Pennine Bridleway (Part 1)

Cromford - Summit    29^th October – 1^st November 2018

Introduction

The winter is on its way. Storm Callum has taken out one of our trees at home and the first cold snap has left its mark on the garden. Could I squeeze one more walk in before the dark nights? There was just a window of opportunity in the week after the clocks had gone back so I went for the Pennine Bridleway, a local and easily accessible national trail which I knew very little about.  Publications on the route are sparse. The website offers limited practical information and a guidebook for the southern section is out-of-print. I got hold of a second-hand copy, booked some accommodation and set off into the dark in more ways than one.

Monday 29^th October 2018               Cromford - Hurdlow

Inclined to the High Peak

It had been a very cold weekend but Monday dawned dry and settled so I turned down an offer of a lift and walked down to the bus station to catch the early bus to Buxton. I had time for a bacon bap & coffee before I went in search of the Transpeak bus which leaves from the railway station. The trip through Derbyshire was long but it was interesting to watch the locals gravitating towards the market towns of Bakewell and Matlock.  At last, with half the morning gone, I dismounted at Cromford and set off straight away up the steep hill to Steeple Grange. Here I gained the High Peak Trail and crossed the light railway to reach the National Stone Centre at Wirksworth. If I was cold when I started, I certainly warmed up on the Middleton Incline, my climb to the start of the National Trail.

At Middleton Top, I asked a passing couple to take my photograph in front of the National Trail notice board. Lydia kindly did the business and recorded the great moment. Then I set off along the High Peak Trail, relatively flat for much of today’s route. I got into a rhythm of around 17 min per mile pace and tried to keep this up for as long as possible. A cold wind was blowing across the bleak White Peak. I had to don my jacket whenever the sun went behind a cloud. I saw a few cyclists but no one on foot until I was almost at Friden. A runner wearing a Burnley FC shirt was jogging towards me. He was scheduled to reach Derby by evening on his way to the Olympic Stadium in London. His aim is to run to every Burnley away match this season. I wished him luck and we went our opposite ways.

At Friden, I sat on a bench briefly to eat an energy bar and drink my water. 2½ miles later, at Parsley Hay, I found the coffee bar still open so I had a second break, this time for cappuccino and cake. Another 2½ miles brought me to the car park at Hurdlow. My accommodation was yards away from the trail and I was glad to make the pub with daylight to spare.

Cromford dep. 10.55, Hurdlow arr. 16.26

GPS 15.60 miles in 4hrs 56mins 12secs walking time plus 15 mins at Friden (14.20-14.35) and 15 mins at Parsley Hay (15.25-15.40).

I stayed in bunkhouse accommodation at the Royal Oak at Hurdlow. I had a four-bunk room to myself: the room was warm and clean, the toilets and shower room were modern, clean and warm and I had a superb night’s sleep. In the bar, I ordered a plate of belly pork with a pint of Sir Philip (4.2%) from Wincle Brewery. I then moved on to Bakewell tart & custard and Touch of Frost (4.4%) from Storm Brewery

Tuesday 30^th October 2018           Hurdlow – Hayfield

Heading North and South

No breakfast was on offer this morning, unless I was willing to wait until 10am which is no use to man nor beast when you have to walk over 20 miles and arrive in daylight. So I had nothing to lose by getting up, packing my bag and setting off early. The ground was wet with early morning drizzle but this stopped as I slipped out of a sleeping pub and onto the High Peak Trail. This came to an end in two miles and the route turned right, across the main road, heading for Chelmorton. I had initially wanted to overnight at the Church Inn in Chelmorton but they no longer provide accommodation. Thus the Royal Oak bunk house is now the only on-route accommodation for the first 35 miles of the national trail.

Skirting round the village, the route crossed the next ridge and then took me over the A6 and into the vertiginously-sided Chee Dale. A slippery grass track weaved through the limestone cliffs down to Blackwell Mill where the cycle hire centre sold me a coffee and scone. I crossed the river via a narrow stone bridge towards the picturesque cottages on the north bank. A steep path zig-zagged up the other side of the dale through a farm and out onto a tarmacked road that ran beside extensive quarry workings. Eventually I reached the quiet hamlet of Wormhill the exit from which is along a delightful walled path leading down into Monk’s Dale.

The Pennine Bridleway does not follow the line of these limestone dales. It oscillates from side to side along walled tracks on the high plateau. My phone went just as I was facing a long line of cows being driven home for milking. I was able to chat with my daughter for a few minutes as they slowing mooched passed. I was looking forward to some refreshments at the pub at Peak Forest, only a few miles ahead. But when I reached the village, the pub was closed and I had no alternative but to move on into a cold drizzle. In Perry Dale, I sat on a stile in the rain and ate another energy bar. At least it was not too far to a coffee shop even though it was up a steep hill.

So I continued along Perry Dale, over the road and onto the lower slopes of Rushup Edge. Rushop Hall was prominent up a very steep stretch of tarmac. My disappointment was intense when I saw the ‘café closed’ sign across the entrance. Never have I walked so far (nearly 2 days) to reach a tea shop. And now it was shut. Rather despondently I climbed upwards to the main road and saw for the first time the impressive ridge of South Head. The track contoured across the hillside making straight for the hill until the lovely flat walking was interrupted by Roych Clough. Here the route lost some of the hard gained height and dropped roughly into a steep sided re-entrant. The climb up the far side, coming as it did at the end of a very long day, seemed interminable. Eventually I pulled out onto open moor at the foot of South Head and traversed easily round its base and passed Mount Famine. The town of Hayfield was laid out below me and I had an easy descent into my destination.

Hurdlow dep. 08.35, Hayfield  arr. 16.30 

GPS 22.95 miles in 7hrs 32mins 10secs walking with 15 mins in Chee Dale for a coffee & scone and 10 mins in Perry Dale for an energy bar and water.

I stayed at Millie’s B&B, Church Street, Hayfield. There was a selection of good pubs but the Royal won the choice as it was virtually next door. Fish, chips and mushy pies filled a very empty stomach. This was followed by Bakewell tart & custard for the second consecutive evening. The beer was Hobgoblin Gold (4.4%) from Wychwood.

Wednesday 31^st October 2018          Hayfield – Diggle

A Gap in the Trail

Even though Millie’s café does not open on Wednesday, the owner got up early to make me breakfast. So, reinforced in the face of another long day, I stepped onto the Sett Valley trail in cold but bright conditions: an invigorating start. I rang home to report that I was still alive and then turned off the trail and up a steeply cobbled track between stone cottages. The climbing continued right onto the moor where Lantern Pike rose to the left. Beyond the Pike, the route crossed flat and rather featureless grazing land with, for almost the first time on the trip, no distinct path to follow. Cown Edge now dominated the view ahead.

Before embarking on this walk, I had read of the various issues in getting a bridleway for horses and bikes around Glossop and across the Longendale Valley. Horse riders were certainly unhappy with the lack of off-road options and with the heavy traffic passing through the valley. In the Sue Viccars guidebook, a walker’s alternative is mapped out between Cown Edge on the south side and Lees Hill some 5 miles to the north. The current version of the ordnance survey 1:50000 map shows a slightly more direct option for the walker which by-passes Cown Edge altogether. From the road end near Plainstead’s Farm, I continued across the next field and over the Monk’s Road and then took a grassy right of way that descended passed a plantation. Glorious views of the Longendale Valley opened out to the right. The path then dropped steeply on a narrow trod down the side of Horse Clough into the Glossop suburb of Simmondley. The clue to finding the way out of this built up area was in the name ‘Green Lane’. This ran through a housing estate and became a bridleway at its end. Almost immediately I came to a notice announcing the next phase in the Pennine Bridleway development, the Gamesley sidings section. Obviously someone else is thinking on the same lines. I now found myself on the Trans Pennine Trail. I quickly re-joined the Sue Viccars walker’s route and marched beside the railway into Broadbottom. A garden centre was advertising their café but I found a lovely little arts & crafts centre, Lymefield, where the ladies cleared a table for me and cut me a wonderful piece of carrot cake.

Suitably refreshed, I climbed through the village and turned onto the Valley Way. This I followed to Hollinworth, noticing for the first time Pennine Bridleway route signs for the walkers’ interim alternative. Two very busy roads had to be crossed. Vast amounts of heavy traffic, travelling between Manchester and Sheffield, seemed to be passing through Hollinworth at that moment. It was a relief to leave all this commotion behind and to gain a delightful path through open beech woodland that slowly climbed back onto the moors. A wooden footbridge had been damaged by a fallen tree and I had the choice of a stepping across the stream on a greasy pole or crawling under the fallen branches. My wet and dirty knees indicated my choice. Soon however I was under Lees Hill where I re-joined the official national trail. I have no idea how the gap in the route for horse riders is going to be resolved.

It was all very straightforward from here. Tracks and tarmac lanes wound round reservoirs and dropped into Brushes Country Park and then up a stony track contouring high above Stalybridge and Mossley before descending into Greenfield. Here an old railway line took me passed Uppermill without offering a glimpse of the town centre and, in the gathering gloaming, I eventually found myself above the village of Diggle where I could descent a narrow lane to my pub accommodation.

Hayfield dep. 08.55, Diggle arr.16.55

GPS 21.50 in 7hrs 24mins 16secs walking time with a 20min break in Broadbottom (11.40-12.00) and a 15 mins break near Brushes Country Park for an energy bar.

I stayed in the Gate Inn, Huddersfield Road, Diggle, where I had a warm welcome and a lovely room.. I had a cheese and onion pie with mash & beans followed by apple tart and ice cream. The beer was Dizzy Blonde (3.8%) from Robinsons and Black Sheep Bitter (4.4%).

Thursday 1^st November 2018           Diggle – Summit

Reaching the Summit

The landlady was up and waiting to cook breakfast at 8am. So I got an early start and slipped out of the back door of the pub and into a damp day with clag on the hillsides. But as I strode back up the road and onto the route proper, the mist cleared and blue sky was revealed. By the time I had scrambled up to Standedge, my jacket was off and I was sweating. The first climb proved to be the only significant one of the morning. The next few miles were on wide  tracks, some stony, some tarmacked. The national trail zig-zagged between a series of reservoirs, through remote and magnificent countryside, looking splendid in the morning sunshine. I saw no one for hours and was getting quite used to this loneliness as I came up to the Ripponden Road. There I was transfixed. Like a man in a desert staring at an oasis, I stood awestruck by the sign board beside the path, ‘coffee shop and deli’. I recovered enough to enter the Rams Head and make myself at home on a cosy settee in the café.

Refreshed by a scone and cappuccino, I had a spring in my step as I descended to Piethorne Reservoir and then under the M62 motorway. The continuous flow of heavy traffic seemed incongruous in this vast and empty landscape. I was soon on the road beside Hollinworth Lake and it was fortuitous that I had had the earlier café break because there was no sign of any civilisation on the east side of the lake. I turned rather disappointedly back onto the moors passing the cottages and deserted farm at Syke.

The going was relatively flat from hereon in with just a few short climbs to remind you not to enjoy yourself too much. The route eventually came along a farm track at Higher Chelburn Reservoir. The diversion round the farm was the sting in the tail of a great day’s walk. The farm itself was an animal sanctuary, not just the usual donkeys and horses but reptiles (including snakes) as well. The view from Leach Hill was worth all the effort and the tiny village of Summit appeared in the valley below. I quickly dropped down to the river, crossed the canal and main road and shinned up the other side to gain the signpost on the Mary Towneley Loop. Having duly touched all the prerequisite way-markers, my journey for the week was over and I returned to the main road and the bus stop. The Mary Towneley Loop will have to await another day.

Diggle dep. 08.53, Summit arr. 14.50

GPS 16.62 miles in 5hrs 36mins 16secs walking time plus 20 min break for cappuccino and scone in the coffee shop/deli at the Rams Head on A672 above Denshaw.

Conclusion

A series of fortuitous timings got me home in record time. I reached the bus stop in Summit just five minutes before an hourly service was due. At Littleborough I jumped straight off the bus and onto a late-running train that raced into Manchester Victoria. My walk across the city was not too onerous and at Piccadilly Station an express was just about to leave. Within 90 mins of reaching Summit, I was in the streets of Macclesfield and heading for my normal Thursday night drinking den. A few texts alerted my usual drinking companions and they quickly joined me for a pint of Weightless (4.2%) from Red Willow. Then I was treated to a lift home. I had a lovely home-coming. Dinner was awaiting me and I was thrilled to see Jill. I was on a high for several days. The four-day jaunt at a goodly pace in cool dry weather suited me perfectly. The next section of this national trail is already in the planning.