Snake Pass, Blackden Brook, Kinder Scout northern edge, Crookstone Knoll, Ollerbrook clough

Although running low on stock after a very busy period in the cafe we run in Bakewell, we decided that we MUST walk on Tuesday. Sue asked if we could go up onto Kinder Scout. For those of you that don't know, this is NOT a benevolent young lad in a uniform, but Derbyshire's highest point. Not a mountain in the accepted 'pointy' form, but a high plateau consisting mainly of peat - yes, the stuff you put on your garden! It can be a dangerous place in bad conditions (it has it's own mountain rescue service to prove the point), but today it was as benign and beautiful as I've ever seen it. We set off after parking the car on the A57 Snake pass, a winding road that runs between Manchester and Sheffield, to the sounds of skylarks and curlews. Oh what a delight this day was already. The streams down from the moor were looking quite healthy too after recent rains, so we had plenty of bubbling, dancing water sounds to accompany us on the climb up. So, we booted up, and got ourselves ready for the ascent up to 1,000 feet.

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This was where we were going - the Northern edge of Kinder Scout.
On day like today, where else in the world could be nicer?
Just time for a quick self-timer........
Before the serious stuff began.....

As I said, the streams were lively, and we saw a few nice waterfalls (VERY inviting on a warm day like today).

This is the lower approach to Blackden brook, so sheltered that even the May blossom was new here. In most places it had died off by now, but the height, coolness & lack of sunshine here stunts it.

Even Sue couldn't resist the water.

But the hard climb took its toll, and we had a rest stop.
WHAT a backdrop though.

As Sue said, when you sit and take the time to look (we quoted that 'what is this life, but full of care, we have no time to stand and stare' poem), you see all sorts. We spotted this very well camouflaged moth on a rock. Can you see it, centre picture?

(Left click to enlarge the picture)

The final push to the top - was all that hard work worth it......?

You tell ME.........

By the look on Sue's face, I have my answer.

Mind you, it DOES take it out of you a bit, so a lunch stop was now in order.
Sue.....SUE!.......are you awake???

If you can't beat 'em.........

Even in this inhospitable place, there's beauty. Bog cotton grows in huge patches, and seems to love the arid and acidic peaty conditions.

The wind up here can tear lumps out of you, I've BEEN up here when it's difficult to stand up. Not today though, today was just perfect, with a very light, cooling breeze on us.
Look at any of the rocks though, and you can see the weathering effect the wind and blown grit has on them.

The peat also suffers from the same thing, plus feet tend to wear it away quite badly.

The view from the edge to the Alport valley

At last we reach the turning point, Crookstone knoll. The path here does a 90 degree right, and heads West, towards Edale. The views all around from this point are stunning. This is Ladybower reservoir, Bamford and Stanage edges, plus Win hill.

As the path turns, you get the full view of the Mam Tor to Lose hill ridge. This is a zoomed shot of the footpath up Mam Tor. This local beauty spot is a victim of its own accessibility, and there's a LOT of erosion on it.

Now we had to get down off the plateau.

We decided on Ollerbrook clough, a steep but 'fun' way down!

It soon evened out though, and the decent became more relaxed. We hadn't seen another person for HOURS at this point, we had the whole world to ourselves.

No sooner had we reached the bottom of the clough, than the scenery changed.
We now had the verdant meadows and holiday cottages. A pretty variation to what we'd had on the top of Kinder.

Rhododendron lined the route now.........

.....and, as usual, the bees were taking advantage of the blossom on this warm day.

Lose hill, from the Edale valley path

...and Back Tor, it's face looking remarkably like a smaller version of the Southern face of Mam Tor. The limestone and gritstone of the Peak District meet at this point, so the whole ridge is relatively unstable, and there have been many landslips in the past. You can see the evidence of this one below the face, if you look carefully.

People often talk about the 'pearly gates', and I wonder if this would be MY version, if I went to heaven?

We then turned west again, and along the Roman road towards the car. This is looking back from the road.
One trial remained though.

We decided to try and pathfind the final couple of kilometres along the banks of the river, as the only alternative was to walk along the Snake road. I didn't fancy this, so I had poor Susie wading the river Ashop a couple of times before we finally got back to the car at 6:30PM. She forgave me later though, when I cooked her a nice Thai prawn curry!

A couple of videos from the walk;

The fantastic view as you top out Blackden brook on Kinder's Northern edge.

A cooling face wash in a Blackden waterfall.

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Ladybower, Alport Castles, Howden Reservoir, Cronksley Moor cabin, Slippery Stones, Derwent Valley

We were EXCITED!! We had a WHOLE DAY to devote to walking and, when we looked out of the office window - on the tops, we saw SNOW! YIPPPPEEEEEEE!

Knowing that usually, in the High peak of Derbyshire, there is more snow than on the lower ground, we got booted up and ready to walk the whole day in what promised to be a winter wonderland. However, the further North we went, the less snow we saw. Were we disappointed? Well, take a look at the view that greeted us. Would you have been?

No - us neither!

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We decided to park at Fairholmes visitors centre, at the side of Ladybower reservoir. Our route was then over the top of Hagg side to Lockerbrook farm, then onward and upward to Alport castles, the largest natural landslip in Europe.

The morning sun lit the reservoirs to a shimmering expanse and it was beautiful. Despite the lack of snow, today gave promise in lots of other ways. The light was particularly good for photography. The walk up through the woods made us feel good to be alive!


I paused to look up - this is what I saw.
The pines reaching for the warmth of the sky.

At the top of the woods, this small gate leads out onto the hillside and we were greeted by the fabulous blue hues of our winter sky, tinged with just a sprinkling of snow.

We turned left, and got our breath back along the flat track with views forward to the Southern edge of Kinder Scout. That hunch you see on the horizon is Back Tor on the Lose hill to Mam tor ridge. You can always pick out its distinctive shape.

Here's Sue, ready for the day, with Woodlands valley behind her.

We walked along the edge with only the odd sheep for company.

Now we walk mid-week, we get much more peaceful walks.

The business part of the walk!

Alport Castles.

This is quite a dramatic picture, but it's much more so in real life. The side of the hill has literally slipped down into the Alport valley, leaving a distinct edge that we walked along.

Looking back along the edge.

Note the three walkers to give you some sense of scale.

After the Castles, we turned sharp right and dropped steeply back down towards a finger of Howden reservoir, but we then turned left again at the bottom, and started the long climb up onto Cronksley moor. The day was still really clear and living up to the mornings promise. It was cold, but perfect for walking. We saw lots of impressive icicles hanging from the peat.

Here's a happy lad!

Our goal for lunch - our favourite shooting cabin, where we had lunch. Surprisingly, there were two other couples there and we spent lunchtime in pleasant conversation.

The road onwards was a dream come true, with inviting views of Derwent edge. Although the days were now drawing out, we'd neither the time, nor the light, to visit the edge, which would have added maybe 2 hours to our route (which was already 7 hours long).

We dropped off the moors to meet the young river Derwent. We forded this (and I got a boot full of VERY cold water), and then followed it as it wound down the valley towards captivation in the reservoirs. Here I am at the bottom of Cranberry clough, posing on a small footbridge.

This is Slippery stones bridge. When the reservoir chain was flooded, it would have been submerged, but it was disassembled and re-built at the head of the valley, where it now stands today.

Sue sits and reflects on a perfect day.

Not over yet though, as we still had to walk the length of the reservoirs to get back to the car.

A tranquil scene.

A small puff of cloud lends itself to a photo.

To really make it perfect, the water would be dead calm and reflect the land & sky.

I can't remember us having had a lot of rain recently, but the reservoir chain was full to capacity and the water was flowing over the top of the Howden dam.

Looking back to Howden dam, the sun just catching the Eastern tower.

A zoomed shot onto Derwent edge, and one of the many weathered rock formations.

We got back to the car about 5:30PM. It really had been so perfect today that we were sad it was over. We'd walked 15.6 miles, and taken in almost 3,000 feet of ascent. This was our last view of the reservoir before climbing into the car and wending our way home. Beneath this picture are a couple of short videos, the first time I've put any on blogger.

Here I am near the shooting cabin, showing you the panorama over Derwent edge.

I've not quite got the hang of the sound yet, so you can't hear me talking (but then it's all about what you can see, not hear).

And here's Sue, walking on after lunch.

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