I haven’t been for a walk with Amina since 2020, so I was pleasantly surprised when she said recently that she’d be up for a day out in the Peak District. No parkrun for me, in order to be fresh for a longer race the following morning, so it was the ideal Saturday for a walk and the forecast of dry, overcast weather was alright too.
We met at my house soon after 9 o’clock and I drove us up to Hayfield – Amina was keen to see my new car – to start walking soon after 10:30. I had wondered whether the cloud would be on the tops to start off. That proved not to be the case so we walked clockwise to get to the highest ground sooner, heading past Kinder Reservoir and then up William Clough. The visibility was pretty good with clear views around the skyline, and towards Manchester and Bleaklow once we reached the ridge.
We continued east along the edge of Sandy Heys, pausing for a brief first-lunch in the shelter of a gully and to take a few photos around Kinder Downfall.
Another half hour or so brought us to the high point of the day, the trig point on Kinder Low. By this point, the cloud had started to drop a bit and Sandy Heys was in the mist although Kinder Low itself remained just about clear.
We dropped down to Edale Cross for lunch in the most sheltered spot we could find, then continued along the path – well-pitched at first, then boggy – over the shoulder of Brown Knoll and down the ridge to South Head and Mount Famine. A bit of drizzle blew through in the wind and made us a little damp for quarter of an hour or so but petered out before we’d got around to putting on our waterproof jackets. All that remained was the easy descent down the bridleway to Coldwell Clough and the car.
A good day out on the hill and it was great to catch up with Amina as we walked and talked. Hopefully it won’t be another 2.5 years until the next time! You can find more photos here and a map of our route here.
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