Grindsbrook Walk

OS Map: Title – The Peak District – The Dark Peak, Code OL1 (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: SK 124853

Walk distance:  6.8 miles

Date walked: 13th September 2011

Time: 5 hours (including a lunch stop)


The walk up Grindsbrook Clough was the first I did in the Dark Peak back in 1965.  That walk impressed me so much that I continued walking, mixed in with cycling and running, until the present day.  I did that first walk in a new pair of Tuff boots; today its a new pair of Scarpa Terra GTX boots, well broken in this time.


The walk itself starts from the car park near the train station, goes into Edale village, more correctly known as Grinsdbrook Booth, up Grindsbrook Clough, skirts Kinder Scout, before coming down Jacob's Ladder back into the valley.


 
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When I first came to the village and for several years since, there was a cafe, made out of old railway carriages, selling pint mugs of tea .  The Old Nag's Head pub was a real walkers' pub, and I still have memories of wet bleeding walker's feet being soothed with a pint by a coal fire.  Both are still there, but changed to meet needs of the tea room and pub grub people of the 21st century.

The Old Nag's Head

The path to the Clough has changed too.  It is no longer a muddy path, but a stone one.

Path to Grindsbrook Clough

Once the bridge across the Golden Clough is crossed the ascent up Grindsbrook begins.

Bridge over the stream at Golden Clough

Now Grindsbrook can be enjoyed.

The final reaches of the Clough

View down Grindsbrook Clough

The cairn at the top of Grindsbrook 

There are no pictures of Kinder Scout as the wind was too strong to take anything decent. After we joined the Pennine Way, we stopped for lunch below Swine's Back and enjoyed the views down the Edale valley.

Landscape view from Swine's Back

On this photograph the path down Jacob's Ladder can be seen winding its way down towards the valley.

Cairn at the top of Jacob's Ladder

Walking back down through Upper and Barber Booths our sunny, windy day turned to rain, but before it came the light was incredible.

Rain clouds over Lord's Seat

So we ended the walk wet, but my new boots were brilliant and my feet were dry.

Stanage Walk

OS Map: The Peak District, Dark Peak Area, OL1 (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: GR SK 260830

Walk distance: 8.5 miles 

Date walked: 4th September 2011

Time: 4 hours 40 minutes (approx.) with lunch stop

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This walk takes you to an area enjoyed by many outdoor ethusiasts: walkers (naturally), fell runners, cyclists, mountain bikers and climbers.  We started the walk on a wet and misty September day and ended it in the sun.

View over Hathersage Moor 

The walk is a fairly high level one with very few ascents or descents.  The path crosses the stream at Upper Burbage Bridge and continues along the edge of the valley.  Keep to the upper path rather than the more clearly marked lower one.  The way marks on the walk are all very obvious.  At the one in the photograph below turn left and follow the path to reach Houndkirk Road. 

Way mark 3 on Burbage Moor

Houndkirk Road is a wide track with the appearance of a bridleway.  In fact motorised transport is allowed to use it, so you might meet four wheel drive jeeps and off-road motorcycles.  The majority of the traffic though are the runners, mountain bikers and walkers you might have met earlier.

Houndkirk Hill from Houndkirk Road

At this time of year the moors were full of the very purple heather.  The turning off of the road to go alongside Lady Canning's Plantation is very obvious.

Track to Lady Canning's Plantation

After the plantation and having crossed the road, the path continues on towards Brown Edge Farm.  There are several paths that could be taken, but they all seem to end at the correct point.  The Farm is visible in the distance and you should head for this if you do feel you are lost.

The paths goes through the Farm to the road and then along the side of a stone wall on Rud Hill.  This is a permissive path leading to the moor above Redmires Reserviours. 

Redmires Reservoirs from White Stones

After the Reservoirs the path follows a track by the side of the wood to reach Stanedge Pole.

Stanedge Pole

A short distance from the Pole, with the weather brightening, Stanage is reached.  It is a magnificent edge, poplular with rock climbers and walkers.  The views up and down the edge, but there are also wonderful views into the Hope Valley and Edale.

Rock climbing on Stanage Edge

Heather Moors from Stanage

View from Stanage Edge

The path leaves the Edge to go through the heather moor to Upper Burbage Bridge and the car park.

Ashop Edge Walk

OS Map: The Peak District, Dark Peak Area, OL1 (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: SK 109915 

Walk distance: 8.4 miles 

Time: 4 hours (approx.)

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This is a walk that takes you around the edge of that great peat plateau Kinder Scout.  The car park is on the Snake Pass (A57).  From the car park the path goes through the wood on the other side of the main road. After a short distance the path through the woods comes into the open.  It then turns back on itself to follow the stream.

Ashop Clough - the view after emerging from the wood

Looking down the clough

Towards Ashop Head

 Walking up the clough, we saw grouse on the moorland on each side and heard golden plover, but unfortunately none were seen.

At the head of the stream, at a crossroad of footpaths, the path takes the route of the Pennine Way.

View up to Kinder Scout

Our path takes the opposite direction to this, but it is a continuation of the Pennine Way.  After crossing the Snake Pass, the path continuous on the other side to another crossroads of paths.  Here it turns right back to the road.  We followed the road back to the car park.  The map shows another path on the other side of the road leading through the woods.  While we could make it out below, we completely missed its beginning.

Less than a mile down the road, the Snake Inn will provide you with well-deserved sustenance after a very enjoyable walk.

Claife Heights Walk

OS Map: The English Lakes South Eastern area (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: SD 381953
Walk distance: 5.8 miles 
Time: 3 hours (approx.)


This is gentle walk that starts from the village of Far Sawrey and takes you over land originally owned by Beatrix Potter, through woods that overlook Lake Windermere and Bowness on the other side.

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Finding your way around this walk is straight forward. Any difficulties you may encounter are identified on the map. For me the best part was walking by Moss Eccles and Wise Een Tarns.

Moss Eccles Tarn

Wise Een Tarn

Heald Wood

Little Langdale Walk

OS Map: The English Lakes South Western area (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: NY 308010 

Walk distance: 5 miles 

Time: 3 hours (approx.)

This is a gentle walk that starts by taking you through flat farm land, along a wooded track to a quarry.  A track continues again through farmland to the village of Little Langdale.  The route takes you by the side of the lake before bringing  you back along the edge of the woods to Tibberthwaite.  This is another of the walks found the Footprint publication Walks around Coniston (www.footprintmaps.co.uk)

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From the car park you look down the valley to Tibberthwaite.

Tibberthwaite

After leaving the road at the farm (see notes on placemarks), the track takes you through Bakestone's Barrow Wood.

Bakestone's Barrow Wood 

You emerge from the wood at the disused quarries at Hodge Close.  Leave the path to explore the massive hole.

The hole

The path follows the road now until Stang End.  During the summer there is an opportunity for a refreshing cup of tea, but not in March when we were there.  From Stang End you take a path to the village of Little Langdale, where there is a pub.

Walking through and beyond the village there is a footpath on the left to Slater Bridge.  Along this path there are good views of Little Langdale Tarn and a great place for lunch.

Little Langdale Tarn

From here the path is easily followed along the road and then a track.  There is an acute left turn which brings you back to Tibberthwaite.

Dow Crag

OS Map: The English Lakes South Western area (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: SD 302975
Walk distance: 9.5 miles 
Time: 6.5 hours (approx.)
This is a walk that is easy to follow, skirting the Old Man of Coniston, climbing above Goat's Water, ending with a ridge walk overlooking the northern peaks of the Lakes, before descending back to Consiton from where the walk started.

It is one of three walks we carried out in early March 2010 during a long weekend in the Lakes. All three were found in the publication 'Walks around Coniston' published by 'footprint' (see www.frontprintmaps.co.uk).View Dow Crag Walk in a larger map

The first part of the walk along starts between the beck and the Coppermines Cottages office in Coniston. After about a mile, passing beside the Sun Inn, you reach open land and a car parking area. The Old Man of Coniston is on your right and you skirt it for about another mile on a clearly marked track. This is the Walna Scar Road. After going through two rock gate posts, leave this track by taking the path to the right, which rises to Goat's Water.

The path leading up to Goat's Water

Goat's Water stands at about 1500 ft and, when we were there, covered in ice.

Goat's Water

After a short steep climb, for us through snow and ice, we finally reached the ridge.

Top of the ridge

From here you can reach the top of the Old Man of Coniston by taking a short walk in an easterly direction. The path is easily visible.

We settled for lunch overlooking the more northerly peaks of the Lakes.

Northerly view from the ridge

For us the ridge walk was difficult because of the ice and snow, but the views were magnificent.

The ridge from Dow Crag

After Brown Pike, the walk descends to a saddle, where the Walna Scar Road is regained.

From here it is possible to retrace your steps all the way back to Coniston, but there is an alternative. After passing through the rock gateways again leave the track. There is no obvious path, but if you look into the distance, you will see one that passes by some water pools. Further on, you will see a stile over the stone wall. This leads to a disused railway line behind the Ship Inn. Turn left on this and follow it back into Coniston.

West Burton Walk

OS Map Reference: Yorkshire Dales Northern & Central areas (1:25000)

Start Grid Reference: SE 017868
Walk distance: 5.3 miles
Time: 3.5 hours (approx.)

This is a lovely walk from West Burton one of the most beautiful villages in the Dales. The walk takes you down valley of Bishopdale Beck to near New Biggin, then over the hill to come back to the start down the Walden Beck Valley. It is a fairly easy walk that presents you with a real 'Dales' experience.

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The walk start from the Fox and Hounds Inn - a very nice place to spend the weekend. There is car parking on the road in the Village

From the pub, follow the road out of the village until you reach a track to take you along the valley with Bishopdale Beck at the bottom.

The path is very obvious and, as you walk along, it you are presented with classic views of Dales' fields and their barns.

After the fourth field the path splits. Take the right fork, which leads you away from the wall on your left. After passing across several fields you eventually reach a lane, which comes out just above the village of Newbiggin. There are only dwellings here, but it will only take a couple of minutes to see it.

Here take the track to the left. If you wanted to, you could have left the track earlier to take a path up the hill. Taking the track on the left, it bends to the left. Follow it until you cross a small stream, where the path goes up the hill.

At times the path is not obvious, but if you keep the stream on your right, particularly when you reach the open ground, you will reach the edge of the forest. The path goes into the forest at angle until the road is reached. When I did the walk, the forest was not accessible due to tree felling. However I was able to follow the forest perimeter until the road was reached.

Turn right at the road and follow it for several yards. After a double bend take the path (track) on the left that leads down to Cowstone Gill House.

The path itself leaves the track. Head to the left of the house to find the route beyond. This part of the walk is not obvious. To find the route initially a 1:25000 OS map is important, simply to find the stiles in the stone walls. It is not too long, however, before the path is obvious and you encounter typical Dales' plants and animals as you walk down the valley of Walden Beck.

After several fields, take the path to the right to bring you to the road at Cote Bridge. At the road turn left into the village and if it's the right time of day a pint in the Fox and Hounds.