Champagne Supernova

LETJOG PEAKS Nos 15 and 16: Black Chew Head, Greater Manchester (542 metres) and Black Hill, West Yorkshire (582 metres)

Walk Date: Wednesday 3 May 2023

It was on with the sun cream and the sun-hat today for the first time on my LETJOG Peaks challenge. What a day. The Peak District just dazzles in the sunshine – perhaps it is the sparkle of minerals in the rock and the shimmer of standing water on the moors, but either way it is a fine spectacle to behold when the hills are blessed with sunshine.

Before I get into the details of my walk, I would just like to welcome all of the new followers of my Blog, as well of course those of longer standing! Thank you all for all of your messages of support for my efforts – I really appreciate the comments on these Blogs and also the private messages that I have received over the last few days since the start of my walks in this upland region of England. Please feel free to pass on my website address to anyone who might be interested in following my walks and seeing the photos of springtime around the wilder parts of our country. Thank you also for the kind contributions to my suggested cause, the British Red Cross’ Ukraine Crisis Appeal – this sponsorship is greatly appreciated, particularly given the daily news from Ukraine of ongoing conflict and hardship. For those interested there is a direct link to my JustGiving page on my Home tab above.

When I walked the Pennine Way nearly five years ago this stretch of the path comprised my second morning, and just like my first day the weather gods delivered overcast skies and heavy rain showers. Isolated Black Hill really did live up to its name. Not so today, as clear skies and some warm sun greeted my climb from Crowden, making for a wonderful moorland walk.

Alone at the trig point, over my picnic lunch, I sat awhile in the sun to read up a little on the region. The Peak District has the distinction of being the UK’s first National Park. Inaugurated in 1951 and comprising 555 square miles of upland, the designation marked the culmination of a campaign by the pioneering environmentalist Ethel Heythornthwaite. Ethel’s name has been honoured recently by the establishment of a list of ‘Ethel’ hills, currently totalling 95, in and around the National Park, with heights of over 400 metres (together with a few lower but highly prominent peaks). Ethel-bagging is now a recognised pursuit in these parts and, somewhat inadvertently, I seem to be joining this exclusive club!

As regards wildlife, the mountain hare inhabits those parts of the northern Peak District that I walked in today, the species’ only home in Great Britain outside of Scotland. Despite keeping my eyes open I was unable to spot one of these fine animals, although I did see numerous brown/green lizards scampering off the path on my approach. I heard, in the woods, near Highstones Rocks, my first cuckoo of the season, whilst the heather harbours a generous population of grouse, including some black grouse whose shrill quack-like calls are apt to startle the unwary walker, myself included. Insect life, particularly the flying varieties, are mercifully subdued at this time of year, though there are some spectacular iridescent beetles (such as the one in my first photo above that measures around 30 mm in length).

These twelve miles, and around 600 metres of cumulative ascent, took me the best part of six hours, two miles per hour, reflecting the demanding terrain, and of course the fine weather that made water and lunch stops somewhat longer than they needed to be. A fine day indeed for enjoying these two latest LETJOG Peaks, numbers 15 and 16 – numerically at least, one third of my total quest achieved!

Yorkshire – North, South, and East Riding – will all get their moment on my LETJOG Peaks challenge as far as music artists are concerned. So today, from my twin peaks, I have gone with Greater Manchester for the musical inspiration for my Blog heading. ‘Champagne Supernova’ has precious little to do with walking or with any other aspect of my experience today (as far as I know), but it certainly makes for an eye-catching heading to describe such a fine day as this in the hills. The song of this title was penned by Noel Gallagher of the Manchester-based ‘Britpop’ band Oasis; it appears as the closing track on their 1995 album ‘(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?’ Catchy title aside, as to the meaning of the song Gallagher commented to NME some years later that ‘it means different things when I’m in different moods – when I’m in a bad mood, being caught beneath a landslide is like being suffocated – the song is a bit of an epic’. Modest stuff indeed, although the question of the song’s meaning certainly remains unanswered.