Bretton Clough and the Great Ridge

Saturday 12th September 2020

I have done a lot of walking in the Peak District this year as it is the nearest National Park to me where I can easily do a day walk without the problems inherent at the moment with accommodation. There are now not many places left there that I think are worth walking that I’ve not been this year, but while I was pondering on this I remembered the walk that I did a month before up Win Hill where there are views across the valley to Lose Hill and the Great Ridge between Edale and Castleton. This was definitely not a place to miss and to make the walk a bit more interesting I thought I’d also try to explore some of Bretton Clough, which is a secluded valley that I had glimpsed for the first time on that previous walk. Parking on Sir William Hill Road between Grindleford and Bretton I immediately set off across the heather covered Eyam Moor under fabulous blue skies while at this early hour a cold wind was blowing. Before the path starting to descend, and with the views opening out across the Derwent Valley, I came off the main path along a shallow ridge past something that is marked on the map as Rock Basin. The faint path I was on follows the ridge to the trig point that marks the highest point on Sir William Hill, but since that is beside the road I turned off to descend the hillside and was soon veering left again to take another path that was also heading in the wrong direction.

To get to Bretton Clough I needed to take a convoluted route across the hillside that eventually paid off as I descended into the valley through terrain that had steepened with banks covered in lush vegetation and was handsomely rewarded when I reached a side stream within a delightfully dark, wooded ravine. Leaving these tranquil surroundings I followed the fabulous path that skirts the side of Bretton Clough through dense woodland that frustratingly doesn’t descend to the bottom of the valley until I reached the junction between Bretton Brook and Abney Brook at Stoke Ford. There I took a path heads up Abney Clough through awesome, wild woodland scenery sticking closer to the valley bottom than in Bretton Clough until eventually I climbed out of the valley into the village of Abney. Ahead of me was the broad, featureless hill of Abney Moor that I had climbed on the walk a month before and had not enjoyed, so now I took the quickest route over on a road that was decorated with harebells and yarrow before passing over the saddle and descending along Brough Lane. Ahead of me I now had views of Win Hill and Lose Hill, but the sunny weather that had started the day was now gone with a generous amount of cloud cover.

When I reached the village of Brough I followed a path that skirts an active quarry to reach the village of Hope where I set off on the path that heads up Lose Hill and was packed with people, and the crowds would only get worse. This is a very popular route and the path was never in doubt with a blazed trail through the fields all the way up the hill that I don’t think I have ever seen so popular. Slowly I climbed Lose Hill until eventually I reached the top where I sat with views across the valley to Win Hill and had my lunch sheltered from the brisk wind. After eating I set off along the path at the top of the Great Ridge passing so many people on the path so that it was very difficult to maintain social distancing, but this is a fabulous ridge with gorgeous, solid rock under foot and stunning views across Edale towards Kinder Scout and along the ridge to Mam Tor. The sun finally came out again while I was on the ridge so now I had great views back to Lose Hill as I made my way along the path descending steeply from Back Tor and passed Hollins Cross to climb up to the top of Mam Tor.

From the busy summit I headed steeply down the hill keeping away from the flagstoned path that was packed with people and kept going downhill to a road taking the path opposite to pass Windy Knoll and over a second road along a track that maintained the direction on a similar route to that I had taken in 2017 to reach Mam Tor. My interesting walk was now over, but at least I was leaving the crowds behind as I passed over Bradwell Moor and after several dull miles eventually came out onto a road not far from the point where I had spent the weekend for the walk in 2017. Turning left my long, wearying walk continued that took me all the way back to my car passing through the villages of Little Hucklow and Great Hucklow. Most of it was on a road with the only exceptions being a stony byway that climbs into Great Hucklow and on another byway above Great Hucklow through beautiful woodland below Hucklow Edge. Joining the route that I had taken a month before I passed through Bretton and over the top of Sir William Hill until, after many weary miles since leaving Mam Tor, I finally reached my car.

This was an exhilarating walk, but was very hard on my legs with some really steep ascents that really tested my stamina and strength over almost twenty miles of brisk walking. Despite the crowds, the Great Ridge was really fun and I enjoyed what I saw of Bretton Clough, but I was frustrated at not being able to get deeper into the valley, so I will have to make a return visit to explore deeper into this overgrown delight. Though the long walk back to my car lacked interest the weather was really good in the afternoon with barely a cloud in the sky, which made up for the walk as it was just a pleasure to be stretching my legs walking in the countryside in such weather. I may have been to the Peak District many times since I was a child, but it is still a fabulous place to walk.