I've sunbathed on Kinder

Lines from The Manchester Rambler:

I've been over Snowdon, 

I've slept upon Crowdon,

I've camped by the Waynestones as well.

I've sunbathed on Kinder, 

been burned to a cinder,

and many more things I can tell...

I've stood on the edge of the Downfall

and seen all the valley outspread,

but sooner than part from the mountains,

I think I would rather be dead.

I first heard that song performed by The Spinners, a long time ago, and set myself the ambition, one day, to do all the things in the song. Last Sunday – and it had to be a Sunday if you know the song – I ticked off two more from the list. What I didn't realize until preparing this post, is that the original version (without the verse about the Downfall) was composed by the great Ewan MacColl, who had been on the Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout back in 1932. The Spinners, bless 'em, left out the important verses that would have told me the story:

The day was just ending and I was descending

down Grinesbrook just by Upper Tor,

when a voice cried "Hey you" in the way keepers do;

he'd the worst face that ever I saw.

The things that he said were unpleasant;

in the teeth of his fury I said,

"Sooner than part from the mountains,

I think I would rather be dead."

He called me a louse and said "Think of the grouse."

Well I thought, but I still couldn't see

why all Kinder Scout and the moors roundabout

couldn't take both the poor grouse and me.

He said "All this land is my master's;"

at that I stood shaking my head.

No man has the right to own mountains,

any more than the deep ocean bed.

I'd certainly heard of the Mass Trespass. What keen rambler hasn't? Indeed, climbing Jacob's Ladder, on the slopes of Kinder Scout, I felt a strong sense of gratitude to those ramblers of old who helped to win free access for us all. What would rambling be today, without their dogged determination?

Jacob's Ladder looks tame enough from the bottom, but it's a fair old hike to the top (100 metres above this bridge) and the path continues to climb after that. 

Here's the view from near the top – at Kinder Low. Jacob's Ladder is down on the left. This was a nice spot to enjoy lunch... but not for too long as there was a place, more than any other, that I was eager to see.  Ever since I first heard The Manchester Rambler I had wanted to see Kinder Downfall, which is the highest waterfall in the Peak District. An Internet photo search will return spectacular pictures of the water literally being blown upwards from the valley. What would it be like on this visit?

O dear, hardly any water! If you click this photo, you may just make out a trickle, flowing down the rocks. Maybe one day I will return when winter rains have swollen the tiny river and a gale is blowing up the valley. Or maybe not. Undeterred, I sought out a good spot for one very important photo... 

Now I can sing that song with conviction. 

I've stood on the edge of the Downfall

and seen all the valley outspread,

but sooner than part from the mountains,

I think I would rather be dead.