The Manifold Valley and Dovedale

Saturday 10th October 2015

Two weeks before this walk I went over the Roaches and on the way there I’d driven through the village of Waterhouses on the southern edge of the Peak District. This had brought to mind a walk that I did back in 2003 along the Manifold Way in hot weather just a couple of days before going to the Lake District. Once my mind had started thinking about the Manifold Valley I felt a longing to return to the area and tie it in with a visit to the nearby valley of the ever-popular Dovedale so at the earliest opportunity I drove back to Waterhouses and set off along the Manifold Way. I hadn’t planned on starting the walk by going that way but I’d already realised that I’d forgotten to bring a map of the Peak District with me and I wasn’t sure of my route to the village of Ilam at the southern end of Dovedale. Assuming that I would find a shop that stocked maps somewhere in the Manifold Valley I set off along the Manifold Way.

The Manifold Way is a cycle-route and several bike-hire shops exist in Waterhouses to take advantage of this, so when I walked through the valley in 2003 I was passed by many people on bicycles. However, I was now walking on a crisp, cold October morning and all the cycle shops were closed leaving me with the cycle path all to myself. I was wrapped up warm with my gloves on and was having a relaxing and enjoyable stroll along the tarmacked track that passes through the valley along the line of a disused light railway. The Manifold Way passes over the River Hamps many times through a heavily wooded valley and when I was there the leaves on the trees were beginning to turn an autumnal golden colour. The delightful, sylvan scenery compensated for the flat, tarmacked surface underfoot. After passing the limestone crag of Beeston Tor the valley opened out slightly until eventually the thing that I had been looking forward to with a certain amount of trepidation loomed into view.

I first visited this valley in the mid-eighties and had quite an adventure in Thor’s Cave, a wide opening high above the valley. Ever since, this cave has had ominous overtones for me, but I didn’t let that deter me from climbing up the steep, heavily wooded slopes of the valley until I reached the cave opening. I had a little exploration of the interior of the cave that is well-lit due to various openings including the one that I went through all those years ago. Wisely I now returned to the mouth of the cave and made my way back down to the bottom of the valley and along the Manifold Way until I reached Wetton Mill. There I was finally able to buy a new Ordnance Survey Map of the Peak District and left the Manifold Valley behind to climb out of the valley passing by Wetton Hill and Narrowdale Hill to reach the River Dove at the northern end of Wolfscote Dale.

While having something to eat beside the river I was passed by many people who were walking through this popular valley. The weather had warmed gradually throughout the morning so that by this time it was a pleasant day and I was able to have an enjoyable walk south along the valley in sunny weather. The Manifold Valley was shamed in comparison with the valleys of the River Dove and is justifiably considerably more popular, if not the most popular place in the Peak District. These northern valleys are not as narrow or spectacular as Dovedale, further south, but I was already passing stunning limestone crags that could clearly be seen at this point due to a lack of trees in the valley. Eventually I reached Coldeaton Bridge and had to walk beside a road until I reached the picturesque hamlet of Milldale at the northern end of Dovedale, and now the delights came thick and fast in the most stunning place in the Peak District.

I have passed through this valley many times, at many different times of the year and through lots of different weather conditions. The last time I was in Dovedale was on a blind date with a lovely young woman, but unfortunately that didn’t go very well; it was raining. Now I was able to wipe away those memories with a fabulous walk through the stunning valley of Dovedale firstly stopping off to explore the caves of Dove Holes. Further south I passed Ilam Rock and Pickering Tor before I got to Reynard’s Cave, which is reached after climbing through a natural arch in the rocks. I’m sure I must have been to Reynard’s Cave before, but I couldn’t remember doing so, and so I eagerly climbed the steep hillside passing through the natural arch and into the short cave. I had tremendous fun scrambling up the steep, rocky hillside and it astonished me that something so fabulous could be just an hour and a quarter’s drive from boring old Leicestershire. Even Snowdonia and the Lake District would be proud of landscape like this.

Eventually I returned to the bottom of Dovedale and continued along the increasingly popular path through the increasingly stunning and narrowing valley past the limestone pinnacles of the Tissington Spires until the path climbs to the top of Lover’s Leap. With the crowds increasing exponentially I walked to the end of the valley at the famous stepping stones that lie at the foot of Thorpe Cloud. I briefly contemplated not going up Thorpe Cloud, but I was never going to miss out this hill so I quickly made my way directly up the hillside spurning the path in favour of keeping to the edge of the steep northern ridge. This involved some scrambling and was very tiring but it was also very satisfying route to climb up to the windblown summit. From there I had to come all the way back down and this time I kept to the edge of the steep western ridge. This was a fun little diversion but I still had a long way to go in order to get back to Waterhouses.

I passed through the village of Ilam and followed a road round to Rusley Bridge where I took a path that passes through Musden Wood at the bottom of a dry valley. This is a dark and dingy wood and I was walking along a footpath that is simply mud. I remember coming through this wood many years ago and it was even worse on that occasion forcing me to climb the steep sides of the valley. I was also becoming quite tired by this point and was regretting my excursion up Thorpe Cloud as the duration of the walk approached eight hours. Eventually, and with great relief, I emerged from the wood and entered the village of Calton from where a short walk along the road finally brought me back to Waterhouses. If I had done the walk in the other direction, as originally planned, I wouldn’t have had the tiring climb through Musden Wood up to Calton at the end of the walk, but that failed to ruin what had been a fabulous day. I had passed through some stunning limestone scenery that is without doubt the finest in the Peak District.

The Roaches and Lud’s Church

Saturday 26th September 2015

With good weather forecast at the end of September I decided to head off to the Peak District and do a walk over some crags that are very popular with rock climbers, but where I’d not been in well over ten years. On that occasion I had come from the north, from Gradbach, but now I parked at the foot of Hen Cloud and immediately encountered a problem. I started the walk by blindly following a large group of people who were going through a field below the hill until I realised there wasn’t a footpath that goes from that field onto Hen Cloud. When I realised this I returned to the road, unlike the crowds ahead of me who seemed determined to find a way out of the field and through the dense wood at the top. I walked along the road until I reached a track that contains the proper footpath and followed this up the western slopes of the hill coming off this track onto a narrow path that climbs gloriously steeply up heather slopes and was reminiscent of paths that I have been on in the Lake District and in Scotland. The only difference was that this path was much shorter and therefore it wasn’t long before I had climbed up to the top of Hen Cloud.

This satisfying, albeit brief, climb brought me past steep cliff faces that rock climbers would have salivated over while I simply continued onto the rocky hilltop of Hen Cloud. I was disappointed with the cloud cover above the Roaches that was dulling the good views that I had been promised while the sun was shining a short distance away outside of the Peak District. In the opposite direction to the sunshine the crags of the Roaches could be seen to the north and that was my next destination. After a hop or two over the gritstone crags at the top of Hen Cloud I started off along the clear path down to the connecting saddle, but rather than head straight toward the Roaches immediately ahead of me I turned to my left, and walked past the Don Whillans Memorial Hut, known as Rockhall Cottage, to the foot of the crags. Rock Climbers were scattered across the cliffs attempting to ascend them by the shortest way possible. I don’t have the head for heights required for rock climbing, but I did want to take the climber’s path that passes along the foot of these tall cliff faces so I could take in these immense structures.

Eventually the path climbs up to the top of the ridge where I joined the many other people walking above these popular crags. I had a thoroughly enjoyable walk along the top of the ridge as I tried to make my own way, not on the wide path, but as close to the edge as possible so I could take in the glories of these crags. The lack of sunshine did little to ruin my fun as I danced about from rock to rock along the edge while the crowds stuck to the path that keeps a safe distance away from the edge passing through the heather-filled moorland. Most of the heather was now going to seed but there were still some purple flowers in bloom to remind me of the warmth of the summer, even if I wasn’t feeling it. After passing the trig point at the highest point on the ridge I descended to the narrow road that crosses the Roaches ridge and at this point came off the ridge to take a path to my right that descends into the wooded valley of Black Brook, which soon flows into the River Dane.

A pleasant walk through Gradbach Wood along an at times muddy path took me to the awesome fissure or chasm known as Lud’s Church. I last visited this astonishing place more than ten years ago and now I wish I’d been back sooner as I feel that I have been unjustly forsaking it for far too long. Lush vegetation covers the walls of one side of this deep ravine while bare rock covers the sheltered sides of this spell-binding place. Many legends have been created about Lud’s Church and it is no surprise to see why as it is such an amazing place so I spent a long time exploring it and didn’t want to leave. When I was there more than ten years ago it was in the middle of winter and mud covered the floor of the chasm deterring my exploration, but I had no such problem now so I was able to walk along the many side branches and along the main chamber of the chasm in awe of the tall, sheer rock faces. I could imagine Lud, whoever he was, holding his secret services in this immense space away from prying eyes and have a surprisingly large congregation able to hear his sermons.

Eventually I made my way out of the chasm and down to the bottom of the valley beside the River Dane where I took a path through delightful woodland that I’m sure must be an amazing place to walk through when the spring flowers are in bloom. I followed the river until just before reaching Danebridge where I turned left onto a well-constructed concessionary footpath that climbs steeply through spectacularly gloomy woodland eventually emerging after such a great climb in disappointingly dull farmland. A short walk through the farm brought me to the Hanging Stone, at the start of the ridge that becomes the Roaches. By now the sun had finally come out and I was able to have an enjoyable stroll along this ridge through heather moorland past occasional outcrops that are a hint of the glorious crags that were to come. I had a pleasant walk along this ridge as I took my time walking through the heather and bilberry until eventually I reached the Roaches once again.

This time I stayed on the main footpath as I retraced my steps along the top of the ridge enjoying the sunshine and the views south along the whole length of the Roaches. At the southern end of the crags, above Rockhall, I found a scrambling route down the rocks that added a lovely little treat to my wonderful walk along the ridge. A path is marked on the map passing below Hen Cloud but I couldn’t find it on the ground so in the end I passed once more over the top of Hen Cloud and followed the slender path that cunningly descends the steep southern slopes plunging into woodland and finally emerging beside Roaches Hall. The track coming from this old hunting lodge brought me back onto the road. This was a fabulous walk past some awesome crags that are justifiably popular with climbers and walkers alike and must be one of the best places to walk in the Peak District.

The Long Mynd

Saturday 25th July 2015

Last summer I wanted to do a walk outside of the county but I didn't feel like driving anywhere to get there. In the past I have driven to the Lake District or Snowdon for a day's walk and then driven all the way back home the same day, but I didn't want to do that now. After much deliberation I decided that I would visit an area of the country that I'd never been walking in before: the Shropshire Hills. I have driven past these hills many times when driving to Snowdonia, but now I was able to catch a train to the small town of Church Stretton at the foot of the Long Mynd. An early start to the day had enabled me to get to Church Stretton soon after nine o'clock leaving me with the whole day for the ambitious walk that I had planned.

Once I got off the train I walked through the quiet town onto a narrow road that climbs steeply out of town and onto the heather-covered hills above. At this point I came off the road onto a bridlepath that skirts the side of the hill gradually descending into Carding Mill Valley. The weather was fantastic so that I had warm sunshine and stunning views up this gorgeous steep sided valley. After passing the National Trust visitor centre the landscape became even more desirable prompting me to do some exploring instead of just staying at the bottom of the valley. I took a path that climbs a steep, craggy ridge that is later named on maps as Cow Ridge until at a temporary levelling of the gradient I took a path that veers to the right onto a tremendous terrace route back down to the valley bottom.

At the point where I rejoined the main path there was a junction of valleys and the side valley to my left looked fun so I headed up this deliciously narrow valley along a slender footpath all the way to a blockage of rock. This is Lightspout Hollow and a waterfall called Lightspout pours over the blockage. Although the rock step wasn't big I had a little fun trying to scramble up to the top where the path continued in less dramatic surroundings up onto the top of the moor. Rather than making my way across the moor to the hilltop path I turned right to cross the top of the Carding Mill Valley where I rejoined the Mott’s Road, which is the  main path coming out of the valley and followed this up to the the main path that crosses the top of the Long Mynd.

This had been a fabulous start to the walk, but unfortunately from then on the walk was a series of disasters so I would later look upon the Carding Mill Valley with affection and longing. For now I just headed along the wide path through the heather moor observing that although the heather was not generally in bloom there were some early flowers. The broad path continued across the moor until eventually I reached the trig point at the top of the highest point on the Long Mynd: Pole Bank. A short distance from the summit brought me to an unfenced road, the same one that I had left at the beginning of the walk to descend into Carding Mill Valley. There now followed a lengthy walk along the road with little change in the views around me until eventually I reached the edge of the Midland Gliding Club.

A permissive path goes around the airfield, and on the other side I resumed my walk along the top of the ridge until my way was blocked by a barbed wire fence. Just as I was contemplating my options I saw two men approaching me and when I'd joined them one of them asked “Are you lost?” He then informed me that I was walking on private property that was actually an active airfield. After they had escorted me off the airfield I rejoined the path that I should have stayed on that keeps to the edge of the escarpment. I shouldn't gone back up to the top of the ridge. I was very embarrassed by my mistake and practically ran along the path over Black Knoll and down the hill at the southern end of the Long Mynd. I was desperate to remove the memory of my trespass by getting off the hill as quickly as possible.

After crossing a main road and the River Onny I followed the route of the Shropshire Way, which I thought was going to be straightforward and quick route, but was anything but. After going the wrong way in Plowden Woods I eventually managed to find my way to the village of Edgton by taking a permissive path from edge of the woods up to a road not far from the village. The path out of Edgton was rather special as it involved climbing steeply through woodland to the top of a hill that afforded memorable views of the undulating landscape of Shropshire. On the other side of the hill I crossed a road and continued to follow the path through many fields until I eventually realised that I had once again gone wrong, as not only was I not following the Shropshire Way, but I was not on a footpath. I was trespassing again!

Retracing my steps I managed to find the narrow gap in the hedge that I should have passed through earlier and resignedly continued on this footpath that I had mistakenly taken rather than trying to retrace my steps all the way back to the Shropshire Way that I should been on. I was still having difficulty keeping to the footpath and reflected that the signage in Shropshire is very poor. I was longing for the clear yellow-topped posts that mark footpaths in Leicestershire and make following a footpath so much easier. I was now descending towards the village of Hopesay, but just before reaching the village I passed through a steep-sided wood where I spotted a badger before it scurried off into the undergrowth. I had never seen these shy, nocturnal animals in the wild before so felt privileged for my albeit brief view.

On the edge of Hopesay I joined a branch of the Shropshire Way to climb the bracken-covered slopes of Hopesay Hill upon whose top I finally rejoined the Shropshire Way that I should have been on earlier. By now I was really fed up with the difficulties that I was having with the navigation, and in the time that it was taking me to cross this undulating terrain. I had planned to continue the walk to Wenlock Edge, but by the time I reached the town of Craven Arms it was too late in the afternoon to keep going so I caught a train from there to begin my journey home. This walk had started with so much promise in Carding Mill Valley that I wish I'd spent the day in that area exploring the gorgeous valleys that lie on the eastern slopes of the Long Mynd. If so I would have avoided the navigational problems that plagued me later in the day.

Padarn Country Park and Snowdon

Tuesday 1st September 2015

Following the fantastic weather at the end of my previous day's walk, it was to very different weather that I started the next day, and on this occasion it never really improved throughout the day, but I was still able to have an enjoyable walk. My initial plan for this holiday was for me to take new routes up the familiar mountains of Snowdonia, but later I had the idea to also visit the tops of all fifteen mountains in Snowdonia that are over three thousand feet high. Sometime after that I realised that this would mean I would have to go up Crib Goch, the knife-edge ridge beside Snowdon, which terrifies me. Every time I have been over Crib Goch I have not enjoyed it as I’m not great with heights so the thought of going up again just so I could complete a list was not pleasant. I’d already devised a new route up Snowdon and it didn’t involve going over Crib Goch. For many years I have been frustrated by the lack of walker’s paths in Nant Peris, which is an area of awesome rock scenery abounding in climber’s routes, so I had hoped to try and forge a route up, but in the end it was the weather that had the final say.

Near Nant Peris, and Llanberis, is the Padarn Country Park, which is a predominantly wooded area on the slopes above Llyn Padarn in an area of disused quarries. The weather didn’t prevent me from exploring this fascinating area of old quarries so first thing in the very damp morning I passed through Llanberis and past the National Slate Museum into the country park. The first notable feature that I saw was the remains of Vivian Quarry; a huge scar in the hillside like some enormous digger has scraped away the earth in the side of the hill, and is a feature that cannot be missed from Llanberis. This is now a diving centre, but I was happy to walk around it so I took a path that steeply climbs the hillside beside the old quarry past many fascinating, old mining buildings until I reached a barrier that proclaimed that due to a collapsed retaining wall the path beyond was closed. The diversion took me along an excellent old miner’s path along the side of the hill through the woodland until I eventually climbed above the trees and doubled back on myself towards Vivian Quarry.

This was a delightful little walk despite the rain that fell briefly while I was walking through the wood, but had stopped by the time I was passing above the top of Vivian Quarry. Near Padarn Country Park is a vast area of old slate quarries with a public footpath that passes through the old workings and I had long wanted to walk along it. I had an awesome experience walking through the shattered landscape that, despite patches of heather and gorse, nature seemed to be unable to reclaim. For safety reasons the wide track of my route was carefully restricted with high wire fences that proscribed a winding route past the gouged rock faces and piles of slag. Underneath these old slate quarries is now an enormous pumped storage power station generating hydroelectric energy from the reservoir two thousand feet up on the side of Elidir Fawr. I had been at the top of this mountain the previous day and seen the reservoir that feeds the power station, and now I was walking across the mountain's lower slopes past the high-pressure shafts that carry the water down to the turbines.

The sun made an attempt to peep out from behind Snowdon as I made my way down the winding track providing me with a stunning view up Nant Peris, but by the time I reached the bottom of the valley it had started to rain again and this time it would be hours before it stopped. I abandoned my original plan of trying to find a route up the steep sides of Nant Peris and just walked back into Llanberis. On the outskirts of Llanberis I diverted left to the start of the popular Llanberis Path up Snowdon. This is the easiest route up Snowdon, but I can’t remember the last time I went up it. I think I went down the Llanberis Path in bad weather in 2009, but I think you may have to go all the way back to early 2004 when I climbed Snowdon with a group. The rain didn’t stop during the whole duration of my walk up Snowdon, but I actually quite enjoyed the climb. There were many other people climbing Snowdon despite the poor weather and I had to wonder how cold they were going to be when they got to the top as many of them seemed to be totally unprepared for the conditions.

I was able to enjoy my slow amble up the Llanberis Path with almost no wind for most of the climb until I reached Bwlch Glas, not far from the summit, where a bitingly cold wind appeared that prompted me to put my gloves on and wrap up warm for the final stretch up to the top. I used to go up Snowdon at least once a year but after 2012 I had stopped coming so I was happy to be able to finally renew my acquaintance with an old friend as I reached the summit of Snowdon for the seventeenth time. I didn’t stay at the top for very long but soon started to make my way back down coming off the Llanberis Path at Bwlch Glas turning left onto the Snowdon Ranger Path. I have been on the Snowdon Ranger Path many times before, and quite liked it, but I’ve never been all the way down to the Snowdon Ranger Hut at the bottom, and I didn’t on this occasion either. For many years I had wanted to use this particular route as a means for going to or from Llanberis so in the vein of doing new routes up familiar mountains I set off down the north-western ridge of Snowdon.

On reaching the edge of the open access land I turned right uphill to Bwlch Maesgwm onto a good, clear bridlepath that leads into the valley of Maesgwm. The weather on this walk was very different to the one the day before, although as I emerged below the clouds I could see that there was some astonishingly good weather on the surrounding hills. Despite this I felt like I’d made the most of the weather with an enjoyable walk through the quarries and I felt like I had met an old friend again in going up Snowdon. The weather was clearing towards the end of the day, even on Snowdon, with views across the valley to the Llanberis Path and the Snowdon Mountain Railway that gave me a pleasurable walk back down to the Llanberis Youth Hostel. The following morning I drove to the foot of Tryfan, but when I got there it was pouring it down with rain. After sitting in my car for several minutes I decided that I didn’t want to climb Tryfan in that weather, so I started the engine and drove all the way back home. Despite the wet end to this holiday and failing to climb all fifteen tops, I think I had an enjoyable holiday.