Heatherdene, Hope, and Almost Reaching Castleton.

I caught the bus to Heatherdene, right next to Ladybower Reservoir, and then walked across the dam wall.

I took the track that stays alongside the water and then chose the route up through the woods to Wooler Knoll. I then descended to Edale End and walked along the bottom of the valley to Hope, following the River Noe.

I went in The Cheshire Cheese pub on Edale Road, an old building with very low timbers that I had to duck under, and then continued down to the main part of the village. A bus wasn't due back to Sheffield for an hour and so I decided to walk it to Castleton, using a path I'd not used before for part of the way. 

I ended up talking with a couple of people and time was tight so I took a track leading down to the main road going through the Hope Valley and caught the bus about a mile east of Castleton.

Heatherdene to Hope

I pressed the buzzer to get off the bus at Ladybower Inn but the driver didn't stop; he was new and didn't realise there was a bus stop there. So...I got off at Heatherdene, the next stop. I took some photos of the reservoir and then crossed over Ashopton Viaduct and walked up the steep footpath to Crookhill Farm and beyond. 

I came down to the Snake Pass road at Hagg Farm, crossed over and walked up the other side of the valley, through the woods to Hope Cross. I then walked down the 'Roman Road' to Hope where I only had a couple of minutes to wait for the bus.

The weather was dark, miserable, and cold and so I didn't bother taking many photographs.

Ashopton, Thornhill, Shatton, Brough, Hope, and Castleton

It was quite sunny in Sheffield early this morning but when the bus reached the Peak District it was misty and so I changed my plans and decided to stick to doing a low level walk.

I got off at the Heatherdene area of Ashopton, right next to Ladybower Reservoir.

I walked over the dam wall and then down the road to Thornhill and Shatton.

The next photograph was taken at Brough.

The walking remained easygoing as I headed westward towards Hope.

I finished the walk at Castleton; by the time I got there the weather was lovely, sunny and warm. I had fifty minutes until the next bus going back to Sheffield was due, just enough time for tea and cake. I popped in to the Baytree Tearooms for a pot of tea and a slice of lemon Bakewell tart. I asked for extra hot water; the owner was confused because he thought I meant water that was 'extra hot', really hot. It was then my turn to be confused though when I couldn't find the cakes.

 

Brough, Aston, and Bamford

My train was late this morning but so was the bus at Sheffield and so I was able to catch it. I travelled to Brough in the Hope Valley and walked to Hope Station and then uphill across the fields to Aston.

I continued climbing, using the Aston Bridleway to reach Hope Cross.

I descended through the woods to the shore of Ladybower Reservoir. It had been a mostly misty and cloudy day so far but for an hour or so as I was walking down by the water's edge it was quite bright, and even sunny at times.

'Dogs must be held on lead' seems to be an unusual choice of wording on this Peak and Northern sign; does it mean that dogs must be put on their leads and then carried?

The majority of today's photos feature the reservoir.

When I reached the dam wall I headed south along the Thornhill Trail to finish the walk at the bus stop at Bamford Station.

Heatherdene, Hope, and Castleton

I travelled to Heatherdene this morning, on the bank of the Ladybower Reservoir. I started taking photographs as soon as I got off the bus and continued to do so until I reached the woodland on the other side of the dam wall.

The smell of the pines and the autumnal dampness was quite calming as I climbed up through the woodland and then used a path I'd not used before to get to Hope Cross, providing me with some different views of The Great Ridge.

I looped round to Edale End, went south for about a mile and then turned right heading for Losehill Farm and the way to Castleton. However, when I reached an area known as Townhead just to the north of Hope there's a footpath shown on the map, but there's also a chained up gate and no sign of the path. So I had to backtrack and go along the road for a few hundred yards, entering the fringes of Hope until I found the next path going across the fields to Castleton.

I had time to pop in to the Peak Hotel, billed as 'the Peak District's eccentric alehouse' and take a photo of one of the regulars.