Ladybower Loop (13th October 2024)

I made the most of a bright, if not actually sunny, day for a fairly long walk over some of the hills around Ladybower Reservoir. Starting around 9:30am at the Carr Lane car park near Thornhill, I headed down the valley a little to Bamford Village then climbed steeply up onto Bamford Edge, stopping regularly to take in the excellent views of Shatton Moor, Win Hill and Ladybower Reservoir.

I continued on the heavily-trodden path down to Cutthroat Bridge then followed the bridleway west to Whinstone Lee Tor, then continued up Derwent Edge all the way to Back Tor, appreciating the early-autumn colours of the moorland and the forest around the reservoirs.

I descended to the foot of Howden Dean then followed the shore of Derwent Reservoir south to the dam, pausing part-way on a bench for lunch. Once past Fairholmes, I re-ascended steeply to Lockerbrook then followed the grassy ridge southeast to the twin rocky summits of Crook Hill, another excellent vantage point. That just left the short descent to Ashopton and a few kilometres beside the road, over the Ladybower dam then along the Thornhill Trail back to the car.

A map of my route can be found here, and more photos here.