Rowarth

 ROWARTH

April 13^th 2022

CAR PARK OF THE LITTLE MILL INN AT ROWARTH, MATLEY MOOR, KNARRS FARM, HOLLINWORTH HEAD, CARR MEADOW, MIDDLE MOOR, SHOOTING CABIN, TWENTY TREES, KINDER LODGE AT HAYFIELD, SETT VALLET TRAIL, PENNINE BRIDLEWAY, SITCH LANE, WETHERCOTES, LITTLE MILL INN

Distance: 8.5 miles​

Difficulty: Moderate.

Weather: Dry with the occasional burst of sunshine

Walkers: Tom Cunliffe, Daisy Cunliffe, Jock Rooney, Cliff Worthington, Simon Williams, Dean Taylor, Tommy Taylor, Dave Willets

Apologies: Alan Hart et al (I know lots of WWs proffered their apologies but there were too many to remember in detail)

Leader: Cunliffe ​T ​Diarist: Cunliffe D

Starting point: Car park of the Little Mill Inn, Rowarth

Starting time: 9.40am ​Finishing time: 2.40pm

Firstly, let me acknowledge that this diary has largely been plagiarised from Mr Hart’s carefully crafted piece from 27^th November 2019 which was the last time we did this route albeit with an alternative finish.

Just 6 wanderers and 2 honorary WWs made themselves available for today’s wander….but what a treat our absent friends missed. The weather was warm dry with rays of sunshine almost scalding our backs, great beer, stimulating conversation and smiley faces. Marvellous!

We turned right out of the car park of the Little MIll Inn and immediately right again up a track past some cottages. This soon narrowed to a rocky path which led us in to Rowarth village. We bore left and at the now disused red telephone box turned right down a path.

We turned right on a metalled lane, forded a stream and crossed a footbridge on the left taking us into a wooded, boggy area, where we followed the course of the stream before reaching a track. We recrossed the stream and after a short section of track came to a metal gate leading us onto a narrow road.

This climbed steadily and swung right before reaching a gate at a ramshackle barn, where we turned into a muddy field. We climbed across two fields and crossed a wall stile to skirt Knarrs Farm, where extensive building work is going on.

We descended on a track which brought us to the Monks Road, once used by the friars of Basingwerk Abbey on their tax-collecting journeys. We turned right and soon reached the precarious crossing of the main Hayfield to Glossop road on a blind summit.

Unscathed, we crossed a stile at the far side and swung right down a path through the heather. This is a concessionary path and thus not marked on the OS maps. It brought us down to the stream at Carr Meadow, where pietime was declared.

Resuming we crossed a footbridge, with its nearby memorial stone dedicated to Thomas Boulger 'who served the Peak District and Northern Counties Footpath Preservation Society from 1921 to 1963'. We climbed steadily from here on a quite badly eroded footpath through the heather moorland.

We dropped down to ford a stream and climbed slightly again before reaching a footbridge across a bog near the white-painted shooting cabin that can be spotted from large parts of Kinder Scout.

We turned right here on a track, putting us on the Snake Path linking Hayfield and the Snake Inn. We reached a metal kissing gate marking the end of the moorland and descended through a series of rough pastures, past the landmark copse of Twenty Trees.

This emerged on Kinder Road, Hayfield, where we turned right to soon reach the Kinder Lodge where a selection of first-rate real ales were on offer. My personal selection was The Yardbird, spot on!

After a pleasant break we resumed, turning right and right again heading for the Sett Valley Trail. We travelled said trail for approx 1/3^rd mile before turning right along the western edge of the reservoir, crossing a footbridge over the River Kinder then heading uphill across a field before joining the Pennine Bridleway which led us up to Sitch Lane. Here we turned left, again uphill for 10 mins before turning right along a track. This track took us past a disused quarry and one of Derbyshire’s scruffiest farms (Wethercotes) all the way back to The Little Mill at Rowarth where your diarist enjoyed a cup of refreshing tea, though sadly, all alone, except for Daisy who didn’t have much to say.

Next week's wander is a new route researched by Dean where we will start at the junction of Oven Hill and Hayfield Road in Birchvale leading us on a wander through the New Mills uplands before descending into New Mills itself where we will refresh ourselves in the Masons (say 12:15pm) before returning to our starting point (say 2:15pm)

Parking is available all around the junction.

Let us rendezvous at 9:40.