The Great Ridge Walk, Cave Spiders, Bats and Wind.
Our group walked the Great Ridge today from Lose Hill to Mam Tor and then on to Treak Cliff Cavern. The group walked really well on a testing day where wind and temperature were the main considerations. I have always said that the best walking days in Derbyshire are those that don't have the best weather. Today's weather on the walk was as follows:
At the start the wind speed was 5.5mph and the temperature was 22. By the time we reached the top of Lose hill the wind speed was gusting at 44mph and the temperature had dropped to 15C. Add the wind chill to that and the temperature felt more like 8C. That wind speed dropped slightly as we dropped down to Hollins Cross and the temperature rose to 17C, 9C with wind chill. On the top of Mam Tor the max gust wind speed we measured was 53mph and the wind chill temperature dropped accordingly.
But despite all of that a good time was had by all.....
In Treak Cliff Cavern, as well as looking at the Blue John stone and stalactites and stalagmites we also had a brief look at the Cave Spiders that live on the roof by the exit - really interesting.
In the evening children searched for bats using ultrasound detectors and a few were found on the site. There followed a scientific discussion about whether or not bats hunt in the rain based on the data the children had collected - there will be more "hunting" tomorrow in the predicted bad weather.
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