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Or even suggest another date! One with a Full Moon maybe? (Yes yes, I know you didn’t set the dates Boffin).
Oddly the following Tuesday (14th March) appears to meet this criteria a little more closely (22% greater illumination) but a slightly later Moonrise. This does allow for being out on a hill whilst the Moon rises over a nearby horizon (around 8:24pm) – splendid for catching that optical illusion of making the Moon look HUGE (but also quite dark when you set off).
Perhaps a repeat of the Mam Tor and Cave Dale excursion? Setoff around 7:30pm from Castleton? Any takers?
Richard
P.S. Who, really, wanted to go to Glossop Leisure Cantre?
Chamois don’t do an exclusive use tariff for the Hut so we might not be alone. But then again we could book all 46 beds (Yes, 46!) but the Treasurer says “No” 🙂
You’ll definitely have a bed(s) so long as the dosh lands in the Club’s account – perferably asap but no later than a fortnight before the meet please.
[I wonder if they still have those great little bunson burner stoves in the Kitchen. I’ve no idea what a Gas Safety engineer would make of them – “***CONDEMNED***” probably!]
The Bertram’s Cave team is now three. We don’t like fast descents either (but I think you were talking about Ossam’s Cave?). We’ll be taking an Ab rope! Now all we need is a structural engineer to inspect the solitary bolt! Anybody – only one place remaining if you want an escort but feel free to come along and explore other parts of the system but it wouldn’t take long – you’re unlikely to get lost but I won’t be bringing any Fairy liquid to ‘unstick’ you if you go too far!
OK, we have a taker for Bertram’s Cave and Jackdaw’s Hole. That person has a Caver’s Guide to the Peak District and the latter is described as ‘very tight’. Cavers are usually modest (i.e. deliberately understate their achievements) so only one of us might make the Pub (which, I’ve checked, does now open on Tuesdays!).
If others are interested, please do get in touch. We expect to have set off from the Beeston Tor parking spots by 7pm at the very latest.
More than happy for Bertram’s to be used as a wet weather contingency (I can’t guarantee being around every month though). If the river is above ground then some moonlight might help getting to the cave entrance.
And, if we take the pickaxe, the through trip just might be possible (Helmet advised!). If successful, topping out through the brambles will be a fitting finale to the evening!
Alternatively, there is Jackdaw’s cave which allegedly has another entrance/exit somewhere halfway up the scramble to the ‘normal’ start of Bertram’s Chimney (well hidden behind more brambles I suspect). Personally, I think being really quite thin, very brave and good at wiggling will help for that though. Tabitha maybe?
I’d be happy to repeat a foray into St. Bertram’s Cave/Chimney (Beeston Tor, Manifold) if anybody is interested.
We have the beta now (see the February 2015 Journal) for a speedier trip which should enable us to explore the passageways reaching across the ways at the very top of the rift – there’s some really nice flowstone apparently. Some archaeological cavers have even found some cave drawings (“Hope woz ‘ere”?) Or, we could even take a pick axe and try again for the through-trip?
I recollect from the last visit that these places are warmer than you expect and I doubt wetness within varies hugely in this particular cave (you’ll get a bit muddy but not plastered). On that basis it’d be well suited to a cold and wet evening?
Both this month and next have excellent (Tuesday) Full Moons so priority, in good weather, should be on something truly ‘outdoors’.
I’ll be there too (but without Maria). Would anybody like to share a lift from the New Mills area? Either Friday evening or Saturday departure.
Richard
Sunny but a bit chilly. Yeah, why not!
Who I team up with in my neck of the woods will influence my arrival time but unlikely to be there by 11am.
Chris Sutton and I will be there from Friday evening (or even morning if the weather over on the mainland (Snowdonia) is a bit damp.
Errrr…., YES, it is actually! Around an hour compared to 50-55 mins (but Google ‘durations’ can, of course, be beaten!). And, remember, you need to add plenty of the extra time for picking up New Millsians. I’d like to say that the latter is only a constant but actually it varies alarmingly depending upon the number of pickups, their state of readiness and sometimes involves promises to their loved ones that I’ll drive responsibly!
Anyway, Skye’s going to be great. Bet you wish you could make it! Tim D. is on for completing his Munroes (on Sgurr nan Gillean) but he’s having to sacrifice the ‘double’ (completing the Classic Rock ticks with his completion of the Skye ridge). He’s got a small handful of those still to do but they’re all long, remote, esoteric, Scottish classics (Oh, and things on Pillar Rock as well).
Well, Staden Quarry was great (I told you it would be!). No access problems whatsoever (except walking past the “Private – Keep Out” sign but that only applies to the general public, not climbers). Great, that is, right up until it rained, quite hard. Tim R managed 3 routes he hadn’t done before (that would have been 4 if it hadn’t rained).
Now, next week, is Wharncliffe. That’s a bit different from Cratcliffe. My mistake – that one comes up next month. Wharncliffe is still a quality venue though but, like Cratcliffe, a far way to drive for us Westies.
Yes, people (at least a small one!) are taking bikes and I might be as well but I’m hoping for some decent (climbing) weather.
Some Interesting facts (i.e. extra encouragement to join us)
The forecast for later today suggests that the sky will be clearing late afternoon which will be ideal to witness the sun setting and the moon rising in unison for almost an hour. If you arrive before 6pm then you’ll get the best view of this double-act (except that they’ll be 180 degrees opposite one another). You might want to loiter on the edge top rather than descending into the valley bottom.
The illumination of the moon will be at its peak of the month around midnight (when it’ll have reached its greatest height in the sky).
Of course the equinox passed a few days ago but be careful of asking any questions about whether that means that days and nights were of equal length. Similarly, approach with great caution anybody muttering about ‘Elliptical Orbs’, ‘Celestial Tilt’, ‘Lingering Refraction’ or ‘Wobbly Axis’. His name is likely to be Colin!
P.S. Is anybody actually coming along?
Hi Rachel,
On the topic of discount at the Harrogate Wall (and Huddersfield and Reading which are also part of the same ‘group’), I don’t think you’ll find that staff there will necessarily know about this deal but I’ll email you detail of our registration at Manchester and see no reason why we (actually you!) couldn’t easily replicate that registration at any of the other walls.
However, our (£1) discount at Awesome should, in theory, apply across all of their walls (inc. Sheffield, Liverpool, Stoke & Dublin). Certainly at Stockport, the till system records your membership of the Mynydd but I daresay that you’d still need to prompt the till staff at the other locations for the discount!
