On Saturday 13th May we did something a bit out of the ordinary, and definitely a bit out of our comfort zone. We went on a 13 mile walk across the Dark Peak with two guides and 8 chums from other Tamworth based businesses. Completely off-piste all day for around 8 hours, getting wet, dirty and exhausted. Why did we do this?
Around 18 months ago Roar Marketing’s bookkeeper died of cancer. Her name was Amanda and she left behind a husband and two young sons. Her employer, Brookes Stephens Chartered Accountants based in Lichfield arranged a charity ball in her memory and to raise money for the Tamworth Cancer Support Centre. We successfully bid for this guided walk for 10 people and on Saturday we did it!
The intrepid walkers were Karen Nicholls from Roar Marketing, Tracy Pound from Maximity, Peter Robinson from Prizm Solutions, Carolyne Browne from HR Foundations, Dave and Dawn Harper from Silver Point Inventories and Leon Stephens and Ann Pearsall from Brookes Stephens. We were joined by our other halves Martin Nicholls and Ian Browne. Our guide for the day was Dave Grose who does walks, guiding and related training and his wife Heather. In total 12 of us.
We set off from a car park just north of The Snake Inn in Snake Pass high in the Dark Peak. We walked through woodland and then to the river Alport whose source is Bleaklow which is where we were headed. As we were completely in open country off the beaten track there were no footpaths, so as we followed the river we had to traverse it over 10 times back and forth to find somewhere to put our feet! This was great fun and ensured our footwear was put to the test as well as our balance as we tried not to get wet feet with differing levels of success!
There is a lot of history in this part of the world, and not all of it pleasant. We stopped for a moment at the site where in 1952 a party of 13 Scouts had died in bad weather and then up on Bleaklow we visited the site of a B26 Flying Fortress crash in 1946. Although 70 years ago there is a lot of the wreckage still up there and both of these sites are a poignant reminder of how nature can get the best of us.
This was a long and strenuous walk, especially as most of us spend most of our time sat at a desk. The scenery was fantastic, much of it we would not have seen without an experienced guide, and the camaraderie of really good friends out in the wilds in circumstances we would never usually be in together. Absolutely great!
A well-earned drink at The Snake Inn ended a marvellous day, one that we will never forget and tell tales about for many years to come I am sure!