This post is mainly just a thank you to the various UKC MTBers who last autumn gave me lots of advice on converting my tyres to tubeless. It took me months to get round to giving it a try, and then once I did, it was a bit of a battle with and there were some sealant leakage issues, but eventually I won and the tyres stayed hard (well, quite squidgy actually).
I've done some local rides to test them, but yesterday I went for a proper test. I left Sheffield in the afternoon and rode out north on the trans Pennine way under Wharncliffe before heading west through Stocksbridge to get to the northern end of the Cut Gate bridleway. I hadn't been across Cut Gate before - it was as good as I had been told, particularly heading into the evening sun. At the top I was looking out at Kinder, where I had bivvied and scrambled last weekend, before plunging down into Cranberry Clough - probably the best off road riding I've ever done. I bivvied down at Slippery Stones with some whiskey, curlews, a few fly pasts of geese and later a hooting owl for company. Pretty sweet. Some pics:
https://goo.gl/photos/in4SLYS8Hw23dKwD7