Winster Top CP

Wednesday 15 June 2022

5.5 miles Leader: Gerry W.

Weather, 24°C. Hot

No. on walk 19

A much shorter walk than planned, due to the oppressive heat of the day. Sweltering, would probably be an all-in word to describe today’s weather. We did enjoy great views from some of the ridge vantage points around Birchover and I especially enjoyed the half mile trek on an undulating and twisting path through Clough Wood. A reminder for me to lead a walk next spring through these woods, as there was evidence of a great number of Bluebells on the woodland floor. Drawn on the map, today’s walk looks like a figure of eight but in actual fact we met our outward track on the way back, but didn’t actually cross over it.

We set off from the car park above Winster, walking down through the village to go by Painter Way Farm and along Greatclose. We followed the twisting west path through Clough Wood, exiting onto Clough Lane and onward to the cross over of paths at Uppertown, where we took our morning break, also the place we would come back to on our return. With the break over we headed, north, through a large herd of mixed cattle to the outskirts of the camping site at Barn Farm. Many will know this place, where the Peacocks and Hens stand on the roof ridges, we saw them from a distance as we turned left to walk into Birchover. We did a circuit, around Rocking Stone Farm and took our lunchbreak on the ridge above Birchover Wood, with great views across towards Robin Hood Stride.

With a good lunch break over and resisting the urge to laze in the sun, we made our way past Uppertown Farm, to meet our outward track, turning south here to go steeply down through Stoop Wood, keeping ahead, on an old miner’s pavement to enter Winster once more. A taxing climb through the old mining houses, back up to the car park, from which several of us made our way home, stopping on the way at the Fountain Café in Bonsall, arriving there at two o’clock. Finished the day off just nicely.