Peak - North Wales regional exchange

CPD, cake and climbing . . . what more could you want from a September weekend in the Peak district? How about chilli and chips and a rave at the rectory?! Excellent!

The Peaks MTA crew welcomed us North Walians with open arms and hosted a weekend to remember; the return visit after an enjoyable day of climbing in sunny Snowdonia back in May. Bright and early on Saturday we had a delicious breakfast of coffee and croissants before setting off to Hayfield to meet the rest of the MTA folk. With the weather in our favour, the CPD walk began with Steven Jones (Peaks regional rep) guiding us as we traced the footsteps of the young men and women who took part in the mass trespass on Kinder Scout back in 1932.

Through the village, across the cricket ground, along winding country lanes and eventually up onto the open hillside; Steven provided a wonderfully interesting and varied narrative, adding plenty of photos to help build a picture of how the trespass day had unfolded and the route which the protesters had taken. We made discoveries, including identifying the very wall the trespassers jumped 85 years ago when running away from the police at the cricket ground: it was possible to identify individual stones from the old photograph. The going got tougher as we headed cross-country up towards the Kinder plateau where trespassers and gamekeepers had scuffled all those years ago. No scuffles today thank goodness! We continued upwards into the cloud and mizzle above, enjoying a leisurely stroll to see Kinder downfall before descending into the sunshine once more.

We returned to the rectory at Staveley where Steve had kindly prepared plenty of tasty chilli to keep us hungry hillwalkers happy. With chips, drinks, huge slices of chocolate cake and tons of laughter the evening flew by delightfully! Not quite a rave but brilliantly good fun.

Sunday brought sunshine for our day of social climbing at Birchen edge. Other MTA members drove over especially, and everyone really made the most of the ideal conditions. More cake fuelled some lovely leads on the challenging grit routes; and the smiles and confidence around the crag were a joy to be a part of! Overall it was a fantastic weekend which showed just what can be achieved when regions work together. What a superb way of sharing skills and knowledge; as well as making new friends and climbing with new people.

Many thanks to our regional reps Steven Jones (Peaks) and Paul Poole (North Wales) for organising. Here’s to many more successful partnerships next year!

Written by

Branwen McBride

(MTA member)

Images courtesy of Paul Poole