Given my moderately hectic schedule, and because I had a dog in tow, I was really pleased when Explorer Events announced they were doing another set of MapRun based orienteering events in the Peaks. Granted, they are all s bit further away from my side of town but like so many, I am determined to get out and explore more after the pandemic. So I signed up for all four, ordered the accompanying event maps (I get disorientated with a tiny phone screen), and then invited Eryl to accompany me and the Oscar dog on a trip out.
The first of the events though was based in Wincle which is where I start my Roaches route over same named rock formation that sits on the Staffordshire edge of the Peaks. It is a fairly picturesque place, with stone buildings set off winding lanes and both a pub AND a brewery. It even has a red phone box and a pretty river running through it. It is fortunately also pretty far out from anywhere, which, given that parking is limited to the road, is probably lucky (a car park would sort of ruin the idyll).
Poor Eryl has been working really hard on a book, which is a complete labour of love as far as I can tell. I was really grateful to her for coming out as these things are always more fun together. I suspect that its slightly cheating to do it as a pair but given we are hardly at a competitive level I suspect its not a problem. I'd had a quick glance at the map, and, knowing the area a tiny bit, had at least decided on a direction of travel before we found the wall corner in a field that triggered the start.
By the way, if you haven't used MapRunF before, it can take a bit of getting used to. The first time we did it at Dovestone, we wasted nearly 5 minutes wondering how to set the thing off before realizing it happened automatically.....
So soon we were jogging through a field down towards the river and Danebridge before encountering a style the dog couldn't jump. There would be a few of these but it kind of made it funnier. Its a two hour course so we were quite prepared to have a giggle on the way round to break it up. Then it was up through the woods on the other bank to our first control point. I had decided we would go up the left hand side of the map first towards the hanging stone as I knew this bit of the route and it was a good chance to get out eyes and legs back in the orienteering game (Harvey Maps vs OS Maps....you decide). It was a lovely clear morning and as we headed up towards the checkpoints by the hanging stone, I knew we would get some amazing views. The first climb had been a bit steep, but after that it was more gentle joining a bridle path then a footpath up and into the windy ridge above the stone. The hanging stone is a large over hanging boulder that sits alone, away from the main Roaches ridgeline but with views along it. You got lovely views over to Shutlingsloe as well. But time was off the essence so we jogged down to rejoin the bridleway/access road and pick up a few more controls whilst marvelling at the odd property I wish I could live in (price, impractical location asides).
Shutlingsloe in the distance
From here on in, it was pleasantly new territory and we joined a road to take us down to the river where there were a few controls in the valley we could pick up. Oscar had a little vomit which was a bit worrying but he perked up and I am suspecting he ate something he shouldn't in a hedge somewhere. He seemed to be enjoying himself even on the harness, though the descents were going to be interesting with him tugging away.! Along the road we found a gorgeous little scene of what I think might once have been a mill pond, now turned duck pond next to some more beautiful real estate. We weren't in Kansas (or Manchester) any more! Then it was following a well made footpath round a hill, past a half ruined farm and down to the river. this section was a good path that sat between the main river and a side channel that was probably man made for some long forgotten purpose, and it was a flattish stretch with minimal navigational requirement.
We then hit a road and started heading up across some fields. My legs were a bit knackered here, which was not reassuring and so it was a bit of a slow shuffle up, and at one point I got myself in a muddle about how far up the path we were relative to a control but we got to the ruined building that marked the last point i had and real plan for. At this point, our ambition started to slightly exceed my fitness. We decided to carry on away from the finish and head down and up (then more up) to collect a few controls on the far left of the map. We had wonderful views to our right of the Roaches and Hen Comb. We dropped in to a wooded valley then up the other side to a standing stone memorial, but then made the decision to run uphill still further across farmland to the top of the next hill to collect what was only two controls, quite out on their own. Initially this was fine thought fatigue and lack of fitness on my behalf slowed us down, but then we hit the bogs on the way to control 7 and everything got a bit slow. By the time we were at the junction of the road and the second control on the hill, we turned and realised that we were further from Wincle than we thought and there were not one but two hills in the way with less than 30 minutes to get back.....oops!
When its further back than you anticipate!
The terrain on the way back was variable too. Initially it was farmland, then it was steep drop in to the wood valley again, and I had to let the dog run free for fear of falling, then it was gradual up through more mixed farm land (with the odd muddy bit). At one point there were a series of brand new gates in the middle of fields with no surrounding fences. Then, we got held up for a minute or two by a group of handsome young bullocks/cows being herded from one section of field to another. Two hours ticked over before we started the descent to Wincle but it didn't really matter as we were having fun. The descent was nice and we picked up a final control. Oscar got stuck at two more styles and eventually we ran in to the finish line field and checked in with a whole 9 minute of penalty deducted from out 19 controls. Ah well, ambition is both brilliant and a disaster, and we had had a good time.
We headed to the Ship Inn after, who seemed to be recovering after a mentally busy weekend, and so limited in what food they could serve and how quickly they could serve it. It was still so nice to sit inside and enjoy pubs (I love them more these days, maybe its a post covid thing).
Completely recommend these events if you have some orienteering experience and are reasonably fit. You could always walk them if you aren't a runner and still get a decent walk out of them. The next one is over at Winster, which I believe is near Matlock, so might be more of a day out but it will give me an excuse to see somewhere new.
If you haven't got much orienteering experience, check out Manchester District Orienteering Club (or other local clubs). MDOC are heading over to Tegg's Nose this week and Oscar and I are hopefully going. This event will be courses so a different format, but also different courses for different ability so perfect for beginners. Alternatively, the forestry commission and National trust often both host permanent courses in their parks so try checking these out.
