Halifax Harriers Presentation Night

Andrea has been regularly competing in races for over a year now, scoring points in the 'Category D' competition. It's been pretty funny watching Andrea scrutinising the results and working out what she needs to do to win a medal.

So at the presentation night Andrea was chuffed when she got 3rd and won a trophy! Although Andrea is saying that she's not going to compete this year I bet she ends up doing it!

Harden Goitstock Waterfall Walk

Goitstock Waterfall - Harden

Trying to get out and as bout at the weekends, with all the poor weather its been tough to get motivated. We took the kids to Harden and a round trip to Goitstock waterfall, we did this a couple of years ago when Finlay was little, he moaned about the 'long walk' so it was good to do it again now that it isn't so difficult for him.

We set off from harden and headed up the public footpath past Ivy house farm and in front of Goitstock Cottage, just past here we arrived at the Goitstock Mill chimney, the mill is long gone and the chimney looks quite out of place in the 21st century rural landscape. We headed down into rt he valley bottom and found our way to the stream above Go it stock waterfall.

We had some fun crossing the stream, but we all managed it without getting wet! Walked back to the foot of the waterfall and spent a few minutes enjoying the sight and sound of the water. We started heading up stream again and found our way onto a path in front of a row of cottages. We walked back along the edge of the fields above Crag Woods and did a geocache as we headed towards the garden centre on Harden Lane. From here we walked back down the old lane and to our car.

It was good to be out and about walking again, we enjoyed the change!

Australian Pink Floyd - Sheffield

We'd had a very busy day, walking up Whernside with a group of friends, heading home with Chinese takeaway before setting straight out of the door and for Sheffield's City Hall. It was touch and go whether we'd make it on time, thankfully we found parking near the venue and made a bee line for the entrance. We even managed to get a drink before sitting down. Mike, a friend from work had again got us great tickets, we were four rows from the front right in the middle.

Just had chance for a quick catch up with Mike before the lights went down and the show started. We were treated to the whole of Dark Side of the Moon, the performance was breathtaking, I've seen these guys lots of times over the years and I'm still amazed at how close this is to the real thing. My attitude is that Mozart and Beethoven's music continues to be played long after they died, Australian Pink Floyd are the equivalent to a modern orchestra playing old classic music, they are the cream of cover bands.

The light show hadn't changed much since we saw them in Halifax last year and they didn't have a huge glitter ball at the end, this hardly mattered.

The second half of the show had music from the many faces of Pink Floyd. I always enjoy anything from Wish You Were Here and they didn't disappoint. Andrea got a little board when They played echos, I guess its one of those songs that goes on too long if you don't know what going on.

We had a great evening and all too soon it was time to heads home. We made good time on the way hone, end of a very busy day, shame we had to go to work on Monday.

Whernside Walk

Looking over to Ingleborough

We planned to walk up Whernside last year, we did manage to get up Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent with the kids but ran out of time / weather when it came to the highest of the three.

It turned into quite an outing, 6 adults, 6 kids and 4 dogs! We all drove up to Ribble Head and found parking at the side of the road. We soon headed out across the valley bottom walking parallel with the viaduct. At the far side of the valley we continued up the hill adjacent to the railway and soon found ourselves at an unusual bridge / aqueduct that took us over the railway and higher.

It started to get steeper from here, it was nice to have a quick rest looking at the Force Gill Waterfall. The path levelled out and we could now see clearly the ridge that the path follows to the top. Up to this point the kids had all been doing okay and we’d made good time, we stopped and had drinks and snacks before moving on again.

The Boys!

Another steep climb and we were on the ridge, it was getting colder here and there was snow / ice under foot. A couple of the smaller kids were scared of slipping so we had to make sure they felt safe as we headed along the ridge. The views up here are really good and the climb felt worthwhile.

Within a few minutes we reached the top, the highest point in Yorkshire, it was pretty busy. Several groups of people were huddled out of the wind under walls. Time to admire the view and have some lunch. A great place to look over at Ingleborough! Standing still wasn't a good idea, we soon started to feel the cold so headed further along the ridge to continue our circular walk. The path descends quickly and zigzags to a wall at the edge of the fields near the valley bottoms. I don’t like steep descents, it makes my knees throb!

Under the Viaduct

In the valley bottom we headed through several fields and then followed the dried up Winterscales Beck, typical limestone country, no water but lots of evidence! It wasn't long before we were back at the Ribble Head viaduct, this time we stopped to admire the amazing feet of engineering.

Heading back to the car we decided that it was time for a pint at The Station Inn. We sat out back with the kids and dogs before heading home. It had taken a long time to walk 7.5 miles, too many people; someone always needed to stop for something!

Andrea and me still had a busy evening, we were going to Sheffield to the Australian Pink Floyd!