Author: Andy Llewellyn

Anyone who knows Mike will be aware of how modest he is about his remarkable achievements in the great outdoors and chatting with him you have to almost tease out information.  Therefore it is great news that he has managed to sit still long enough to get it all down on paper and his book ‘From One Extreme to the Other’ has just been published. Mike was kind enough to send me an early copy. This is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary individual. Mike’s beginnings in the outdoors are, to me anyway, somewhat surprising for someone who was to become a record holder for many of the UK’s ultra-running challenges. The Club’s core, and associated, activities are a theme throughout the book ranging from climbing in the UK to Yosemite, caving, sea kayaking, peak bagging, cycling and of course ultra-distance running. The only activity that he doesn’t seem to do much of is walking, unless you count traverses of the Scottish Highlands with an inflatable canoe strapped to your back. The book covers Mike’s Coast to Coast record, Pennine Way record, representing GB in various 100km races, and perhaps his most astounding challenge of all a consecutive run over[…]

Please come along and join me for a Bleaklow walk next Saturday starting at 8.30 am.   Full details as per Meetstaff are below, but basically there will be at least two walk options: one 20 miles the other about 15 miles, but if you don’t fancy either just come along and do you own thing. Meeting in The Queens Arms at the end of play for a pint or two. Bleaklow – the best hill in Derbyshire. 18th February.  Coordinator Andy Llewellyn.  Meet at Old Glossop (GR 046947) for a walk of up to 20 miles visiting a number of the stones on and around Bleaklow and the Outer Edges. Departing Glossop at 8.30. The walk will be a slight variation on the previous undertaken Bleaklow stones route taking in a couple of the infamous Bells Wells (if we can find them).  In years gone by there would be a minimum of 20 joining a Derbyshire walk but numbers have been steadily falling over the past decade or so.  It would therefore be brilliant if we can get at least 20 out on the day so please come along to join in the fun, be it for the whole walk,[…]

Coordinators – Helen and Rae Pritchard There are plenty of spaces still available on this meet so please come and joint us for a Midsummer’s Walk from High Moss visiting the summits of the Old Counties (pre-1974) of Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland. This is a fairly long walk about 40 miles with at least 10000 ft of ascent. The route entails climbs of Coniston Old Man, Helvellyn and Scafell Pike on a round trip from High Moss. We will have plenty of daylight, so if conditions permit, it will be an early start to get back in reasonable time. A meal will be provided on Saturday night. If the walk sounds a bit too far then please come and do your own thing, you will be very welcome all the same. Please contact us you intend to come. Details in the handbook.

Plenty of places still available on both these meets. Please contact the meet coordinators to book in ASAP. Full details below: High Moss Cycling – Ben Llewellyn Cycling meet based at High Moss. I will be doing a reasonable-length road ride on the Saturday, taking in several of the hills in the area. Join me for this or feel free to come along and do your own thing, on road or off, by bike or on foot. I will provide an evening meal on the Saturday so please let me know by the Tuesday if you will be coming along. Contact details as per handbook.  Bell’s Wells Revisited (in memory of Geoff Bell) Jo Wallis Start at Shepley Street in Old Glossop at 8 a.m. for the long route or at midday for the short route. The long route will be led by Richard Bradbury and will be taken at a decent pace, aiming to cover most of the wells that were visited on the original walk in 1999. However, the original walk, led by my dad, Geoff Bell, was ‘quite a big day out’; a committing 42 miles and 14 hours ‘around Bleaklow and Kinder and back again’. It[…]

Unfortunately the Introduction to Caving meet planned for this weekend has had to be cancelled due to Covid. If anybody can step in and organise a meet for this weekend (Jan 15th or 16th) please contact the Outdoor Organiser ASAP.      

Hi All, I am cancelling the Club Hogmanay meet at Craigallan due to the uncertainties of Covid/omicron/restrictions in Scotland.  Here’s hoping for better in 2022.”   Thanks Ellie

The forecast looks good for this Saturday so if you fancy a walk on Bleaklow please come along. We are meeting at Old Glossop (GR 046947) for a walk of 20 miles visiting a number of the stones on and around Bleaklow and the Outer Edges, departing from Glossop at 8.30. The pace will not be fast and there are a number of easy ways to cut out a few miles along the way if a slightly shorter walk is more your thing. It would be great to have a good turnout and we may even find a local hostelry at the end for a relaxing pint or two. Please let me know if you intend to come along. Thanks Andy Llewellyn.  Then over the next few weekend the following meets are planned:  6 – 7 November. Youth Mountain Running Meet from Beudy Mawr. Coordinator Lewis Ashton 10 people already booked on the meet but there is capacity for more. Youth is a (somewhat) flexible notion…. and so is running for that matter! The high ideals of this meet are to give younger runners the opportunity to spend some time running in bigger hills to gain experience, to explore new[…]

I am in course of pulling together the outdoor programme for next year.  The last 2 years have obviously been something of a disaster and although meets are thankfully now happening again attendance on most meets has not been anything like pre Covid levels. It would therefore be great if 2022 is a bumper year both in terms of the number of meets organised and attendance.   Please get in contact with me (details as per handbook) to arrange a meet, everybody can be accommodated.  It would be particularly good to hear from members of the former Anabasis Mountaineering Club as organising a meet is a great way for us all to get to know each other.  Many thanks Andy Llewellyn            

Our 3 fantastic huts are not often used mid-week. As we emerge from the shadow of Covid why not take the opportunity to use one of our huts during the week and organise an ‘informal’ meet.  It’s so easy to do. Anybody interested should approach the individual hut warden to book the hut for the number of places required / or to the maximum occupancy currently agreed. Then if anybody else makes an enquiry via the hut warden seeking use of the hut during the same period the warden will direct that person to the member who has made the meet booking. The meet coordinator will no doubt want the meet to be advertised, if so they can send me details which I will put on the website meet calendar and send out a web post. I can also arrange for the notice to go out via our social media.  Please note that the meet coordinator has the discretion to set the terms for their meet, where they could choose, for example, to include a requirement for full vaccination and/or a negative Covid test. Our huts are empty for significant periods of time so if you are free and want[…]

John Llewellyn    We are very sad to advise that our Dad, John, passed away last Friday the 25th of June.  He was an Honorary Member, Past President and member since 1958.   The funeral service will take place at Cypress Chapel, Stockport Crematorium on Thursday 8th July at 2.15 p.m.   Numbers are very limited but if you would particularly like to attend the service please let Andy or Gareth know asap. Alternatively the service will be available via web-link so again please let either of us know if you would like the details when we have them. An order of service will also be sent with the web-link. Contact details as per handbook.   Andy & Gareth On behalf of the Llewellyn Family