Fairholmes To Hope

I travelled to Fairholmes, as far up the Derwent Valley as the bus goes before turning round and then continuing to Castleton.

After visiting the toilets at the Information Centre I walked up to the Derwent Dam; there are several information boards both here and at the Information Centre explaining all about the Dambusters Squadron, the construction of the dams, the water supply to the major cities of the East Midlands, the temporary prefabricated town built for the construction workers, and the temporary railway laid to transport stone quarried at Grindleford. There are also some nice views.

I then took a footpath that leads up through the woods to Lockerbrook Farm Outdoor Centre. There were some lovely views of the reservoir as I climbed higher; unfortunately the sun was at the wrong angle for any decent pictures. There are many paths in this area that I haven't explored yet and I will have to return, the infrequent bus service tends to put me off though.

In one location I walked past a feature which might have been natural, or it might have been an embankment; I couldn't tell - I'm neither a geologist nor an archaeologist. It looked like a Roman wall to me, but obviously isn't.

I turned right before reaching Hagg Farm and came out further along the Snake Pass road. When I reached a ruined barn I stopped to finish off my sandwiches, and also to make sure that my trousers wouldn't end up around my ankles. Since being prescribed both vitamin D and metformin tablets I've been steadily losing weight, it seems to drop off me with every step I take and by now I really had to do something about my trousers. My belt really needs an extra hole cutting, but for the time being I did an emergency repair job by tying a length of string tightly around my waist...the string is an item that's always buried somewhere at the bottom of my rucksack. Since I started taking the tablets I've lost nearly a stone and a half in weight and my 46ins waist trousers are now too big; I can now even get into a couple of 42ins pairs that I didn't throw away several years ago as I started to put on the weight.

There are some lovely views along here, looking up the Snake Pass.

I crossed the road and continued down into the valley of the River Ashop and then climbed up the path to Hope Cross; there are more lovely views looking from this direction.

It seemed to be especially busy in the Peak District today, by the time I reached Hope Cross I had already passed dozens of mountainbikers, but I now encountered a large group of horseriders...I'm very wary of horses...they're a lot bigger than me.

When I reached Hope I enjoyed a pot of tea and a chocolate chip cookie at The Old Hall Tearooms. The cookie contained 13 grams of sugar; at the moment my daily allowance is 100g; fortunately my diabetes is only very marginal and so an occasional treat shouldn't do me any harm.

I had a few minutes  to spare before the bus was due and so took a few photographs in the village.

As I was sitting in the bus shelter waiting for the bus an eccentric woman, a widow from Tideswell, came and sat next to me and started talking. She had put all of her things into a blue laundry basket and was carrying it with both hands in front of her; she explained that she went to Sheffield once and was mugged. I didn't follow the logic but thought it better not to ask.

As I was travelling on the bus back to Sheffield a woman, her young son, and their dog got on at Fox House - together with about thirty other people. The three of them sat in the seats behind me; she was very chuffed that the dog had been issued with its own ticket, something that hadn't happened before. I couldn't work out whether her son, or the dog, was called Harry.

Ladybower Reservoir, Alport Castles, and Hope.

I caught the number 273 bus again today and got off at the Derwent War Memorial, about a mile south of Fairholmes Visitor Centre. I walked up the road for a few minutes to reach the car parking area from where the footpath starts...and noticed that there's actually a bus stop at this location: I could have saved myself a few hundred yards walking it seems.

The path leads up through a conifer plantation; the climb is quite long, but not too strenuous. I soon reached open country and then continued walking in a north-westerly direction. On a much clearer day the views along this section would be spectacular; however all was not lost; for a couple of minutes or so the elements co-operated to present a quite impressive view of the Woodlands Valley, along which the Snake Pass road is routed. There was a constant, subtly changing tableau of light and movement created by the low cloud, swirling mist, occasional sunbeams and spots of speckled light and brightness, all churned up by the strong breeze. It's a pity my camera couldn't capture a decent image; unfortunately my photographs turned out rather bland; never mind though, some I took later on are good enough to publish.

The next part of the walk took me across Rowlee Pastures. Most of this section is paved with flagstones and so is easy going, unlike the next section, the area around Alport Castles; which was quite difficult and challenging.

The region where Alport Castles are situated is the location of an ancient landslip; you don't need to be a geologist to fathom this out - it's obvious what happened; a half a mile section of the gritstone edge sloughed off and fell several hundred feet into the valley.

The area got its name because several of the rock formations look like castles; the most spectacular one, which you can see in the left of the photograph, is called 'The Tower.' Several people were struggling to reach the top of it; I don't know if they were successful...I didn't hang around; it was raining, and I was in quite an exposed location when I took the picture. You're not actually supposed to climb anywhere in the Alport Castles area because the rocks are unstable.

I needed to get down to the bottom of the valley, and since the grass and the rocks were wet and slippery, and I'd already fallen over once, I decided not to tempt fate any more and so got down onto my bottom and used all fours to safely get to where I needed to be. Writing that though, I would have preferred to be on the other side of the barbed wire fence I found to be blocking my way. I soon managed to climb over it though, at a spot where it crossed the remains of a drystone wall.

It was easy enough to find the path which leads down to Alport Castles Farm, and then continue along the track to the Snake Pass road.

I crossed over the main road and then walked along another well-maintained track; however, I did have to use this ford to get across the River Ashop: I judge that the water was about five inches deep...and fast flowing.

A few yards further on and I noticed another seemingly abandoned military vehicle (A few weeks ago I saw what looked like a tank or armoured personnel carrier near Hathersage, that was actually a prop used by a film production company.)

It was a steady climb up across Blackley Hey. The bridleway seemed to have been improved, yet it actually made it more difficult underfoot for hikers; it was quite painful walking on the limestone chippings. I attempted to make my way using a more comfortable route on the peat; probably creating more erosion and doing more damage than if the surface had just been left alone.

When I reached Crookstone Barn I turned right, then left, and descended through a lot of bracken to eventually arrive at the Edale road. I then took the path which goes under the railway bridge and comes out further down the road, nearer to Hope. I continued along the road into the village. Two buses were due, the 272 and the 273: the 273 was expected five minutes earlier, yet it was the 272 which arrived first. It was nearly ten minutes late - I think another 'fun run' in Sheffield caused the delay.

I don't think they're funny at all.

Ashopton, Hope Cross, Edale End, and Hope.

I got off the bus and walked over Ashopton Viaduct; the cold wind was very noticeable, and my two shirts and thick fleece were barely adequate...later on, it was even colder on higher, more exposed ground; and then it started raining.

The day started well though; I was soon climbing up to higher ground to get good views of the viaduct and reservoir; it became much murkier later on though.

It's several months since I've made this quite steep, if not too challenging climb, and certainly noticed a significant improvement in my level of fitness: if it wasn't for my stopping to take photographs I possibly could have managed the entire climb of about 450 foot without a break.

The path skirts to the north of Crook Hill and then I took another footpath looping back to the south and heading down to the Snake Pass road through woodland. As I was leaving the area of access land I noticed this sign which doesn't make it very clear that this is where for the rest of the way you need to stick to the footpath - I had to pause and check my map to make sure I was in the right place. I think the wording needs re-phrasing a bit though - it's not obvious that this is actually a right of way.

I then needed to walk along the major trunk road for a few minutes; something I would have preferred not to do, but there was no other way. I soon reached the footpath though, and walked down to the River Ashop and then up the other side of the valley through a dense pine forest to reach Hope Cross. If it wasn't for the low cloud and drizzle, the views from here would be impressive.

I then continued towards the ford at Jaggers Clough and then took the concessionary footpath through Backside Wood. To my left, looking up towards Hope Brink, in places I could see that large areas of the hillside were covered in purple foxgloves.

I popped into the information barn and emergency shelter at Edale End. This resource is always well-maintained, with plenty of up-to-date leaflets and information.

By this time I was wary of the time, knowing when the bus departs from Hope. I'd had enough of the miserable weather and so just wanted to get home. It didn't take too long to reach the Edale road and then I walked across fields next to the River Noe, along the road for a few yards and then along footpaths back to the village, walking over a footbridge which crosses over the railway line which goes to Hope Cement Works.

Travelling eastwards on the bus it was obvious that the day had been much drier in Hathersage, and it might not have even rained at all in Sheffield. When I got off the train in Doncaster it was actually sunny; my timing was perfect though, as I walked past the butcher's shop just outside the Frenchgate Centre they were selling off produce at reduced prices - I bought four whole cooked chickens for a fiver - they should last me a few days.