Gritstone tors, castle to a canny lizard

Kinder Scout, Derbyshire Something metallic, coppery bronze, slinks off, a mercurial blur that is a common lizard

In bright sunshine I find myself on Kinder Scout, toiling up the slope towards the broken tower of Upper Tor, craning my neck at a clever, sinuous, rock climb that takes the leaning crest of its most prominent buttress.

This Peak District route was first done in 1936, the creation of Arthur Birtwistle, a stalwart member of that hardy Manchester institution the Rucksack Club whose members have generally spent so long exploring the gritstone edges fringing the city that the grit has entered their souls.