Old Glossop

OLD GLOSSOP

March 9, 2016

OLD GLOSSOP, SHELF BROOK, DOCTOR'S GATE AND RETURN

Distance: 7 miles

Diffilculty: Hard

Weather: Rain, then snow, then rain again. Mist

Walkers: Peter Beal, Tom Cunliffe, Colin Davison, Graham Hadfield, John Jones, Jock Rooney and Tip,

George Whaites

Apologies: Alan Hart (visiting York), Laurie Fairman (didn't fancy it), Mark Gibby (abandoned in Poynton after cock-up), Julian Ross and Micky Barrett ( allegedy skiiing together), George Dearsley (in Turkey)

Leader: Davison​Diarist: Beal

Start point: Centre of Old Glossop

Start time: 9.50pm​Finish: 1.33pm

After last week's truncated walk, which your temporary diarist recorded was not one of the Wanderers' most glorious days, who could have thought it could get worse? But it did.

Rain, then snow, then rain again and sodden conditions underfoot, mostly in mist, forced a retreat before our objective was achieved and most of our seven-strong party arrived back at the starting point thorougly drenched.

Most mysterious was the question of how this debacle was allowed to happen. Our original plan to head for Glossop Low and down to the Longdendale Trail to Hadfield was abandoned in favour of a plan to head for the top of Bleaklow. To his credit John Jones accepts full responsibility for this foolhardy suggestion, but the rest of the party must carry some of the guilt for not realising how daft it was.

We left the car park in the centre of Old Glossop in light rain, turned right, then right again and at the bottom of the lane turned left in between two sizeable engineering factories. We soon left these behind to continue along the track on to the moors with Shelf Brook on our right.

Little in the way of direction finding was involved here, the track continuing upwards with the formidable snow-clad slopes of Shelf Moor and Bleaklow in front of us.

At a gate (36 mins) the track became more of a footpath. We ignored a path to the left leading up to Yellowslacks and carried on upwards, with the brook to our left. 

At a fork in the track we continued right and reached a new metal gate leading us further upwards (50 mins). We stayed on the west side of the brook until reaching a point where several of the Wanderers remembered that there should be a bridge. It was there no longer and a very awkward crossing of the swollen stream via rocks ensued, albeit without disaster (72 min).

Now on the east side of the stream we began a boggy climb and then a long and soggy traverse of the slope to our right. The rain had now turned to snow and was settling increasingly on the ground. We continued along the slope above the brook before slanting right along an awkward path with a second brook below us on the left.

With the snow becoming heavier we called a belated halt for pietime (110 min), still considerably below the crest of the ridge that would have taken us towards Bleaklow Head. At this point we ruminated on what our chum Alan was missing while he was presumably languishing in the warmth of Betty's Tea Rooms enjoying tea and possible a fairy cake.

We were now approaching the high point of Doctor's Gate, the line of the Roman Road linking Melandra Castle in Glossop to Brough in the Derwent Valley.

Several dubious explanations surround the origin of the name. Colin advanced two unlikely theories involving a ghostly deceased doctor who perished on a mercy mission and whose wails can still be heard across the moor, and a corruption of a Roman name.

There is also apparently a legend that a local Dr Talbot came under the power of the devil and to gain his freedom had to win a horse race against him. He lost because the Devil cheated and used black magic (well, he would).

More likely is the tale that that in 1435 the Abbott of Basingwerke leased the whole of Glossopdale to a John Talbot of Hallam for £50 a year. One of his illegitimate sons, a Dr John Talbot, was appointed vicar and was responsible for paving parts of the road. Who knows?

Here we had a discussion and decided that going on was impractical, indeed foolhardy. On a unanimous vote we turned round and retraced our steps in the snow.

Little can be said about the return journey other than at the crossing of the stream your diarist managed to go knee-deep in to the water after missing a rock. We arrived back at the starting point (220 min) and adjourned to the Queens Arms, where Speckled Hen Bitter - granted the supreme accolade of 'nice beer that' by Tom - and Wainwright, both at £3.10, were appreciated.

Pictures by Tom

Next week's walk will start at the Soldier Dick in Furness Vale at 9.35am. Our leader John Jones has said he will negotitate parking spaces there. The stop en-route will be the Old Hall at Whitehough around 12.15pm. We should arrive back at the Soldier Dick at 2.15pm.

Happy wandering!