Hope, Pindale, Perryfoot, and Castleton

I arrived at Doncaster Railway Station much earlier than expected this morning and so I made a change of plan. As soon as I got on the train to Sheffield, before it filled up with passengers getting on at the local stations, I used the space available to struggle with my map and get it folded to the correct configuration for where I would now be walking. I didn't want to be hanging around at Sheffield Interchange; I caught the 07:59 bus and got off at Hope - it was a lovely start to the day and I wasn't going to waste any of it...the weather, as forecast, got worse in the afternoon. 

I headed south, straight past the cement works, to Pindale.

At the top of Pindale I continued walking along the road and some stretches of footpath until I reached Perryfoot; I didn't take the direct route, I missed my turn off because I was looking in the other direction and taking photographs.

I then headed north and climbed up onto Rushup Edge and then continued to Castleton via the Blue John Mine and the Treak Cliff Cavern, two of the show caves.

The No Car Cafe at Rushup Hall only opens at weekends and bank holidays.

I had intended to finish the walk at Castleton but when the bus arrived from Sheffield the driver  wouldn't let us on; he put up 'This Bus Is Not in Service' on the destination blind and just drove off. The were eight of us waiting for that bus; I told everyone that there wouldn't be another bus from Castleton for two hours...but there'd be one going from Hope Valley College, just a mile or so down the road, departing as soon as all the schoolchildren have boarded. I was the only one there who decided to walk; it wouldn't be a gamble on my part since the bus service terminates and Castleton and so I'd see it going in the other direction coming from Sheffield and would have plenty of time to reach a bus stop. There wasn't another bus going to Castleton, but I arrived at Hope with a few minutes to spare - I was the only adult on the bus until it reached Hathersage but I didn't care - I'd made a good decision. This particular bus only goes as far as Whirlow, but there were plenty of buses from there going to the city centre.

Today's route:

Castleton, Pindale, and Hope

Two buses going via different routes depart for Castleton within half an hour of my train arriving at Sheffield on a Sunday morning, and so that's where I chose to travel to today.

Castleton wasn't looking at its best today though. It was misty, cold and damp, and a few snow flurries were falling when I got off the bus. To make matters worse half the shops were closed and there was a series of roadworks along most of the length of the main street. 

The pub sign at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese provided a bit of colour on an otherwise dreary day; I was pleased to notice that both here, and at the nearby Peak Hotel it is prominently displayed that muddy boots are welcome.

It continued to snow for about another two hours, quite heavily at times. After the snow the mist came down from the hills and the visibility was even worse...a terrible day for taking photographs - not what I was expecting after reading the weather forecast last night.

I took a footpath which went round the back of the houses and came back out on to the main road just before the church.

Just by chance, and not design, the route of my walk today took me past all four of the show caves at Castleton. Speedwell Cavern is located at the entrance to Winnats Pass....it's handy for toilets too. The gents are at the back of one of the buildings, so you can easily sneak in and use them.

I continued over the hill, passing Treak Cliff Cavern and Blue John Cavern before arriving at the top of Winnats Pass. I then walked along the road for a short distance until reaching the next footpath. After passing through the large heavy gate I had a choice of two routes; I chose to take a footpath I've not walked along before. It didn't take me to anywhere in particular - just up close to some accumulation of snow that still remained from a few days ago.

I kept looking back towards Mam Tor...if I'd been able to see it through the mist. Normally from here I would have been able to get some good photographs - I reckon that when walking in the other direction, visually, this is the best approach to the mountain. 

The path took me across fields until I reached a busy byway; not just busy with hikers, cyclist and horseriders though. A couple of noisy motorbikes were somewhere off in the distance and a few minutes later a Landrover was approaching me at high speed, for the conditions, the tyres of the vehicle smashing into the frozen over puddles, making a loud crashing sound as a cascade of sharp shards of broken ice and freezing cold water was launched into the air. I didn't fancy any of that and so stepped out into the middle of the track and maintained good eye contact with the bastard until he stopped and then slowly drove past me when I got out of his way. He had a gormless grin on his face; I just waved and acknowledged his presence.

The track continued for about a mile and a half and then I needed to walk along the road for a slightly shorter distance until I reached the top of the track that goes down to Pindale...no more than three or four cottages, a campsite and some substantial ruins of an old mine. Halfway down this track there's an old quarry which is popular with owners of....LANDROVERS, and there were soon more bloody Landrovers - three of them this time. I heard their engines and so deviated from the  path and walked up to a point from where I'd be able to observe them. It looked like some sort of organised group. There were about a dozen people, nearly as many women as men, taking turns to test their off-road driving skills on some difficult and steep terrain. They didn't look like they were imminently going to start driving back down the track and causing me any problems, so I continued down to Pindale, and then down the road to Hope.

I timed my arrival at Hope very well; the bus turned up only a couple of minutes after I'd arrived at the bus stop.

Castleton, Winnats Pass, Bradwell, and Brough.

As I left the railway station at Sheffield this morning I was under no misapprehension that the Olympics start in a few weeks: only a few yards beyond the concourse there were four sturdy outdoor table tennis tables.

I walked to the bus-stop and the bus arrived on time; however I delayed it by a few minutes, and I doubt I wasn't the only one, because my concessionary travel pass didn't scan properly...it's a different machine to the ones in Doncaster, and it's a different procedure too.

I'm not impressed with the idea of having to scan the passes: since it's only elderly and disabled people who are issued with them, people who are likely to be a bit slower because of arthritis, rheumatics, poor eyesight or maybe learning disabilities, it just complicates matters...but not always, on the return journey back to Sheffield the driver just let people on.

I got off at Castleton, popped into the shop for supplies, and wandered down towards the Peak Cavern show cave...just to get some photographs of the narrow gorge that leads there.

I then doubled back into the village and went along the path leading towards the Speedwell Cavern at the foot of Winnats Pass. I then continued up the grassy hill to reach Treak Cliff Cavern, which has a panoramic viewpoint.

Just before reaching Castleton's final show cave, the Blue John Cavern, I climbed up a steep gradient to eventually reach the north rim of Winnats Pass.

The views were spectacular; I took a few photographs and then descended down to the road; arriving quite close to the summit of the pass.

I walked alongside the road for a few yards and then took a steep, rocky path which led up the other side of the gorge. A path runs along the entire length of the southern rim and if anything, the views are even better from this side - a bit dizzying at times when you look down.

I continued walking for as far as I could, but eventually a deep ravine blocked my way. I had spotted this on the map and thought it might be an interesting challenge...it was too much of a challenge for me though. I backtracked a few hundred yards and climbed over a stile I had noticed earlier, and walked across grassy fields, and then along tracks and more fields to arrive at the road that leads down to Bradwell.

I entered the village down a steep hill which brought me to the Smalldale area, where there were some very nice houses. It didn't take long for me to reach the main road which goes through the village, and turn left, walking northwards towards Brough, arriving with nearly twenty minutes to spare before the bus arrived.