More Early Walks in the Peak District, part two

I am continuing to look back on the walks I did when I was just starting out on my walking adventures, all in the Peak District.

Stanage Edge

Saturday 27th March 1999

This was the walk that I had attempted to do the previous summer until I got an early lesson in the extreme weather that can be found while hill-walking, but this walk was in much better weather and consequently it was a delight. I got up early in the morning and caught the train to Hathersage where I started the walk, leaving the town and across the Hood Brook, climbing up through Cliff Wood, which was where I had begun to go so terribly wrong the previous summer. Continuing to climb I eventually reached the road on the edge of the moorland where a short walk along the road brought me to a track that led me up to a disused quarry. This track is now an access point to the Open Access land that encompasses Bamford Edge and the moor, but when this walk was undertaken there wasn’t access to this area so I stuck to the right-of-way that went north from the quarry across Moscar Moor to the northern tip of Stanage Edge. Despite being almost ten years ago I remember this crossing was very wet underfoot and my cheap boots were not successful in keeping my feet dry. On reaching Stanage Edge I ensured that I was at the actual end of the edge where signs of ancient quarrying could be found before I began my trek down the entire length of the edge. The weather was great for this walk and I had a wonderful time passing the trig point at High Neb (458m), the highest point on Stanage Edge. On reaching a bridlepath I dropped off the edge back down to the road and down the hill through farmland back into Hathersage. My thoughts immediately after doing the walk were that I should do that sort of thing more often, and as we shall see I did. However, I did express a doubt that was repeated only last summer: I was frustrated with all the travelling I had to do. Despite this I really enjoyed the walk and it ensured that I would still be walking for pleasure ten years later.

Shining Cliff Wood

Friday 9th April 1999

A little later I did another walk from the “On Foot in the Peak District” book, this time in an area just outside the southern edge of the park. I took a train to Ambergate and walked through Shining Cliff Wood and around farmland near Alderwasley (where there is a famous school). It was a very pleasant and easy walk taken in glorious sunshine, but it left me exhausted at the end of it. The woodland sections at the beginning and the end were nice enough but I don’t remember particularly enjoying the farmland section around Alderwasley. In fact looking at the map and the description of the walk in the guide book I don’t think I did the whole walk and I must have missed out large sections. I remember looking closely at the map at one point and going in a direction that is not indicated in the guide book so my route must have been a lot shorter than the prescribed route, but maybe it was better as I described it as a wonderful walk in my diary.

Nine Ladies Stone Circle

Thursday 15th July 1999

During the first week of my two week summer holiday in 1999 I went to Cornwall with some friends, but the only walking I did there were short and on my own. The following week, despite a strong desire to go for a walk, I still failed to get much walking done; this short walk in the Peak District was my only excursion. I caught a train to Matlock and then since I’d just missed the bus to Bakewell, by mere minutes, I went to plan B. Going to the Peak Railway I caught their Steam Train to Rowsley South (i.e. Northwood) and then walked along the bed of the old railway to Rowsley before taking a track just inside the Peak District that climbed up to Stanton Moor. This small area is littered with burial chambers and other sites dating from the Bronze Age. These include the Nine Ladies Stone Circle and the King Stone which stands some way off. I guess I should have been fascinated by all the ancient debris scattered around the moor but I remember little about it and I made no note about it in my diary besides a mention that I had visited the Nine Ladies Stone Circle and the King Stone before crossing the moor. At the road I cut the walk short and returned down the road back to the Peak Railway station at Darley Dale where I caught the train back to Matlock and then back home.

All in all it was quite an enjoyable day, if a little short. Apparently I was rather concerned about catching the last Peak train back to Matlock at 4 o’clock which was why I curtailed the walk. Also I appear to have had some problems with my watch, whereby I didn't know what the time was. I could have traversed the moor again, with plenty of time to spare, but instead I was left feeling that it was too late to go back now, but that it was an enjoyable walk nevertheless. My frustration during this summer holiday in failing to do any meaningful walking motivated me to ensure that in all my subsequent holidays I would go away for at least a couple of days. This started with my next holiday at the end of August when I visited an area for the first time that would truly begin my experiences in mountain walking: the Black Mountains in Wales.