Stanage Edge

Saturday 25th March 2006 

At this time of the year I get fed up with not being able to do any walks up mountains and I can’t wait for the spring. It’s the same every year and six years ago was no different: I hadn't done many walks over the winter and the ones that I had done weren’t up mountains so I was dying to go up a mountain, but the prolonged winter was putting a stop to it. Finally spring began at the end of March with the first weekend in the year of good weather and so accordingly I headed out to the Peak District to go for a walk. The place I picked was Stanage Edge, which I have, of course, walked along before, including on my first walking holiday, but not recently. 

I parked at one of the many car parks that lie below Stanage Edge, specifically the one near Overstones Farm. After putting on my new walking boots for their first walk in anger, I headed up the road past Overstones Farm to join the path up to the 457m trig point on the eastern end of Stanage Edge. I gave myself a bit of a scramble to get to the top and from there admired the views, bracing myself against the strong winds. Heading off along the edge and braving the strong winds, I passed many rock climbers practising their craft on the cliffs below. Rock climbing is something I have never been interested in pursuing. I like scrambling, but the idea of hanging by a rope onto the side of a precipitous cliff seems to me akin to madness. I guess I just don't trust the rope to hold me and would prefer to be in full control of what I'm doing. While traversing the edge stunning views could be seen of the surrounding countryside, including views across Bamford Moor to Win Hill with the bulk of Kinder Scout behind it. I wasn't going as far as that on this walk as I soon came down from the edge by way of the Long Causeway to the Dennis Knoll car park. From there I headed along the road over Bole Hill until I reached a footpath that took me onto the new Access Land around Bamford Edge. A few years ago when I did this walk I had to stay on the right of way that passes a disused quarry and then crosses Moscar Moor to reach the northern end of Stanage Edge. For this walk I was able to take advantage of the new Right to Roam legislation and proceed along the top of Bamford Edge. This is not as long or as high as Stanage Edge but it was still good to be able to walk along its top and enjoy the views that more than made up for any deficiencies. While stopping for lunch at the northern end of the edge I enjoyed stunning views over Ladybower Reservoir with the sun shining overhead and producing a glorious day. There is nothing quite like hill-walking. Anyone who doesn't go hill-walking is missing out on so much; I don't know how they can live with themselves (!). After lunch I continued around the side of the hill and explored a couple of peculiar pillars that litter the hillside, the purpose of which is beyond me. On crossing the moorland I reached Jarvis Clough, which I had to descend into and then climbed out of. I decided at this point that it would be a good idea to cross the moor to reach Stanage Edge, so I took advantage of my new walking boots and crossed the often boggy moor to the bottom of the edge where I took the opportunity to do a little scrambling though I picked a relatively easy route up the rocks onto the top. Turning to my left I headed north until I was certain I was at Stanage End, the northern end of the edge. When I discovered the disused quarry near Crows Chin Rocks I was fairly certain I had achieved this so I turned around and headed back along the edge. 

The weather had now turned rather grey with rain on the way which fortunately held off until I got back to my car. I passed over the trig point at High Ned, the highest point on Stanage Edge, and returned to the point where I'd left the edge earlier in the morning and immediately left it to strike out westwards to Stanage Pole. I'd never been there before and I was curious to see what I would find. What I didn't expect was a pole! There is a wooden pole sticking out of a pile of rocks, which I thought was the most bizarre thing to find, I wonder why it's there? Another thing that is bizarre is the name. I have just called it Stanage Pole, but that is not what the map calls it. According to the OS this is Stanedge Pole, perhaps a shortened version of Stanage Edge pole? Perhaps? 

The map indicates that a path heads from the pole back to the edge across White Path Moss, but the park authorities have closed it off. Curiosity, though, got the better of me and not wanting to go back the way I'd come I went along this path anyway. With hindsight I think the path has rightly been closed as it goes straight across a very boggy area of moorland. By the end I was wading through water rather than mud or grass. Anyway, back on the edge path I returned to the rock climbers and descended back down to my car. Five minutes after getting into my car, it started raining. Perfect timing!

Beacon Hill & Bradgate Park

Monday 19th December 2005 

The day before the walk around the Brecon Beacons described a couple of weeks ago I went for a walk in the best area of Leicestershire for walking. I had the whole week off work and I felt I had to go for a walk somewhere but I couldn't think of anywhere to go, so it was annoying that Monday morning the weather was perfect and I still couldn't think of somewhere to go. In the end I decided to visit two of the highest hills in Leicestershire, though neither are particularly high in the grand scheme of things, but still nevertheless the best that my county has to offer. 

To start the walk I parked in the village of Woodhouse Eaves and walked to the Beacon Hill Country Park. At the top of Beacon Hill is a Bronze Age settlement with views around 360 degrees, and in addition to this there are many interesting things for people to see all around the park including a Native Tree Collection, a Labyrinth and woodland walks. I really like the place and have visited it many times. (When I can’t get up a mountain, this is where I go.) After a walk through the woods on the lower slopes I climbed up to the 248m summit. The views include most of north Leicestershire including the town of Loughborough and Bardon Hill, the highest hill in Leicestershire, but also the biggest quarry. After wandering around the summit I descended the western rocks and visited the Old Man of Beacon Hill, where the profile of a face can be seen in the rocks. I hadn't really noticed this face before so it was quite a surprise for me to see how distinctive it is. Descending from there I headed through the West Beacon Fields, again somewhere I hadn't really paid much attention to before. This is a young wood with a number of information boards for visitors to see just how useful and important trees are. After leaving the West Beacon Fields I joined the road at a cross roads and proceeded south along the road to the Hunts Hill car park for Bradgate Park. Anyone who lives in Leicestershire knows Bradgate Park. It is probably the most popular tourist attraction in Leicestershire attracting thousands of visits throughout the year. I have been there countless times over the years in all weathers and at all times of the day (or night). Unlike Beacon Hill the park is totally undeveloped having been given by Charles Bennion in 1928 to "the city and county of Leicester that for all time it might be preserved in its natural state for the people of Leicestershire." I climbed the hill directly ahead of me and soon arrived at the Old John Tower, a folly bizarrely crafted in the shape of a beer mug, for reasons that are shrouded in legend. For me this tower typifies Leicestershire and will forever hold a special place in my memories because of the many times I have visited it in the past. The paltry 212m height just does not do it any justice for its views across the bracken-covered park and the City of Leicester are quite simply staggering. A small spinney separates the tower from the companion summit that is crowned with a War Memorial and from there I descended all the way down into the village of Newtown Linford. After buying lunch I walked back through the park along the many paths that criss-cross all over, passing Bradgate House on the way, the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey, the nine day Queen. 

At a lesser hill top (a giddy 178m high) I took many pictures of the views around 'Old John' and its two summits. As I descended the hill I was surprised to come across a small herd of deer. There are a lot of deer in Bradgate Park, but they usually keep away from the tourists so it was a surprise and a joy for me to find so many of them together. After taking even more pictures I left the park and walked through Swithland Wood back to Woodhouse Eaves and my car. This was a simple walk but it shows that even Leicestershire can provide some interesting walking.

High Street by Long Stile

Saturday 10th December 2005 

After three months away from mountains in 2005 I couldn't keep myself away any longer, so, using an old pair of boots despite the poor weather forecast, I set off first thing in the morning and I was at the Mardale Head car park at the end of Haweswater Reservoir by ten o'clock. My aim for the day was to walk up the narrow eastern ridge of High Street because I'd never been up High Street that way before and I thought it might be a good route. Unfortunately the weather really wasn't very good and treated me to low cloud and drizzle, sometimes heavy, almost all day, however, this failed to dampen my enthusiasm as I was just happy to be out on the hills again. I started off walking around the shore of Haweswater towards the Rigg, the wooded terminus of the Long Stile ridge that butts out into Haweswater, before striking off up the steep hillside onto the top of the ridge. The picture above was taken from the start of the ridge. At this point it looked like the weather might improve; while looking out across Haweswater there appeared to be breaks in the clouds where one could glimpse blue sky, but this hope was soon shattered as I soon plunged into the clouds that I was never to emerge from again (or at least not until the end of the walk!). Slowly, I climbed the ridge over rocky crags, continually climbing all the way, until I arrived at the top of Rough Crag with its small cairn and 628m spot height. The wind at this point was so strong you could hardly stand, and yet I wasn't alone. 

The Lake District always amazes me; it doesn't matter how bad the weather is there are always loads of people out walking over the hills. This walk was no different as there were three other groups of people walking up the ridge at the same time as me. Instead of having the hills to myself I was continually saying "How do?" to people as I or they passed by. The advantage of having all these people around is that when (or if) you run into problems there will soon be someone along to help, plus the large numbers of people have beaten clear paths all over the Lake District that make navigation relatively easy. The problem is not finding the path but following the right one! I don't begrudge all these people as they are a part of what makes the Lake District what it is: a relatively safe area to walk. There are far more dangerous areas in the country. 

After a short descent from the top of Rough Crag I began the much steeper, and more fun, ascent up Long Stile, climbing up the slippery rocks with the occasionally hands on rock needed for support in the wet conditions. Eventually I reached the top of the ridge at the marker cairn and followed a path across the summit plateau to the partially collapsed stone wall that passes over the top of High Street. I turned left to follow this wall until I reached the Trig point and the two cairns that mark the summit where I sheltered behind the wall while having my lunch and pondered on where everyone else was as I had the summit all to myself. After I had eaten I set off again heading south beside the wall for a short time before I reached a cairn and a path that veered off to the left. I followed this path across the exposed hilltop towards Mardale Ill Bell, and after passing over this hillock I dropped down to Nan Beld Pass.

After a short rest in the solidly constructed shelter in the pass I climbed up the rocky face of Harter Fell to the summit cairn with its debris of leftovers from an old boundary fence while the new one was visible behind. After taking some pictures I turned left and followed the fence along the top of Harter Fell, passing more cairns with their own fence cast-offs before plunging down over Little Harter Fell to the Gatescarth Pass. Descending the byway from the pass I returned to Mardale Head where the clouds seemed lower than ever. This was a very enjoyable, if brief, walk. I'm used to walks taking all day but in December anything more than six hours will be ending in the dark. My old boots performed surprisingly well after almost a year of disuse, with my wet feet failing to dampen my enjoyment of being back in the hills.

The Brecon Beacons in the clouds

Tuesday 20th December 2005 

The walk that I did around the Brecon Beacons just before Christmas was similar to one that I did six years ago. The earlier walk started in a completely different place but there are close similarities with a route that was pretty much a reverse of the later walk. The climb onto the hilltop from the reservoir last Christmas was echoed in the totally unplanned diversion at the end of the walk six years ago. I had decided to venture further afield at Christmastime than just a walk up Beacon Hill in Leicestershire and so I decided to go for a walk in Wales. The place I chose was the Brecon Beacons, an area that I had walked several times in the past, though not recently. Five years previously I had walked over the Beacons for the first time and I walked over them again two years later, but I had not been over them since. Unfortunately I didn't actually see anything this time. 

I parked at the top of the road from Talybont Reservoir at the Blaen-y-glyn car park (SO 0560 1755) and headed along the road following the Taff Trail through Taf Fechan Forest to Neuadd Reservoir. Both previous times I had been there the lower reservoir had been empty; indeed my map showed it as empty. I guess it was found to be too small for their purposes so it had been abandoned and the bigger, Upper Neuadd Reservoir was built further up the valley. On this walk the abandoned reservoir was full as I suppose it usually is in winter (it was also full in 2011). I crossed the dam and headed straight up the side of the valley. The path was very muddy and badly eroded near the top as can be seen from this picture. I was now completely enveloped in clouds as I made my way along the top of the ridge above Graig Pen Ddu so as I slowly made my way along the ridge I had no way of knowing how much further I had to go. The walk seemed to be going on forever and when I finally reached the 824m top above Craig Gwaun Taf I thought I was at Corn Du, but that idea was soon dispelled as the path dropped down to Bwlch Duwynt and up to the top of Corn Du. I was so relieved when I eventually reached the top that I stopped and had my lunch. 

Once rested and refreshed I headed off again for the short hop over to Pen y Fan, the highest hill in the Brecon Beacons and usually a magnet for walkers, but in these conditions there wasn't a single person at the summit. After taking a couple of pictures of the summit cairn I headed off along the path down Craig Cwm Sere and up to Cribyn. After this exertion another descent followed down Craig Cwm Cynwyn that led me to Bwlch ar y Fan. One final ascent brought me up onto Fan y Big before a long walk took me around the top of Craig Cwmoergwm and Craig Cwarelli. All this ridge walking was rather dull in the poor weather; with no views I was forced to settle with plodding along the paths and nothing to look at but my own feet. There was little variation in the terrain and it all became rather monotonous. Eventually I arrived at Bwlch y Ddwyallt where I turned sharply right to head down the path above Graig Fan Las. From here I should have had a short walk over Craig y Fan Ddu back down to the car, but that is not how it turned out. 

After crossing the top of the stream, Blaen Caerfanell, I veered off west away from the edge of the slope following a path that seemed quite clear, but actually wasn't as clear as the path I had been following. When I reached the pile of stones and Cairn marked on the map (at 047189) I realised I was heading in the wrong direction so turned south following another faint path. It was soon clear to me that something was still wrong because I wasn't losing height as quickly as I should have been but I still blindly followed the path as it veered back to the west and picked up the Nant y Groesydd. Thinking this was the Nant Bwrefwr I happily followed it and when I arrived at the edge of the Taf Fechan Forest I still thought I was going in the right direction because I thought this was the edge of the Talybont Forest. My belief was shattered when I crossed the track from Bwlch ar y Fan and arrived at the Filter House for the Neuadd Reservoir. At first I didn't know where I was, but eventually it sunk in to me just how stupid I had been, and so, shaking my head in disbelief, I slowly made my way back along the Taff Trail to my car. 

I guess this incident shows how easy it is to get lost in cloudy weather, especially if you aren't careful. If only I had used my compass a little more often and not blindly followed the path while ignoring all the signs around me that showed I was going in the wrong direction. As soon as I headed away from Blaen Caerfanell on the wrong path I noticed I was moving away from the cliff edge but I did nothing about it. I just assumed I was going in the right direction without actually making sure. This time I got away with it as the path I was following wasn't dangerous and I was easily able to make my way back to the car. The worst result of my diversion was that it was almost dark by the time I got back to my car. It was not a major disaster, but next time I may not be so lucky. This was certainly an incident that I learnt from.