Another walk from "Day Walks in the Peak District", and a complement to the walk that we did on May 4th.The walk starts from the Hathersage car park and rejoins familiar territory at the Leadmill Bridge, where there's a short overlap with the May walk.
Inscription on Leadmill Bridge
On reaching Hazelford Hall, the two routes diverge and this time we went more or less directly up to the Sir William Hill Road. Rather than following the public road, we used the byway to skirt Bretton Moor and stopped for light refreshments (including crisps!) at The Barrel Inn at Bretton. From there, we followed the (currently closed to traffic) road across Hucklow Edge- easy walking, and very quiet. It was clear why the road was closed- there were landslips to its south and the road itself had collapsed at its western end, although not to the extent of the Mam Tor road!
On nearing the Gliding Club, the route took a welcome break from tarmac, cutting across a couple of gullies and passing a sad-looking building.
Off the road and onto paths
We were crossing the head of the valley that the Bretton Brook runs through; the southern side looked steep and appeared to have many landslips!
Above the Bretton Brook valley, with landslips, sheep and hawthorn blossom
Before starting the traverse of Abney Moor, we took advantage of a well-placed bench to have our lunch.
A perfect lunch spot
On crossing Abney Moor, we passed a field of horses- Jacinta stopped for a chat with one.
Deep in conversation
On starting our descent back to Hathersage, we could spot familiar landmarks- Win Hill, Ladybower Reservoir and Bamford Edge, amongst others.
Win Hill, Ladybower and Bamford Edge in the distance
The way down to Hathersage started with a steep descent towards Offerton Hall.
At the start of the descent to Offerton Hall
An enhancement to any walk is seeing any unusual livestock. This time, it was a couple of very impressive hogs.
Impressive hogs
Rather than follow the rather convoluted instructions to get back to Leadmill Bridge, we made straight for the Derwent Valley Heritage Way, running beside the river- very cool and pleasant.
Marsen and March Haigh We had a leisurely start and headed off to Marsen, where we had a pleasant Dark Woods coffee at Arcade . We parked up in the station car park- always ample space, and no charge then walked along the canal to the start of the Standedge Tunnel. Just beyond this, there was a small enclosure with a number of beehives. Beehives at the Standedge Tunnel These had been set up and managed by a Syrian refugee. We made our way up towards the March Haigh Reservoir, by now a familiar route. On our way to the March Haigh Reservoir It's quite a stiff walk up to the top of March Haigh itself, and we stopped for lunch just before the very top. As we wanted to get home in good time to talk with Rachel and DK, we took a shorter route back, down Willykay Clough and down to Close Gate Bridge, where a passerby kindly took a picture of us. Portrait on Close Gate Bridge The return to the car was back along the outward path beside the canal- lots of toads about! 7.6 Miles, 320m asce...
Holmfirth, Upperthong and Lots of Reservoirs After consulting Mike Dale's "Adventures in the Northern Peak", we decided to go to Holmfirth to do something different and, at 10.5 miles, we chose what seemed to be a reasonable walk in a new area. After a lovely coffee at the Holme Coffee House and a trip to the Co-Op for provisions, we started on Stage 1 of the walk. Essential rations... when in Yorkshire Stage 1 went from Holmfirth to Bilberry Reservoir, starting from the main road and going up the (very steep!) side of Victoria Park. There was a fair amount of twisting and turning down lanes and footpaths on this leg, including a walk though Upperthong. Door to waterworks in Thongsbridge The houses were interesting and the views were good- there was a constantly changing perspective on the Holme Moss Transmitter, familiar from Black Hill walks. We got to the Digley Reservoir and had lunch in a good spot above the reservoir. Outflow from Digley Reservoir After lunch, th...
