Topley Pike

August 5, 2015.

TOPLEY PIKE, MONSAL TRAIL, WYE VALLEY, CHEE DALE, BLACKWELL HILL FARM, SPINNEYS, CHURCH INN AT CHELMORTON, TOPLEY PIKE QUARRY, WETHERSPOONS (WYE BRIDGE HOTEL) AT BUXTON

Distance: Eight miles.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry and cloudy with outbreaks of sunshine.

Walkers: Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, John Jones and George Whaites.

B walkers: Tony Job, Jock Rooney and Geoff Spurrell.

Apologies: Peter Beal (narrow-boating), George Dearsley (in Turkey).

Leader: Davison. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Unofficial lay-by on A6 next to entrance to Topley Pike Quarry.

Starting time: 10.03am. Finishing time: 2.25pm.

We start with a riddle. How can a man arrive 20 minutes early for a walk and then keep his colleagues waiting for 18 minutes ? The answer is to take only a cursory glance at the final paragraph in the diary giving the time and place of next week’s walk.

Without wishing to humiliate the culprit by naming him, this larger-than-life character arrived 20 minutes before the appointed time, then left the scene five minutes before we were due to start, believing he was in the wrong place. Ironically this is a man who frequently quotes the alternative SAS motto: Proper planning prevents piss poor performance.

The rest of us arrived in one car two minutes after he had departed. By the time we were ready to go, he was in Doveholes on the way back to Little Hayfield (oops). So we were obliged to await his return and set off at 10.03 instead of 9.45am.

The rest of the day went perfectly with the predicted rain failing to fall and the sun shining from time to time on the impressive scenery around the Wye Valley and the hills overlooking it. We also called at one of our favourite traditional village pubs before ending the day with the B walkers in one of Britain’s cheapest hostelries.

On the nature front, we saw a water vole, a heron, a wagtail, a buzzard and a large bird sunbathing on a rock in the middle of the river. It looked like a dipper but was five times larger. Could it have been a Big Dipper ? (Lawrie to advise, Ed)

From our lay-by we crossed the A6 and turned right along the Monsal Trail. We passed the cycle hire store (13mins) and crossed a wooden footbridge over the Wye. We turned right with the river on our right and proceeded along the bank through head-high vegetation. It is the first time your diarist has been stung on the ear by nettles.

We kept to the riverbank by turning right at a public bridleway sign (16mins), avoiding the first wooden bridge across the river by heading left down stone steps (19mins).  We finally crossed the Wye by a wooden footbridge (35mins) and followed a wooden public footpath sign for Millers Dale (37mins), only to re-cross the river (38mins) and continue along its left bank.

Colin, who was leading the group, perversely decided to do so from the rear – unlike the occasions when he is not leading and heads for the front. We went under towering cliffs by a series of stepping stones, climbed steeply upwards and then dropped down across a footbridge over a feeder stream until we reached a stone footbridge over the Wye (62mins).

Here we stopped for pies and port before crossing the bridge and beginning a prolonged climb up a steep hill into Chee Dale. This was, our leader pointed out, the site of a Neolithic village where artefacts such as 2,500-year-old arrowheads had been found.

We went through a gate marked with a yellow arrow (75mins) kept to the right of a field and went through a metal gate marked with a yellow arrow (82mins). Our group passed to the left of a farm(86mins), which described itself as The Farming Life Centre.

This was set up in 2005 when hill farmers from the Peak District received a DEFRA grant to convert redundant buildings at Blackwell Hall Farm into a working dairy and sheep farm. It is a registered charity run by staff, trustees and volunteers. Its aim is to promote the well-being of Peak District farmers and rural communities, and to celebrate the farming of the past, present and future.

After passing the farm buildings on our right, we passed a caravan park on our left before exiting the farm land at the end of a lane where we swung left (90mins). We then passed Crossroads farmhouse on our left before crossing a major road and following signs for Priestcliffe and Taddington.

At a wooden public footpath sign we turned right (93mins) and went through a wooden gate. We crossed the A6 (101mins) and entered Spinney copse by a stile. Keeping to the left of the trees we exited the wood into a field and headed uphill (103mins).

In the left corner of the field we crossed a stone step stile (108mins) and carried on straight uphill until we reached a stone step stile, which we crossed and turned right (111mins). This led us through a gate into a field where we went through a set of gateposts marked with a yellow arrow (115mins).

This took us through a farmyard and we went straight on at a gravel track (120mins). The track dog-legged straight on at a wooden public footpath sign marked Chelmorton (123mins). We were now heading downhill and at the end of the track it swung left into the village, where The Church Inn was on our right (132mins).

Although rain had threatened moments before, the sky cleared and we were bathed in sunshine as we sat outside drinking pints of excellent Moonshine cask bitter at £3-25. Mark bought three bowls of proper chips and despite our best efforts managed to eat some himself.

Continuing our walk we turned right downhill from the pub and right again at a wooden public footpaths sign (134mins). From here our path back was straight along a series of paths through fields which we entered and exited by a series of stiles, crossing a lane en route (145mins).

We stopped for lunch after crossing a wooden stile (156mins). As we continued there was a tricky descent down the rocky path before we levelled out and reached the right side of the quarry at Topley Pike. Here we saw some graphic illustrations to warn of the dangers of Quicksand and Electrocution before returning to our cars to de-boot (169mins).

We drove to the Wetherspoons (Wye Bridge House) in Buxton for various pints of cask bitter at prices around £2-20. The B-teamers were already in situ with their new recruit, Jock.

Next week’s walk will start from The Bowling Green pub at Bradwell, Derbyshire, at 9.50pm. It is reached by driving through Castleton and Hope until reaching the Travellers’ Rest on the left. Here you turn right towards the hamlet of Bradwell, with The Bowling Green at its heart. We intend to walk to The Bull’s Head at Castleton for a bracer around 12.15pm and finish back at The Bowling Green at about 2.40pm.

Happy wandering !