Hollins Hill, Chrome Hill & Parkhouse Hill

Saturday 22nd January 2005

I have been unable to do much walking lately due to an introduction of a local lockdown and poor weather, but that enables me to continue to look back on past walks. While describing my walking in the Peak District at the end of May I remembered that there are some walks that I had written reports for, but had never been described on this blog as they were written just before this blog was started. When I decided I wanted to go for a walk in 2005, my first of the year, my target was Chrome Hill in the Peak District, which had been in my sights for just over a year ever since my Father got a book of the Peak District from the air. One of the pictures was of Chrome Hill which I'd never seen before and it had piqued my curiosity but it took until this walk for me to satisfy it. One advantage of my wait is that I was able to benefit from the new Open Access agreements that came into force in the Peak District autumn 2004. In addition to Chrome Hill I was able to walk up Hollins Hill and Parkhouse Hill that walkers had not been able to do before.

I parked in the tiny village of Hollinsclough, though it took me a while to find it as it's not very well signposted. Setting off I headed north-west out of the village up the road, though it wasn't long before I reached a footpath on the right that heads back down the hill to a footbridge over the young River Dove. Turning left after the bridge I headed up the hill briefly until I sighted a recently installed gate marked as a Concessionary Path to Open Access Land. Passing through the gate I maneuvered around some cows and followed the path beside a fence and at the foot of the steep hillside before the path doubled back and headed steeply up the hillside. After a short distance the path doubled back again and came alongside a fence that it followed as it slowly gained height. The Open Access Land was the steep ground descending to my right but I was perched precariously at the edge of the ridge making my way round to the summit of Hollins Hill. On the map there is marked a tumulus at the summit but in practice all I found was a mound with a circular hole in the middle and a wooden stake in it, which I'm sure was a tumulus at one time.

Heading along the access path I descended to the track just south of Booth Farm. Walking north along the road I soon noticed a gap in the fence on the right which I took to be the beginning of the footpath that is marked on the map. Crossing the field I came across a farm track which had branched off from the road and crossing it found a stile next to the gate on the track. Taking this path I bypassed Stoop Farm going to the north of it until I approached the track again by a gate, but I didn't go through the gate. Beside the gate were two signposts giving directions to a Concessionary path to Chrome Hill and Glutton Bridge. This path headed south-east to the right of a fence passing Tor Rock on the right, though I was not able to resist sprinting up to the top of Tor Rock where I admired the view ahead, which is principally of Chrome Hill. Technically I was trespassing since Tor Rock is not on Access Land so I quickly headed back onto the path which now headed steeply downhill south of Tor Rock.

Once onto the Access Land the path climbs steeply and muddily onto the top of the ridge where I began my ascent of Chrome Hill. Being the kind of guy I am, I kept to the very top of the ridge all the way even if it meant going out of my to do so. I would go to the top of an out-thrust of rock and stand there for a moment looking at the views north, but ignoring the fact that to the south of me was more of the hill still to climb. Once at the top I sat down and basked in the view before me of the upper River Dove valley. I never tire of being at the top of hills and seeing the stunning scenery all around me. Chrome Hill is only about 430 metres and is smaller than Hollins Hill which tops 450, but the best feature of Chrome Hill is the view of it rather than from it. All day I was mesmerised by the views of that majestic lump of rock as I had circled around it like a bird of prey trying to decide which bit of the carcass to attack first. Chrome Hill is a huge fin of limestone rock sticking out of the ground but it is matched, if not in bulk, then in the steepness of its sides by its neighbour, Parkhouse Hill.

This hill, lying south-east of Chrome Hill had until recently been private property with no access allowed for walkers, but all that has changed. Both Parkhouse Hill and its tumulus-topped unnamed northern partner are now on Open Access Land, so once I had descended the grassy southern slopes of Chrome Hill I crossed the road and began my ascent of Parkhouse Hill. At the western end of Parkhouse is a small pillar of rock that necessitates an ascent up the northern slopes before I could successfully gain the summit ridge. Parkhouse Hill is a smaller hill in bulk, though steeper, than Chrome Hill so the summit was achieved rather more quickly. Descending the eastern end of Parkhouse I discovered there is no path off the access land toward Earl Sterndale and even though there is a gate to the north I had no intention of going in that direction. Following the fence clockwise around the foot of the hill I dropped onto the road and crossing it joined the track passing Stannery and headed back to Hollinsclough.

As my walks usually go, this one was rather short, taking a mere three hours, but it was still a delight and featured some enjoyable rocky ascents that could almost be called scrambles. I have become rather bored by the Peak District in recent years as I became used to the delights of the Lake District and Snowdonia, but this walk managed to hold a bit of the excitement that those places now hold for me. I find it difficult to find somewhere new in the Peak District, but with this walk I had succeeded, unfortunately I fear next time I want to go walking in the Peak District I won't be so lucky.