Chapel-en-le-Frith

April 29, 2015.

CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH, MIRY MEADOW, BLACK BROOK, BOWDEN HALL, MALCOFFMOOR, COWBURN TUNNEL, SOUTH HEAD, CALDERS FARM, SUMMERFIELD, MOSELEY HOUSE FARM, CHINLEY, OLD HALL AT WHITEHOUGH, BRIDGEHOLM GREEN AND THE ROEBUCK INN AT CHAPEL

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Mainly sunny and dry with occasional threatening rainclouds.

Walkers: Peter Beal, Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Alan Hart, John Jones and George Whaites.

B walkers: Tony Job, Jock Rooney and Ken Sparrow.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (ankle injury), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (family anniversary), Julian Ross (emergency diversity w*^k), Geoff Spurrell (recovering from hip replacement op).

Leader: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Miry Meadow Car Park, Chapel-en-le-Frith.

Starting time: 9.48am. Finishing time: 2.12pm.

With scattered showers forecast to start at noon, our leader Colin predicted we would be arriving at the Old Hall at 12 sharp to escape a soaking. Our luck held as dark rainclouds passed us by on either side. The rain finally came at 12.05pm in the form of hailstones, but once again Colin’s luck, and those with him, ran out due to a miscalculation of time and route.

Fortunately the shower was brief and three of us had taken a shorter path to reach the pub unscathed. Colin and his trio arrived nine minutes later after a failed attempt to penetrate a housing estate.

Nonetheless we all enjoyed some more spectacular views and perfect visibility in the sunny, but chilly, weather. Back at the final watering hole, Tony bought a round of drinks to mark the 80thanniversary of his birth. We wish him many happy returns.

We left the car park via its rear exit and turned right along a path which brought us out by the side of The Roebuck Inn. We turned left, passing the St Thomas A’Beckett Parish Church on our left (2mins) and turning right to follow a series of passages which took us across Black Brook. Here we turned left, with the brook on our left, and entered The Crescent.

By following a green public footpath sign we were able to cross the A6 (14mins), walking through a kissing gate and up a lane (21mins).

On our right was Bowden Hall, a Grade 2 listed building erected around 1844, with three bays in Tudor Gothic style, and a two-storey gabled porch.

We carried straight on uphill, ignoring a wooden public footpath sign on our right to pass Bowden Head Farm on our left. At a T-junction we carried straight on following a wooden public footpath sign (28mins). Soon we were heading downhill, crossing a stream by a footbridge (35mins) and ascending Malcoff Moor.

Turning left at a wooden gate marked with a yellow arrow, we reached a lane where we turned right (38mins) and began to climb again. It was proving to be a rollercoaster journey. We turned left at a wooden public footpath sign (41mins) and headed downhill, passing a post with a yellow arrow.

This led us over a bridge across the Hope Valley railway line linking Manchester with Sheffield. To our right was the entrance to Cowburn Tunnel (45mins).

The tunnel, at the western end of the Vale of Edale, is 3,702 yards long and was built in 1891. During its construction on one occasion the headings filled with water to a depth of 90 feet and the work was carried on in a diving bell !

It lies beneath Colborne, moorland between Kinder Scout and Rushup Edge. In the 1970s this picturesque railway was controversially given precedence over the more modern Woodhead route which had only recently been re-engineered and electrified, as the preferred passenger rail link between the two cities.

After going through a metal gate, we headed uphill once again (58mins) and turned left at The Pennine Bridleway in the direction of South Head, with stunning views in every direction. After pausing for pies and port (74mins) on a grassy path-side bank we continued along the right shoulder of South Head before turning left over a stone step stile (88mins).

We crossed a wooden stile (92mins) and ignored a flock of stampeding ewes to pass some more sedate sheep with their new-born lambs along the path ahead. We went through a tied gate to join a stony track (100mins) and crossed the Chapel-Glossop road (105mins).

When we reached Calders Farm on our right, Colin initially decided we should make a dog-leg right and immediately left to follow a sign marked “Footpath” to carry straight on. But after Tom, John and your diarist had followed these directions, crossing a footbridge (113mins) to head up through a field, our leader had a change of heart.

It would seem that whenever he ignores his instincts and attempts to read a map, he leads himself and those foolish enough to follow him into trouble. Bearing this experience in mind, the three of us declined to turn back and continued through the field until we reached a lane by the side of a house called Summerfield.

Here (120mins) we turned left, passing Moseley House Farm on our left (122mins) before turning left over a railway bridge (128mins) to enter Chinley. By proceeding in a straight line, we picked up the sign for Whitehough and continued directly ahead to reach The Old Hall (136mins) for outstanding pints of Marstons’ cask bitter at £2-80.

We were joined by our comrades nine minutes later after they had made a failed attempt to find their way through a housing estate.

The pub boasted a Magic Mild Award for its tradition of stocking mild beer. When your diarist pointed out to a barmaid that there was no mild beer on sale, she replied with feminine logic that mild beer was stocked at the nearby Paper Mill Inn (which never opens on weekday lunchtimes).

We passed the aforementioned Paper Mill Inn on our left and headed uphill to cross the road-bridge over the A6, then turning right at Eccles Bank Lane (142mins). After turning immediately left at a stone step stile we crossed another stile of that variety and went through a gate into a field.

After crossing one wooden stile (147mins) we crossed another on our left (150mins) and went through a metal gate to cross a field. After going through a gate on our right we stopped for lunch(155mins) with a view across the valley below. Resuming, we took the path down through a farmyard to a lane where we turned right and then left at a track on our left (164mins).

We crossed a wooden stile on our right (168mins) and headed uphill to cross another wooden stile (171mins). After crossing a stone step stile (173mins) we reached a wide path, followed it as it turned left and then swung right through a tunnel under the railway line (177mins).

We followed the path right and continued until we emerged from Church Lane (182mins) and turned right to enter the Roebuck on our right (184mins). We were soon joined by the B team, with their new recruit Jock, and the birthday boy himself, who bought a round of Tetley’s cask bitter.

Next week’s walk will start from New Mills Golf Club car park at 9.45am, with a stop for a livener in the Ring O’ Bells, Marple, about 12.15pm, before returning to the New Mills Golf Club’s 19th hole around 2.15pm.

Happy wandering !

Allgreave

April 22, 2015.

ALLGREAVE, CLOUGH BROOK, NABB QUARRY, SHUTLINGSLOE, MACCLESFIELD FOREST, THICKWITHENS FARM, THE HANGING GATE AT LANGLEY, LOWER NABS FARM AND THE ROSE AND CROWN AT ALLGREAVE

Distance: 8miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (recovering from ankle injury), Peter Beal (Spanish hols), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Geoff Spurrell (recovering from hip replacement replacement operation).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Rose and Crown pub at Allgreave, south of Macclesfield.

Starting time: 9.51am. Finishing time: 2.05pm.

The unseasonably dry and warm April weather excelled itself for this walk in the area’s most picturesque countryside. There was scarcely a cloud in the sky as we climbed the hill known ironically as Cheshire’s Matterhorn and enjoyed the transition from late spring to early summer.

As we skirted the Dane Valley we were entertained by our feathered friends as we spotted a heron, several buzzards, a raven, and a flock of swifts. We also heard the distinctive cry of the curlew and the chirruping of chaffinches. At one point a hawk dropped a dead magpie at our feet and we also saw newly-born lambs and calves in the meadows.

To cap it all we sank pints of hand-pulled cask bitter in two traditional country pubs, which both had spectacular views from their sun-drenched beer gardens. And gentlemen in Turkey now-a-bed shall think themselves accursed they were not here

From the car park we descended right, passing The Rose and Crown on our right as we walked along the road for 300 yards. We turned left down a stony track (3mins) and took the left fork at Low House Cottage (8mins). This brought us to Clough Brook, which we crossed by a wooden footbridge and turned right (11mins).

We bore right with the road towards Wildboarclough, passing Nabb Quarry on our left (20mins) . After passing The Crag Inn on our left we turned left uphill (34mins). We crossed a cattlegrid to continue uphill (42mins) and turned left at a yellow arrow to head up Shutlingsloe (45mins). At this point our octet separated with the heroes, Steve, Colin, Tom and Julian heading for the summit of what is known by its shape – but not feet above sea level – as Cheshire’s Matterhorn.

The wimps, Lawrie, George, Jock and your diarist, opted for the right shoulder of the hill, reaching agate (59mins) and stopping for pie and port time. After we had been rejoined by the heroes, much to Tips’ relief and delight, we continued downhill.

We went through another gate (71mins) and turned left towards Langley, then left towards Trentabank (73mins) and left again along the Forest Bridleway. At this point Colin, Jock and Tips, who had fallen some 80 yards behind, decided not to follow us and thereby missed a stunning viewpoint (78mins) which looked down on Ridgegate Reservoir and The Leathers Smithy pub.

After pausing for a photo opportunity (82mins) we continued downhill and reached a road through a gate (100mins) at the same time as our absent friends. We turned left, passing Thickwithens on our left (107mins). At a T junction we turned left uphill (117mins) and reached The Hanging Gate on our right (120mins).

The latest tenants, who hail from Brighton, are the third licensees in a year following the departure of former Estonian landlady Luda a year earlier to take over our final watering hole, The Rose and Crown. The Hydes’ cask bitter was in good form at £2-85 a pint, although Colin wasted his when he chose to sit alone at a table on a slope. Happily for Colin, who had forgotten his wallet, Jock had to bear the cost of a fresh pint and a packet of crisps which had broken Colin’s normal £1 threshold.

Resuming, we took the path uphill directly opposite the pub and reached the entrance to the former home of Chancellor George Osborns. Here we stopped at a stone wall for lunch (134mins). When we continued we went through two wooden gates, first hearing the distinctive cry of a raven and then spotting it as it aimed for a copse of trees.

We exited the fields by a kissing gate (146mins) and turned left along a road. After passing Lower Nab Farm on our right (156mins), we reached the T junction and its signpost for Wildboarclough where we had earlier turned right (159mins). Here we turned right and retraced our earlier footsteps, crossing Clough Brook and returning to the pub (172mins).

Pints of mouth-watering Hope cask bitter, from the Howard Town Brewery at Glossop, were on sale for an eye-watering £3-40. We enjoyed them in the beer garden outside.

Howard Town was the nickname for Glossop when it was owned by the Howard family, who were Dukes of Norfolk. The land had been given previously to William Peverel by William the Conqueror after his unexpected away victory at the Battle of Hastings. The current site of Glossop was once one of a collection of adjoining villages in an area called Glossopdale.

Next week’s walk will start from the car park behind the Co-op in Chapel-en-le-Frith at 9.45am. We shall be having a bracer in The Old Hall at Whitehough, Chinley, around 12.15pm, finishing at The Roebuck in Chapel at about 2.20pm. Tony Job has asked me to tell you he will be buying a round of drinks to celebrate the 80th anniversary of his birth.

Happy wandering !

Earl Sterndale

April 15, 2015.

EARL STERNDALE, HINDLOW QUARRY, HIGH NEEDHAM, THE PACK HORSE INN AT CROWDECOTE, CASTLE COTTAGE, GLUTTON BRIDGE, HOLLINSCLOUGH, THE QUIET WOMAN AT EARL STERNDALE

Distance: 8 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry with mixture of blue skies, sunshine and cloud.

Walkers: Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (recovering from foot operation), George Dearsley (In Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (lecturing on cruise ship), Peter Beal (walking in Catalonia).

Leader: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road outside parish church, Earl Sterndale.

Starting time: 10.05am. Finishing time: 1.53pm.

It could be argued that in order to appreciate the good things in life, we also have to experience the bad and the ugly. This might explain why we were led from the rural idyll of a sleepy village in the White Peak area of Derbyshire up a steep hill for a prolonged view of a working quarry.

After a chilly start the effects of global warming started to be felt as we ascended a hill out of Earl Sterndale, leaving its historic church and celebrated pub behind us. Our climb gave us magnificent views back over the distinctive Chrome Hill and the Upper Dove Valley.

Ahead of us lay a gigantic blot on the landscape called Hindlow Quarry, and for two miles we walked along its ridge, as employees burrowed away below for limestone which was loaded on to lorries and transported off site. This was further proof that Derbyshire’s biggest export is....Derbyshire. It was something of a culture shock after the unspoilt views we had left behind.

Our walk had started 1,100 feet above sea level from the road outside St Michael and All Angels Church, Earl Sterndale. The church was built in 1828 on the site of an ancient chapel, but it was destroyed in 1941 when it was mistakenly hit by the Luftwaffe – the only church in Derbyshire to be struck by a German bomb. The church was restored in 1952 and still contains a Saxon font.

On the opposite side of the road is The Quiet Woman, an unpretentious (ie scruffy) traditional village pub which has featured in TV series Peak Practice and The Heart of the Country. The newer of the two pub signs shows a woman who is not only headless but legless. Alongside the painting is the inscription “Soft words turneth away wrath.”

This is probably a misquote from Proverbs 15, which reads: A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.” Amen to that.

We walked with the church on our right and turned right to pass the primary school on our right before following the road left. This brought us to a wooden public footpath sign on the right leading up stone steps (10mins). This led us to a steep hill which we climbed, crossing a wooden stile(16mins) as the field levelled off to a more gentle rise.

Another wooden stile allowed us to exit the field (18mins) and turn right with the massive quarry on our left. As we followed the path just outside the grounds of the quarry we spotted first a heron and then a buzzard. After more than a mile we reached a locked metal gate (42mins). Ignoring a footpath on our left, we were led over a wall and a barbed wire fence by Tom and Colin so we could turn left and proceed along a gravel track which was parallel with the footpath.

This took us, still on the right ridge of the quarry, to a wooden public footpath sign on our right pointing towards Parsley Hay (49mins). We followed this until we reached a grassy bank and paused for pies and port (55mins).Continuing, we went under a bridge and immediately turned left over a stone step stile. This enabled us to climb the bank and turn left again to cross the bridge (63mins).

We now crossed a series of stone step stile into fields until we reached a lane (71mins) where we turned right for 20 yards before crossing another stone step stile on our left into another field. Our group went through an open gate and then proceeded in the same direction over a series of stone step and wooden stiles, finally squeezing through a gap stile (88mins) to reach a road and turn right.

This took us past the sign for High Needham (93mins) and a set of crossroads (94mins) where we carried straight on for Crowdecote, passing High Needham Farm on our right. On our left in the middle distance was the ancient hill fort of Pilsbury Castle.

We passed the sign for Crowdecote (110mins) and soon reached the village pub on our left (116mins). The Pack Horse Inn has been a pub since the 16th Century when it stood on the packhorse trail between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Hassop. Here we could choose from a variety of cask bitters including Sadder But Wiser, Bad Rabbit, Oarsome, The Bounder and Red Rocket Rye, all priced at £3-20 a pint. We enjoyed them at the benches and tables outside in the dappled sunlight.

Resuming, we turned right and after 20 yards turned left past Two Castle Cottage, home of a friendly dog and his friendly owner, before turning left at a wooden public footpath sign (118mins) indicating Glutton Bridge. The path led us through fields, passing a post with a yellow arrow. We stopped for lunch at the side of a wall (124mins).

Continuing our journey we exited the field by a stone step stile and followed a green public footpath sign (125mins), turning left at a lane towards Chrome Hill in the middle distance and passing through a farmyard. We turned right at a wooden public footpath sign marked Earl Sterndale (135mins). This took us uphill through a gate (137mins) and left at a wooden public footpath sign pointing towards Earl Sterndale and Hollinsclough (141mins).

After passing through a gap stile (142mins) we continued uphill, over a stone step stile (144mins) and began our descent into the village. We reached the rear of the pub (148mins) and worked our way round to the front entrance (149mins) for pints of Marstons’ bitter at £3, once again enjoyed at the tables outside.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.45am from The Rose and Crown at Allgreave, on the A54 road between Congleton and Buxton south of Macclesfield. We aim to reach The Hanging Gate near Oakenclough at 12.15pm and return to The Rose and Crown around 2.20pm.

Happy wandering !

Little Hayfield

April 8, 2015.

LITTLE HAYFIELD, PARK HALL WOODS, MIDDLE MOOR, CARR MEADOW, KNARRS FARM, KINGS CLOUGH HEAD FARM, LOWER MATLEY MOOR FARM, LITTLE MILL INN AT ROWARTH, HEXT FARM, AND THE LANTERN PIKE INN AT LITTLE HAYFIELD

Distance: 8-9 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Steve Courtney, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Alan Hart, John Jones and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (recovering from foot operation), Peter Beal (hols in Catalonia), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Lawrie Fairman (hols in Florida), Geoff Spurrell (recovering from replacementhip replacement operation).

Leader: Cunliffe. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Car park of The Lantern Pike Inn, Little Hayfield.

Starting time: 9.40am. Finishing time: 2.02pm.

Spring had well and truly sprung for this outing which took place in warm, sunny weather. This was in sharp contrast to the wet, cold and windy conditions a week ago when Colin led a walk of three wanderers on April Fools Day.

Before we started there were encouraging medical bulletins on two of our wounded comrades, Mickey and Geoff, who are making good recoveries from injuries which have rendered them hors de combat for many months.

Mickey had an operation to remove gronoids from his foot two weeks ago. The stitches have been removed enabling him to drive and he expects to be able to walk with us again later this month. Geoff suffered from an infection during his hip replacement operation last year which was finally diagnosed last month. Earlier this week he had the infected replacement replaced and is now back on the road to recovery although it may be several months before he can enjoy long walks.

They missed a great day for walking under the guidance of trainee leader Tom, who would have earned a perfect score and been a shoe-in for his leader’s badge if he hadn’t got us to the half-way pub six minutes before it opened. We must put this minor error down to lack of experience and no doubt he will receive counselling from his former metallurgy mentor, Lawrie, when the latter returns from foreign parts.

On the nature front, we also some entertaining sights, watching three crows gang up on a hunting buzzard, which appeared to have killed a grouse, and being serenaded by a robin at Pietime. We alsospotted rabbits and passed a flock of sheep where one of the ewes had just given birth to a lamb.

With the daffodils still in full bloom, there is surely no finer sight than a spring lamb – especially when served with a sprig of rosemary accompanied by new potatoes, garden peas and a portion of mint sauce.

To celebrate the warm weather two of our walkers were wearing shorts for the first time in 2015. Steve and Colin may have had cause to regret that decision as Tom led them through prickly undergrowth on Middle Moor, but a health and safety inspection revealed nothing worse than surface scratches.

From the pub we turned right and crossed the road to enter Park Hall Woods (3mins). By following the path uphill we passed through the gate to access Middle Moor (9mins) and continue the climb. When we reached the path across (21mins) we turned left towards the distinctive white shooting lodge.

Just before we reached the lodge we turned left to follow a sign for Glossop via Carr Meadow (29mins). This took us over a wooden footbridge (56mins) which brought us into Carr Meadow. We turned right with the main road visible on our left. Ahead we saw a large buzzard gliding and occasionally hovering as it looked for its prey.

This display brought out a crow which tried in vain to interfere. The crow went back for reinforcements and with two of his pals appeared to have driven the buzzard away. Later, though, we saw the buzzard fly away from the moor, dropping two grouse feathers behind as it disappeared into the distance.

When we reached a wooden stile on our left (72mins) we crossed it and went over the main road to follow the road uphill in the direction of Charlesworth. We ignored the first footpath on the left and took a second opposite a farmhouse(77mins). At a grassy bank we stopped for pies and port (79mins) as a chirpy robin, full of the joys of spring, sang to us from a telegraph wire.

Continuing we went to the right of a farmhouse and crossed a stile to follow a wooden public footpath sign (85mins). After crossing a stone step stile (89mins) we turned left downhill, went over a wooden stile and through a metal gate to reach a road (92mins).

Here we turned left, passing Kings Clough Head Farm on our right (102mins) and passing Lower Matley Moor Farm on our left (104mins) before crossing a stile to follow a footpath straight ahead. The path took us through a wooden gate and across a stream (107mins). Twenty yards beyond the stream we took a left fork and crossed the stream again by a ford (114mins).

Following a wooden stile on our left, we went through a wooden gate with the stream now on our left. We reached the end of a row of cottages and turned left at a red phone box before turning right along a path just past a stone commemorating a Sunday school for all denominations built in 1824 (117mins).

As we descended a rocky path we passed on our right a cottage which appeared to be stuck in a time warp. Outside was a rusting Fordson pick-up van.

The Fordson E83W, sold later under the Thames brand, was a 10cwt light commercial vehicle built by Fords at Dagenham between 1938-57. It was powered by an 1172cc 10hp side-valve engine with a three-speed gearbox. Reaching a top speed around 40pmh, it is not expected to feature on Top Gear, with or without Jeremy Clarkson, any time soon.

According to Wikapedia, a Fordson with a wooden back pick-up was used by the president of Uruguay, Tabare Vazquez, during his ascension parade on March 1, 2015.

At the foot of this stony track we reached the Little Mill Inn at Rowarth (122mins) at 11.54am. Our premature arrival gave us time to study the giant, and now stationary, water-wheel outside the pub. We are indebted to John for eliciting the information that the wheel has been repaired twice since it changed ownership in 2007 at a total cost of £3,000.

Its third breakdown occurred when it was running too quickly under a heavy flow of water and a spoke came loose and dislodged the wheel’s housing. They hope to repair it again at the end of summer.

When the pub opened shortly after noon, we were able to enjoy excellent pints of Banks’ bitter at £2-85 in the sun-soaked beer garden by the front door.

Resuming our walk, we turned right uphill, passing a farmhouse on our right before following a rocky path ahead (127mins). When the path swung right and levelled out we paused for lunch on another grassy bank with a pleasant view across the valley (132mins).

Continuing, we reached a T-junction where we turned left (159mins), passing Hext Farm on our left (161mins) and ignored two opportunities to turn left and head for the peak of the Lantern Pike. Instead we continued our descent until we reached a track on our left with a row of cottages (169mins).

We turned left here, observing on our right a meadow full of expectant ewes, of which one had just given birth. The path took us past the end of the Giggle Gaggle Way, which emerged from our right, and at a fork we turned right to continue downhill to apartments at the former Clough Mill (184mins). We were soon back at The Lantern Pike Inn car park to de-boot and enjoy Tom’s hospitality of generous portions of chip butties.

The Timothy Taylor Landlord was as always in pristine condition at £3-50 (Motto: reassuringly expensive; why pay less ?).

Next week’s walk will start from the car park of The Quiet Woman at Earl Sterndale, Derbyshire, at 9.55am. We intend to stop for a bracer at The Pack Horse in Crowdecote in the Upper Dove Dale Valley around 12.15pm, finishing back at The Quiet Woman at about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !

Bradwell

Bradwell, Outlands Head, Green Dale, Dirtlow Rake, Cave Dale, Cow Low, Castleton, Pin Dale,Mich Low, Bradwell.

Distance: 8.5 miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Sunshine and showers with hail and high winds

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison.

B walkers: none

Apology: Mickey Barrett (having operation to repair leg), Alan Hart (whimped out due to weather forecast 24hrs before), George Whaites (ditto, but at least waited until 8.00am)

Leader: Davison

Diarist: Davison

Star point: Car park of The Bowling Green Inn, Bradwell

Starting time: 9.55am.

Finishing time: 2.20pm.

Tom's painful blister to his right heel having healed despite the lack of get well cards our little band was boosted by fifty percent. So, the fearless free set forth to brave the Spring tempests lesser hearts quailed at.

A quick chat with the cheery landlady of the Bowling Green elicited the information that we were welcome to park in her carpark if we were planning drinking there later. However, as she was still observing winter opening hours, the inn would open at 3.00pm. She was happy with our assurance that we would return at a later date to fulfill our part of the bargain if we returned much earlier.

We set off downhill into the village and turned right at the main road then immediately right again to skirt the play ground. Weaving left and right to stay just East of Bradwell brook we came to Brook House with the stream running in a culvert beneath.

A few yards further on and just before reaching the main road again, we took the footpath on the right up steps. This leads steeply up between gardens. At the fork we bore left between houses. We crossed a road. The path continued with gardens giving way to woods.

At the next road, a dogleg right and left was necessary to continue along the path which brought us to the quarry at Outland's Head. Crossing the next road, the path then skirts the South side of the quarry until it meets a stile into a field. Here the gradient lessens and the view opens broadly to display the White Peak at it's best.

We followed the Southern edge of the field to a stile onto the track to Hartlemoor farm. Right and then left at the road brought us to the T- junction opposite the gated entrance to Moss Rake. We turned right and followed the road for 300 yards to a crossroads on the far side of which is a walk through stile into the field on the left.

We crossed this field diagonally and in doing so passed over the course of the old Roman road (Batham Gate). In the lee of the wall at the far side and next to a wicket gate we called pie time whilst Tom settled his business affairs telephonically. Once finished, he then selected a ripe apple from his store of fruit, carefully peeled it, rolled it in sheep shit and ate it.

Through the gate we followed a well defined path across Bradwell Moor and three stiles to DirtlowRake. Here we met the track that runs to Eldon Hill quarry at Hollandtwine Mine.

This is now capped and sadly impenetrable. But in your diarists youth the 400ft shaft was accessible to amateur cavers who descended it by hand winch. Those were the days before single rope technique or the compensation culture.

We turned right along Dirtlow Rake for a quarter of a mile to a point just before the track meets a tarmac road. Here a permissive path on the left took us over the ridge to Cave Dale which we crossed.

We climbed a bank to a track and a gate on our right into the field between Cow Low and Castleton.

Although the track is clearly marked on the map, it was not in evidence on the ground. We were obliged to descend steeply to the path into Castleton.There were one or two falls and Tom took the opportunity to roll around in the mud to such an extent that Peter and your diarist were ashamed to enter the Bull's Head with him.

Still, he managed to find us so we bought him a pint to celebrate finding a pub where the bitter, at £3.40 per pint, was more expensive than the Lantern Pike Inn.

Refreshed we returned to the square and turned left towards Pindale. At the Y-junction we stayed left and stopped for lunch near Pindale farm. Rising from the concrete block we had used as our seat, we realised it was the capping of a ginged mine shaft.

As it had a metal cover with a hole in it, we did what any set of schoolboys would do. Peter was despatched to find a suitable stone and Tom placed his ear close enough to hear it land, Tom being an engineer and better able to count the seconds than us arty types.

Your diarist dropped the stone. Tom pronounced the shaft bottomless.

Setting off again, the road turned sharply left but we continued straight ahead along the bridal path. We followed this for perhaps half a mile with the huge expanse of the cement works to our left surprisingly clean of dust or debris and almost silent.

Eventually we rose up to Mich Low where the bridal path met a metalled track. Here we turned left and the track brought us back to our starting point.

As the Bowling Green was closed, Tom invited us back to his own hostelry where he plied us with a delightful Sheffield ale and the biggest bowl of chef's finest chips your diarist has ever seen. The latter will not eat again until Friday.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.35am at the Lantern Pike inn, Little Hayfield. Tom will lead the Wanderers on a tour of magical mysteries. He will pause for refreshment at, and perhaps light entertainment by the witty Scots manager of the Little Mill at around 12.15pm.

Hopefully, he will then return whence he cometh by 2.45pm

Happy wandering !