Saturday November 25th

Castleton's Hollow Country

(The description is from the Bradwell's guidebook walk title!) 

We fancied doing a walk from Castleton so we chose this one from Bradwell's "Longer Walks in the Peak District". It certainly proved to be longer, as in the book it is scheduled to be 8¾ miles and we ended up doing 11½ and descending into Castleton in the semi-darkness!

The walk started with a pleasant walk up Caveday, below Peveril Castle.

Cavedale and Peveril Castle

At the top, we passed the grassed-over diggins at Oxlow Rake- old lead mines- making our way down to the tiny hamlet of Old Dam. From there, the walk went up Eldon Lane past Sweetknoll Farm with two adorable donkeys.

Jacinta communes with adorable donkey

We decided to go to have a look at Eldon Hole- classed as "one of the seven wonders of the peak" in the 1600s.

Eldon Hole- it goes down a long way- honest!

There was a lovely lunch spot just below the fencing around Eldon Hole where we ate and admired the view and clouds on a beautiful winter's day.

Lunchtime views

We started off again and, with a bit of twisting and turning, ended above Oxlow House Farm. The views as we approached Mam Nick were wonderful and the colours in the sunshine were really vibrant. We weren't keen to join the crowds ascending Mam Tor along the paved path, so we contoured around a lower path on the side and joined a path running (very) close to the edge of the landslip face of Mam Tor which took us up to the top. It turned out that this path is not recommended because of worries about erosion- so next time, we will have to join the crowds!

The Great Ridge (and sightseers) in the autumn light.
Win Hill far right and the Derwent Edges in the far distance

We descended to Hollins Cross and down to the collapsed road which then led us to the Blue John Cavern and its little shop which was just shutting. However, David managed to go in and raid the shop for some sustaining chocolate- a very welcome snack at this stage of the walk. By now, it was getting near 4 o'clock and the sun was going down and the moon going up in spectacular fashion.

The moon, Win Hill and sheep

We walked up to to the top of Winnats Pass and then descended (actually quite easily) to Speedwell Mine and along the grassy path back to Castleton.

11½ miles, 780m 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