Pennine Lines w/c 18 November 2024
Last night’s snow fell on gritted dry roads, with recent high ground temps, and hence there shouldn’t be be much problem getting out today. However, it’s always worth remembering that the main roads and the bus routes are your safest bets. So from Sheffield the A57 out of Crosspool towards Rivelin is a reliable route, as is the main A6187 Hathersage Road out to the Peak via Fox House - this is a busy wide road with regular buses so is always well gritted and it takes a lot of snow to make this one impassable, meaning you can often access crags like Burbage South, Millstone, Lawrencefield, Mother Cap and Secret Garden OK, and with a bit of a walk the rest of the Burbage Valley too.
Pennine Lines w/c 8 January 2024
In fact, Rivelin is a classic winter venue, THE January crag. I swear some years have passed where it’s the only place I’ve found dry rock. Low lying and sheltered, yet open enough for that fine grained rock to dry fast; it’s a sun trap too and rarely feels as grim and bleak as other Sheffield local moorland crags. On a dull day it can seem like a brown crag for those brown January days, so it just fits. But it's even better when the low winter sun rakes through the bare trees, the light modelling the crag, shadows are cast and everything pops into relief. BOOM.