Hathersage

HATHERSAGE SWIMMING POOL, BROOKFIELD MANOR, NORTH LEES, STANAGE EDGE, STANEDGE POLE, LONG CAUSEWAY, REDMIRES RESERVOIR, BROWN EDGE, HIGH LAD RIDGE, HIGH NEB, STANAGE EDGE, HATHERSAGE AND THE OLD HALL AT HOPE

Distance: Ten miles.

Difficulty: Moderate with strenuous climb at start.

Weather: Dry with cloudy start changing to blue skies and sunshine.

Walkers: Micky Barrett, Tom Cunliffe, Mark Gibby and Alan Hart.

Apologies: Peter Beal (Greek island hols); Alastair Cairns; Colin Davison and Jock Rooney (attending funeral);George Dearsley (in Turkey); Lawrie Fairman (awaiting knee operation); Hughie Hardiman; Steve Kemp (recovering from bone marrow transplant); Chris Owen (hols) ; Julian Ross; George Whaites (hols) .

Leader: Cunliffe. Diarist: Hart.

Starting point: Outside Hathersage Swimming Pool on Oddfellows Road, Hathersage.

Starting time: 9.59am. Finishing time: 2.48pm.

It has been many years since the Wednesday Wanderers walked from Hathersage, a village in the Hope Valley. Tom, inspired by memories of his youth, volunteered to lead this walk on what for Micky and Mark was new territory.

A steady climb out of the village to Stanage Edge, passing a link with literary history en route, was rewarded with spectacular views from the summit. The panorama looked even better when we made our return journey as the sun came out and the earlier grey clouds were replaced with white fluffy ones.

It would be easy – and huge fun – to find fault with Tom’s leadership. One could mention his bewilderment as he studied the map at one stage unable to spot the landmark right next to him; his wildly optimistic estimate of the time it would take; his failure to plan for a pub visit during the walk; and that there was no licensed establishment at the finish worthy of our custom.

But that would be churlish, and we are not churls. Suffice to say that we are grateful to Tom for reminding us of the beautiful landscape not far from our doorsteps.

From our cars parked free in Oddfellows Road, we walked through the Pay and Display car park and turned right along a passage marked Toilets which brought us to the main road (2mins). We crossed to the right of the public toilets and headed right before turning immediately left up a cobbled street which became Besom Lane.

At the end of the lane we turned left uphill along a lane which petered out and became a stony track. We went through two gates marked with yellow arrows (14 and 22mins). We reached Birley Lane (26mins) and turned right passing Bronte Cottage on our left. The significance of the name of the renowned authoress was to be revealed soon afterwards as we turned left at a wooden public footpath sign (29mins) and headed up a steep lane.

At the top of this lane on the left lies North Lees Hall, designed and built by Robert Smythson in the 16^th Century with a distinctive battlemented facade. It is almost certain this building inspired celebrated authoress Charlotte Bronte as the model for Thornfield Hall, home of Mr Rochester in “Jane Eyre.”

Charlotte, born in Bradford but raised in the Yorkshire village of Haworth, was a clergyman’s daughter and she stayed with her friend Ellen Nussey, daughter of the vicar of Hathersage. They both  visited North Lees Hall, which bears a striking resemblance to fictional Thornfield Hall, where Mr Rochester’s mad wife Bertha lived in a padded cell in the attic. This account is said by  folklore to copy the true story of a local mad woman who died while locked in a blazing attic.

Charlotte Bronte’s life (1816-55) was also marred by tragedy. In eight-months at the end of 1848 and beginning of 1849, her brother Branwell and her novelist sisters Emily and Anne all died from tuberculosis. Charlotte married a clergyman in 1854 and soon became pregnant but died from TB or typhus before the child was born.

We continued along a gravel track and turned right at a standing stone marked with a yellow arrow (38mins). A wooden gate led us into a wood (41mins) where we followed the path to reach a lane and turned left (46mins). Just before reaching the public toilets on the left we turned right (47mins) at a public footpath and headed uphill through bracken.

`Taking a right fork where the paths divided (48mins) we entered another wood and continued with a steep final ascent to reach Stanage Edge (62mins) and stopped for pies and port while we admired the view across the valley below us, marred only by the sight of Hope Cement Works in the mid-distance.

Continuing we turned left along the edge with the cliff on our left. After crossing a wooden stile (72mins) we turned immediately right away from the edge along a stone-flagged path. We reached a lane (73mins) and swung right. This path brought us to Stanedge Pole, marking the border of Derbyshire and Yorkshire. We entered the latter county and continued until we reached a road at what was once Redmires Reservoir (98mins). It appears to have been drained and is now more of a puddle than a lake.

We turned left and went left again (106mins) at a green public footpath sign. Heading uphill we crossed a wooden stile (112mins) and a bridge over a stream before turning left over another wooden stile (126mins). The path brought us to a derelict cottage where we turned left before a large pond (142mins)

After using stepping stones to cross a stream (146mins) we climbed uphill, passing grouse butts until we reached a copse full of evergreens behind a broken square wall (157mins). After much deliberation and persuasion Tom accepted this was the plantation marked on his map and we followed a well-trodden path by the side of a broken drystone wall.

After a long trek across moorland using the wall as our guide we reached a stone building (188mins) on our right known locally as “the bus shelter.” Here we stopped for lunch. When we resumed we were only a few yards from Stanage Edge (189mins) and we turned left with the drop now on our right. At a path leading to a rocky outcrop we turned right (197mins) and dropped down to a lower section of the ridge. This brought us back to the crevice (204mins) which had earlier brought us on to Stanage Edge.

From here we retraced our footstepsdownwards, passing North Lees Hall and then Hathersage Cricket Club on our right (250mins). We reached the main road in Hathersage (252mins) and turned right, reaching the George Hotel (254mins) only to find it was ...an hotel. Tom said we would go to the Little John pub instead but that was closed. So we returned to our cars (262mins to de-boot and drive to The Old Hall at Hope.

Here, in the sunny beer garden, we enjoyed pints of Dizzy Blonde and Wainwrights’ cask bitter for £3-55.


Pictures by Tom

Next week’s walk has been organised by Chris and will start at 10am from Wetherspoons on the 1^st floor of Piccadilly Railway Station, Manchester. It involves calling at some of the city’s historic pubs and what we have been promised is a hidden gem of a curry house. There is much flexibility in the itinerary and individuals might vary the route according to their return train times.

Happy wandering !