28/03/2012 Training Walk #10 - Rhubarb, Rhubarb and The Hound of The Red Harrows

Following our theme of training on the Sandstone Trail, we arranged to do another 14km loop taking us a bit further South from the loop we did two weeks ago. This loop was to start in Manley, take us through Delamere Forest to Kelsall and back. Lee having fallen asleep for 7 hours after our walk on Sunday (apparently it was the refreshing post walk pint that did it) was fully awake for this evenings walk and was even ready on time at the Rendezvous Point. This is more than could be said for Support Team Leader Simon who was joining us and managed to get lost en-route from the office. No chance he was going to do the evening's navigation in the dark then.

One of the trails through Delamere
We set off at a decent pace into Delamere Forest on a well used and popular route and noted the number of people out for an evening stroll and the mountain bikers tearing down the trails. As one biker passed with a shovel in his backpack Martin and Mark looked at each other and joked that perhaps he'd been burying a body in the woods somewhere. The team conversation soon deteriorated from here to the nocturnal habits of certain people given the number of parked vehicles in the woodland, a subject which one member of the team (who shall remain nameless) seemed know a little too much about so we moved rapidly on and changed the subject.


Descending the trail into the Forest
Delamere Forest is criss-crossed with a myriad of trails so it was a bonus that it was still not yet dark given that the clocks had gone forward at the weekend making navigation a bit easier. We eventually came to the busy A556, which after a bit of careful judgement was successfully crossed with no loss of life.

Another descent and climb had us emerging by a useful little tea-room at the top of Kelsall where a sign stated 'Muddy Boots - Welcome'. Handy to know for future reference. Descending into Kelsall, the views across Cheshire with the setting sun were stunning and photos do not do it justice.

The sun setting over Cheshire from above Kelsall
As darkness began to set in, we perched by a sign declaring we were at 'Kelsborrow Castle' a prehistoric promontory fort and removed our sunglasses replacing them with headtorches. Unfortunately there wasn't much of the hillfort to see particularly as it was rapidly getting dark so we pressed on given that we'd managed to get well over half way in a little over an hour and a half on what was the hillier bit of the trail.

We entered Kelsall village itself which meant navigating down streets and through alleyways which had been fenced out.


This wasn't the most pleasant section of the walk but soon had us out of Kelsall and back to once again cross the A556 dual carriageway which was negotiated successfully in the dark, without dazzling oncoming drivers.

Educational this walking lark
We crossed through fields of crops and noted a whole field full of rhubarb and then realised Martin was somewhat of a rhubarb connosieur, describing the many different ways rhubarb could be enjoyed. At this point we'd lost Simon and looking back up the trail saw him stuffing something into his backpack though he categorically denies it was anything to do with rhubarb.

A short section of road later, we were once again into fields though the path across it wasn't clear. It was quickly noted the field was planted with spiky gooseberry bushes which was a problem for those of us walking in shorts so a diversion was proposed and as we walked along the field boundary there came a distant barking which got steadily closer with our headtorches picking out a pair of eyes int he darkness. Thinking this was a dog constrained within a property we continued towards it only to find it was roaming free and not at all happy we were there. Dutifully, Simon sacrificed himself for the sake of the team and shall be hereforward known as 'The Dog Whisperer' after successfully placating it.

After negotiating the gooseberry plantation and the hound of the Red Harrows, we entered a field where the path ran diagonally through it. Helpfully (or so we thought), the farmer had taped the route across it only for us to realise it was an electric fence and actually blocked the path. Testing the insulation of the handle of his aluminium walking pole, Martin bravely pressed the wire down so the team could step over it with no ill effects. Thankfully apart from a small navigational error and missing the point where the path left the road, this was the last of the evening's events as we trekked across the fields full of sheep to the cars and the waiting pint at the The Goshawk in Mouldsworth.

The walked finished as 14.6km long and we managed it ahead of our expectations in 2hrs and 53 minutes with an average speed of 5.1km/h. The stats for this evenng's walk are here.

This weekend's Training Walk is scheduled for Saturday morning. We're going to have a go at Croker Hill in the Peak District again and come down a slightly different way. We think it should be about 18km long with 600m of climb and expect it to take us about 4hrs and 20minutes. This is the route.

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