Snake Inn to Bamford

I travelled on the 257 bus to the Snake Inn, on the Snake Pass; it's now been converted into apartments though. I soon found the stile that leads to the footpath that goes down towards the River Ashop which runs approximately parallel to the road, heading back towards Sheffield. Initially the path goes through an area of quite recently felled trees. I soon reacherd a footbridge going over the river and the countryside got more interesting, although for most of the walk I was rarely out of sight or earshot of the busy road I'd just travelled along; particularly annoying were the large numbers of very loud motorcycles.

Not longer after the bridge I had to spend quite a few minutes finding a place to ford a quite deep and fast flowing beck.

Just beyond an abandonned farmhouse I had to ford another beck, it wasn't as difficult this time; the barbed wire fencing a few minutes later was much more difficult - I was surprised to find it blocking my way because there was a fairly clear path leading right up to it and then continuing on the other side. 

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I continued heading down the valley, using the wide track that goes alongside the shore of Ladybower Reservoir.

When I'd crossed the dam wall of the reservoir I turned to the right and walked along the road to the bus stop at Bamford Station. I couldn't resist going in the Yorkshire Bridge Inn; I was tired and thirsty and needed some refreshment. It was busy, and unusually for me I joined the queue and waited. 

I was fortunate when I reached the bus stop; I was expecting having to wait for fifty minutes but the bus I thought I'd missed was twenty minutes late and so arrived only a few minutes later. I only had a few minutes to wait for my train at Sheffield; it was already on the platform - however I nearly ended up going to Goole together with at least another dozen passengers. I feared we wouldn't be able to disembark at Doncaster because a very large pushchair was blocking the vestibule area, and at the next set of doors there was another problem. as it was someone managed to push the pushchair out of the way.

Climbing Win Hill With Chris

Fox House, Yorkshire Bridge, Win Hill, Hope Cross, Hope, and Brough.

As usual I met Chris at Fox House, then travelled in the car to Yorkshire Bridge. We parked in the parking bays just before the Yorkshire Bridge Inn and walked to the dam wall of Ladybower Reservoir to look at the 'plug holes' [bellmouth spillways]. They were very noisy today; there was a lot of water rushing down them.

The first path up Win Hill was dangerous, very muddy and slippery, so we took the path that leads up to Parkin Clough; still a difficult climb of 990 ft right from the bottom. I needed to stop for regular rests on the way up, Chris didn't; he only stopped because I was - he's a good few years younger than me though.

At the start of the walk it was quite cloudy, but by the time we reached the summit of Win Hill the cloud cover was breaking up, and so all the way to Hope Cross there were some excellent views of Lose Hill and the Great Ridge, Edale, and Kinder Scout.

On the trig point on the summit there was a pair of gloves weighted down with stones; I think you can just about make them out on the first photograph if you enlarge it. I wonder for how long they'll stay there?

Just beyond Hope Cross we started to descend, using a track that's popular with mountainbikers; I thought it might be called 'The Beast' - they do like to name their best routes (I watch quite a lot of mountainbiking videos online - they tend to be more interesting than the hiking ones.)

As it was there was a gasping mountainbiker pushing his bike up the hill and so I asked him if  this was 'The Beast.' He was glad to take the opportunity for a rest and told me that I wasn't 'riding The Beast' - it's actually the track that tumbles down to Ladybower Reservoir through the woods.

Chris was too far in front to pick up on the first double entendre of the day but he enjoyed the second one a few minutes later as we were waling through Backside Wood.

We continued along the river and the road to Hope, then taking a shortcut that comes out on the main Hope Valley road just before Hope Station.

We'd been walking at our quickest pace for the last half an hour, at my quickest pace though actually because Chris is a very fast walker. I was slowing him down; he wanted to get back to the car for four o'clock so that he would beat the football congestion at Hillsborough. So we decided to part at the turn-off for Aston where he could walk back to the car via Aston and Thornhill: I just waited for the bus.