North Yorkshire, England. 2-5 June 2004
Present: Ian and Sadie Mason, Brian and Jane
Sayers, Eric and Valerie Scott, Stephen and Pauline Ward, George and Val
Wallace.
Ian ‘Mad Axeman’ Mason
is indeed grateful to George ‘Munro’ Wallace and Val in many ways recently and
not least for providing the following account of what happened at the sharp end
of the recent Mini-Meths meet in the Yorkshire Dales.
Earlier in May Axeman
was out with his friends Jim and Angus, showing the Wallaces his local
bailwick, the Galloway Hills.
We had negotiated
Darran and Little Millyea and some right rufty-tufty in between and were well
on the way to Meikle Millyea (2,448ft) and lunch there.
Near the summit Axeman
had an attack of dizziness and pains in his throat and chest. And he thought
his end had come. After a rest and lunch he did not feel up to continuing and
was very weak.
The party helped
Axeman down an escape route via a forest firebreak. It was a slow business with
frequent stops. Halfway down it was decided to summon an ambulance and/or
mountain rescue.
George and Angus set
off to summon aid. Eventually Axeman made it to a forest road and was
ambulanced out.
The upshot of all this
is that Axeman has been found to have a weakened heart valve and has to take it
easy and have a further test to determine what to do.
This explains Axeman’s
confinement to the valleys and why he is so very thankful to the Wallaces and
others in the party.
George’s account:
We pitched up at the
Fountain Hotel in optimistic mood on Wednesday evening.
Munro and spare rib
preferred the nearby youth hostel (it doesn’t need to be expensive to attend a
METHS meet).
The weather had been
fine for weeks. Perversely, overnight cloud level came down below 1,500ft. The
drive over the fells to Upper Wharfedale was slow, visibility being restricted
to about 30 yards. Imperial measures didn’t help and the tops stayed hidden for
the rest of the day.
Our original intention
to traverse Buckden Pike (2,302ft) had to be hastily revised. Axeman came up
with a cunning plan and devised a low-level walk from Kettlewell to Buckden and
back.
Our walk north along
the hay meadows beside the river Wharfe followed a section of long-distance
path called the Dales Way. For once, our leisurely walk allowed time to
contemplate the influences that have shaped this exquisite limestone valley.
Seemingly glaciers,
Iron Age men, Romans, Vikings and Normans had been here before us. Upper
Wharfedale has also witnessed the dissolution of the monasteries, enclosure by
drystone walls, and the rise and fall of coal mining and lead mining and
smelting (surely an early victim of globalisation — so what’s new?).
Now the valley is a
Site and Scientific Interest and run by the National Trust. There were a
pleasing variety of spring flowers on show, evidence that the fields are not
being zapped by chemicals. Approaching Buckden, a large patch of pink bistort
got the cameras clicking.
True to form, some of
the party had to be extracted from the local hostelry before we returned to
Kettlewell by an ancient pack-horse track high on the east side of the valley.
Friday dawned with
bright and breezy conditions prevailing. Leaving the cars above Cray village,
we followed our original intent and most of the party traversed Buckden Pike
and Tormere.
Lunchtime found us
sheltering in the lee of the substantial stone dyke that runs the length of the
broad ridge between the tops. This was part of an ancient British entrenchment
to keep, among others, the Romans at bay.
Air Malawi’s Last Hope
was seen using the wall for a different purpose. Fortunately this did not
affect the activities of the golden plover and curlew seen nesting on the peaty
moor.
Polevault led half the
group straight down to Kettlewell, while the true blues led by a perky Ballcrusher
continued to Great Whernside (2,310ft). The summit is topped by jagged cargs of
Millstone Grit. From the trig point, Munro claimed he could see ICI works at
Middlesbrough.
Meanwhile, Sadie, Jane
and Axeman, uncharacteristically restricted to more modest altitudes, were
taking a low-level route to Kettlewell. There, by mysterious permutation, Jane
made a sterling job of shuttling the cars back along the busy narrow lane while
the others, waiting patiently, suffered greatly in the pub.
Back at The Fountain,
a celebratory dinner rounded off an enjoyable meet. Many thanks to Axeman for
arranging accommodation and once agin giving us the benefit of his extensive
local knowledge. George ‘Munro’ Wallace
National Park Website: www.yorkshiredales.org.uk
Click here for an account of last year's meet.
©
WDYFO, 2004