Journal:
Spectacular
scenery, all day.
I slept in and didn't have
breakfast until after 9am and didn't leave the hotel
until just after 10am on a dry and sunny day.
My walk began with a stiff
climb across sheep pastures and past some beautiful
historic houses up to Stanage Edge and the moors.
There was a very strong cold wind blowing, which
soon had me stopping to put my Goretex top on to
stay warm. The scenery down into the valley
and along the limestone bluffs of Stanage Edge was
superb.
My early walking was
interrupted by a scary accident. I was walking
fairly closely behind a couple about my age, when I
caught up to them as they negotiated a very high
stile. It was very much like a steep step
ladder straddling a wire fence and was going to be a
challenge. Anyway the woman cautiously made
her way over, then the guy was descending the other
side when a rung broke away and he fell quite some
distance on the side where the cliff was, and landed
heavily on his arm and shoulder. He was
wearing a pack and had the wind knocked out of him.
His partner and I both rushed to his aid and, after
some careful examination and a few minutes, he
recovered his equilibrium and seemed not to have
broken anything. If the fall had happened on
the side we came from, the cliff fell away quite
steeply and he would have rolled down and who knows
what would have happened. They continued their
day hike and seemed OK.
There were lots of other
walkers out and also some climbers on the rocky
bluffs. The path followed the very edge of
Stanage Edge for the next hour or so with fine views
all the way, before descending, fording a few boggy
streams and then climbing onto the Derwent Moors.
There were grouse butts (hides for shooting grouse
from) in several places on the moors and I saw a
number of grouse and some very young chicks several
times during the day. At the top of the climb
on to the moors, the path swung northwards to follow
Derwent Edge. The scenery was even more
spectacular with remote moors on one side and a
steep fall on the other down into the Derwent
Valley. I suspect it was a photo from around
here that adorned all those metal Derwent pencil
boxes I remember from my childhood. Also below
was the Derwent Reservoir, which was used to train
the Dam Busters during World War 2 and then later in
the movie about them. Above the Derwent Reservoir
was the beautiful Howden Reservoir.
Along Derwent Edge were
high points usually crowned by weird limestone rock
formations adding to the scenic splendour.
There were a lot of people out walking despite the
gale force colds winds that made walking in a
straight line very difficult. Many times
during the day I was literally blown sideways off
the path, with my pack acting like a sail, despite
its weight.
From Derwent Edge, the
path descended through high sheep pastures and old
falling down stone walls to the forest-bordered
Howden Reservoir. I found a nice spot beside
the road there at 3:30pm and had a late lunch of
fruit cake and a Mars Bar. Although the
guidebook said there was no accommodation and no
food available for this day, I had noticed a pub
referred to as no longer offering accommodation and
now converted into an Indian restaurant, where I
thought I may be able to get some dinner before
carrying on and finding somewhere to camp.
Before getting there,
though, I still had some way to walk, starting with
a very pleasant path along the side of Howden
Reservoir where there were many walkers and mountain
bikers, before turning to another stiff climb, this
time on to the remote Howden Edge. There were
no rocky bluffs, just windswept moorland. I
saw two (more accomplished) mountain bikers on this
trail but, otherwise, had it to myself. As it
clouded over around 6pm and became very dark with
the howling cold wind continuing to blow, it felt
very remote indeed. Nevertheless, it was
enjoyable walking and I pressed on towards my
hoped-for restaurant. After a long descent and
some walking through a conifer forest I reached the
"restaurant" at 7:20pm and found it was a combo
pub/Indian restaurant that was serving a Sunday
buffet carvery until 8pm. It also said it
offered B&B, but didn't really look like it. I
went in and bought a drink and got ready to eat when
I asked about the B&B. A manager appeared and
said they only had a double room that was normally
priced at £50. I said that was out of my price
range and she said I could have it for £30. I
agreed and then had my dinner before getting the
room. It was huge and modern with a large flat
screen TV. A good deal.
