Whilst it wasn’t exactly like fire and brimstone, the journey to Windle Edge certainly reminded us of them. There was a visible line of fire and smoke near Emlin and to add to the general atmosphere, there were several plumes of smoke coming from the north eastern moorlands. All this and then a long traffic queue before we even reached Windle Edge for an afternoon start at 2.30.
Thankfully, we were able to escape all this kerfuffle by heading off to the wild moors, welcoming Clive back from his six-week stay in the spring time of Australia. In the absence of Covid-struck Andy who had left us with a suggested tour, Tom and Bob had planned a route which took us initially to the Watershed path via a crossing of Near Small Clough. In passing the 1789 (?) stone, the boulderers in our group of seven, could not resist having a shot at climbing it. There was one successful conquest and a couple of other attempts.
Boulder master on 1789(?) stone, thanks to Chris B for photo
Despite our proximity to the Woodhead, we did feel in wild isolated country, always something special, as we overlooked a large hillside bowl gathering the headwaters of the Derwent. Fences were crossed, followed, and then crossed again to bring us to the famous (amongst some Dark Peakers) three-sheeper sheepfold. It has a mysterious feel to it, partly because it’s difficult to find though Bob and Tom had no problem and partly because of why it was built, why there and why so small?
At the three-sheeper, photo thanks to Chris
Whilst pondering these queries, Bob promised us some pleasant going after the previous heather and tussocks so, yes, it was free of the heather, etc. and had a series of small boulders up a clough fortunately free of much water. Such pleasantness was commented on by Chris who wished it to be recorded in this blog, so here it is. And, there was more. The relatively flat area of the Barrow/Grinah Stones plateau provided some easy running over dry ponds and around full ponds, and to another curiosity, the Labrador tea plant, which maybe had enough leaves to produce one cup of tea. To accompany the tea, why not add some fairy fingers or more correctly Moor Coral? Thanks to Tom and his botanist friend John for this information. Please note well, I have no idea whether they are poisonous or not.
Moor Coral photo thanks to Michael for photo
This imaginary tea party could be completed by water from the source of the Derwent, helpfully and clearly marked by a signpost.
The source of the Derwent, thanks to Michael for the photo
After all this high level of excitement we needed the relative stability of a long steady descent to the Derwent itself but our party gradually split into a couple of groups before crossing. The split was small at first but gradually widened as we climbed up the Coldwell Clough region. The other group, though, had the moral high ground by reaching the planned Hoar Stones, where we went direct to the Watershed path. We joined them on the path and, on reaching the “summit”, there was the disappointing sight in the distance of an even longer traffic jam than we set off, stretching for at least a mile.
We were glad to leave this horror to seek refuge in the warm and welcoming Dog and Partridge. The post run analysis confirmed we’d had a worthwhile and splendid three-hour outing. Thanks to all.
Graham
Where we went, track thanks to Chris