Fox House and the Eastern Edges

A walk with Maureen and Chris from Leeds today. As usual the brief was a six to eight mile walk, fairly flat and easy conditions, and parking somewhere with toilets. Starting a walk from Fox House just about fits all these criteria, although the public toilets are now closed there are still some at the visitor centre at Longshaw, only a ten minute stroll. Out of good practice I always take my map, but I didn't need it today...and didn't use it - I know the area very well.

As the passengers were boarding the bus at Sheffield Interchange I helped the driver work out where a couple of foreign students needed to get off; the end of the road to Ringinglow for Mayfield Alpaca Farm and Fox House for the car parking area at Longshaw Estate. This seems to be becoming a regular task for me; I'm not a particularly helpful person...it's just that I see this as being the best way to hurry things up and make sure that the bus sets off on time.

The route of today's walk was through the grounds of Longshaw Estate, along the road to the footpath on the top of Froggatt Edge, cut across the moors to Eagle Stone and the Wellington Monument, and then across more moorland to reach White Edge and return to the visitor centre at Longshaw...and then finally back to Fox House. 

Hathersage Booths, Hathersage, Bamford, and High Peak Garden Centre.

I got off the bus at The Millstone pub and walked a few yards back up the hill to the Ringinglow road. I then climbed over a stile next to a gate which had an electric motor to open and close it, a push key entry pad and an amber light that I assumed would flash or strobe when the gate opens, or it's tripped by an infra-red beam. I've never seen anything this elaborate before; just to add to my paranoia, I spent a few seconds looking for a CCTV camera...you never know who might be watching. The route was definitely a footpath though; there was a roadside sign...and it's marked on the map.

The first section was a track, but after a few minutes I was walking across fields and then through woodland: I should think if it wasn't so misty there would have been some nice views.

The path comes out onto the main road just before the turn-off for Hathersage Church. I passed through the graveyard, stopping for a few moments at Little John's grave and then walked northwards across the fields towards Stanage Edge.

Where the road reaches its nearest point to Stanage Edge there are some public toilets, which I popped in; these being possibly some of the most isolated in England...but very convenient for the many climbers, cyclists and hikers who use them. A few yards along the road there's a carpark: I was glad that the refreshment van was there. It was busy though; I had to queue for a few minutes behind a group of cyclists...some climbers then joined the queue behind me.

I got caught up with a small group a boulderers heading uphill towards the edge; they were struggling a bit with their mats on their backs...so I could easily keep up with the pace.

I walked along the top of Stanage Edge for a few hundred yards then took the byway which leads down to the Dennis Knoll parking area.

After a short stretch of road I found the path which goes to Hurstclough Lane; a good example of a sunken lane. At the bottom of the hill I took the footpath which is a short cut across Sickleholme Golf Course, walking right down the middle of one of the fairways, since no-one was around.

A few minutes later I had arrived at High Peak Garden Centre. Unfortunately the cafe was closed due to a change of tenant, so I walked back towards Bamford on the main road and bought something from the garage shop.

I ate my chocolate covered flapjack and drank my milk as I waited for the bus; which arrived pretty much on time. Just before I was due to disembark at the bus-stop nearest to the railway station in Sheffield I noticed a sign outside a pub which made me smile: it was one of those free-standing boards where they chalk on what the landlord thinks might most likely catch someone's eye. All it read was  'Warm' ...with an arrow pointing inside.

Surprise View and Hathersage.

Today it was unseasonably cold, even compared to the rest of this year's awful spring; it was also damp, dark and misty...but not actually raining.

It was good weather for slugs though; at three and a half inches in length, this must have been the longest I've ever seen.

The weather did brighten up later though, and for about an hour around lunchtime was sunny and quite warm.

I got off the bus at Surprise View car park and walked a few yards along the road in the direction of Hathersage and took the first footpath which led to the bottom of Millstone Edge; the dramatic wall of rock which can be clearly seen high on the horizon from down in the village.

If the visibility had been better I would have been able to get some really good photographs looking down along both the Hope Valley and the Derwent Valley. It was far too misty and so I didn't bother with the long shorts; but this one looking in the other direction towards the edge is okay.

At first the path is very well defined, obviously due to a large number of climbers using it, but as I got further away from the road it became narrower and eventually led up to the top of the cliff. This short climb was as near to mountaineering as I ever want to experience: I was bent over, using my hands to steady myself and grabbing onto trees and boulders for support, and having to carefully place every step I took.

I took a break at the top and then continued along the path which runs along the edge of the moor, eventually coming down onto the Ringinglow road. I then walked down Callow Bank, which had a series of notices posted at its entrance informing people that it is now closed to motorised traffic: I can't imagine anything other than motorcycles ever being able to get down there though.

At the bottom of Callow Bank I took the footpath which leads off to the right, back up to the road, further on; and then walked along a rather circuitous route along a road which eventually leads down into Hathersage.

I took the track which leads to Kimber Court Farm; when I got there I thought I'd inadvertently stumbled upon a secret UN military base. There were several old humanitarian aid shipping containers, portable toilets, what looked like an underground bunker...and a camouflaged armoured vehicle guarding the whole operation.

I naturally took several photographs, but couldn't see what my zoom lens had captured until later. It seems that the farm is where the props for a forthcoming film '8 Acre' are being stored. I've included a link to the trailer; it looks like some type of politically-incorrect satirical comedy set in Derbyshire.

It's a short walk mainly through woodland back to Hathersage Church, where I then took a footpath leading northwards, away from the village, towards Stanage Edge. I only went as far as just beyond North Lees where I managed to find a ruined chapel which is marked on the map. Not much remains; only an archway - which I think has been re-built.

More ruins soon followed; this time an old water mill in a pleasant woodland clearing.

Finally; the route back to Hathersage is gently downhill, mainly along well prepared tracks...but with a couple of short sections across boggy fields.

Houndkirk Moor, Ringinglow and Limb Valley

One of the advantages of using a concessionary travel pass is that I don't need to state my destination when I get on a bus. Today I wasn't sure what the conditions would be like on the moors and so decided to look through the bus window and make a decision on the spot. I was surprised at how little snow still remained on even the highest parts of the moors, considering that some of the side streets here in Doncaster are still icy in places, so I got off at Houndkirk Moor, the highest point of the 272 route to Castleton.

For the first half an hour or so of the walk I was passed by several dozen mountain bikers - I later discovered that there was an organised time trial of some sorts. I ate my sandwiches near to the Ox Stones, south of Ringinglow, a hundred yards or so off the main track, well out of the way of the bikes.

About half a mile further on my rather circuitous route I came across a toposcope which indicated that on a clear day I'd be able to see as far as the Humber Bridge, fifty two miles away...today wasn't a clear day though. It also stated what the altitude above sea level was - my GPS measured it as nearly a hundred foot higher though.

Near to Ringinglow I walked by an interesting sign; I wasn't tempted though, knowing that I had a casserole waiting for me in the slow cooker when I got home. If alpaca had been on the menu I might have stopped for a bite, there were certainly plenty of them grazing in nearby fields.

The last couple of miles was a gentle descent through the Limb Valley to Whirlow, where there were plenty of buses running to Sheffield.