Glan Dena and Patterdale:
reflection and forward planning!

by Tish Woulds

As is customary for the Club, the first meet of the year is in Snowdonia and 2020 was no different. Eight of us arrived a day early and headed out, to ease our way into the year. Four set off on the Cnicht circuit. Cnicht is sometimes referred to as “The Matterhorn of Snowdonia”. It is not a high top but a pleasant little scramble up the south west ridge, which gave us great views of snow on Snowdon, the Carneddau and the Glyders. We descended down the northeast ridge and back around the reservoir, completing a good day out. The other four scrambled up the East ridge of Moel Siabod, which is an entertaining route. More Club members arrived in the evening.

Saturday promised to be windy, though the decrease in visibility we experienced was not forecast. After shuttling cars to Bethesda, a large group set off to scramble up the Southeast Ridge of Pen yr Ole Wen (978m) and walk across the Carneddau, to descend to our cars in Bethesda. This is a good linear, walk staying mostly at 1000m and traversing Carnedd Daffyd (1044m), Carnedd Llewelyn (1064m) and Foel-fras (944m). The scramble was not too icy but on reaching the top we experienced bitterly cold winds, ice and snow underfoot and very poor visibility! Most of us put on crampons or mini-spikes. The group became rather split up but, with the help of our mobile phones, we all managed to meet up at Carnedd Daffyd. From there a few headed down but most carried on. We were rewarded for our efforts by views over the Menai Straights and Anglesey as we descended. Our winter skills had been tested!

The weather on Sunday was perfect, with most of us heading out of the hut to scramble on the Glyders – again with crampons – following a variety of routes including Gribbin, the North Ridge of Tryfan, and the North Ridge of Y Garn.

The snow disappeared within a few days of our departure. We were very fortunate to have snowy conditions after such a mild winter.

The next meet of 2020, again traditional, was the George Starkey Hut in early February. Just three of us arrived early, benefitting from the most perfect weather on the Thursday - no wind and snow on the tops. We set off along Striding Edge, onto Helvellyn, where we could even sunbathe! The descent via Nethermost Pike and Dollywaggon rounded off a great day out!

The predicted stormy weather arrived on the Friday. In spite of the wind on the high tops some of us had a good walk from the hut over Dale Head, visiting the lovely church in Martindale that has been restored by the Friends of the Friendless Churches. On the Saturday, the storm really funnelled in; most chose low level walks on the shores of Ullswater, with white horses swept along the water by gale force westerlies. After the usual splendid communal meal, we experienced a wild night of torrential rain. We all pondered on the state of the roads and most made their departure as soon as we had finished cleaning the hut. The roads were in a bad way, with water gushing down from the hillside. The area near Glenridding was speedily becoming overwhelmed. In spite of this, we all managed to get home with, to my knowledge, only one number plate lost in deep water.

After one more meet in March, Club activities were suspended for the rest of 2020 due to COVID. When restrictions eased briefly in August, a small group of mostly Club members got together for an eventful few days of SSS – Summit, Splash, Swim – cunningly devised by Jackie Coe, who organises the Coniston Meet for the Club every November. Day 1 consisted of the ascents of Nab Scar, Heron Pike and Great Rigg, a splash in Alcock Tarn and a 650m swim in Grasmere. The following 3 days were equally energetic with memorable tops and swims in Coniston and Brother’s Water. Thunderstorms prevented us from swimming in Derwent Water, but the Splash in Angle Tarn included climbing to the top of the island!

At last activities are being planned for late 2021 and the calendar is looking good for 2022. So, yes, the huts are booked already - check the website and the pages of this newsletter - and, yes, we will be sticking with our traditional opening meets for 2022. Hope to see you there!

Moody Ullswater
Photos by Tish Woulds

Alcock Tarn, high above Grasmere

A summit on Angle Tarn

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