Crowden

Walking with; Nobody
28.01.13

When I think of the Dark Peak, I tend to think about the "Big three", Kinder, Bleaklow and Crowden/Black Hill, but I do seem to neglect the latter. It doesn't have the mystery of Bleaklow with it's low hanging fog and aircraft wrecks (although it does have a few up there) or the history of Kinder and the tresspass, but it does have the Great and Little Brooks, Laddow Rocks (where the original members of The Rucksack club climbed and put in place the foundations of the modern Mountain rescue service) and miles of barren moorland. I wanted a bit more navigation work and figured miles of barren moorland met that criteria so away I went, passing the YHA before crossing Crowden Brook and making my way up to The Pennine Way. There were Pheasant and Grouse about and I heard Ravens at least twice on my walk. I ascended slowly until I reached Oakenclough Brook tumbling down off Rakes Moss,then instead of re-treading the next section of the Way, I decided to follow a narrow track contouring along the valley and below Laddow Rocks before emerging back onto the Way opposite the magnificent rock formations known as Castles.
The path crisscrossed the brook before the distinctive paving slabs showed me the way towards the distant Black Hill. I'm always struck at how vast the expanse of moorland is up there, miles of nothingness giving the lone walker the occasional chill down the spine especially when the mist starts to drift in.......Visibility remianed pretty good though so I struck off in an easterly direction, locating the pond at Sliddens Moss before continuing on the rough, broken up, tussocky ground in the direction of the ever visible Holme Moss Transmitting Station. The groughs were still full of snow and I set off a Mountain Hare in it's beautiful white coat, he made my progress across the moor look decidedly clumsy and he bounced and bounded away from me. I eventually made my way up on to Tooleyshaw Moss and searched for the remains of the original route that the Pennine Way took. The wind had gotten up by this point and the dark clouds that had hovered over Bleaklow began to scud in my general direction incentivising me to pick up my pace as I slip slid through the peaty bogs and mossy marshes from White Low and across Westend Moss. The squall when it hit did so with the kind of malevolence a disgruntled Nordic God might have used to show his power over mere humans and I was soaked before I'd even got my waterproofs out of my rucksack......luckily it was over as quickly as it started and I wandered the remaining path back to the hamlet of Crowden (the most Northerly settlement in Derbyshire) without further downpour.

To visit the full photo album for this walk please click on the link below;
https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=oa.332787893506789&type=1

Hayfield-Edale Cross-Kinder-The Snake Path

Walking with; Nobody
29.2.12

Hayfield is a picturesque Peak District village
which styles itself as the "Gateway to Kinder" although I suspect
Edale may have something to say about that! It was from Hayfield (Bowden
Bridge) that the Manchester contingent of the mass trespassers led by Benny
Rothwell set off towards Kinder on the "Right to Roam" protest, the
80th anniversary of which will be celebrated in April this year. It was also,
in 1745, the site of a mass "raising of the spirits" in Hayfield
church where eyewitnesses claim they saw hundreds of souls ascending from the
graveyard to heaven. I didn't see anything quite as spooky as that but by the
time I'd reached the Kinder plateau the thick fog gave the whole area an eerie
feel!
I set off from the village and was soon climbing up past Hazlehurst Farm where
the guard geese announced my progress to the farmer. The path continued along
what was once a Roman road but today resembled little more than a stream....I'd
thought Tideswell was muddy but it had nothing on today. I continued on across
farmland before descending alongside Elle Bank Wood into the Sett Valley and on
up Coldwell Clough past the magnificent Grade 2 listed farmhouse (see pic).The
track up to the Kinder Estate was rough and muddy and though the views behind
me were worth the effort the cloud was starting to drop and by the time I
reached the Edale Cross it was very poor indeed. The cross is believed to be a
Medieval parish boundary marker probably erected by Cistercian monks and had
lain buried in Peat bog until it was discovered in 1810 by two local farmers
who carved their initials and the year of discovery on the front of it. The
alcove the cross sits in is a perfect place to shelter from strong winds and
enjoy a coffee and (distinctly retro) orange Club biscuit.
I took the Pennine Way on to the Kinder plateau and headed for the Edale Rocks
looming mysteriously out of the thick fog. Every so often I could hear
dislocated voices coming out of the gloom and at one stage a party of
disoriented fell runners emerged a couple of feet away......I'm not sure who
was more disconcerted. The poor visibility meant a change of plan and I headed
back down the way I'd come before joining The Tunstead Clough footpath which
followed the contours round under Kinderlow End and The Three Knolls (still
shrouded in fog) before dipping down towards the reservoir. Whilst walking this
section I saw four Curlews flying overhead and I could hear Lapwing but they
managed to remain elusive today! It was a steep climb from the reservoir up to
Middle Moor and The Snake Path which would lead me back down to Hayfield. The
paths met up near a shooting cabin and judging from the number of Grouse in the
area it would be a pretty productive spot for a gun on the Glorious Twelfth.
The Snake Path was the first success, in 1897, for the Peak and Northern
Footpath society who had campaigned for greater public access to the Moors. The
five wrought iron kissing gates were the originals but had been restored in
2009 whilst retaining as much of the original material and composition as
possible. It seemed a fitting end in this area much associated with walking
history and led me gently down into the village and a cuppa at Rosie's tearoom.

To see the full photo album for the walk please click on the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?id=718985691&tid=136991043086476&frecId=false&skipClustering=true&qn=1330682373&success=18&failure=0&set=oa.166452610140319

Bempton Cliffs

12.2.12

Walking with;Ruth

I thought the perfect walk for a rehabilitating knee would be a nice gentle stroll along an East Yorkshire coastal path with the chance to observe a few early season seabirds as a decent bonus. A walk was necessary after nearly a month of inactivity not to mention some superb Haddock and Chips in Bridlington and a Mixed Grill at The Ship Inn in Dunstall that would have stopped a lion in its track such was the ferocious amount of meat piled high on my plate. The only fly in the ointment for this plan was that snowfall during the week, coupled with Arctic winds whistling in off the North Sea had covered the path with a freezing, slushy mess, none-the-less we pressed on undeterred.

Bempton Cliffs is a flagship RSPB reserve and between April and August over 200,000 seabirds including Puffins, Guillemots, Razorbills, Gannets and Fulmars nest on the cliff faces of this spectacular headland. We were a little early in the year,but there were numerous Gannets flying in squadrons of four or more, and plenty of fulmars surfing the freezing thermals (if that's not a contradiction in terms)! The walking was good, the path wound along the cliff top very close to the edge and with conditions underfoot slippy, concentration was required.

On the other side from the cliff edge the ruins of RAF Bempton stood stark against the skyline and provided a moody and atmospheric backdrop for our expedition. RAF Bempton was first set up during World War Two as a GCI station and soldiered on in various different forms until it was eventually closed in 1972. Whilst the area is sealed off it looked well worth an exploration and had a distinctly "ghost townish" feel about it.

Anyway, the knee survived in spite of a few skids and slips and will hopefully be ready for some more adventurous walks over the next week or two. Come Walk with Me is back on track!

To view the full album please click on the link below;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=oa.155857551199825&type=1#!/media/set/?set=oa.155857551199825&type=1

Come limp with me......round Pennington Flash

28.1.12

Walking with; Ruth

Confined by circumstance (in the shape of my knee operation) the high hills and low dales of the Peaks and Lakes were out of reach for a weekend or two. However it takes more than a bad Long John Silver impression to stop a dedicated walker from getting out and about so the gentle trails and bird hides of Pennington Flash seemed an ideal choice, especially with the Bacon Butty van overlooking the main pool there to provide sustenance. It was also, fittingly, the weekend of the Great British Birdwatch and there is little that better enhances a walk than the sight of some beautiful birdlife, we weren't to be disappointed.

Pennington Flash is a 173 acre lake on the site of the former Bickershaw Colliery. The Flash is an excellent example of an urban nature reserve and a fantastic spot for a stroll on cold, Wintery morning with just a touch of frost still on the ground. It was busy with families and dog walkers and very different from the wilder walks of the previous week or two, but having made gentle progress in the direction of the Bunting Hide we weren't to be disappointed. Bullfinches, Long Tail Tits, Reed Buntings and Redwings were amongst the highlights and it proved to be a fantastic spot for Ruth to get in some photography practice with her new zoom lens. We meandered on along the side of the Flash to a second hide overlooking a sandy spit covered with Cormorants, Lapwings, Black headed Gulls and with a pair of Teal and another of Goosander to keep the interest up.

We barely covered a mile and there was no incline and yet as a stroll, rather than a walk, it was a very pleasant way to spend a peg legged Saturday morning.

To view the full set of Ruthy's photos, please click on the link below

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.10150616877080783.433831.678020782&type=1