Little Hayfield

June 24, 2015.

Out - Lantern Pike Inn, Middle Moor, Leygatehead Moor, Mill Hill, Snake Path (Ashop Head,Ashop Clough, Rough Bank),Snake Pass Inn,

Return – Snake Path, Mill Hill, Leygatehead Moor, Burnt Hill, A624, Lantern Pike Inn

Distance: 13 miles.

Difficulty:  Moderate going but very long.

Weather: Bright sunshine and warm.

Walkers: Colin Davison, George Whaites, Tom Cunliffe, Steve Courtney, Mark Gibby

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), George Dearsley (emigrated to Turkey), Lawrie Fairman(lecturing on the high seas), Alan Hart (dossing in Scotland), Julian Ross (a lame dental appointment) and Mike Barratt (another holiday).

Leader: Cunliffe. Diarist: Cunliffe.

Starting point: Lantern Pike Inn

Starting time: 9.30am. Finishing time: 3.45pm.

After previous absences your diarist extended a hearty welcome to the other four WW for the day - George (after 6 weeks absence, holidays etc), Mark (after a couple of weeks a, family stuff) and Steve (after three weeks of wo*k#^g) and Colin (after 2 weeks of family stuff).

Sadly, Mr Hart’s buzz word of three weeks ago : dromomania still applied this week as your diaristand companions didn’t so much as get lost but managed to wander off-piste and extend the walk by an unwelcome mile or so ……. But more of this excitement later on

With the sun  beating down on us and the weather set fair for the day we set off from the Lantern Pike at 9:30am, some 20 minutes earlier than we normally do from this start point due to the length of thiseagerly anticipated walk. I believe this to be the first time the WW have done this walk, I stand to becorrected of course by one of our senior members if this is not the case.

We walked up Glossop Road (south) and turned left into the Park Hall Estate turning right through a 5 bar gate after some 500 metres. As we entered Middle Moor we deviated from our normal route by turning left and headed up hill on to Leygatehead Moor along a well-worn Land Rover track in a straight line passing numerous grouse butts and soggy groughs until we reached the cairn at Mill Hill. This new route up to Mill Hill is much easier than the normal tortuous, punishing climb known as William Clough

We five reached the cairn at 10:30am and declared an early pie time. At this point Messrs Whaites(feeling the pace after a long absence) and Davison (because he’s a wuss) swerved off left along Burnt Hill and back to the Pike for an ‘early bath’ …. So to speak.

The remaining intrepid threesome continued along the planned route – picking up Snake Path we passed along the length of Ashop Clough for around 4½  miles being treated some fantastic views down the clough towards Snake Pass Inn and of the northern boundary of Kinder with its varied outcrops of grit stone and fauna.

As we left Rough Bank we entered a pine forest(ish), as we hurried on our way for our much deserved refreshment we took in the wonderful bouquet as only a pine forest can give. We climbed out of the forest on to the A57, known colloquially as The Snake Pass, turning right we gratefully reached the Snake Pass Inn at 12:20pm, where we quaffed pints of Abbeydale Moonshine at £3.30 whilst relaxing in the bright sunshine.

Snake Pass is a hill pass in the Derbyshire section of the Peak District, crossing the Pennines between Glossop and the Ladybower Reservoir at Ashopton. The road was engineered by Thomas Telford and opened in 1821. The pass carries the A57 road between Manchester and Sheffield, but it is no longer the main signposted route between those two cities.

Like several other roads that cross the Pennines, Snake Pass has a poor accident record compared with roads in the UK generally, although more favourable compared with other roads in the area. It is regularly closed in winter because of snow, and has seen several longer-term closures owing to subsidence following heavy rain..

The name of the road matches its winding route, but actually derives from the emblem of the Snake Inn, one of the few buildings on the high stretch of road. In turn, the pub's name and sign were derived from the serpent on the Cavendish arms of William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire. In the early 21st century, the inn was renamed the Snake Pass Inn, such that the inn now refers to the road that referred to itself.

Reluctantly leaving the pub behind at 1:10, we crossed the road and retraced our steps along AshopClough back to Mill Hill where we took lunch.  

We left the Mill Hill cairn and proceeded down the slopes of Leygatehead Moor, as we headed towards The Knott  we found ourselves going down the northern side instead of the southern side, I felt my Leaders Badge (provisional) slipping away with visions of the WW elders peering  over my shoulder shaking their aged noggins. All wasn’t lost as we picked up the paved path along Burnt Hillemerging on the A624 close to the former pub, the Grouse. Turning left, we took our lives in our hands as we walked the final 2 miles along the narrowest but busiest road in Derbyshire, I counted them out and counted them in – we lost nobody!

Please find attached on the email an OS map showing route.

Arriving back at the Lantern Pike at 3:45 we had a final drink of Cider, most welcome at this stage!!  

Addendum from Colin I was pleased to receive your report for June 24 that I might add an addendum from George and myself. Approaching the summit of Mill Hill, a little over 2 1/2 miles from Little Hayfield, sage minds came together and calculated the sum of miles proposed by our intrepid leader. Assuming a direct path out and return suggested in excess of 14 miles. Now George and I like a joke with the rest of the Wanderers, but... We hatched our plan. After parting from the main party (hereinafter referred to as the Young Tigers) immediately after pietime on the summit of Mill Hill, George and I made our way Westwards along the paved path over Burnt Hill to the Glossop Road. Here we crossed directly to take the Monks Road to Near Plainsteads. After a pleasant chat with the owner of the allotment on the left whom we found relaxing in his deck chair, we turned second left along the track to Knarrs. Taking the first left fork, we passed a copse on our left and followed the wall on our left to a lane. Turning left for 100yds or so, at Lanehead farm, we climbed the first styal on our right and followed the fence South then across 2 fields to Blackshaw farm. We turned left down the farm lane until we reached a footpaths sign where we turned right towards How Meadow. This path leads through Hey Wood to meet the familiar path where we went left and which brought us down to the mill at Little Hayfield. A warm greeting from Stella and pints of bitter shandy at £3.50 in the beer garden completed our day at 1.30pm We had walked 6 1/2 miles In the event, the Young Tigers appear to have scoffed at the notion of a direct return and added a mile or two on for good measure. Our hats are taken off to Mark, Steve and Tom for their Stirling efforts. Colin

The weather for next week’s walk is forecast as ‘bloody sweltering’  so a less demanding walk is probably a good idea. The walk will start from grass verge in the village of Alport, near Youlgreave at 10:00am. We will take our mid walk refreshment at the Red Lion in the village of Birchover at 12:00.It is anticipated the walkers will return to their vehicles at 2:00pm, deboot then make their way along the road to The George at Youlegreave.

We last did this walk on 21st May 2014, click on the link for a sneak previewhttp://www.wwanderers.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/alport.html Happy wandering !

Whaley Bridge

June 17, 2015.

WHALEY BRIDGE, CROMFORD AND HIGH PEAK RAILWAY LINE (DISUSED), GOYT VALLEY, TAXAL, HILLBRIDGE WOOD, KNIPE FARM, FERNILEE RESERVOIR, THE SHADY OAK AT FERNILEE, SHALL CROSS, SHALLCROSS INCLINE GREENWAY, THE COCK AT WHALEY BRIDGE

Distance: 7 miles.

Difficulty:  Easy.

Weather: Light drizzle turning to steady rain.

Walkers: Chris Corps with Fergus and Finola, Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney with Tips, and Julian Ross.

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), Colin Davison (touring Ireland), George Dearsley (in Turkey) and George Whaites (at Cheshire Show).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road outside The Cock at Whaley Bridge.

Starting time: 9.38am. Finishing time: 1.31pm.

The second coming of Mickey Barrett failed to materialise, even though we waited a full three minutes for him to appear. Perhaps, we speculated, he was still smarting from his abandonment the week before when he returned after an absence of more than a year. A call to his mobile phone failed to explain his non-arrival.

However, as one door closes another one opens and after a prolonged absence we welcomed Chris Corps back to the Wednesday Wanderers’ fold, along with two of his four dachshunds. Another rover returning was Julian, who, like Chris, has been busy w*^king.

Sadly the weather disappointed as a light drizzle which began soon after our start became steadily heavier and turned into incessant rain for the main part of our journey. A zip malfunction on your diarist’s waterproof trousers deprived them of their magic powers so we got a good soaking and opted for an early finish.

We passed The Cock on our left and 20 yards beyond it turned left at a yellow arrow which pointed us uphill across a stream. This brought us to the former track of the Cromford and High Peak Railway Line, where we turned right. The site of the line’s former goods yard is now a retirement home called Cromford Court which we passed on our left.

Just before the start of the Shallcross Incline Greenway (10mins) we turned right at a wooden public footpath sign which led us through a children’s playground and down Mevril road back to the main road. We crossed this (14mins) as the first drizzle began and followed a gravel track until we reached a wooden footbridge across the River Goyt (21mins).

On the far bank we started a sharp climb up to St James Church at Taxal on our right (24mins). We turned left and ignored the wooden stile on our right which would have led us up to Taxal Nick and Windgather Rocks. Instead we continued straight ahead, went through a gate and turned diagonally left  at a wooden public footpath sign (31mins) to cross a field. This brought us to Hillbridge Wood (37mins) which we entered and followed a path downhill.

After leaving the wood we turned right over a wooden stile (44mins), following a wooden public footpath sign for Knipe. This brought us along a path protected by electrified fencing to Knipe Farm on our right. We went through a gate and up to a farm track where we turned left downhill (52mins).

This emerged at Fernilee Reservoir (61mins), where we turned right keeping the reservoir on our left.

Ferniless Reservoir was the first of two built in the Goyt Valley, the other being Errwood Reservoir, which lies next to it separated by a dam. It was built by Stockport Water Corporation for £480,000 and finished in 1938. It is owned and operated by United Utilities and holds up to 4,940 million litres of water.

We turned left via a gate into woods (62mins), slowly rising above the lake but still on its right bank. We crossed a wooden footbridge (72mins) and stopped at a wall for pies and port (83mins). Resuming we walked back down to the lakeside and turned right (74mins). We walked through a gate on our leftand followed a signpost for Bunsal (79mins). This took us to the far side of the reservoir where we turned left.

We were now walking with Fernilee Reservoir on our left. At the end of it we turned right (105mins) and reached the main road (110mins). We turned left and reached The Shady Oak (118mins) two minutes before opening time. Ere long the cheery sound of bolts being drawn back were heard and the pub’s doors opened promptly at noon.

The Ringwood cask bitter at £3-45 was deemed to be in good fettle.

Continuing after refreshment, we turned right out of the pub and immediately right uphill. This brought us to Elnor Lane (121mins) where we turned left. This took us past Shall Cross on our right (129mins) before we ignored Shallcross Avenue on our left, turning instead at the next left into Shallcross Road (132mins).

At the end on the right (133mins) we turned on to Shallcross Greenway Incline, which brought us back to Cromford Court. We then retraced our footsteps back to the cars (149mins) where some of us had a swift lunch followed by a swift pint of Robbies’ Unicorn for £2-90 at The Cock.

Next week’s walk will start from The Lantern Pike Inn at Little Hayfield at 9.30am with the aim of reaching The Snake Inn on the A57 at the foot of Lady Clough Tor at 12 noon. It is anticipated the walkers will return to the Lantern Pike around 2.45pm.

Happy wandering !

Taddington

June 10, 2015.

TADDINGTON, ROCK LODGE FARM, LYDGATE FARM, MILLERS DALE, CHEE DALE, WYE VALLEY, MONSAL TRAIL, FLATT FARM, CHURCH INN AT CHELMORTON, THE QUEENS ARMS AT TADDINGTON

Distance: 10 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Warm and sunny with fluffy white clouds.

Walkers: Mickey Barrett, Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman, Alan Hart, Jock Rooney and Tips.

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), Colin Davison, George Whaites (hols).

Leader: Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Road outside The Queens Arms at Taddington, Derbyshire.

Starting time: 9.54am. Finishing time: 2.25pm.

After more than a year out through injury, Mickey returned for this beautiful walk around the Wye Valley. Any thoughts of a joyful reunion were dashed however when he was abandoned, along with your diarist, at the half way stage.

Friendless, mapless and clueless we were given the slip by our so-called comrades while we visited the gents’ toilets prior to our departure from that magnificent country pub, The Church Inn at Chelmorton. On emerging from the hostelry’s ablutions we found no sign of the treacherous trio. An attempt to call them by mobile phone failed because of a lack of signal.

We had two choices: to head back uphill and left in the direction from which we had approached the pub, or go downhill and right in the hope that those with maps might be ahead of us. We gambled on the latter course and lost.

Fortunately Mickey and I are not bitter men: nor do we lack resourcefulness in the face of adversity. But the bastards who left us behind weren’t to know that.

From The Queens Arms we walked downhill and took a wrong turning into Church Farm Lane (3mins) before returning (10mins) and continuing along the road out of Taddington. We turned right into Horse Mill Lane (17mins) and crossed the A6 (18mins) to follow the track opposite. This took us past Rock Lodge Farm, the White Cottage and School House Farm, all on our right, and then Lydgate Farm on our left.

We turned left at a wooden public footpath sign over a broken stile (41mins), exiting the field by a wooden stile (45mins) and turning left. This brought us to a T junction where we turned right (46mins). When we reached a road (51mins) we went right downhill into Millers Dale and turned left over a bridge (56mins).

After starting to follow the wooden public footpath sign for Chee Dale (57mins) we stopped by a footbridge (71mins) for pies and port. We ignored the footbridge over the Wye and continued along its right bank. At one point the route became a boardwalk and later stepping stones until we reached a wooden footbridge (97mins) and crossed it.

On the far side we followed a sign for Monsal Trail and Blackwell Mill. A flight of steps brought us on to Monsal Trail, the former railway line linking Buxton with Bakewell. We walked through Chee Tor No 2 Tunnel (100mins) and Rusher Cutting Tunnel (107mins) emerging to climb up steps on our left and cross a stone step stile (116mins) into Chee Dale Nature Reserve.

A climb brought us to the A6 (125mins) where we turned left and reached the A515 for Chelmorton on our right (129mins). After passing Flatt Farm on our right (142mins) we reached a sharp bend and followed a wooden public footpath sign on our left(145mins). As we walked through the field, Mickey was “adopted” by a cow, which followed him rather like Mary’s little lamb.

This touching relationship ended when we went through a six-barred wooden gate, leaving the desolate, love-struck cow behind. The footpath emerged on the left of the Church Inn (157mins), where excellent pints of Marstons’ Pedigree, Southwold and Moonshine were available at prices ranging from £3-30 to £3-45.

After a couple of pints each in the beer garden, Mickey and I headed for the gents, leaving our rucksacks by the table. When we returned the rucksacks were there but our companions were not. We later learned they had turned left and presumed we would follow them. Sadly our psychic powers failed to rise to the occasion.

As we made our way back to the A6 and reached it three kilometres from Taddington, Lawrie stopped and gave us a lift back to our cars.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.35am from the road beside The Cock at Whaley Bridge, calling at The Shady Oak in Fernilee around 12.15pm, aiming for a 2.15pm finish back at The Cock.

Happy wandering !

Little Hayfield

June 3, 2015

LITTLE HAYFIELD, PARK HALL, THE KNOT, MILL HILL, CHUNAL, KNARRS FARM, THE LITTLE MILL AT ROWARTH, LANESIDE FARM, THE LANTERN PIKE AT LITTLE HAYFIELD

Distance: 9 miles

Difficulty: Moderate

Weather: Sunny, with cold wind on tops

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Laurie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Julian Ross

Apologies:  Colin Davison (unspecified activities), George Dearsley (in Turkey), Alan Hart (funeral), George Whaites (Alaskan cruise)

Leader: Beal​​Diarist: Beal

Starting point: Lantern Pike Inn at Little Hayfield

Starting time: 9.35am​Finishing time: 2.23pm

A national spelling competition for kids last week included the word 'dromomania'. This apparently is an uncontrollable psychological urge to wander. People with this condition spontaneously depart from their routine, travel long distances and take up different identities and occupations. Months may pass before they return to their normal lives.

Our five-strong Wednesday dromomaniacs this week enjoyed glorious sunshine on a little-visited route over the moors to Mill Hill from Little Hayfield, albeit with a biting cold wind on the near-2,000-ft high part of the route.

We were also pleased to welcome virgin dromomaniac Mark Gibby, who hopefully was not too appalled by our behaviour and will join us again.

We left the Lantern Pike in Little Hayfield on the dot of 9.35am and shortly after taking the main road to Hayfield, turned left over the road on to the track leading in to the wooded Park Hall estate.

Park Hall was the retirement home of 18th century entrepreneur Joseph Hague, who while not actually stooping to making money from the slave trade directly, apparently acquired vast wealth by selling off-cuts for them to use as loincloths.

A gate at the top of the estate brought us out on to the expanse of Middle Moor (9 min), where a sign told us that a project to rid the moor of rampant rhododendrons was still under way, although most of them seem to have been eradicated.

We eschewed the normal route ahead of us through the heather and turned left along the side of the clough and stream leading up the moor.

The path brought us out on the track that links the shooting box on Middle Moor to Carr Meadow (30 min). Here we carried straight on, on a faint Land Rover track through the heather that climbed steadily to bring us to the first of a line of shooting butts with the hill of The Knot just above us to the left. Here Tom spotted a mountain hare skipping away across the heather as skylarks chirruped overhead.

The path continued upwards through the heather, passing other well-concealed and numbered shooting butts, some with spent shotgun cartridges still lying in them, until we reached the last (no. 10). Here we cut right across the top of a peat grough to join another path coming from the right from the shooting box below (50 min).

An easy walk across rising squelchy ground brought us to the top of 1,761 ft Mill Hill (70 min), topped by a cairn. A six-foot pole previously mounted among the rocks had mysteriously vanished.

We did not linger in the cold wind but turned left along a stone-flagged path that would eventually bring us to the Hayfield-Glossop road at Chunal. Shortly afterwards we took advantage of the little shelter there was to declare pie-time at a depression in the peat (87 min).

This was the location of one of the many air-crash sites dotted around the High Peak, most of them from World War 11 or shortly afterwards. Here wreckage from a US Air Force Liberator strews the ground over a wide area. The aircraft was on a routine flight from the massive USAF base at Burtonwood near Warrington to Norfolk in 1944 when it is recorded that it should have been flying at 2,800 feet.

Apparently the flight engineer, a Staff Sergeant Jerome Najver, glanced out of the window to see the moor 150 feet below him in the cloud. He wrested the controls from pilot 2nd Lt Creighton Houpt (you couldn't make these names up could you?), but to no avail. The plane ploughed through the heather and disintegrated.

Both men survived, made their way to Chunal, and were picked up by a lorry driver who took them to the nearest pub.

The most severe injury was a broken jaw suffered by the unfortunate Creighton - reputedly inflicted by his mate Jerome for being such a lousy pilot. Apparently the plane had only managed to take off from Burtonwood on the third attempt in high winds, demolishing several runway lights on the way.

Leaving the evidence of the hapless Crieghton's incompetence behind us we continued rapidly down the flagged way towards the faint rise of Burnt Hill. Cresting this we dropped down easy ground to a stile accessing the main Hayfield-Glossop road at Chunal(110 min).

Laurie here spotted a golden plover above us, apparently an endangered species in this part of the world, although more common on our coastlines.

We crossed the road and took the Monk's Road immediately opposite. We took a brief diversion left on a short track to see a concealed stone with a sign declaring it 'Abbot's Chair', presumably a reference to the ecclesiastical route nearby, but more probabaly merely a boundary stone.

Very shortly after we turned left up a track which brought us to Knarrs Farm (132 min). Veering right in front of the house we crossed stile in to a field, bore left and continued down to another stile until reaching a stile and gate bringing us to a metalled road (147 min).

Here we turned immediately left through a metal gate to take track down over the moor, reaching another gate, where we turned right down a track to rejoin the same road. We turned right, past Kings Clough Head Farm, and arrived at the bottom of the metalled road, where we went through a gate and down a track to a brook (160 min).

Fording this, we continued left over a stile and through a meadow, bringing us to a small bridge, over which we turned right to bring us to a concrete track. We turned right over a ford, then immediately left over a stile on to a path bringing us out in the village of Rowarth.

Turning left, then immediately right down a narrow path brought us out at 12.28pm (170 min) to the welcoming Little Mill Inn, where the excellent Robinson's Wizard Amber Ale was on at £2-80 a pint. Bank's Bitter was the same price.

We turned right out of the pub and continued up the road to the converted Laneside Farm (185 min), taking the track to the right, climbing steadily over slanted rocks, until the track levelled out and we stopped for lunch (195 min).

We carried on to a junction of tracks, where we turned left before reaching a gate. Turning right, we headed along the ridge leading towards Lantern Pike before descending left to a stile (235 min).

We followed the narrow path down through the heather before emerging at a stile,where we turned left over another stile, bringing us down to the stream below the Clough Mill apartments, where we turned left up the lane to the Lantern Pike Inn.

Here we were greeted by the mysteriously absent walker Colin and he and your diarist were treated to a helping of landlord Tom's excellent chips and pints of Timothy Taylor's Landlord Bitter.

Next week's walk will start at 9.50am at the Queen's Arms in Taddington, with a refreshment stop at Monsal Head, before returning to Taddington at 2.15pm.