Amelia Charlotte Pelissier Arrives

Birth Announcement

Sue and Michel are the proud grandparents of a little girl

Amelie Charlotte.

Born on the 28th December at 17:45.

Weighing 6lb6oz.

Mother and baby are doing well ... and the Dad (Christoff) is recovering quickly!

Dates and Walks December 2008

Updated on the 21st December 2008.

Thursday 4th December 2008.

Valley, Moor and Estuary as well as Pen-y-Ball and Pantasaph.

Distance: 11 miles; Climb:1500'.
Start: Greenfield Valley Car Park. Grid ref: SJ19775
Leave Chester at 9-00 a.m.
This combines two walks from Dave Berry's book "Walks Around Holywell and Halkyn Mountain". One walk is described as a walk of great variety and interest and the other walk explores the hills above Holywell. We have done both before, but not for some time.
After walk drinks will be at the Britannia Inn at Pentre Halkyn.

Saturday 6th December 2008.

Five Dales Walk.

Distance:7-9 miles; Climb:1500'.
Start: Monsal Head Car Park (Pay and Display £4-50). Grid ref: SK186715.
Leave Chester 8-00 a.m.
This walk is taken from the "Pathfinders Guide to the Peak District", although we will extend it by starting at Monsal Head instead of Tideswell. The five dales are: Tideswell dale, Litton Dale, Miller's Dale, Cressbrook Dale, Tansey Dale and Water-cum-Jolly Dale.
After walk drinks will be at the the Monsal Head Hotel, if we can get a seat. if not it will probably be at the Wilkes Head at Leek if I get my way.

Thursday 11th December 2008.

Loggerheads and Maeshafn.

Distance: 8 miles; Climb: 2000'.
Start: Lay-by opposite the Loggerheads Memorial. Grid ref: SJ202626.
Leave Chester at 9-00 a.m.
This is walk that we have done several times before, ind includes the ascent of Moel Findeg with its fine views towards Moel Famau. It uses a walk from Carl Roger's book " Walking in the Clwydian Hills." This walk is a little shorter than our usual Thursday walks, but we might be able to explore the Moel Findeg area a little more.

After walk drinks will probably be at the Glasfryn, Mold.

Saturday 13th December 2008.

Dove Dale and More.

Distance:10 miles; Climb:1300'.
Start: Car Park at the foot of Thorpe Cloud (Pay attendant on entry, expect it to be on parr with the Pay and Display car parks in the Peak District). Grid ref: SK994603.
Leave Chester 8-00 a.m.
We last did this walk in April 2006, a long time ago considering that it is one of my favourite walks in the White Peaks. The walks are taken from Mark Richard's book "Walks in the White Peaks - Southern Dales". After climbing Thorpe Cloud it follows the usual route to Mill Dale, then along the road to Alstonfield and rejoins Dove Dale at Coldeaton Bridge. The return from Mill Dale will include the secretive Hall Dale.
After walk drinks will be at the Wilkes Head at Leek.

Thursday 18th December 2008.

Halkyn, Limestone, Lead and Moel Ffagnallt.

Distance:10 miles; Climb:2000'.
Start: Britannia Inn, Pentre Halkyn. Grid ref: SJ212712.
We haven't started a walk from this location for quite some time. I thought that as this is the last walk before Christmas that it was a good time to do so. It combines two walks from Dave Berry's book "Walks Around Holywell and Halkyn Mountain". This walk combines two of my favourite walks in this fascinating area on our local patch.

No prizes for guessing where the after walk drinks will be!

Saturday 20th December 2008.

Brushfield, Taddington, Chelmorton and Flagg.

Distance:11-12 miles; Climb:1200'.
Start: White Lodge Car Park on A6, 2 miles west of Ashford. Grid ref: SK170705.
Leave Chester 8-00 a.m.

This combines two walks from Mark Richard's book " White Peak walks - Northern dales". One he describes as being a mildly energeic expedition into the high country flanking the A6 to the west. It mounts the the Brushfield Ridge where Monsal and Toddington Dales can be admired. The second walk is described as an excursion that examines a trio of communities founded on the flanks of this five dales ridge.
After walk drink wil probably be at the Wilkes Head, Leek if I have anything to do with it!

Thursday 25th December 2008.

No arranged walk on this day.

Day off to go to church to celebrate Christmas.

Saturday 29th December 2008.

To be arranged if there is demand!

Walk stats for 2008

Harris Hikers Walks Statistics for 2008.

Overall distance walked by Harris Hikers in 2008.

946 miles.

Overall height climbed by Harris Hikers in 2008.

173,913'.

This is slightly down on 2007, but each one of us has had circumstances that have prevented us from joining the group on several occasions.

These stats are for the walks that I have been with the group or have have been given the appropriate data. Tito's stats may be different, I'm sure he will give everyone their own individual stats in the near future.

Taddington and Flagg 20th December 2008

The first "view" of the day and the low lying clouds that didn't want to clear all day.

On the way to Brushfield Hough Farm.

Walk stats: Distance:11.7 miles;Climb:1454'.
Time:5 hours 31 minutes;Walking average:2.6 m.p.h.; Overall walk average:2.1 m.p.h.
Group:Martyn, Celia and Dave J.
Another wet one! We experienced drizzle or light rain for virtually the whole of the walk, but at least it wasn't cold and we did have the luxury of a bus shelter at Flagg for lunch. This was a walk for the "stile bagger". This walk, especially between Flagg and Taddington must hold the record for stiles, not all easy to negotiate. Nevertheless this walk does have potential and would be well worth a revisit on a warm sunny day when its finner points could be appreciated.
Birds seen or heard today were few and far between but included:Fieldfare, Robin, Chaffinch, Bluetit, Great tit, Carrion crow, Housesparrow, Magpie, Blackbird and Jackdaw.
After walk drinks as is often the case on our trips to the Peak District were enjoyed at the Wilkes Head in Leek. Dave enjoyed his Hartington Bitter, Celia her ........... (I can't even type the word out!) and Martyn a lovely cup of coffee, but he did also have a carry out!

Halkyn Mountain and Moel Ffagnallt 18th December 2008

No I won't turn round and have my picture taken!

The group at the trig point on Halkyn Mountain, now restored to its former glory.

Thank you to whoever took the trouble to complete its restoration, trig points mean so much to walkers.

Part of the still working industrial heritage of Halykn Mountain, taken from Moel Ffagnallt.

I thought you did that when you're looking out from a ship,
not on land looking towards Moel y Parc!
Where am I? ......On the top of Moel Ffagnallt.

Walk stats: Distance: 9.4 miles; Climb:1834'.

Time: 4 hours 5 minutes; Walking average:2.6 m.p.h.; Overall walk average:2.3 m.p.h.

Group:Martyn, Roger, Richard, Celia, Tim, Gordon, Sylvia and Dave J.

Our thoughts today were with Sue,Michel , Christof and Danny and Sue's father and the rest of the family as today was the funeral of Sue's mother.

This walk turned out to be full of surprises. The weather turned out to be almost perfect, quite warm but not too warm, dry, sunny at times, but perhaps a little on the breezy side towards the end. This walk, somewhat contrived inroute, described by Tim as a "clover leaf route", a good description, if a five year old had attempted to draw a clover leaf. Nevertheless for me this is a magnificent walk with good views in all directions and its wonderful industrial heritage, both past and present. Advantage of past mining works was taken when we had lunch sheltering from the wind behind spoil tips! At lunch Roger presented everyone with a magnificent home made mince pie (not made by Roger, but made by Margaret as you would expect) and the Gordon too produced some mince pies. Our treats for the day weren't to end there. We went to the Britannia Inn at Pentre Halkyn, that wasn't a surprise since we had started there, but after bringing Sylvia a cup of tea, Sarah brought us a huge plate of chips and what must have been a loaf of bread and butter. What a wonderful thing to do, and needless to say not a scrap was left on the plate - you can't beat a chip butty, even Richard had one!

Birds seen or heard today included: Robin, Chaffich, Blackbird, Carrion crow, Magpie, Raven, Goldfinch, Fieldfare, Jackdaw, Collared dove, Wren, Housesparrow and Stonechat.

Dovedale and More 13th December 2008

The stepping stones across the Dove.Looking for Long-tailed tits or so they said!

The Lion rock in Dovedale.

Walk stats: Distance: 10.6 miles; Climb:1249'. Time:5 hours 5 minutes; Walking average:2.7 m.p.h.;Overall walk average:2.1m.p.h.

Group:Martyn, Richard and Dave J.

This walk was destined to be a wet one, and it lived up to its name. Light and persistent rain accompanied us throughout the morning and only stopped about 1-00 p.m. Nevertheless it is always enjoyable to walk from Thorpe Cloud to Milldale along the Dove and today we had the added interest of the river being in spate. We were expecting the usual Derbyshire mud but we experienced very little, but it was very wet underfoot, and one path on the flanks of Bunster Hill was quite difficult to negotiate as the main path seemed to disappeared in a minor land slip and the wet grass slope made progress not too easy!

Birds seen or heard today included: Starling, Common gull, Robin, Blue tit, Great tit, Long-tailed tit, Goosander, Mallard, Kestrel, Carrion crow, Blackbird, Wren, Grey heron, Dunnock and Dipper (Richard's bird of the day).

As usual when we come to this part of the country we were, after walk drink were enjoyed at the Wilkes Head in Leek. this time we managed to to get seats next to the fire, even though the pub was busy. everyone else seemed to be clustered around the bar, perhaps enticed by the free bread and cheese available! We had a long chat with the landlord who has been in charge for 8 years and despite our memories to the contrary Dolly the resident Staffy has only been there that long too! The landlord only gave us taster of the Whim Ales, Black Christmas, a dark winter brew running in at 6.5%. Only one member of the group could fully enjoy more that a mouthful as he was the only one that wasn't driving at all.

Loggerheads and Maeshafn 11th December 2008

The group at the stile on the western top of Moel Findeg.

Moel Findeg summit ridge.

Moel Famau from Moel Findeg, one of the many fine views from this vantage point.

Walk stats:Distance:7.8 miles; Climb:1171'.

Time:4 hours 3 minutes; Walking average:2.4 m.p.h.; Overall walk average:1.7 m.p.h.

Group:Martyn, Roger, Gordon; Barbara and Dave J.

What a glorious sunny winter day this turned out to be, a day to savour and be thankful to be out walking!

Although much of the early walk was completed in the shade with temperatures close to zero, it made for very pleasant walking and continually gave us stunning views with the Clwydian hills basking in in the sun.

Lunch was taken on the summit of Moel Findeg summit, something that in the past weather conditions had prevented us from doing. However on this occasion the sun was shining and the wind was absent, no wonder we lingered longer than usual. We all sampled some of Martyn's fruit cake, originally meant to mark Annie H.'s last walk this year with the group, but unfortunately bad road congestion on the M53/A55 prevented her from doing so.

Birds seen and heard today included:Robin, Wren, Nuthatch, Blue tit, Great tit, Housesparrow, Magpie, Rook, Jackdaw, Carrion crow, Starling, Black-headed gull, Common gull, Blackbird, Collared dove, Redwing and Sparrowhawk.

Finishing the walk early only three of us decided it wasn't too early to celebrate with drinks at the Glasfryn. Unfortunately Cwrw Eryri wasn't on offer, but a very enjoyable Winter's Warmer from the Great Orme brewery was sampled instead.

Five Dales Walk 6th December 2008

Our first view of our Five/Six Dales walk from Monsal Head viewpoint. Water-cum- Jolly Dale

Almost in snow in Tideswell Dale.

Walking down Tansey Dale.

Walk stats:Distance: 8.9 miles; Climb:728'.

Time: 4 hours 10 minutes; Walking average:2.8 m.p.h.;Overall walk average:2.1 m.p.h.

Group:Martyn, Celia, Mike D. and Dave J.

What a glorious day this turned out to be! Bright and sunny all day, cool at times in the deep sided valleys but could have been regarded as short wearing temperatures when in the sun at lunch at Litton. These five dales, part of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve, are always a delight to ramble through, and today was no exception. The views, especially when we looking down towars the valleys were superb with distant fields outlined with snow that had drifted towards the stone walls. Our only real challenge of the day was our need to wade through water along Water-cum-Jolly Dale, but fortunately the depth of water on the flooded path was only about 4 inches deep and our boots could cope with it!

The dales included on this walk were Upper Dale/Monsal Dale, Water-cum-Jolly Dale, Miller's Dale, Tideswell Dale, Tansey Dale and Cressbrook Dale, six in all, but we did start from Monsal Head.

Birds seen or heard today included:Robin, Wren, Buzzard, Carrion Crow, Raven, Goldcrest, Housesparrow, Blue tit and Great tit.

After walk drinks were taken at the Wilkes Head in Leek, where the beer and the welcome were excellent, but this is what we have come to expect from this wonderful friendly hostelry. It could do with being a touch warmer in the winter, but thankfully this time I did remember to put my fleece on!

Valley, Moor, Pen y Ball and Estuary 4th December 2008

Exploring the upper Greenfield Mill site.
Lunch - basking in the sunshine, almost too bright to look at the photographer!
The final stretch from the Duke of Lancaster along the old rail track next to the sea.

Walk stats: Distance:11.6 miles; Climb:1903'.

Time:5 hours 25 minutes; Walking average:2.5 m.p.h.;Overall walk average:2.1 m.p.h.

Group: Martyn, Richard,Gordon, Annie H, Sylvia and Dave J.

Numbers reduced today due to family commitments and too much belief when listening to the weather forecasters!

Those that braved the weather were rewarded with a fine dry and at times sunny day. The temperatures were somewhat cool especially on the area around Pen y Ball, but the only rain experienced was just as we getting close to the start point at 3 p.m. Indeed the worst of the weather was as we returned home in the car. I was on the damp side too as we had to run from the car up the steps at the Britannia Inn!

Overall this is a varied walk, much to the surprise of most of the group who hadn't visited the Greenfield Valley with it wonderful archaeological heritage before. Much longer could have been spent exploring this site, but today's walk was long enough without! We didn't have time to take to the waters at St. Winfred's Well!

A usual the climb up Pen y Ball Hill seemed like torture, why Richard does this regularly with his shopping on the 10 mile trip from Ysceifiog I never know!

As ever the views toeards the eastuary and beyond to the Wirral are superb and today it was even better with a rainbow to admire too.

Another added bonus was using footpaths that took us to a school for autistic children before dropping down directly towards the Duke of Lancaster, thus avouding the half mile walk along the main road.

The highlight of the day was getting good views of a Sparrowhawk hunting Fieldfare, showing its magnificent skills as it weaved in and out of the bushes in persuit.

Other birds sen or heard today included:Buzzard, Carrion crow, Jackdaw, Raven, Jay, Magpie, Dunnock, Housesparrow, Black-headed gull, Coot, Teal, Moorhen, Mute swan, Mallard, Redshank, Goldfinch, Blackbird, Robin, Pied wagtail and Oystercatcher.

J.W. Lees bitter was enjoyed at our usual venue mentioned above!