Thanks to the Covid-19 lockdown, for the first time since 2008 I was not able to spend Spring Bank Holiday week in the Highlands. A sad loss of what is usually my best Scottish week of the year, and particularly frustrating in the present sunny weather, but I was determined to use the Bank Holiday weekend for some good local walks instead.
On Saturday, Amina (from band) joined me for a walk from Baslow, as the east of the Peak District was forecast to have the driest weather. She’s been doing a lot of running during lockdown, and her improved fitness was apparent immediately as we walked briskly up hill onto Baslow Edge. We followed Baslow, Curbar and Froggatt Edges north – one of my favourite walking routes in the Peak – enjoying views over the Derwent Valley and plenty of sunny spells.
We then dropped down through the woods to Grindleford Station, and re-ascended through the attractive mossy woodlands in Padley Gorge to emerge in the Longshaw Estate. From there our return route was along White Edge, at the top of the moorland ridge, where we felt the full force of the strong westerly wind, making progress harder than it might have been.
Then it was just a short walk along the edge of the forest to Wellington’s Monument and back down the track to Baslow. A lovely day with great company and scenery, and it stayed more-or-less dry throughout.
A map of our route can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1140984
Sunday was the greyest day of the weekend, so I spent the morning doing a few chores around the house before driving across to Repton for a local walk after lunch. I parked near the Farrows’ house and walked over the fields from Mount Pleasant to Bendall’s Cottages, then up the track and back down through Hartshorne Wood to Hartshorne. There I spent 90 minutes chatting with Jeff and Helen in their garden over freshly baked almond bread and scones!
Suitably refreshed, I headed back over the hill to Repton by the slightly-more-direct route, and spent another hour or so catching up with Dave, Jo and Jess in their back garden before driving back to Hilton. Although I enjoyed all my local explorations walking from home during full lockdown, it was good to be able to omit the flat miles from Hilton to Repton and back today!
A map of my route can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1140986
Monday was a perfect sunny day, not what one expects on a Bank Holiday at all, so I got a fairly early start to drive up to Ashopton, by the Ladybower Reservoir bridges, where I claimed the last proper marked roadside parking place at just after 9am! Clearly others had formulated similar plans, although the early arrivers had dispersed themselves well and were not really evident at the roadside!
My walk started by climbing up onto Derwent Edge, with great views over Ladybower Reservoir to Win Hill and Kinder Scout. I followed the edge north as far as Back Tor, then turned west to descend via Walker’s Clough to the reservoir track.
From there it was just a short walk through the totally-full Fairholmes car park to escape the crowds again as I ascended through the woods to Lockerbrook Farm. There I picked up the ridge path to Alport Castles, where as usual there were not many others around. I paused for lunch below the crags before continuing down Alport Dale to the road.
My third ascent of the day took me gently up to Hope Cross, enjoying views up Edale, and then along the ridge to Win Hill, another busy spot so I didn’t visit the very summit this time, instead bypassing a few metres to the south. That just left a steep descent back to Ladybower dam, by far the busiest place I found. I wove through the crowds, keeping my distance as best I could, to return around the lake shore to the car.
A map of my route can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1140993
Tuesday is a fixed Rolls-Royce holiday, so I had another day off work to enjoy. I arranged to meet up with Ruth in the South Pennines, roughly half way between our houses. We parked at Ogden Reservoir, near Rochdale, and walked via the Pennine Bridleway and Rochdale Way up on to Blackstone Edge – a new Hump for me to bag!
After lunch near the summit, we followed the Pennine Way south for a couple of miles, back over the M62, and then picked up paths down beside Piethorne Reservoir to the car.
A map of our route can be seen here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1140998
It was great to catch up with Ruth at least for a few hours on a week when we would usually have been Corbett-bagging together in the Highlands. We agreed to meet again in a few weeks for something similar.
My full photo album from all four days is available on Google Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/SDKsuM2epaEimiJ56
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