Little Hayfield

July 13, 2016.

LITTLE HAYFIELD, PARK HALL WOODS, MIDDLE MOOR, CARR MEADOW, KINGS CLOUGH FARM, GROVE HOUSE, LITTLE MILL INN AT ROWARTH, MATLEY MOOR, PENNINE BRIDLEWAY NATURE TRAIL, LANTERN PIKE TRIG POINT, HIGHER CLIFF FARM, PRIMROSE VALE COTTAGES, CLOUGH MILL APARTMENTS, SLACK LANE AND THE LANTERN PIKE INN AT LITTLE HAYFIELD

Distance: 9 miles.

Difficulty: Easy.

Weather: Mainly dry and cloudy with occasional drizzle, sometimes heavy.

Walkers: Tom Cunliffe, Lawrie Fairman, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, Julian Ross and George Whaites.

Apologies: Mickey Barrett (domestic duties), Peter Beal (narrow-boating), Colin Davison (circumnavigating Great Britain and Northern Ireland), George Dearsley (in Turkey).

Leaders: Fairman, Cunliffe and Fairman. Diarist: Hart.

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

Starting time: 9.31am. Finishing time: 2.27pm.

It is hard to believe that the landlord of The Lantern Pike Inn could get lost between the Trig Point on the hill which gives his hostelry its name and the pub itself. During the annual Lantern Pike Dash, when fell runners charge up from the field by the side of the inn, they manage to reach the Trig Point and return to the start in less than 11 minutes.

Yet from the summit overlooking the pub, it took us 46 minutes to reach it – a downhill journey completed by the fell runners in just 4 minutes ! Suffice to say Tom’s hopes of earning his leader’s badge have received a setback. (Although he is still ahead of your diarist, who cannot reapply before 2020)

Weather forecasts promised us a dry day, but after 40 minutes we found ourselves marching through steady drizzle. As you can imagine there was a great deal of sympathy for Tom, who had set off in trousers and a short sleeved shirt with no waterproofs.

When a second, heavier shower fell after an hour, your diarist was obliged to don his legendary magic waterproof pants with immediate effect. There was no further rain.

From the pub car park we turned right at the main road towards Hayfield for 100 yards, then turned left into Park Hall Woods (1min). The path brought us through a gate on the right to Middle Moor (9mins), where we turned left and crossed a stream using stepping stones.

Our path was gradually uphill until we crossed a wooden footbridge (39mins), on the far side of which was a memorial to Thomas Boulger, who served the Peak District and Northern Counties Footpath Preservation Society from 1921-63. The first light drizzle began to fall.

We were now in Carr Meadow and continued along the well-trodden path with the road linking Hayfield and Glossop on our left. We reached a wooden stile by a wooden public footpath sign on our left, crossed it and the road, and followed the sign towards Charlesworth (57mins).

We turned left up a gravel track just before a farm on our right (63mins). This took us through a metal gate (64mins) leading to a farm (69mins). We turned right at a path just before the farm, and crossed a stone step stile to take a path with the farmhouse on our left. Lawrie declared Pietime (74mins) on a grassy bank, where we paused for snacks and port.

Resuming, we crossed a stone step stile (76mins) and followed the path to a lane where we turned left (79mins). The drizzle had now turned to steady rain, so your diarist stopped to put on his waterproof pants, which had the desired effect of scaring the raid away.

We followed the road, passing Kings Clough Farm on our right (88mins). When we passed Grove House on our right shortly afterwards, the road swung left but we carried straight on through a gate leading to a rocky path (93mins).

Our group forded a river (95mins) and turned left at a wooden post with a yellow arrow, which brought us to a wooden stile (100mins). We crossed this and a swollen stream by a wooden footbridge and then forded the stream at a low point (104mins). A few yards beyond the ford we went left over a wooden stile marked with a yellow arrow.

We went through a wooden gate (107mins) and emerged at a road by the side of a red phone box. We turned left and immediately right along a public bridleway (109mins). This path took us down to a road where we saw The Little Mill Inn at Rowarth on our left (114mins). Although the door was open at 11.35am, no lights were on inside and there was no sign of life apart from the pub cat, which came to join us in a spirit of welcome – only to be rebuffed by both Mark and Julian.

Landlord Paul Jones then switched on the lights and opened his bar, where pints of Banks’ Amber cask bitter at £2-95 were hailed as being in top form. We then presented Paul with his certificate to show he had earned the Wednesday Wanderers’ seal of approval.

After further refreshment we left the pub and turned right uphill. In a rare spirit of adventure, Lawrie led us to the left at a fork in the road (120mins) “to see where it might lead us.” It took us to a blind alley called Long Lee Farm, so we were obliged to retrace our footsteps and turn left (127mins) along our normal route. (It is to be hoped this setback does not rule out further expeditions to explore pastures new)

We climbed the rocky path to the top of the hill and where it levelled out we paused for lunch (132mins), with Lawrie adding to his diet by picking some bilberries nearby. Resuming, we turned sharp left (142mins) at a wooden public footpath sign. This brought us to a wooden five-barred gate (146mins) which we went through and turned immediately right uphill.

By now Tom had taken over as leader to negotiate our route over Mapley Moor. We reached a wooden gate on our right (155mins) which was marked as a Pennine Bridleway National Trail. This soon brought us to the green sign for the Lantern Pike Hill (156min) and a photo opportunity. There was a change of models until a passing dog walker was persuaded to capture the entire group – or at least the ones who hadn’t lost the will to live by this point.

We carried on uphill past the sign (159mins) and reached the Trig Point (166mins) which gave us a commanding panoramic view of the area. Among the highlights, in your diarist’s opinion, was the Lantern Pike pub directly below us. Permission to take the direct route was denied by our new leader, who ushered us past the Trig Point on our left to continue in the same direction in which we had reached it.

At a path on the left we turned more sharply downhill (174mins) to reach a track (176mins). Instead of heading left in the direction of the pub we went right through a five-barred wooden gate to reach Higher Cliff Farm on our left (184mins). A footpath sign pointed towards it but Tom wanted to aim further right towards Birch Vale.

At this point Lawrie resumed control, leading us over a cattlegrid towards the farm and then following a footpath to the right of it. We crossed a wooden stile on our left so we now had a drystone wall on our right (190mins). We crossed another wooden stile (191mins) and went through a wooden gate marked with a yellow arrow (199mins).

At a T-junction of paths, we turned right and sharp left to pass Primrose Vale cottages on our left (200mins). As we approached the Clough Mill apartments, we swung right away from the former mill and headed up Slack Lane (204mins). In a field on our right was Little Hayfield’s contribution to the well dressing tradition, with a white winter hare representing one season and a row of swallows the other (208mins)

We continued to the main road (210mins), turned left and reached The Lantern Pike car park to de-boot (211mins).

Inside we enjoyed pints of Tom’s award-winning Timothy Taylor Landlord bitter at £3-50, and a generous supply of delicious chip butties.

Next week’s walk will start at 9.50am from the lay-by next to the entrance to a quarry at Topley Pike, on the A6 road out of Buxton opposite the road leading to the Monsal Trail car park. We anticipate reaching The Church Inn at Chelmorton around 12.15pm for a bracer or two before returning to our cars to de-boot and drive to the Wye Valley Hotel Wetherspoons in Buxton for further refreshment at about 2.30pm.

Happy wandering !