Thursday October 9th

 Hathersage Moor

We set off from Hathersage following a slightly convoluted route to the start of Coppice Wood and through this and over a field path to pass Padley Chapel (a fine building) and an old mill. So far- so good, but then the instructions became less clear/or we were confused/or, as it turned out, we went round in a couple of big circles and ended back at the old mill. The first route that we took actually corresponded with the written description up to the point where we missed the "major footpath" and, having reached the start of the section, we followed the route shown on the guidebook's map (which didn't match the description!).

Oh Dear...

We eventually joined the "major footpath" which was, admittedly, quite big and eventually escaped Padley Woods with some relief. They were really ancient woods and, as such, rather dramatic but after an hour of somewhat erratic route-finding they had begun to slightly lose their appeal.

Just where are we?

It was good to be back in the open and we made our way up to Higger Tor, slightly bypassing some very boggy ground and therefore Carl Wark. By that time, it had started to rain and time was becoming shorter as Jacinta needed to get back home for her Italian class. We had our lunch and decided not to go on to Stanage.

Photo call at lunchtime. Burbage in the far background

 Instead, we worked our way back down to Hathersage, passing the Côte de Derbyshire vineyard on the way.
Derbyshire's finest vineyard

It felt unusual for the Day Walks Guidebook to be unclear, but it was still an interesting (and how!) and varied walk.

Six hours,11.6 miles and 550m ascent.


Popular posts from this blog

Sunday March 19th (Mothering Sunday)

Image
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...
Read more

Tuesday June 6th

Image
Eyam Moor, Abney Moor and Offerton Moor 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, cuttin...
Read more

Saturday April 1st

Image
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...
Read more