April 14, 2021.
BUGSWORTH BASIN, WHITEHOUGH, PEAK FOREST TRAMWAY, CHAPEL MILTON, SHIREOAKS, SOUTH HEAD, THE LAMB AT CHINLEY HEAD, MONK'S MEADOWS, CHINLEY CHURN, COTEBANK, BRIERLEY GREEN AND THE NAVIGATION AT BUGSWORTH
Distance: 9-10 miles
Difficulty: Moderately strenuous.
Weather: Dry with blue skies, cloud and sunshine.
Walkers: Alastair Cairns with (Jack Russell) Daisy, Tom Cunliffe with (toy poodle) Daisy, Mark Gibby, Alan Hart, John Jones, Dean Taylor, George Whaites, Dave Willetts.
Apologies: Mickey Barrett, Peter Beal, Andy Blease, George Dearsley, Hughie Hardiman, Chris Owen, Jock Rooney, Julian Ross.
Leader: Jones. Diarist: Hart.
Starting point: Outside The Navigation at Bugsworth Basin, near Chinley, Derbyshire.
Starting time: 9.43am. Finishing time: 2.53pm.
This walk was a repetition of the first hike of the Wednesday Wanderers post lockdown in April. If it has a familiar ring to it that could be because your diarist has copied sections of the previous report ! Some of us did not climb all the peaks involved but this is a description of the route of those who did
On this occasion we were delighted to welcome back to our ranks Alastair's dog Daisy after a lengthy absence. The old girl might be past the first flush of youth at 13, but she proved that, like her master, there is still plenty of life in her yet.
From the car park we passed the pub on our left and took a path on the right bank of Black Brook which took us past the Stephanie Works (16mins) and across two roads as we joined the Peak Forest Tramway (22mins). We reached the main A624 road to Glossop and turned left towards Chapel Milton (36mins)
At a public footpath sign on our right we turned right, passing CJK Packaging (39mins) to follow the path which led under a double railway viaduct (45mins) to reach a road (47mins). Here we dog-legged first left then right to head through a walled passage.
This led to a lane where again we dog-legged left and right, passing Oak House on our right. We turned left through a wooden gate at The Cottage (50mins) and crossed a field to go through another gate and turn left uphill. At a T-junction we dog-legged left and right for the third time in less than an hour to follow a road over a railway bridge (53mins)
After passing Breck Corner on our right we then swung right and left as the path headed towards a farmyard (58mins). We took a path to the left of the farmhouse, going through two gates to exit and head uphill. After a long climb we went through a metal gate, reached The Pennine Bridleway and stopped for Pietime (86mins) accompanied by port.
Resuming we turned left along the bridleway. When we drew level with South Head on our left we turned left (107mins) to head steeply for the summit (111mins)
Pausing for breath we looked back across the valley to Kinder Low, Edale Rocks, Swinesback, Pym Chair and Crowden Tower before starting our descent down the opposite side (117mins). After going through a metal gate we headed left over a stone step stile (126mins) and went diagonally right (133mins) to go through a gap in a broken drystone wall (135mins)
After walking through a wooden gate (137mins) we headed further downhill to cross a wooden stile and reach the A624. We turned right towards Hayfield and after 30 yards turned right at the entrance to The Lamb Inn (144mins) where we enjoyed pints of cask bitter for £3-70. Tom preferred a pot of tea.
This took us across a stone and wood stile where we stopped for lunch (159mins). In the adjacent field we had already been approached by a llama who was clearly used to posing for photographs. A small family of cows and calves took exception to the presence of the two dogs until Tom dismissed them with a wave of his pole and some Anglo Saxon vocabulary.
Continuing our journey we followed a path on the left of a drystone wall then headed left up a steep hill to reach a lane through a wooden gate (167mins). We turned right for 50 yards then headed left at a wooden public footpath sign (168mins). After a steep climb we crossed a stone step stile (174mins) and turned right uphill.
As we walked in the direction of the summit of Cracken Edge we turned left off the track to reach another footpath over a broken drystone wall on Chinley Churn. Here we turned left (185mins). After crossing a wooden stile (190mins) we passed a wooden public footpath sign 50 yards before a wooden gate on our right led us to a farm track (198mins). We turned left and reached a lane (204mins) where we turned left again downhill (208mins).
At a public footpath sign we turned right towards Cote Bank (211mins) passing Tythe Barn Farm on our right (216mins) and 100 yards further on we headed left off the main track before crossing a wooden stile where a sign pointed us in the direction of Bugsworth (218mins)
Keeping a drystone wall on our left we continued to cross a wooden stile (223mins) and enter a road with houses on either side. Dolly Wood Lane led us left to a main road where we turned right (224mins). We walked through Brierley Green, through a railway tunnel and passed Bugsworth War Memorial Club on our left before turning left at Brookside to reach our cars (230mins).
After de-booting we sat outside The Navigation Inn drinking a weak but flavourful local cask ale at £4 a pint.
Next week's walk will start at 9.30am from outside The Soldier Dick pub on the A6 at Furness Vale. Free parking is usually available on nearby Yeardsley Lane. For reasons which might be obvious this is popularly known as The Phallic Walk. After heading steadily uphill into Lyme Park we drop down into Disley for a stiffener in The Dandy Cock around 12.10pm. We then follow the towpath along The Peak Forest Canal, returning to Furness Vale and The Soldier Dick around 2.30pm.
Happy wandering !
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