hammer down Hameldown

I've been thinking about the barefoot potential of this run for a while and today was the day to give it a go. Parking up at Bennett's Cross I followed the route of the Two Moors Way north to Shipley Tor and on to Hookney Tor and a nice rock dance down to Grimspound. This is a group of 24 hut circles, the remains of Bronze Age dwellings, enclosed by a wall. Excavation of pottery puts the site in the Middle Bronze Age, (3000 years ago) although the site may have been occupied before this time. The site had been used subsequently by shepherds and tinners for shelter and from 1894-1896 the dreaded 'reconstruction' of 18 of the hut circles compromised the original site further. Not quite as irritating as Bronze Age people being referred to as our ancestors, though...........

Then up to Hameldown Tor for a quick pad out to Hameldown Beacon via Broad Barrow and back again. The foot tingle was making a welcome return - the terrain was a good bit rougher than the last run which will do my sole conditioning a power of good. Gritty sections alternated with turfy bits but with a good measure of heather to make it interesting.

A cracking run back down to Grimspound and I spotted a troupe of mountainbikeists at the bottom heading up. Unfortunately they made the mistake of stopping and so came in for a bit of banter. They were still pushing their steeds up to Hameldown when I took this shot.












From here it was down to Headland Warren, up to Birch Tor and back down to the car park through a swarm of ramblers. Although they tend to be a 'well-equipped' lot, the bloke on the far right takes the digestive. At least some were wearing shorts though........