Chaplog tries hard In which an ageing climber comes to terms with life closer to the ground.

This is commonly known as LEJOG – Lands End – John O’Groats. It will take a couple of weeks ish and then on to the Orkney and the Shetland Islands.

Lynne, Rick and Claire just checking where the Pennine Way had gone near Torside Clough

We walked from the house up to Cock Hill, followed the shooting buts and then met the Pennine way. We returned to Old Glossop by Doctor’s gate, had a couple of pints in The Bull and rhen got a taxi home. You can do too much walking.

(more…)

For 23 years I had avoided being involved in taking 200 of our 12/13 year old students to the Peak District. This year I succumbed and enjoyed it immensely.

Some of the students who were in my group in the Peak District

I took a lot of photographs and gave the students a CD containing them all at the end of the trip a few are included here.. My standing in the community of students and teaching staff was increased immensely when I removed a number of bats from the corridors – take a sheet from a bed and drop over bat, carefully fold up sheet and unfold outside.

As today was likely to be the only dry day that I was going to get this week I put two rides together from “The very best road rides” from Cycling Weekly. It contains more hills than is sane – 4207 meters of ascent. I did the Cat and fiddle twice!

A view from the Snake Pass at about 8:45am

Goyt Valley Ride (7) 90Km

Staffordshire Derbyshire and Cheshire Ride (32) 87 Km

That adds up to 177 Km. On my cycle computer it came to 174km. It took 9:39min at an average speed of 18Km per hour and I will not be doing it again! Why did I do it? I wanted to see what I was capable of doing without hurting myself. Whether I hurt myself is a question I will not be able to answer until tomorrow. This where I went.

(more…)

I have had a week in the Peak District with 200 13/14 year old Manchester students and then a KS3 Graduation to organise, this has all been very tiring. Here are some pictures from the family party..

A confident Isabel takes to levitation at our family party

I am away for a week and on my return will provide a link to the rest of the photographs.

Mary and Steve were on holiday and staying locally so we had a meal with them on Friday and went to a barbecue on Saturday night that they co hosted at a friends house in Broadbottom. We rode on Saturday, rain free around Edale.

Chapel-en-le-Frith Well dressing