in to 

the moors and was stripped down, possibly 

an Austin. This prompted further trips which 

have brought up two bunkers, a tank wash 

and lots of tank tracks. 

After the heavy rain in April I went for a 

run and took a 

short straight line over a new bit of moor. 

Within a few minutes I’d found two new 

shells and some pieces of others. I took some 

pictures and noted the grid refs before I went 

on my way. I sent the photos of the shells 

and grid ref off to be checked out and they 

came back as ‘safe’. A friend in the rescue 

team went out to have a look at the shells I’d 

found and in the process discovered two 

more, one of which looked potentially


dangerous. He couldn’t find one of mine so I 

went to recover it and found yet another! 

Now we had five new shells in just over a 

week. These were mainly 75mm AP, two of 

which look potentially unstable. 

Just recently I had a call from a Penistone 

Footpath Runner who shall remain nameless 

to protect him from his foolishness. Brent 

(whoops!) was on his way up Cut Gate. The 

conversation went something like this: 

“Hi Ian I’ve just found a shell on Cut Gate. 

I’m just ringing to get an opinion” 

“Well, without seeing it, it’s impossible to 

comment but, as long as the base has a clean 

hole in it, it’s probably safe but I’d leave it 

alone and we’ll check it out.” 

“Oh! I’m walking up Cut Gate with it! 

The hole is in the front though with a thread!” 

“Ah…….. Right. OK. Take it off the path 

now and put it down carefully, very 

carefully… Mark it so that you can find it 

again. Then move away. Quite far away. And 

don’t hang about.” 

Later we went up to check it out. It didn’t 

take us long to realise that this was an 18 

pounder about 40 cm long, with the front 

cone missing and a ‘mechanism’ inside. We 

quickly took pictures then left it well alone 

and well off the path. 

Skip forward two more days. The Royal 

Engineers were flown in by the police. After 

inspecting the shell they were apparently 

quite excited/concerned. This was the real 

deal; full of high explosives. The fuse was 

live and could go any second. I think they 

were quite stunned to hear someone had 

incredibly carried it for 10 minutes and that 

they were still alive. 

Not long afterwards they used a small 

charge to trip the fuse. Result… a sizeable 

new crater just off the path that clearly 

demonstrates the destructive power of these 

festering relics. 

So just a reminder: this is the third shell, at 

least, found in the last five years that has been 

high-explosive or a shrapnel shell. If you find 

one, mark it and make a note of the grid ref 

but DO NOT TOUCH! Whatever you do 

NEVER CARRY/MOVE ONE OF THESE 

SHELLS. You may not be as lucky as our 

very lucky anonymous runner. 

Pictures of all the recent finds are available 

in the album ‘Hills around the Langsett 

Shooting range’, which you’ll find at https:// 

www.facebook.com/OutdoorNavigation 

Ian 

...only when it blows up!


The year of the box 

The roving calendar box was born out of beer, stupidity and running. Probably in that order. 

During 2009 both Neil and I had been embroiled in a bet to visit the Kinder Ammo Box 24 

times during the year. This soon became tiresome, but the tomfoolery created the idea of the 

roving calendar box. Each month there would be a new location somewhere within the Dark 

Peak, with potential forays into the White Peak, and we would provide clues for the box in 

various guises. This is the story… 

January – Kinder, top of Fairbrook 

Where better to start than Kinder Scout, home of the mass trespass and a celebration of the 

very fact that we’re allowed to rove over the moors? Saying that, I’m not sure we quite thought 

through the perils of a run up Kinder on New Year’s Day morning. We managed to get there 

despite the hangovers, and selected a site just below the edge tucked in amongst the boulders. 

Once the box was placed, Dave Tait helped us to spread the word through Carshare with a 

photo clue and we sat back to see if anyone would even bother to visit. 

Oh, what had we done? The first visitors were a raiding party from Pennine, with tales of a 

night run over from the wrong side. They must have fallen upon the box though, as their lack 

of navigational prowess was laid bare when they claimed via email that the box was in fact in 

the wrong place. It wasn’t. We hear that our Pennine friends have since signed up for the next 

navigation course. 

Soon Dark Peakers came from far and wide, leaving behind a wide range of sweet treats, a 

welcome trend which would continue throughout the year! 

During the night of 31st January we donned headtorches and hot-footed it up to Fairbrook 

from the Snake Inn. This was a good run out in the dark, the wintry weather made the book all 

soggy, but it was still readable and it revealed that over 100 people had visited during the 

month. Buoyed by this enjoyable read, we headed over to… 

February – Wet feet and Headstone 

Bank 

The grid reference in the book throughout January directed 

the box hunters closer to home to the Rivelin Valley and a 

footbridge North East of Rivelin Dams. Rather than leaving 

a simple grid reference for March’s location, we created a 

‘ransom note’ and pinned it underneath the bridge. 

‘Your journey must continue up Headstone Bank. Pass a 

new gate, then very soon look in boulder field. Find a cave 

and reach deep deep inside…’ 

With the location so close to home, people came from far 

and wide to visit and the box had its first family visitors, (the 

Colliers and the Phipps). 

The clue to March’s location was devilishly written in


Morse code; the thought of people translating the dots and dashes was too hard to resist. It 

would appear that Anne and Russell Beresford are fluent in Morse code, having amazingly 

solved the clue without the use of t’internet. 

March - The Metal Birds, Brusten Croft Ridge and wet feet 

After collecting the box from the ‘cave’ on Headstone Bank we drove to Bar Dyke above 

Agden reservoir for what turned out to be a long run in the dark, out to the final box location, 

then across the heather for a few miles to the wreckage of the Stirling LJ628, 1654 Heavy 

Conversion Unit, which wasn’t easy to find by headlight. Running back to the car we scared 

many a rabbit and grouse as we ran through their patch, but after a long run out we headed 

straight to the chippy. 

A month later arriving back at the box we spotted Tim Tett floundering in the heather on his 

third attempt at Brusten Croft Ridge. Only after following us did he finally sign in. As we ran 

back down to the car at Bar Dyke, we came across Rob Cole and Alistair coming the other way 

for a second visit, so we allowed them to “sign in” especially as they were leaving whisky in 

the box. Earlier in the month Rob had embarked on a monumental five hour round trip from 

King’s Tree starting at 9pm, such was the draw of the now mythical Roving Calendar Box! 

April – Isolated tree, White Edge 

By this point in the year either Pete or I would send each other an email 

on the last day of the month reading something like the following: 

‘Ey up, erm…. we need to move the box, any ideas?’ So April came 

around and May’s clue wasn’t quite sorted out. However we managed to 

hide our ineptitude within the following clue: 

‘Some trigs come and go in the Summer of 1991. Then wait for 15th 

April’ 

By this time of the year we no longer had to don our headtorches for 

relocating the box, and so as we made our way to the isolated tree near 

White Edge the evening was still light enough, just. Although perhaps we 

could have done with a daylight trip as messages from the box hunters reported many a 

sighting of the Peak District’s wildlife, including snakes and a herd of deer. 

We disguised information within the clue and published on the internet. And through doing 

so we pulled off, perhaps, the finest clue of the year. An Indiana Jones inspired cut-out that led 

to a grid reference, via the literary archives of www.dpfr.org.uk. 

May – ‘Little Switzerland’ or Abney Clough 

When we started all this we didn’t think through the fact that we might not actually be 

available to move the box at the end of each month. So at the beginning of May Neil was in 

Majorca and I further afield in California. We didn’t move the box until May 4th, when Neil 

had to place the box all by himself. Nobody seemed to mind though. Some welcomed the extra 

thinking. In fact May’s clue foxed some people so much that they never found the box! To 

my knowledge this was also the only month of the year that the Wednesday night run found 

the box. It was a fine evening’s run over to Abney from Grindleford Station, where a total of


10 Dark Peak members enjoyed the micro-landscape of Little Switzerland, including hunting 

around the many hill tops. It has to be said though some of us were a little late in arriving back 

for the AGM that evening. 

June – Red Brook 

Half way and a toughie?!, I sat smugly with the clue I’d made up for June: 

‘The box at Easter lay near an edge, now you’ll find it at a site with a different hue. It has 

views of a divided city, similar in colours to Sheffield, although you’ll need to follow the 

champions half way up to find the box. As with a lot of locations you may get your feet wet.’ 

MSL+495 

Especially satisfying because Neil couldn’t work it out and he would have been looking in 

the second spring on the Kinder Springs race! Once I’d corrected him we set off for the best 

box move so far, (although it also demonstrated that we didn’t always put the most thought into 

the next month’s location). 

It was a fair old trip to Barber Booth from Abney Clough and that was before the running 

had even started. En route to Red Brook we took in the ammo box/letterbox at Swine’s Back 

before dropping down to MSL + 495, placing the box and then enjoying a fun scramble back 

up a dry Red Brook. It seemed rude not to visit our old friend by signing in at The Kinder 

Ammo Box before a dash toward the car in the now fading light. 

July – Grinah Stones, Bleaklow 

This month Pete picked the location, (a 

distinctive boulder just below Grinah 

Stones), and then went on holiday, (not 

for the first time!). 

So that meant I had to move the box 

from Red Brook to Grinah all on my tod. 

However, I had a ball in the baking heat 

with a run over from the Snake to collect 

the box, then a drive round and run up 

from Howden to drop it off at Grinah. 

This was definitely one of the more 

remote spots that the box visited and I 

remember sitting on top of that boulder 

for a couple of minutes in the still and 

warm evening air just taking it all in. 

Grinah Stones and a dog


August – The Tower, Alport Castles 

The summer holidays seemed to have thinned the calendar box hunting crowd. We didn’t hang 

around in getting up to The Tower at Alport Castles; this was such a stunning location and 

somewhere you’d hardly ever pass by let alone actually climb to the top. 

Approaching the Castles there was a figure perched on the edge’s steep bank. It turned out 

to be Willy Kitchen who had come over from Fairholmes on a lovely sunny last minute box 

trip. 

On taking the box to September’s location we lamented the fact that any sweets and whisky 

left in the box had been gobbled up. 

Jim Fulton in his ‘Linford Christie’s’ at Alport Castles 

September – Bamford Edge 

This had to be one of the shortest journeys from a road - only about a kilometre or so but we 

chose it as it was an area we’d not really visited. And it made geographical sense to stop by 

Bamford Edge on the way to the Sportsman for a cheeky pint where we had to make one of 

many denials about where we’d been for a run that evening.


October - Featherbed Top and Sandy Heys trig 

As October rolled around Neil disappeared to China, so the box move was a worrying prospect 

as Neil normally navigates, (usually with some success!). The October heat wave provided 

great running conditions and I enjoyed quite a long run in the end from the Snake Pass over to 

Sandy Heys to place the box, and then back via Featherbed top to place the clue re-directing 

the box hunters. 

Numbers seemed to have dwindled this month – even Ian Winterburn’s name was missing 

from the book. Only a few brave souls could now claim to have found the box every month. 

November – Three Ships and Flask Edge 

Pretty slap dash organisation on my behalf this month, but we managed to cobble together a 

‘clue’ which was flawless. 

‘At number 9 in the race you certainly need to put the boot in, It’s all in a good cause 

though so make sure you enjoy the scenery here before you taste victory at the finish, there may 

as always be a strong link to the water……..’ 

Winter was instantly sprung upon us with the clocks going back, so we were treated to a 

night run up to Wellington Monument and the Three Ships. We hid the clue amongst a pile of 

well placed logs just behind the victory stone. Then a further clue… 

‘Whilst thinking of the hustle and bustle you’ve left behind, now would be a great time to 

return for a hot drink from the flask you’ve carried with you. Probably a good place to lean 

would be a salty gatepost (or two).’ 

….off to Flask Edge and the gate posts, this one of the more straightforward months. We’d 

placed the box in record time so went off for a run around Blacka. 

Perhaps my complex clue was too complex for the calendar box hunters. After 11 months 

we had to - for the first time - publish a further clue. The onset of winter had obviously affected 

the capacity of the box hunters’ minds to reason and think logically. 

December – The 12 Days of Christmas 

The roving calendar box had to go out with a bang, so for the final month we thought we 

should celebrate with a Christmas theme – The 12 Days of Christmas. As ever we didn’t think 

this through. Some of the clues were easy to think up, but they got slightly more tenuous as 

we planned to direct the box hunters back to Tha Sportsmen. Mike Browell had taken over the 

mantle of first visit for the last few months and as a result had a few problems with some of the 

clues that we (Pete) had laid. The Maids weren’t found to be milking at Robin Hood’s Cave. 

Some snow in early December also made things tricky but a total of 10 people completed 

the month…. 

The partridge in a pear tree started things off at Houndkirk Hill followed by the Doves 

drinking from the lords water at God’s Spring then our first and last bi-lingual clue ‘Le coin 

des plantations Canning Dame, s’il vous plaît’ on the way to the three calling birds who 

requested a hard Bovril at the Ox Stones. There was no gold, ring or otherwise, to be found at 

Burbage Mines, however we believe by sheer coincidence six geese were in fact laying at 

Burbage Bridge for the duration of December. 

The intrepid box hunters then visited Callow Bank, before heading to ‘Where the outlaw


once lived’ at Robin Hood’s Cave. Although the clue wasn’t to be found at the cave - whether 

this was missing, removed by a helpful litter picker or put in the wrong place we will never 

know. 

For the next day of Christmas the very fact that eight maids would be milking at the same 

time seemed to us a form of madness or insanity. Foolishnes or perhaps folly struck us as apt 

words. Yes, that’s right the maid’s had nice boots. Boot’s Folly, also known as Sugworth 

Tower, which foxed some box hunters and delayed their visit to the cemetery at Rod Moor. On 

putting out the Rod Moor clue we encountered a rather angry local resident who wasn’t ‘best 

pleased’ that we were running on a public footpath after dark; he clearly wasn’t a waaaart. 

From Rod Moor the lords were leaping, although hopefully not from the top of our very own 

Easter Island or the Headstone as it’s otherwise known. The penultimate clue headed further 

down the Rivelin Valley to another famous landmark, (well famous to those who are au fait 

with the Rivelin Landmarks race - the 11 pipers piping were playing a ditty at the hard-to-findamongst-the 

brambles Wyming Brook Knoll. This clue is still there next to the old t-shirt - yes 

that’s still there - on the now quite big Pine sapling.) 

Even if you, dear reader, weren’t fortunate enough to take part in the December finale you 

may be able to guess the direction of the 12th Day of Christmas and final clue. The box was 

tucked under the corner of our club hut, complete with whisky and sweet stash right under your 

noses. 

The roving calendar box was a farcical, yet great idea befitting of the many races / runs and 

ideas that Dark Peak have had in the past. We’re very impressed to see that 170 different 

people and dogs visited the box throughout 2011 and hope that everyone one of you enjoyed 

the variety of locations you visited and got lost at during the year. We briefly considered the 

idea of continuing the box for another year but dropped it quite quickly, as it was becoming 

increasing difficult to think of new locations and clues. 

However the box may appear in some guise in the future. Mike Browell very kindly gave us 

a bottle of whisky in appreciation of the roving calendar box, the location of which will 

become clear to you some time soon..... 

Roving Calendar Box 2011 Stats: 

No fewer than 170 people (and dogs) took part at least once during the year. 

In total the Calendar Box was visited 438 times, wherever it lay. 

Completers: Jo Armistead, Andy Butler (Pennine), Rob Cole, Mike Browell, Harvey. 

Special mentions 

Lewis Ashton - most visits during the year with 15, but missed out on June! 

Ian Winterburn - 13 visits, but not one each month. 

Tim Tett – most failures to find the box. 

Youngest visit - Orla Lynch aged one. Although not everyone declared their age, we wouldn’t 

like to speculate on the oldest visitor! 

Pete Hodges, Neil Northrop


Skyline report 

I’m writing this, (very late, sorry Dave), on an 

iPhone whilst bivvying under a tarp during a 

three-day mountain bike trip round the Lake 

District. It’s fair to say the views have not 

been that good and the rain has been, at times, 

biblical. 

I must say it seems a long time ago now 

that we enjoyed that lovely early spring day. 

From my perspective as first time race 

organiser, I was happy to see a clear day. It 

was unseasonably hot though and the runners 

were maybe less keen. 

A race of this size and complexity takes 

many, many people to make it work and 

fortunately there are many cogs in the Dark 

Peak machine who have been doing their 

‘Skyline jobs’ for years now. I was happy to 

volunteer to take on the organisation because I 

knew that because of this machine the race 

largely runs itself! I managed to prove this 

when, as the runners started to arrive, I was 

sitting down and tucking in to a Kev Saville 

full-cooked breakfast. 

I didn’t get a lot of information from Andy, 

the previous race organiser, and Jim and Chris 

had understandably not kept much from their 

time. So in some ways it was like starting from 

scratch. Getting permission for the race was 

made easier than it could have been by Shane, 

a very helpful National Trust chief warden 

with a common sense, can-do attitude. Also 

very helpful were Tammy Shirley at the Peak 

Park Authority and Jenny Campbell at Natural 

England, (who worryingly had never heard of 

the race before). I spent a long time speaking 

to local land owners too and I think that next 

year, (and future races), should be much easier 

to sort. 

There were some changes that I wanted to 

make, such as accepting substitutions. In the 

end we ‘swapped’ 45 people, so I think this 

change was clearly well received. I also 

checked one race on everyone’s entry form. It 

was interesting to see that not everyone is 

truthful about their experience! All this meant 

extra work but I think it was worth it, 

(especially as I charged £5 to sub, with the 

money going straight to Edale Mountain 

Rescue). I also hired radios for each 

checkpoint and a repeater to boost the signal. 

This worked well and we had good 

communications, especially over the tricky 

west end of the route where things are more 

likely to go wrong. 

Having been on kit check in past years I 

was keen to make sure people went through


this before getting their race numbers. This 

made sure nobody sneaked past us unchecked, 

but it did cause a bit of confusion. Maybe next 

year we need someone loud to shout out 

instructions as people enter the hall, (Ian W, 

are you reading this? Ed). 

Debs and Stu at Accelerate sponsored the 

prizes, provided the numbers and brought 

along their mobile shop on race day. We had 

local meat and other goodies from Watson’s 

Farm Shop in Hope. Our own Rob Cole’s 

Sheffield Sustainable Kitchens gave some 

hand-made chopping boards. 

I was relieved that Dave Taylor was still 

keen to coordinate marshals as it’s a big job. 

Equally glad that he’s said he will do it again 

next year! 

Which brings us on to next year... 

For those of you who haven’t heard , the 

FRA have asked if we can run the skins as a 

championship race next year. 

I asked around the club elders and was glad 

that people were overwhelmingly in favour of 

going for it. There are several reasons why I 

think we should do so. Firstly, we do pretty 

well in the championships every year as it is, 

so a bit of home advantage won’t hurt! 

But mainly, a fell running club with over 

400 members should be able to organise a 

championship race every five or six years. 

Lastly, the FRA are showing a great deal of 

trust in the Dark Peak machine - it’s not easy 

to arrange a complex long race and being 

asked is a compliment to everyone involved. 

The only downside to this will be that we’ll 

need even more manpower than usual and 

everyone in the club will still want to run! But 

I’m sure we can rely on people to be sensible 

and think about how best they can further the 

Dark Peak cause. Many will make a huge 

contribution by volunteering to help, (and it’s 

never too early to put your name forward!). 

Others will of course make an equally 

significant contribution by chalking up a good 

few championship points for us in the race. I’ll 

leave it at that for now and look forward to 

The boy Yates being chased by a 

Newcastle Utd supporter 

getting lots of early offers of help. If you have 

your diary handy you may want to get the date 

in now: Sunday, 24 March, 2013, 10.30am. 

Thanks go to everyone who helped this 

year, but especially to: 

• Helen Elmore for helping before, during 

and after. And of course for volunteering 

me for this whole thing in the first place. 

• Ian Winterburn for sourcing the radios. 

• Les and Pete for sorting registration, as they 

have for many years now. 

• Kev Saville, Executive Chef. 

• Lynn Bland and Ann Watmore for 

producing staggering amounts of cake, so 

much in fact that we actually had some left! 

• Andrew Critchlow for letting us use his 

fields for parking, and general advice about 

all things Edale. 

• John Dalton for his efforts with the results, 

using his ‘homemade’ software - this is so 

good that next year when there is an 

internet link in the hall the results can go 

online in real time. 

• Club legend Roger Baumeister for 

presenting the prizes. 

Ian Fitzpatrick


A brief history of things we run 

past - part 6 

Totley Tunnel 

Just next to Grindleford Café at the bottom 

of Padley Gorge is Totley Tunnel‘s western 

portal with Grindleford station a stone’s 

throw just the other side of the bridge. 

Construction began in September 1888 

and when the two ends of the tunnel met in 

October 1892 they were 4.5” out horizontally 

and 2.25” vertically. Engineers built three 

brick siting towers along the line of the tunnel 

and to keep it straight a line was laid out on 

the ground and to keep it level weighted 

wires of known length were lowered down 

shafts. 

Keeping the tunnel ventilated was a 

problem due to the difficulty siting airshafts 

because of the depth of the tunnel and 

because the Duke of Rutland didn’t want 

them on his grouse moors. Four permanent 

shafts were sunk in the first mile at the Totley 

end and a turbine powered by Burbage Brook 

was used to pump air into the Padley end. 

Water was another problem particularly in 

June 1889 when 26,000 gallons was being 

pumped away every hour. Workers were 

described as having the power of Moses 

because every time they struck a rock water 

sprang from it. At one stage a raft was used to 

get men to their work. Tallow candles stuck 

to their caps or mounted on the walls 

provided lighting. 

Diseases such as smallpox, typhoid, 

diphtheria and scarlet fever took their toll and 

often deaths would not be recorded, as 

navvies were considered expendable. 

The nature of the largely itinerant 

workforce inevitably led to problems with 

drunkenness, poaching and gambling in 

Totley, which increased the crime rate 

dramatically keeping police and the courts 

busy. The workers needed some respite from 

the hard work and poor conditions - drink, a 

bet, and a fight. 

The tunnel was opened in August 1893 – 

the date above the entrance, the occasion 

celebrated with a garlanded steam engine 

taking dignitaries through on an inspection 

trip. Goods traffic started between Sheffield 

and Manchester early in 1894 and regular 

passenger services started three months later 

in June. 

In 2010 the track was re-laid and the 

problems of ventilation re-occurred. Running 

down Padley Gorge one Tuesday we 

wondered about the noise which got louder 

and louder as we headed down towards 

Grindleford. Its source was the enormous 

stack of fans at the tunnel portal. They 

installed a new shaft from a large natural 

cavern near the middle of the tunnel called 

“The Cathedral” to aid ventilation. 

At 3.54 miles it is still the longest 

non-electrified wholly under-land rail tunnel 

in the UK. They need to keep amending that 

description to it keep at number one. 

Mike Arundale


Burbage Fell Race – 8 May 2012 

Thanks again to Natural England and 

the National Trust who kindly allowed 

another record field of runners to enjoy a 

cool evening with some dark clouds that 

threatened rain but thankfully never delivered 

it. The Dark Peak club gazebo thus remained 

secure in the van whilst a fantastic variety of 

runners hurtled themselves around a course 

this year described as boggy in places but 

generally fast. The race was again kindly 

sponsored by Accelerate as part of the local 

GritStone Series. It was a very competitive 

race, culminating in Rob Little taking a great 

first win just ahead of Neil Northrop. Helen 

Elmore won the women’s race, chalking up 

an impressive three wins in a row. Also a 

mention for young Tom Saville whose top 

ten placing confirms his potential. A fantastic 

number of folk helped this year including 

multiple past winner Stuart Bond who was 

out marshalling the route. It was great seeing 

so many people enjoying 

themselves before, 

during and after 

the event. Special thanks to our registering, 

finish and results helpers for managing a very 

hectic and at times animated event, all done 

with courtesy and humour. 

The race continues to grow in popularity 

and this year we warmly welcomed fell 

runners from Newbury and also Sweden. 

Next year will be the twentieth edition! 

At this year’s start line, we took a moment 

to remember Dark Peak runner Stu 

Learmouth who sadly passed away in April. 

Stu’s last race was Burbage 2010 so it was 

fitting that we were able to send a sizeable 

cheque to Cancer Research in his honour 

Finally there wasn’t much of a sunset to 

report this year, but there were several 

unsubstantiated woodcock sightings. After a 

few contemplative pints of Black Sheep the 

evening’s proceedings were finally over. With 

continuing gratitude to Wayne at the Fox for 

again letting us take over his pub for the 

night. 

Roy Gibson


Team captains’ reports 

Women’s report 

There have been two races so far in 2012 for 

each championship out of six for the English, 

(four to count), and four for the British, (three 

to count). 

Helen Elmore started her first year as a 

V40 in flying form finishing seventh woman 

and first LV40 in a strong field in the first 

English Championship race of the season, 

Lad’s Leap. Liz Batt also performed well 

with eleventh overall and first LV45, finishing 

six seconds ahead of Tracey Greenway. At the 

younger end of the field Rachel Findlay- 

Robinson completed the course 90 seconds 

down on the first U23 finisher. 

Coledale was the second race of the season 

and being a counter in both championships 

attracted a very large field. The women’s race 

started before the men’s which made 

interesting spectating as you ran, getting 

pulled along as the men went past, (though it 

must have been frustrating for them when the 

path was narrow, necessitating some 

interesting overtaking manoeuvres!). Lauren 

Jeska, (Todmorden), won the women’s race 

with an impressive run. Runners from two 

Scottish clubs took second and third - Sarah 

O’Neil (Hunters Bog Trotters) and Catriona 

Buchanan (Ochil). Seeing Catriona made me 

feel old- I can remember her as a toddler 

playing on my Mum’s piano with her four 

sisters! The Dark Peak women were out in 

force too with Judith Jepson leading the team 

home in 12th, (second LV45), with Liz just 

behind in 13th. Helen followed in 19th, 

(seventh LV40), with Nicky Spinks on the 

recovery to fitness in 34th, myself in 58th, 

Donna Claridge 67th and Rachel 104th. A 

great race - thanks to Hazel and Mike 

Robinson for organising and to the Dark Peak 

marshals on the course especially the 

infamous ‘marshalling kids’, (Mia and 

Eddie), who were a welcome site on the last 

top! 

The second British race was Slieve 

Bearnagh in the Mourne Mountains in 

Northern Ireland. The Mournes are well 

worth a visit with steep climbs, rocky 

outcrops, impressive walls and views over the 

Irish Sea not to mention the craich after the 

race. This was classified as a short race but by 

all accounts was tough and not that short, 

being won in just over an hour by Angela 

Mudge from Carnethy. Helen’s number ‘7’ 

was up again with a seventh position in the 

seniors and third LV40, (Angela was first 

LV40 and Anna Bartlett second LV40). 

So the scores on the doors after the first 

two races: 

In the English Champs the senior is being 

led by Lauren with Liz seventh, Helen ninth, 

Judith 20th, (one race), and Nicky 38th, (one 

race). In the LV40 the scoring changes, with 

Helen second, Liz third, Judith 10th, (one 

race), and Nicky 19th, (one race). The LV40 

is being led by Jo Waites, (Calder Valley) 

with two second positions so Helen has the 

advantage if she can drop her Coledale score, 

though watch out for Anna Bartlett with one 

first as well. In the LV45 Liz is equal first 

with Sally Newman (Calder Valley), each 

having a first and third position! Also in 

contention are Judith and Tracey Greenway 

who each have a second after only running 

one race. 

In the British, Helen is lying sixth in the 

senior and second in the LV40 behind Anna 

Bartlett of Mercia. Also in the LV40 Judith is 

lying eighth, Liz tenth and Nicky 23rd after 

only one race. In the U23, Rachel is currently 

lying fourth. 

So a great start for the ladies with six races


still to come. Some tough, classic long races 

are next with the Great Lakes in June, 

Arrochar Alps in July then Borrowdale in 

August. Just what we Dark Peak girls love - 

looking forward to some great results! 

Kirsty 

Hot off the press… Update from Helen 

following the Great Lakes Race: 

The Great Lakes Race truly lived up to 

its name. As I travelled up looking at the 

rain I wondered guiltily whether it might 

be cancelled, but no such luck. A rousing 

speech from the race organiser Ian Barnes 

and a pause to double-check the minimum 

kit requirements in my ruc sac and we were 

off. My aim was to get round, not drown and 

not get lost, so after Slight Side I stuck in a 

group even though I felt I could have gone a 

bit faster - there was no way I was going to 

face the clag, driving rain and river crossings 

alone! After Keith Holmes, Christine 

Howard and myself, (combined weight about 

one normal person!), just got ourselves safely 

across the first river it was definitely team 

work and safety in numbers for the next one. 

Keith had done extensive recces which really 

paid off - especially his line off Blisco and so 

I got back in 4hrs 27mins – finished eleventh 

and seventh vet but really just delighted to 

finish in one piece. 

At the sharp end of the women’s race those 

with more navigational expertise, greater 

experience of Lake District AL’s and 

generally just being hard women of the fells 

did brilliantly to claim the open and vet team 

prizes. Liz Batt finished a fantastic fifth and 

second vet, Judith Jepson sixth and third 

vet, Nicky seventh and fourth vet. Lauren 

Jeska claimed another win, and I think also 

the women’s record in 3hrs 28mins. Also 

all credit to Rachel Findlay-Robinson who 

navigated herself round pretty much alone 

from Bowfell, making considerable and very 

sensible diversions to cross rivers alone. Her 

brother Rhys was waiting for her at the end. 

He assured me he wasn’t worried and said 

that he knew she could look after herself. I 

think in the end that is far more important 

than times and championship points. Anyway, 

roll on Moel Wnion and Weasdale which are 

the sort of races this Dark Peak Lady loves! 

Helen Elmore 

Men’s report 

Dark Peak men have made a really good start 

to the season with lots of excellent results. If 

you haven’t yet heard of these I feel it’s good 

to know the calibre and range of athletes 

we have in the club, and if you already 

have, well, ignore me and continue training 

and ‘rehydrating’. I apologise if I miss 

highlighting people’s performances which 

they personally think are worthy - I would be 

writing all day if I tried to cover everything! 

But this doesn’t mean that Dark Peakers who 

are completing races and breaking their own 

personal records are less important. So, on to 

the results from championship races. 

The first championship race of this year 

was the English Champs short race from 

Crowden (Lads Leap), which gave us a fast 

but boggy bit of moorland to enjoy. The race 

brought out nearly all the top runners in the 

country so it was a brilliant result for the 

senior men to win the team prize: Lloyd third, 

Rob Baker seventh, myself 16th, Oli Johnson 

21st and Neil Northrop 38th. The guys 

seemed to find it especially pleasing to beat 

Pudsey and Bramley by just one point! (so 

thanks Neil for a fast descent). I was just 

thankful it wasn’t one point difference the 

other way. Just shows how every second can 

really count. Dark Peak V40s also ran really 

well to finish as third team with support for 

continued on page 28


The piccy in 

Warts on a whisky stop 

You can always get a drink if you know where to look

the middle 

Dark Peak News February 2012 page 27


Lloyd from John Hunt in 62nd and Mike 

Robinson in 17th, which just shows how 

strongly contested this race was. 

The second English Champs race also saw 

another very highly competitive field for the 

Coledale Horseshoe, excellently organised by 

Mike Robinson, (and Hazel). A real tough 

climb up Grisedale Pike, but Mike wouldn’t 

have it any other way would he! Rob Baker 

again was mixing with the best to finish sixth, 

with Lloyd next in seventh. Rhys battled 

round really well to finish 18th and I managed 

to hold off Oli in a ‘sprint’ finish as we ended 

up 26th and 27th respectively. Unfortunately 

the strength in depth, (and age), of 

Borrowdale meant their senior men narrowly 

beat us into second place. But we are getting 

close! The V40s team was also second with a 

very good return to running from Jon Morgan 

after his winter skiing to finish 33rd, with 

Dave Taylor in 58th and John Hunt 60th, 

which just shows the strength of that field. 

After these first two races the senior men 

are currently leading the English Champs 

team race. It will be very tough, but it would 

be amazing if we could still be there at the 

end of the season. 

The first British Champs race has also 

taken place: the short Slieve Bearnagh , 

(though with a slightly extended finish to 

previous years). Lloyd again was our top 

runner, finishing fourth. He was supported by 

Jon in 22nd, Dave Taylor 32nd, Matt Hulley 

41st and Mick Stenton 43rd. I think this 

meant we were third team. Hopefully Matt 

and Mick will be particularly pleased to have 

made the top 50 and got some points for the 

individual championship too. I have also 

heard reports of unusual dress being worn 

that night. Nothing to do with a few Guinness 

of course! 

As well as the championship races, Dark 

Peakers have also been at other big events. 

Notably we were first open and first V40 team 

at the Yorkshire Three Peaks race. Rob Baker 

seemed to clean up here finishing third in 

2hrs 59mins, also winning the Yorkshire 

county title and being highest placed 

newcomer. John Rocke also had an excellent 

race finishing ninth in 3hrs 5mins, (maybe 

time to do a few more mountain races, eh 

John!) and so also won the prize for first 

under 25. The open team was completed by 

Oli in 12th and Jon 19th. John Hunt ran a 

good even race as usual to finish 21st and a 

good steady run from Mike Nolan (58th) 

sealed the V40s the booze. Also 

congratulations to Tom Beasant and Andy 

Thake for good steady runs. 

Dark Peak also dominated this year’s Jura 

race on what was a bit of a hot day. Loving 

the rock was Es Tresider who was only 

narrowly beaten by Rob Jebb. The team prize 

was secured thanks to Rob in sixth and Jon in 

10th. Neil had also a good run to finish in 

3hrs 49mins, and some fast road running 

from Simon Patton ensured he finished just 

under the magical four hours too, (24th 

place). I believe we also won the team prize 

at the Old County Tops race, a big 

achievement as I think this award is 

calculated by adding each pair’s race time 

together not their race position. 

There was also a team at the Coniston fell 

race, and although Borrowdale won the race 

award we did more than our best to keep up 

with them in the bar that evening. Who 

would’ve thought a champion Borrowdale 

runner actually likes drinking rubbish 

commercial cider! And in a slightly different, 

and utterly silly event, Rhys and Wil Spain 

survived three days in a small boat sailing 

between Jura, Mull and Arran with a little bit 

of running thrown in too to finish on the 

second boat in the Scottish Islands Peaks 

Race. I do jest; there is actually a LOT of 

rough running in this event, so a very good 

effort, lads! 

As you can see, lots of people have been 

having great success at big races. We’ve also


been the top team at many local races this 

year, including The Trigger, Wolf’s Pit, Herod 

Farm, Tiger’s Todger, Burbage 

(unsurprisingly) and Totley Moor. Thanks to 

everyone who runs in champs races and 

travels and wears the brown vest. It is not 

always just our top five counters who matter; 

it’s always good to have back up runners and 

supporters. So if you feel like a day out 

please feel free to come along and support, 

especially at the long races which are coming 

up this summer. Could I also ask people 

travelling to the Lakes and further afield if 

they would be prepared to give others a lift? 

If you are able to do this you can spread the 

word by contacting me, or probably more 

usefully you can email Dave Tait or post on 

Dave’s excellent Carshare page on the club 

website. I appreciate that people do have 

personal commitments but if you want to 

keep fuel costs down I am sure people would 

be willing to contribute. And it can be fun 

too. So onward to the next set of races: may 

we remain equally, if not more, successful! 

Keep up the good work 

Rob 

STOP PRESS: English Champs, Great 

Lakes, 16 June. In wet conditions, (yes, it 

has been raining a lot!), swollen rivers and 

36 yrs on the bog . . . 

. . . 6 months in arrears 

wet rock certainly made the Great Lakes 

run a great challenge this year, even more 

so than this challenging route would be in 

the dry. But DPFR were not deterred: Lloyd 

finished an excellent third; Rhys was an 

absolutely quality fifth with some good lines 

keeping him in the lead at one point. Very 

able back-up came from the reliable Matt 

Hulley in 32nd and John Hunt in 42nd, both 

‘enjoying’ long races. Special mention must 

also go to Dave Sykes who was the club’s 

fifth counter in 44th place. I think this was 

his first time scoring in our champs team – 

congratulations! He was just ahead of Jon 

Morgan and Mick Stenton, who unfortunately 

missed individual champs points by one 

place. However, I think it was one of those 

races where just getting round was a BIG 

achievement. Specific reports on this race are 

on the website, with for once John wishing 

how he was a few stone heavier! I have 

also heard stories of adventure and heroism 

from Jon Coe, Gavin and Si Patton, and 

many others have their own stories to tell 

undoubtedly. I believe we were second team, 

which is a great effort and actually leaves 

me wondering a bit “if only…”. It seems 

Borrowdale were there to be beaten. Just 

shows the standards we have set ourselves. 

On now to the Borrowdale race then; good 

luck to all Dark Peakers who take part. 

Dark Peak subs are due 

every year! Make sure you 

are not one of the 140 listed 

members who could be 

named and shamed in the 

next issue by sending any 

outstanding subs to the 

membership secretary. 

Dark Peak subs are due every year! 

Make sure you are not one of the 140 

listed members who could be named 

and shamed in the next issue by 

sending any outstanding subs to the


Been there, done that 

The Wasdale factor 

It’s a great big glacial scar, a monumental cleft between the hulking masses of Scafell and 

Yewbarrow. Even for an experienced fell walker, getting between the two tops is a challenge. 

For Bob Graham contenders, the crossing of Wasdale can be enough to break hearts and minds. 

Here, Alice Robson and Carl Betts reflect on this formidable physical and psychological barrier. 

Wet, cold, legs aching. Sergeant Man, 

Thunacar Knott, Harrison Stickle, Pike O’ 

Stickle. Mmmm… definitely tired now. 

Bowfell. Mmmm... not feeling too good. Now 

it’s snowing, (I’m sure it’s May!). Getting 

pretty cold. Esk Pike. Not moving very well. 

Still snowing. Very wobbly. I’m dressed in 

every bit of kit I have. Double hat, double 

gloves, Werther’s Originals frantically being 

sucked. Great End, Ill Crag and Broad Crag 

form a blur. Not good!! 

Losing time. Must have lost too much 

time. Scafell Pike. Losing time, not going to 

make it up. Broken! Lords Rake, then 

battering my support team with rocks as we 

labour up the loose West Wall traverse. 

Scafell. Then the descent... Oh dear, I thought 

going up was bad. Ouch ouch ouch ouch. It’s 

a long way down Scafell!! The cloud begins 

to lift and there it is, one of the most glorious 

views of the Lake District: the magnificent 

Wasdale valley! What a breathtaking place, 

what an inspiring sight, what a beautiful 

view... what a very big hill that Yewbarrow 

looks! 

How am I going to get up that?? There is 

no chance I am getting up that, not one tiny 

chance!! That’s it; it’s over, I’m losing time, 

I’m not going to be able to go faster. I am just 

going to continue to lose time. It’s over, no 

way am I going up Yewbarrow. No chance. 

I’m not strong enough, I’m not good enough. 

Wasdale. 

“Well done”, “Looking good”, “Doing 

really well”, “ Looking strong”. What are all 

these people talking about? I’m broken. I’m 

totally and utterly broken. I’m stopping - they 

know that, right?? Shoes off, socks off, 

trousers off. “Should we change your pants?”. 

NO - I’m stopping!! Dry trousers on, dry 

socks on, new shoes on. “Drink this”. “Eat 

this”. “You’ve got 10 minutes and then you 

should set off before you stiffen up”. 

Hang on. I’m not carrying on. There is no 

way I am getting up Yewbarrow, so why are 

these people not asking me whether I even 

want to carry on? Don’t my views count? But 

they do, and I do as I’m told, and before I 

know it I seem by some strange Act of God to 

have climbed up Yewbarrow and to be 

standing at the top of it. They’re showing a 

strange form of affection, but through their 

loving insistence these friends of mine seem 

to have to have talked me to the top of a 

mountain. Now, where’s Red Pike? 

Alice 

Wasdale is one of Britain’s treasures. At the 

end of the torturous leg three of the Bob 

Graham Round, Wasdale is both heaven 

and hell. Leg three could be viewed as the 

hardest leg of the BG for many reasons – it’s 

long, it’s hilly and it’s only halfway. If you’ve 

had good weather and you’re going well,


congrats! If you’re like the rest of us who’ve 

had gash weather, a motivation level of a 

dying dog, joints feeling like an old knacker, 

guts exploding from both ends, and feet 

feeling like they’ve just been battered with 

a hammer and finished off with a file then 

join the proper BG club, because for the vast 

majority of the BG its all about taking part 

in an utter suffer fest, (am I selling this well 

enough?). 

Dropping into Wasdale you’re in a pathetic 

state, devoid of energy, sore, cold, hungry and 

an emotional disaster area. You sit down and 

you think you’re done. It is at this moment a 

group of heavenly like angels, (though a little 

grubby looking), descend upon you. When 

you’re in such a physical and emotional mess, 

sympathy does nothing for you. The support 

team obviously know this philosophy and 

don’t give you any! Instead, before you can 

say “I can’t do it” in a whimpering voice, you 

are attacked from all angles and before you 

know it you have your feet dried and 

powdered, clean socks, (better than anything 

in the world!), fresh shoes (better than 

anything in the universe!) dry clothes, a brew 

and food. Within minutes you’ve gone from a 

crying mess, to a new man/woman and are 

promptly booted out of Wasdale with a new 

lease of life that you could never imagine 

possible. 

The rest of the route is much less 

demanding, other than maybe your knee 

giving up and you to have to resort to the 

time-honoured gaffer tape method of 

treatment. Without the amazing team effort 

many BG’s would fall flat on their arse, but 

instead amazing personal achievements are 

accomplished. If you’re a BG hopeful, bear in 

mind your support team at Wasdale can 

potentially make or break your attempt. Don’t 

question what they are doing to you. Accept 

it, and when you complete your BG pat them 

on the back. They are the heroes of the 

attempts. We mere contenders should be 

eternally grateful for their support. 

Carl 

Footnote: Alice recovered from her ordeal to 

finish the round with time to spare in 23hrs 

30mins despite hostile weather on legs two 

and three. She was ably supported by Lynn 

Bland, Kirsty Bryan Jones and Simon Patton, 

Janet and Mike McIver, Lucy Weigand and 

Ruth Batty. 

“Did I ever 

tell you how 

much I hate 

Yewbarrow” 

Mark, Ian 

and Roy 

face the 

truth


Paddy Buckley – Willy tells all 

I’m a firm believer that we make our own 

luck and, in similar vein, we get the support 

we deserve; so I trust you’ll forgive the 

implied conceit when I say that my luck on 

my recent Paddy held pretty well, whilst my 

support, both on and off the hill, was simply 

magnificent. 

I suppose, despite everything, most people 

who successfully complete the BG at least 

consider the possibility of reprising that 

fantastic experience on the Paddy. If like me, 

though, their natural home is somewhere near 

the middle of the field, then they should also 

know that the Paddy is very likely near the 

limits of their capabilities. This was certainly 

the conclusion I reached three hours into the 

hot first day of my initial look at the route on 

a three-day recce in August 2010. All 

thoughts of going in 2011 were quickly 

revised – this challenge required a year spent 

getting quicker and, more importantly, getting 

to know the route intimately, if I was to give 

myself a decent chance of success. 

A swift second day’s run over a very 

claggy Snowdon leg in pursuit of Iain 

Ridgeway, and a tour of the Llanberis 

quarries with Sarah Ridgeway the following 

morning, also suggested to me though that the 

pace and the terrain weren’t entirely beyond 

my capabilities. I returned to Sheffield 

resolved to spend the winter working on my 

pace via the Winter Mondays Series, and to 

do as many of the Lakeland Classics in 2011 

as I could, whilst enjoying my running as 

much as possible. 

Butch Cassidy and the 

Sundance Kid 

And so it was, nearly two years later, that 

I found myself blasting up through the 

Llanberis quarries, with Bob ‘Butch’ Johnston 

and Jim ‘Sundance’ Paxman in hot pursuit. 

The forecast promised what I always knew 

would, for me, be the essential ingredient 

of any successful round – a dry crossing of 

the Glyders – but it also suggested wetter 

weather towards the end of the round. It felt 

good, therefore, to be five minutes up at the 

first top, striding out into a blotchy dawn, 

and strangely reassuring too to know by Y 

Garn that I’d already dropped Jim, somewhat 

effortlessly, whilst still climbing well within 

myself. We were greeted by a few sheep 

on Glyder Fawr; Tryfan was spectacularly 

silhouetted black against a stunning sunrise, 

but there was no time to look around. The 

Glyders were bone-dry but for a very faint 

grassy dew, our lines were bang on, and 

it was only when I felt the first twinges of 

cramp in my calf near the bottom of the 

Bristly Ridge screes that I had any cause for 

concern. 

On the lower slopes of Tryfan, a handful 

of rather fine goats glanced up, though 

possibly not to admire the best line up that 

particular monster that I’ve managed all year. 

And, notwithstanding a couple more twinges 

of cramp, and one small unintended rock step 

in the west gulley, we descended in good 

order and perfect sunlight to the changeover 

with twelve minutes in hand. In fact – so 

much more civilised than the BG – I was 

straight into the toilets for a handy sit down 

and my essential morning constitutional. A 

quick change of top and into shorts, a slurp of 

tea, and off up Pen yr Ole Wen with bacon 

sarnie in hand. 

Butch and Thelma 

The Carneddau leg felt like the archetypal 

road trip. Aside from discussion of some 

unsavoury storage strategies for bacon


sarnies, it went like a dream, with immaculate 

support from Helen ‘Thelma’ Elmore and 

Bob. The sun shone and we comfortably 

doubled our advantage over the leg with 

barely a single footfall wrong. I even 

managed to run in to Capel without once 

looking up at Siabod, almost thirty minutes 

up on schedule. 

The Oddfellows 

The ascent through the woods on the lower 

slopes of Siabod occasioned a couple of 

unexpected occurrences. First, (I think), 

Steve Martin falling like a stone off the track 

behind me, and then my first rather copious 

vomit of the round – a matter of some 

concern since I’d never puked on a long day 

out previously, but one which I put down to 

the incompatibility of Lucozade raspberry 

sports drink, bacon sandwich, and M&S 

probiotic smoothie. Whatever the cause, and 

with the assistance of Jim’s poles for the first 

time, we were still on schedule at the summit 

of Siabod, and the rest of the leg passed 

reasonably comfortably. 

Paul Fauset did sterling work as our front 

runner and bog finder in chief, whilst Steve, 

generally unimpressed by the roughness of 

the terrain, demonstrated unfailing nav skills 

– if an overly developed wartin’ sense for a 

heathery line on our approach to Cerrig 

Cochion, where we picked up a dump of 

supplies, courtesy of Dave Holmes. I suspect 

I was fairly quiet at this point in the round, 

concentrating on getting as much food down 

as I could manage, and idly tuning in and out 

of the sometimes surreal conversations that 

my companions – the plumber, the venture 

capitalist and the entymologist – kept up 

throughout. With Roy Gibson and Paul in the 

saddle, cheerful banter was of course pretty 

much guaranteed, but the coup de grace was 

undoubtedly Steve’s, with his description of 

the carnivorous bog-plant Butterwort, and its 

potential application for clearing up 

abandoned PB contenders. 

I made just a couple of minor navigational 

slips on the lines up to and down from Alt 

Fawr, costing us no more than a couple of 

minutes each, so was generally very pleased 

to swing into sight of the Bwlch Cwmorthin 

quarries with virtually the whole of our time 

advantage in hand. And somehow, Roy and 

Steve had even managed to feed me the 

whole of Dave H’s orange-topped chocolate 

flapjack, so there was plenty of energy left in 

the tank too. 

The Usual Suspects 

It was good to share the next leg with Lewis 

Ashton and Ruth Batty, friends from several 

recces of yore. Lewis’ leg began a little more 

strenuously than he might have liked, being 

called back by Paul halfway up Foel Ddu to 

retrieve my forgotten poles. Thereafter the leg 

passed without incident, indeed we made up 

a minute or two on almost every split, with 

only a couple of minutes lost when we missed 

the opportunity to short-circuit the first of the 

zags up to Moelwyn Mawr. Ruth and Lewis 

kept hard on my heels throughout, and I even 

had time to remember some of the pleasant, 

albeit sometimes rather weathery, days I’d 

already enjoyed on these hills with Lewis, 

Rob Cole, Rich Bradbury and Glen Borrell 

over the past winter. 

I still felt strong on the climb up Cnicht, 

where we were met again by Paul and Roy. 

Dropping left to the all-important rocky 

chute, we were shown the way by Paul’s 

newly converted running moll, Stephanie, 

who I had patronised horribly the night before 

and who had also been subject to David 

McGuinness and Carl Betts skinny dipping 

that morning; the ease with which she 

bounded down the ridge to our left as I took 

us on the plodders’ grassy line was, as a 

result, all the more impressive – or perhaps


she was she just keeping a safe distance? Be 

that as it may, the rocky track to the 

changeover, unpleasant at the best of times, 

passed with only the occasional twinge of 

cramp, the weather remained set fair, (though 

the forecast for worse to come had not 

changed), and all-in-all the long descent to 

Bwlchgwernog was probably the most 

enjoyable section of the round, comparable 

with the descent off Scafell I’d enjoyed in the 

company of Simons B & P, Kirsty and Helen, 

two years before. 

The Three Amigos 

A spot of chafing necessitated a quick 

change of undergarments at the road stop, 

as well as a change of socks. As with every 

other changeover, Carl eased the transition 

expertly, and in the company of Messrs 

Harvey, Holmes and McGuinness, we were 

soon off up the road and headed for Banog. 

I was cheerful enough on the road section 

and up through the woods, but somewhere 

just beyond the decaying farm buildings of 

Oerddwr-uchaf my first real low of the round 

began to creep up on me. I knew I probably 

wasn’t eating quite enough, and that the 

weather, as forecast, was on its relentless 

way. I had hoped to get over the rocky section 

at the end of the Nantlle ridge before the 

rain set in, but this was looking increasingly 

unlikely, and the lines we took off Banog 

and up Hebog were subtly different enough 

to nag at the back of my mind, though I 

knew there was probably no more than a 

minute in them. Worse still, my calves were 

continuing to give me some grief on the steep 

and increasingly slippery descent off Hebog, 

where the clag also introduced just a hint of 

doubt as to the optimum line. 

There were two real alarms for me on this 

leg – and no doubt for my support too – first 

when I stopped dead, only for about ten 

seconds or so, but stopped dead nonetheless, 

on the unforgivingly steep ascent of the lower 

slopes of Hebog, at the point that we were 

first disappearing into the clag. And second, 

when one too many slivers of banana 

precipitated my second, and yet more 

spectacular chunder of the round, close to the 

summit of Y Gyrn. It’s all too easy at such 

moments to project one’s frustrations onto 

your support, and it did for a moment on Y 

Gyrn feel just a little unnervingly like a 

claggy wartin’ night on Bleaklow, as Dave 

headed off on his own special line, whilst 

Mark tutored David in the finer arts of 

navigation; but the three amigos did a fine job 

of keeping me moving forwards at my lowest 

point, and even managed to drip feed me the 

occasional morsel of food. As it transpired, 

the thorough purging of my undigested 

stomach contents had a largely positive effect 

on my mood and mobility, so that, having lost 

fifteen minutes or so on the leg to that point, 

we were now able to maintain the rest of my 

advantage as far as Mynydd Drws-y-coed. 

Here though, the dampness of the rock on 

the tricky section to Y Garn finally took its 

revenge. I knew that this was likely to cost 

time, but equally was confident this needn’t 

be too damaging, having slithered pathetically 

over the same verglas-covered rocks with 

Richard Hakes back in February. Though the 

going was slow, it was time-limited, and we 

lost only another eight minutes or so – 

nothing disastrous given our previous gains. 

So, notwithstanding a final slight confusion 

over the line off Y Garn, and a brief moment 

of intemperance on my part, (sorry David), 

we were in the forest soon enough where, just 

as Brent Lindsay had seemed to do on his 

successful round two weeks earlier, I quite 

enjoyed the run in to the changeover. I even 

managed a brief chuckle when Dave H 

performed a particularly fine keystone cops 

manoeuvre, appearing stage right and flashing 

across our track, having evidently taken a 

previous wrong turning in the trees.


A Rose Between Two Thorns 

The final changeover featured baked beans, 

noodles, and a certain amount of haggling 

with Big Bob Berzins as to whether I’d be 

allowed to take my windproof Pertex with 

me. It transpired, the following morning, 

that Bob had peremptorily discarded said 

item from my pack at the Bwlchgwernog 

changeover. 

Nicky hadn’t been able to get to Pont 

Cae’rs in time – a more reliable supporter 

would of course have finished first and not 

third at Ennerdale, allowing those extra few 

minutes necessary to get to the start of the leg 

on time – so Bob took full charge, as I had 

known he would, dragooning first Steve and 

then Mark into additional support duties. Bob 

and Steve set off up Craig Wen at a fair old 

lick, following the line the Penistone boys 

had introduced me to a few weeks earlier. I 

was grateful therefore when Mark appeared at 

my rear, having had to race to catch us up, 

bearing much needed liquid. I was feeling 

thirsty, but still struggling to eat anything 

substantial, so Mark’s role in drip feeding me 

pieces of orange and banana cake all the way 

to the summit of Snowdon was pretty crucial 

to keeping the fires burning. 

We made up eight minutes against the 

schedule to the first summit, which was 

reassuring, but as dark fell off Yr Aran the 

weather rapidly closed in, and my prediction 

to Nicky the previous evening that I was 

prepared to “tough out” the last leg if this 

happened was due for a severe testing. With 

the possible exception of Steve, I think we 

were all pretty cold climbing the exposed 

ridge to Cribau Tregalan. I was 

characteristically and, as became clear with 

time, unduly cautious on the rock, struggling 

a little to juggle poles, foot and hand-holds. 

We stopped about two thirds of the way up to 

add another layer, and Mark and Steve did a 

magnificent job of coaxing me forward, 

whilst Bob stood out like a beacon, towering 

above us all and taking an increasing urgent 

lead up the mountain. 

The fifteen minutes lost on this split tells 

its own story, but I still felt confident I had 

enough to get me to the end, provided I could 

just drip feed enough fuel. Topping out on 

Snowdon and across to Crib y Ddysgl, the 

weather was foul and we were a little 

wrong-footed, I think, by Nicky’s absence. I 

took a wrong turn off Snowdon, retracing the 

steps down to the summit café, and was then 

expecting that we would drop to the railway 

track. Bob, however, was taking no chances, 

sticking to the walkers’ path, so whilst I 

chuntered my disgruntlement from behind he 

turned briefly to tell me to ‘f***ing shut up 

and just get on with it’; not something I was 

about to argue with and a timely reminder of 

the need to keep my focus. 

From this point onwards, I felt I was 

moving pretty well again, so when Bob 

insisted we were still losing time to the 

schedule I was doubtful enough of his 

motivational tactics to suggest to Mark that 

he might be bullshitting me. In all honesty, I 

think the weather was too grim for any of us 

to really know what was happening relative to 

the schedule at that point, and getting down to 

lower altitudes had become something of an 

imperative for us all. Mark peeled off down 

the Llanberis track, having done an 

impeccable job as my rose between two 

thorns, keeping me going at the toughest of 

moments, and shortly thereafter, Bob’s love 

of rocks took us over one final bouldery 

traverse to the relative safety of the fence-line 

below Clogwyn D’ur Arddu. The wind was 

now at our backs and, better still, as we 

emerged out of the clouds a solitary head 

torch presented itself a little above Bwlch 

Cwm Brwynog where, it transpired later, 

Nicky had been jogging up and down the 

Snowdon Ranger track for the past forty 

minutes.


There was no real time for pleasantries, 

but it was of course fantastic to see Nicky, 

and not a little humbling to know she’d 

driven all the way from the Lakes and then 

hiked up into this weather just to lead me 

over the final few peaks to the finish. It was 

also quite a relief to note that her sense of 

urgency to keep me moving was not so great 

that I was to suffer the double-whammy, of 

which I’d heard tell but never witnessed: 

Messrs Berzins and Spinks in simultaneous 

bad cop flow, driving their contender on to a 

skin-of-your-teeth finish. Indeed, Bob and 

Steve now dropped off the back a little on the 

climbs, chatting happily enough it seemed, 

whilst I focussed on keeping as steady a pace 

as I could muster. The grassy running was 

much more accommodating and, whilst I was 

still cramping up on occasion when overextending 

my calf on the downslopes, I knew 

I had just enough now so long as I just kept 

pushing. 

There was just one last comedy moment as 

we left the summit of Foel Goch and I 

dropped my poles as I climbed the stile, only 

to have to retrace my steps back over the stile 

when I realised Steve and Bob had cut the 

corner, taking a more direct line back to the 

ridge fence. So reliable was my support that 

I’d become fully attuned to dropping the 

poles at any whim, secure in the knowledge 

that one of my minions would be on hand to 

clear up my mess. My thorns might be 

willing to guide me through the foulest 

weather over the highest ground of the entire 

round, but they were rightly drawing a line at 

this stage; and whilst Steve denied it in the 

Ladybower Inn a few days later, I think Ruth 

probably had it right when she noted that, had 

anything untoward come to pass on the hill, 

between the two of them they’d simply have 

picked me up and carried me to safety. I 

might be a wuss on wet rock, but at no point 

during that final night section did I feel in the 

least bit intimidated by the conditions with 

Steve and Bob in close attendance. 

The splits suggest that I lost a small 

amount of time on the final climb, but Nicky 

had already seeded the one final piece of 

encouragement certain to ensure I didn’t blow 

it now: “C’mon Willy, you don’t want to have 

to come back to do it all again now”’. It was 

one last fillip to meet Carl and Ian Fitz on the 

final summit. We paused briefly for photos 

and were then off down the fence-line, Ian 

hard by my side and lighting my way with his 

torch in hand – a good thing as my own 

head-torch, (actually Nicky’s replacement for 

my failing spare), was all but hopeless in the 

watery gloom. 

I’m not sure whether Ian realised this, but 

I was especially pleased to run the final 

descent to Llanberis with him, because of two 

particularly choice pieces of advice and 

implied moral support that he’d offered at 

different points in my Paddy Buckley journey. 

I passed him on the steepest section of the 

Crookstone Crashout descent in June 2010, a 

few days after my successful BG, (we were 

both out taking pictures of the race). “What 

time did you do?” he asked; and in response 

to my reply: “Ah, well, you’ll need that extra 

hour for the Paddy”. His second pearl, 

sometime in autumn 2011, was to make sure 

that the people who mattered knew what I 

was up to over the winter; so we can, in part 

at least, blame him for my shameless display 

of Facebook self-promotion over the past 

nine months. 

When push comes to shove, supporters 

may not always put themselves out in quite 

the way they all did for me, if they don’t 

believe that you’ve fully earned it, or that 

you’ve unquestionably got the round in your 

legs. And more importantly, perhaps, when 

they’ve seen what you’re capable of, they’re 

also able to reinforce your own self-belief at 

times when you might otherwise wobble. I 

cannot thank all my wonderful support 

enough for their help on and off the hill – and


look forward to doing something similar with 

you all in years to come – but in the 

meantime, I should just acknowledge two 

other seminal contributions. Jim Twohig’s, 

for giving up a perfectly good day’s climbing 

when I nearly blew the entire escapade before 

it had begun, (a tale that will have to wait for 

another time), and father-confessor Peter 

Haem, for his unwavering generosity with 

advice and encouragement in the build-up to 

my round. 

The Paddy is, in my view, a finer round 

than the BG, (but I would say that, wouldn’t 

I), simply because it is as much an intellectual 

puzzle as it is a physical endeavour. The 

variety of its terrain means that no one line 

will suit all runners, and to take too many 

wrong lines can cost even the most 

consummate of athletes more time than they 

can afford to lose. I can point, on every 

negative split, to the point at which I didn’t 

quite get the line I had intended. That is, with 

the exception of the two most weatheraffected 

splits – run on wet rock as part of a 

calculated gamble, rather than the result of 

bad luck. So my advice to you is to get out on 

the route of the Paddy and take a look for 

yourself. If nothing else, you’ll have one 

helluva time on some fine Welsh hills. 

Willy Kitchen 

Willy on an earlier PB recce – if this couldn’t put him off nothing could


The Urban Nights Series 

I’ve been meaning to organise this for several years. Some of the older road running fraternity 

of the club will recall the Reebok Racing Club formed by Reebok when they used to make 

reasonable gear. It had such illustrious members as Steve Jones of London Marathon-winning 

fame. Hence the play on words with the organiser of the Urban Nights series being ‘Roebuck 

Racing Club’. Roebuck Road has seen many athletes come and go – Matt Crane, Mark Bown, 

Andy Middleditch, Ralph Street, Neil Northrop, Pete Hodges and Dave Holmes - leaving yours 

truly the permanent resident. “It must be them hills that you live on,” some say about the 

Roebuck residents’ running prowess. Or it could just be the good beer in the Dram shop at the 

top of the road and the local Rajput curry house. 

And so to the races themselves. Andy M used to organise the North Stand and Seven Hills 

races before moving down under, and I have organised the Springvale Spiral before. Bringing 

them together in a series and adding the Great Urban Fell race just seemed an obvious thing to 

do. Running them at night allowed the weekends to be kept free and added to the navigational 

element. Andy’s races have always been run on winter evenings so it continued that theme too. 

Adding the Kelham Island urban orienteering race - the last in the series -continued the ‘urban’ 

night theme and took the navigational challenges of the earlier races to the next level, with the 

chance to drown one’s sorrows in the Fat Cat afterwards. 

An important element of each race was the social afterwards – BBQ, fish and chips, curry, 

pizza, pie and peas followed by a local hostelry. Is this saying something about the runners or 

the organiser? 

And so the series was born: 

• The Great Urban Fell Race (night version) 

• The Springvale Spirals 

• The Seven Hills of Sheffield 

• The North Stand Race 

• The Kelham Island rrban orienteering event 

The Great Urban Fell Race 

The first running of the night version of The Great Urban Fell Race, a somewhat quirky 

reinvention of Alan Yates’ first run back in 1990 from Tha Sportsmen. The race itself has 

only been run about 10 times before and apart from the first two races, all have started in the 

Crookes area. The previous race reports – penned by the Great Yettie - make an amusing 

read, (see DPFR website), with stories of visits to lesser known spots in Sheffield, (unless you 

already know them, that is, through dogging or other ‘urban’ pursuits). 

Anyway, on to the race. There were three variations on the traditional 15km day race: a 

short course, (9km), visiting Crookes and Shirecliffe, an early and a late start (so as not to be 

late for the BBQ), and the rule that controls could be visited in any order with two compulsory


crossing points of the railway. About 30 runners turned up, with just two or three opting for 

the early start. People set off in various directions, either recognising their strengths and 

weaknesses or just blindly following someone who looked like they knew where they were 

going! The clear skies did not grace us with a moon and so headlights were necessary although 

some had forgotten them, necessitating some too-close-for-comfort peletons along the unlit 

footpaths of Parkwood Springs. 

There were fears expressed before the start about wandering through graveyards, tips and 

the Northern General Hospital, not to mention avoiding the youthful gangs of Fir Vale and 

Wincobank. In the end the youthful gangs urged us on – at least I think that was what they 

were doing. Brave knight in shining lurex, Sir Roy, gallantly chaperoned Sarah Broadhurst 

through Fir Vale and Wincobank, (or Wonky Bonk as it was referred to by some - maybe 

something to do with the dogging community?) In Wonky Bonk Woods wild dogs barked 

wildly and owners barked louder. Headlights were seen crossing the railway near the graveyard 

and more headlights were seen roaming amongst the headstones – nobody knows whether they 

were atop the heads of the competitors or the aforementioned doggers. 

From the tops of the Wonky Bonk, Shirecliffe and Crookes ‘fells’, the views of Sheffield 

will be remembered until next year. 

At the sharp end Little Rob won convincingly, beating his daylight record by over a minute. 

For someone who rarely knows where he is going, this was a great achievement. The short 

version attracted a few women, (only one has completed the course before), and one – Sarah 

- even completed the long course. 

The race was followed by a cracking BBQ with burgers and bangers aplenty, washed down 

by mulled wine and several excellent bottled beers from the Dram shop. 

The Springvale Spirals


The Spirals race was first run on a much shorter course by Nick Forwood of Warwick Street 

way back in the earlier 80’s and has been a route that a few students have used in hill training 

sessions. It’s ideally suited to fell runners and orienteers. It has eight hills, including Blake 

Street, the steepest in Sheffield. The record was just under 30 minutes. 

Either the weather, the thought of the climb, (see profile), or not being able to fathom the 

route from the map meant only a select hardy and/or foolish folks ran. At least two people 

failed to navigate back to the start/finish and one of these had recce’d the course on the 

Monday - shame on you Mr Tuckett! 

At the sharp end Rob Little, who didn’t think 

he could run under the half hour, ran 29:14, just 

beating my 2004 record of 29:24 - ba$%^&”d! 

If anyone was going to threaten the record it was 

going to be Rob who was in great form at the 

time. I still claim the old man’s record though – 

I was a V40 when I chalked up that 29:24! 

Good to see a few women out and a good 

inaugural women’s record of 41:29 going to local Swedish au pair Amanda. She doesn’t have 

hills where she comes from in Sweden so her time was very impressive. 

Several pizzas and much quaffing of Thornbridge White Swan post-race finished off a great 

evening. 

The Seven Hills of Sheffield 

The format of the Seven Hills race – seven William Hill betting offices visited in any order – is 

no surprise when you appreciate it was devised by Andy Middleditch of poker face fame. The 

record is around 45 minutes – nobody could remember the exact time. 

The wet and windy weather had abated and an evening of pleasant running awaited us – 

except for those who were overdressed! Not so much route choice in this race – it was the first 

time I had run it. Maybe I’ll use a different set of William Hill betting offices next year, or even 

the real seven hills of Sheffield, (but that would take rather longer and might better suit a 

Sunday morning). 

We set off up Springvale Road to Crookes with four people reaching the first ‘Hill’ 

together– myself, Rob Baker, Oli Johnson and Rob Little a few yards back. From then, the 

event was notable for varying degrees of navigational incompetence with everybody going 

wrong at some stage and various top “orienteers” following anybody who looked vaguely as 

though they knew what they were doing. Neil and Zanthe visited the wrong William Hill off 

the moor and so eventually visited eight in total. Andy Moore, along with a couple of others, 

managed to miss both the finish and the start, which led to lots of last-minute recalculations. 

The après race curry was a great success with 12 people enjoying the Rajput for several 

hours afterwards. 

The North Stand 

The North Stand race visits the three football grounds of Sheffield: Wednesday, United and 

Hallam, (the second oldest football club in the world). Again, the controls could be visited in 

any order, which predictably resulted in people charging off all over the place. The record for


this race is 57 mins, although only two or three people have ducked under the hour. 

A brave and hardy bunch – or “stupid idiots” as one spectator suggested – toed the ice, 

snow, sleet and hail to venture forth into the mists of urban Sheffield, (the weather having 

relegated the wimps to the sofa). Routes were wide and varied and great debate followed over 

fish, chips and beer about which was the best. It remains a mystery, which is what makes this 

race so intriguing. Little Rob got knocked off his perch – having won the first three races in the 

series – by a great run from Neil Northrop, fresh (?) from his victory the night before in the 

Rivelin Landmarks race. Rob B and Oli were racing head-to-head for much of the way but 

diverged several times only to meet up again and finish two seconds apart. Injury and an 

unavoidable call of nature took out Tim and Will respectively, and Roy continued his dominant 

‘sweeper’ role at the back. 

The Kelham Island urban orienteering event 

How quickly four months goes by! Several hardy souls ran all five races and it was particularly 

pleasing to see several fell runners sticking it out to the end. As one was keen to say upon 

finishing: “I haven’t got a clue where I’ve been but it was thoroughly enjoyable” (which is 

what it’s all about). The courses visited several industrial heritage artefacts, a preserved ‘dig’ 

beneath a glass slab, the local Tesco, the law courts and a dash through one of Sheffield’s red 

light areas. Several runners were offered dubious substances, several were cheered on by the 

public and at least one was warned loudly via a loudspeaker that he had been filmed on CCTV. 

Urban orienteering offers more than you would care to think!! 

At the sharp end, several of the top orienteers in the country fought for the glory of first 

spot. Ralph Street, fresh from his, (some would say), idiotic exploits of two weeks earlier 

leading the national country championships for the first half mile, showed the field that perhaps 

he does indeed have a turn of speed to respect. Others would say he was just the lucky one to 

pick the only route to 24 that wasn’t blocked by an 8ft fence. The split times show the lead 

changing several times during the race. 

One of the problems with planning city races is you never know when building works will 

come and go. One builders fence was removed two days before the race, a new one went up in 

the week before, and one previously spotted fence was moved to block the obvious route 

choice. Luckily it was just a fun event and everyone took it in their stride – a certain Kris Jones 

climbing two fences to reach the control and Oli Johnson limbo’ing under another. 

For at least four of the orienteers, this was their first night event and certainly a first for the 

Dark Peakers. It’s a relatively safe way to begin, with lots of urban glow to help - perhaps too 

much with Rhys and Karl having light failures and using street lights and map memory to get 

round. 

The Fat Cat rewarded us with some excellent home cooking and a fine selection of real ale. 

Overall series 

Three people completed all five events: Rob Little, Roy Small and Neil Northorp. Rob won 

the series with three individual wins. Roy almost managed a clean sweep with four last places. 

Several more managed to complete four races and over 50 people participated in at least one. 

The series will be repeated next year due to popular demand! 

Tim Tett, DPFR, SYO and Roebuck Racing Club


To the top of North Africa 

With delusions of Hillary, two aging Dark Peakers decided to do 

something silly on their holidays. Then they decided to write about it... 

Jebel Toubkal and its family of High Atlas 

mountains form a teasing backdrop to the 

baking slumber of the Moroccan plains. 

In the searing heat of the day, their blurred 

outline hovers almost dream-like in the far 

hazy distance, just the merest suggestion of 

another world, of higher ground. But on a 

clear evening their sharp outlines cut through 

the still air, catching the colours of the 

falling sun and speaking more loudly of their 

grandeur and ruggedness. 

Dress them up with a substantial cap of 

springtime snow, top it all off with a mighty 

rising moon and no self-respecting fell runner 

could resist the charms of these magnificent 

peaks. And so it was that we sat in the garden 

of fellow Dark Peaker Kay Whittle and her 

family on the outskirts of Marrakesh and 

began to think silly thoughts as we gazed at 

the horizon. 

At 4,167m, (or 13,671ft in real money), 

Toubkal is the highest peak in North Africa. 

Nothing but hot air between it and 

Kilimanjaro nearly two thousand miles away. 

It is by no means a “technical” peak, but the 

guidebooks speak of crampons and ice axes, 

and of a two or three day trek, with overnight 

stays in one of the two alpine huts that sit at 

the head of the approach valley. We were 

thinking differently, and after two days of 

pancake-flat running on the dusty roads 

around Kay and Mohammed’s riad those 

thoughts began to snap at our ankles. 

Mohammed, a qualified and experienced 

mountain guide, was initially supportive, 

offering to organise the trip and arrange a 

guide for us. Diplomat that he is, he was 

struggling to mask his scepticism when Tim 

mentioned his holiday hobby of running up 

the nearest mountain, (while withholding the 

key fact that Toubkal would break his 

previous height record by 1,000m or so). Kay, 

a Bob Graham club member with a prolific 

orienteering background, was thankfully able 

to mediate, sketching out Dark Peak’s 

eccentric traditions and pronouncing herself 

satisfied that our goal of running up and down 

in a day was at least not wildly unrealistic. 

And so we crawled into our hire car at the 

crack of dawn, kitted out with two pairs of


fell shoes, rucsacs of water and hill food, the 

“best map there is” of the High Atlas national 

park, and Mohammed’s blessing. Our first 

destination was Imlil, a rugged mountain 

village squatting at the end of the road, 

1,740m above sea level. Fortified by a stiff 

black coffee from the Hotel Soleil, (not much 

around at this hour), we set off to splendid 

indifference from the few townsfolk around. 

They could see we were in no mood to buy 

tagines or leather goods and scarcely had the 

energy to even pester us. 

Twenty minutes later, after a strenuous toil 

up rocky zig-zags, we had a much more lively 

encounter with the local kids, who were no 

doubt highly oxygenated by their own climb 

to the school building on the outskirts of the 

village. Pigeon French on both sides 

established what we were up to and was 

enough to convey their view that we were 

crazy and amusing – the stereotypical 

Englishmen abroad. They cheered us on and 

pottered along beside us until the novelty 

waned, (which didn’t take long in the heat). 

Left to our own devices and the baking 

sun, we crossed the jagged bed of the 

low-flowing river and began the steady climb 

up to the alpine refuges, the snow-topped 

peaks now pushing in around us and 

revealing their sparse rockiness. It was hard 

graft, but given Tim’s determination to run all 

the way, we made good time, (Dave tucking 

in, gritting his teeth and vowing to get his 

own back on the way back down). After an 

hour or so we came across the bizarre 

spectacle of an isolated shop clinging to the 

mountainside in the middle of nowhere. The 

makeshift shack was stocked with the 

standard fare of the Moroccan souks – 

tagines, shoes, leather goods, gloriously 

coloured silk scarves and any number of mint 

tea sets. As we approached it seemed 

deserted, but the owner must have seen us 

coming for miles and was quickly at our side, 

extracting a breathless promise that we would 

at least pay him a visit on the way back down. 

We tried to follow Mohammed’s 

instruction to cross the stream “just to the 

right of the big boulder” but failed to see 

anything of it, the boulder presumably being 

under several feet of snow at this time of 

year. Not that it mattered; the path was clearly 

defined by boot prints in the deepening snow 

and we were soon zipping over levellish 

ground to the two refuges at the head of the 

valley. Tim was feisty when we arrived, Dave 

less so and struggling to hold off the bonk 

after a one-track intake of sugary food and 

energy drink. We pierced the troglodyte 

gloom of the Mouflon refuge to restock with 

as much bottled water as we could carry, put 

on all the clothing we had, (it was getting 

cold), rammed some food down and began to 

pick our way up the steep snowbound pass to 

the summit ridge. 

Here there was a marked difference of 

approach. Tim, bouncing and vitalised, pulled 

off ahead to see if he could run all the way 

up. Dave began fixating on the objective 

hazards we were facing. We were on a convex 

hardened snow slope, wearing worn fell shoes 

that were gaining scarcely any purchase, and 

we were wearing a full set of shiny, slippy 

waterproofs. One false move and we could 

rapidly find ourselves glissading over the 

sizeable crag at the bottom of the slope, 

(Ruth, you know where I’m coming from, Ed). 

Mohammed had told us it was possible to get 

up without an ice axe and crampons, but the 

few walkers we encountered were all wearing 

the latter – perhaps reflecting a difference 

between the European and Moroccan 

approach to high mountain gear. 

To cut short what seemed at the time like a 

very long story, Tim zipped to the top and 

Dave treated himself to a repeated dollop of 

combined bonk and altitude sickness, having 

to sit down every 100m or so on the final 

ascent ridge to recalibrate his heart rate and 

breathing. It was torture, but there was no


turning back at this stage. Just before the 

summit plateau there was a short convex 

snow shelf above a mighty and indeterminate 

drop, again underlining the risk we were 

taking by doing this without a long axe as a 

handrail. With that behind us, it was a steady 

plod to the spray-painted multi-coloured 

metal triangle that marks the top. 

We took our time to admire the 

breathtaking views, to acclimatise to the 

altitude, to take photos for the English couple 

who appeared from nowhere in their 

crampons, and to say hello to the little bird 

who pecked around looking for titbits. We 

had climbed just under 8,000ft in about five 

hours and we were in no mood to relinquish 

that height too quickly. 

The cold made us realise we could not 

linger for too long and we were off back 

down, Dave wondering about those flimsy 

threequarters-worn studs on the snow slope 

back down from the col. When we got there, 

the worries about glissading quickly 

evaporated; the snow had softened to a 

maddening mush and we found ourselves 

clomping our way down in goofing, slumping 

poses from the Ministry of Silly Walks. By 

the time we reached the hut we were pretty 

done in and again had to plunder the stocks of 

bottled water to rehydrate with litres of 

energy drink. 

It was here that Dave’s sodden and 

battered PB Racers decided to protest. The 

right-hand shoe shed a good two inches of its 

sole and flapped all the way back down as he 

forced the pace, made Tim suffer for his 

relative youth and enthusiasm on the summit, 

and tried to fly past the shopkeeper before he 

could berate us for our broken promise. No 

chance. He was there as if by magic. 

Amazingly, his inbred determination to sell 

something was bypassed by his fascination 

with our hill food. We bartered over what 

would be a fair exchange for us bypassing the 

shop, and he settled for some Shot Bloks, a 

sachet of energy drink and a few Extra Strong 

Mints. 

Battered, dusty, thirsty and knackered, we 

hammered it back to Imlil, trotted past the 

indifferent shopkeepers and slumped in the 

hire car, ready to rejoin Christine and Gill and 

take it easy for the rest of our holiday. Before 

leaving we had a pleasant if only semicoherent 

chat with an elderly mountain guide 

who told us how many times he had been up 

the mountain, (many!) and took an 

incredulous interest in what we had just done. 

Up and down in eight hours or thereabouts. 

Thirty two kilometres as the crow flies, but it 

felt more like 32 miles. It would have been 

lovely to explore the range in more depth, but 

Kay and Mohammed had laid on a fantastic 

itinerary that was about to take us deep into 

the Sahara. 

Next day, we realised our determination to 

travel light had extracted a heavy cost. Ice 

axes and crampons were not the only 

essentials missing from our kit. Sunglasses 

and sun cream would also have been a good 

idea. Tim woke up snowblind and Dave’s 

nose was so burnt it could have been seared 

with a flamethrower; cue several days with a 

plaster on it and a full facial mask of burn 

cream. As they basked by the pool, Christine 

and Gill were mightily amused. 

If you fancy it yourself, the High Atlas 

range has lots of opportunities and there are 

various guides that describe high altitude 

routes lasting from one to several days. 

There are a few high altitude refuges but 

plenty of accommodation in the local villages 

at lower levels. It’s very rocky underfoot and 

the paths don’t appear to be that well marked 

apart from those that are well trodden. And 

you do need to pick your time of year to 

avoid the extremes of snow and heat. 

We would recommend Kay and 

Mohammed as excellent hosts for anyone 

thinking of going to Marrakesh or the Atlas 

mountains. Contact details and further info


can be found at: 

http://www. 

riadbledna.com 

We’ve also learned 

since our adventure 

that there are races to 

be done out there! 

That’s about as much 

as we know, but 

you’ll find more 

details here: http:// 

www.epicmorocco.co. 

uk/tour/toubkal-ultramarathon-2012 

Dave Holmes, 

Tim Tett 

Our heroes reach the 

summit. ‘Top of the 

world ma!’ 

Dave’s training tips 

Number four: Lubrication 

Hi Guys, Dave here. Hope you are enjoying the 

summer and the hot weather. Sometimes tricky 

for running in, so make sure you have plenty of 

lubricants and you are well lubed up before setting 

off. Top tips for lubing up are Carling Black Label 

or Timmy Taylor’s Landlord. Both can be taken 

in orally, (yes, even Carling Black Label!), and 

can produce a very relaxed style if used in high 

concentrations. I appreciate this might not always 

work for professional runners like me. There are 

other options out there like Ralgex, Deep Heat 

and KY Jelly. I’ve been told the latter is the better; 

make sure you get it in every nook and cranny 

and you should slide and glide round the course 

no problems. Or if you’re feeling fruity why not 

try Durex Play, now available in Passion Fruit, 

Strawberry and Very Cherry. Cheers. 

David Gilchrist is a qualified barman


Dark Peak Fell Runners 

camping weekend 

THORNBRIDGE 31 August-2 September 2012 

Why go to Center Parcs or Butlins for the last weekend of the school holidays when the Dark 

Peak Thornbridge weekend has it all?... 

• Beautiful camping in the grounds of Thornbridge Outdoor Centre situated next to the 

Monsal Trail - great to cycle through the recently opened tunnels to Millers Dale or to nip 

into Bakewell for a coffee! 

• Use of luxury classroom, (dare it rain), with hot water on tap and fridges. 

• Any number of exciting events and activities planned for this year: 

• Beer & whisky tasting quiz (adults only!). Friday night - start swotting up now as your taste 

buds and fell running knowledge will be tested! 

• Fell race. 11am Saturday. The classic Ashford in the Water route 

finishing in the water! (Leave the campsite at 10.30am to jog down 

to the village recreation ground for the 11am start). 

• Kiddies’ race. Saturday afternoon 

• Three-legged orienteering. Short score event around Thornbridge. 

• Cake & Cava in the afternoon. Bring your favourite cake to share 

and some fizz. 

• Saturday night BBQ and entertainment. Club provides some 

barrels of beer. Bring an instrument for a singalong plus follow the deadly 

pitch-black rope course later in the woods if you dare! 

• Sunday morning run. Up Longstone Edge and beyond. 

• Cyclo cross training/event. Back by popular demand - have a go or 

watch the experts and the carnage behind! (provisional) 

• Dark Peak Highland Games/alternative Olympics. Do the wellie 

hurling champions from yesteryear still have form? 

• Rounders. Can the adults beat the kids? 

• Alternatively just chill out and let the kids/adults play and escape the 

hustle and bustle of the last holiday weekend! 

All Dark Peak members welcome along with their family and friends. 

Cost: £10 per-adult per-night, £5 per-child per-night (over five-yearsold). 

Contact Kirsty (ladies captain link on website) to book or for more 

information. Numbers needed for the whisky/beer tasting - we don’t want 

to run out…!

I recently bought a pair of the Cheviot fell shoes 

that are just coming on the market from a company 

in the north east called More Mile. They are 

marketed as a budget fell shoe and available for a 

snip of the price of some well-known brands. With 

this in mind I thought I’d spread the word as I’m 

very impressed with them. 

When they first came out of the box my first 

impression was of a very aggressive sole which has 

a 10 mm deep tread and a good space between the 

treads to slow the build up of mud but to allow 

very positive traction. The two front tread teeth 

when climbing were superb on the wet mud and 

grass and the shoe instantly felt secure even when 

contouring around on slippery terrain. 

If you were running on hard pack or flag stones 

for a long time the sole could become quite painful, 

but to be honest these shoes are not designed with 

roads and flagstones in mind so to me it didn’t 

seem worth worrying about – just something to be 

aware of. On gritstone the shoes proved very 

grippy. On smooth polished rock they did seem 

more lively, but no worse than the two previous 

pairs of trainers that I have used by Salomon and 

New Balance, so again not really anything to worry 

about. 

The midsole has a little bit of cushioning but is 

not over the top and keeps your feet nice and flat 

compared to other brands that have a high spongy 

heel that alters your heel strike. 

The weight was a very pleasant surprise 

because I was under the impression that budget 

meant heavy. Not in this case. They will never be 

an ultra-light shoe as the tread is very chunky, but 

for a 30 quid shoe the weight is no problem. 

The toe box is very spacious and also for those 

who wear the toes of shoes out it has a good rubber 

rand to protect it. The actual fit was nice – not too 


Tried and tested 

More Miles fell shoe 

RRP: £30 

Appearance Value for money 

Performance OVERALL RATING 

cramped but not too sloppy either. I use a pair of 

size 8’s and my feet felt good in them. 

In terms of water shedding, even with the rand 

above the mid sole they didn’t hold excessive 

water and did manage to drain. There are better 

water shedding shoes out there but from my 

experience they are a lot less robust than the 

Cheviots and a sight more expensive. 

The shoes come in three colour schemes and on 

the internet look really good. The green shoes I got 

were definitely green when they arrived, although I 

did notice they turned brown within a minute of 

hitting Burbage North! 

The only gripe I have is with the laces. A very 

minor point but when they are clogged in mud they 

are a nightmare to undo as they are simple cotton 

trainer laces. As I say this is a little point but one 

that I will do something about for a couple of quid. 

I can’t believe how much shoe I have managed 

to get for my money. The designers have certainly 

done their homework and pulled off quite a feat to 

turn out such good shoes for the price. 

Cheap and nasty they are not. The build quality 

seems excellent, and they perform very well. 

All in all a cracking little product that does 

what it says on the tin for a very reasonable price. 

You can get hold of them online at www. 

startfitness.co.uk 

Carl Betts 

Since writing this piece a couple of months back I 

have found a slight manufacturing issue which in 

my opinions does not impact on the performance of 

the shoe but something you should be aware of. On 

the upper the material is protected by a thin layer 

of a fine plastic mesh. Where the shoe creases with 

movement this has frayed. I have just cut the mesh 

off as it does nothing other than protect the upper.


10 years ago 

A largely incomprehensible account of the first ‘Karriless 

Mountain Marathon’ recorded that competitors were obliged to eat a full 

English breakfast at the Snake Inn, that runners with rucsacs weighing 

over 30lb were given an extra 30 points, and that those who camped 

by the Fairbrook river got an extra 25. The account also recorded that 

organiser Maurice Musson won the event. Hmm… The spring edition 

of Dark Peak News suggested a flurry of members wanting to emigrate: 

Bill and Susan Edwards had fled to New Zealand, Jenny James and 

Dave Peel to Belgium, (Belgium?!). Andy Harmer’s notes on the 

Marjery Hill said the route was fixed “for the time being at least”. Roy 

Small narrowly beat Chris Ledger’s dog to be elected club chairman 

after Dave Holmes retired. The agm voted in principle to purchase Andy Moore’s dad’s 

caravan. Alan Yates completed the Joss Naylor, succeeding at his fifth attempt and beating the 

12 hours by just six minutes. Alan’s notes recorded that Ken Jones also succeeded that day, 

five minutes ahead. A Buxton AC runner called Lloyd Taggart won the Edale Skyline in 2hrs 

54’40”. First Dark Peaker John Boyle was fifth in 3hrs 04’58”. Roger Baumesiter (sic) said 

he was touched by his 60th birthday celebrations on Kinder. 

20 years ago 

Jim Fulton and Dave Holmes staged the first ‘Warts Winter Challenge’ 

on a fog-bound course starting and finishing at Redmires and taking 

in Stanage, Higger Tor and Burbage north bridge. Twenty started and 

16 “sort of finished”. International orienteer Pete Gorvett forgot his 

compass, had to stick to paths, and won by five minutes from Dave 

Holmes who led a group of four on the direct route over the moor. 

Andy Harmer allegedly led many others towards Rud Hill, which 

was not on the course. Frank Galbraith’s first report as Edale Skyline 

coordinator recorded a high drop-out rate due to severe weather. 

This prompted a safety debate at the agm, which considered whether 

the route should be changed to prevent someone dying. This was thrown out – a 

decision applauded by Dark Peak News editor Mike Pedley who suggested people wanting 

tapes and marshals every 400m should try 15 laps of Graves Park. Will McLewin instigated a 

curious story in ‘Ordnance Survey News’, which reported how DPFR had borrowed a full-size 

facsimile trig point, painted it in club colours, and carried it to various mock trig locations 

including the east coast.


The Dog’s Diary 

My master has been chatting to me about the importance of preparation and organisation 

in the final few hours before attempting a big 24-hour challenge like the Paddy Buckley. 

It seems you need to be systematic, thorough, and pay attention to detail. So, for example, if 

you’re going to fetch a hire car and then drive it to Wales it’s vital that you take along your 

own driving licence and not your wife’s, as Willy Kitchen did. Minutes later, high and dry and 

without a car, Willy was on the ‘phone to supporter Lewis Ashton, to ask where he was. Lewis 

duly explained that he was in Glossop, well on his way to Wales where he was due to support 

Willy’s successful attempt. It’s quite a long way from Glossop to a hire car depot in Sheffield, 

but Lewis knew where his duty lay… 

The Summer Sharpener series was designed to provide an exacting test of navigation at 

speed, albeit on the fairly familiar terrain of the Burbage Valley. The idea was that the 

familiar terrain would offset the challenge posed by a fairly fiddly orienteering map, and that 

most Dark Peak members would be able to stretch themselves while not having to stray too 

far outside their comfort zones. It seems that some “top” orienteers have got the wrong end 

of the stick, staying so far inside their comfort zones that they might as well be sleepwalking 

round. Neil Northrop, for example, who was seen by me and the master, (and a very 

bemused rock climber), hammering down a potentially suicidal direct descent of Burbage 

South. His pluck would had been laudable had it not been so baffling; the next control lay 

at the end of the footpath that meandered gently along the top of the edge. He was then seen 

doing a bizarre 90° turn at the bottom of the valley. Only afterwards did he reveal he had 

“folded the control off the map” and was charging headlong towards the wrong one until he 

realised his mistake, (and the annoying thing is that he still won by a running mile). 

In passing, I should record that Neil is not the only “orienteer” to have cocked up in this 

series. Tim Tett found himself slumming it at the back of the field after trying to find the 

“Daz” boulder in this year’s second event without using, er, a compass. “Compass Sport”, 

Tim. There’s a clue in the title… 

It’s not nice to hear about a doggy damsel being driven to the end of her tether, (or should 

that be lead?). I refer to my good friend Tess, one of Chris Barber’s famous pair of bitches. 

She was dragged along against her better judgement when Chris and his oppo Mr Fulton 

decided to trot round the second Summer Sharpener course on the evening after the event. 

She watched in embarrassment while they failed to find the first control at Winyard’s Nick, 

(muttering something about it having been moved), then the second, and then the third, (“Daz 

rock” again – they claimed it was “hiding”). Understandably she decided to up sticks, lie 

down in the nearest comfortable garden at Moorseats House, and leave them to it. In the 

meantime Messrs Barber and Fulton triggered all sorts of panic, ringing and alarming any 

number of locals and even bringing the Peak Park Ranger into the fray. They flapped all night 

before “finding her” in the garden next morning. Bloody humans! 

Wuff


The kit page 

With winter just around the corner, now is the time to tog up with the very best state-of-the 

art outdoor clothing from the Dark Peak club shop. What you see is what you get, including 

the prices so don’t even think about trying to negotiate an FRA discount. And if you’re put 

off by Stuart Hales’ convoluted sock washing instructions on page 9, bear in mind that ours 

are so cheap you can afford to throw them away without even going through steps one to 

five. For more details of all gear, contact Equipment Officer Richard Hakes: 0114 2339912; 

kit@dpfr.org.uk 

Price list 

Vests £13 

Sizes small, medium, large, extra large. 

Shorts £16 

One size fits all. Metallic green cycling type, 

with “DARK PEAK” in yellow down left leg. 

Tracksters £20 

Blue or green, in medium, large and extra 

large. Yellow piping and “DPFR” down leg. 

Short-sleeved long-sleeved 

vest £17 

Aka. a running t-shirt. Lightweight silky 

synthetic material. In brown with purple and 

yellow bars on front. XS, S, M, L, XL 

Yellow t-shirt £10 

With club badge on breast. S, M, L 

Black t-shirt £10 

With “Dark Peak Fell Runners” cartoon 

artwork on front. S, M, L, XL 

Fleece pullovers £22 

In blue or black, with club badge on breast. 

Toasty! S, M, L, XL 

Running Bear socks, two 

pairs for £5 

Brown above the ankle, white below. 

Guaranteed to be brown throughout after two 

runs over the Dark Peak bogs 

Whistles £1 

Orange. Loud. Best used in combination with 

a map and compass. 

Metal badges 30p 

Collector’s items, all featuring exclusive Dark 

Peak designs: ‘Running Man’, ‘DPFR trig 

point’, ‘Mountain hero’, ‘Warts’ 

Vinyl sticker £1 

Now available as a 5cm vinyl sticker or 5cm 

car windscreen sticker (see below).


Made in the Dark Peak 

...being the page where we showcase notable Dark Peak 

artefacts, oddities and curios... 

No 8 The Dark Peak buns 

Proof, if it could possibly be needed, 

that Dark Peak has the tastiest club 

vests in the land. Rachel Findlay- 

Robinson created these lavish buns as 

part of our new home-baked approach 

to the post-race meal at the Edale 

Skyline. They took pride of place 

alongside a veritable mountain of 

other cakes and buns to emerge from 

various Dark Peak ovens. Here you 

see the buns in all their glory, (raising 

questions like who ate the shoulder 

strap, and where can you get decent 

purple food dye), Rachel showing 

their uncanny resemblance to the real 

McCoy vest, and a shameless Tony 

Keddie snaffling a bun that really 

should been left for one of the runners. 

An unprecedented culinary triumph, 

and possibly one never to be repeated.


Front page: Kirsty Bryan-Jones greets the adoring hordes on Higgar 

Tor in the Burbage race 

This page: Tom Saville is number one in the Edale Country Day race, 

not to mention being younger, fitter and better looking than his dad

DARK PEAK NEWS Summer 2012 - Dark Peak Fell Runners

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