Monday February 12th

 Hayfield, Sett Valley Café, Lantern Pike and Points Westward

We had decided to repeat last year's trip to The Sett Valley Café for brunch on our wedding anniversary: we really like the café anyway, and the menu is great so this is a good reason to have brunch! As ever, we started from the car park on the edge of Hayfield and walked along the Sett Valley Trail to the café. Although the forecast had said to expect a little rain, there was none but the wind was definitely chilly. After our brunch, we followed the Pennine Bridleway, planning to go to the top of Lantern Pike and then see what we fancied from that point onwards. However, when we reached the cottages at Windy Knowle, we met a woman leaving No. 1, walking her dog. Jacinta engaged her in conversation as the house had been on the market a while ago. It hadn't sold then, but would be up for sale again soon. The woman described the walk that she would go on to exercise her dog. This was to the west of the summit of Lantern Pike. This sounded interesting as we had always continued more or less eastward on every previous visit. At the foot of the pike we looked at the map and the options for the walk.
At the foot of Lantern Pike. The NT sign is not upright!

Kinder; a little snow and the shooting cabin

After descending to the five-way path junction at Blackshaw Farm we then turned left. The problem was that, although a path was marked on the map,there wasn't a clear track to follow on the ground! 
No track on the ground- just a rather unappreciated gate

We did manage to reach Long Lee Farm, despite a few rather boggy patches and a couple of stiles.

Stile with boarder and inscription

From that point, the route was very clear, following a restricted byway past Wethercotes, which seemed to be the place where unloved 4x4s go to rest in peace.

The final way back from Windy Knowle went down the Pennine Bridleway for a way and then cut back towards a restored/extended farmhouse, then across the dam of the Sett Valley Reservoir and finally along the Sett Valley Trail to the car park.

10¼ miles with 240m ascent.


Popular posts from this blog

Saturday February 23rd

Image
 Mortimer House, Dukes Road and Back Tor We fancied a longer walk today as we'd signed up to Macmillan's Peak District Mighty Hike and we felt that we needed to start training sooner rather than later. Although we tend not to go out for walks at the weekends if we can avoid it to avoid parking problems, the weather looked very good. To be confident of a parking spot, we set off (relatively) early for Mortimer House. It had been a while since we'd done this walk, even though it is something of a favourite of ours. The drive was pretty quick- about 50 minutes, probably another benefit of getting out early. Striding out on Cartledge Flat After parking up just by Mortimer House we set off along Dukes Road with a lovely clear blue sky with only a few clouds in the distant west. There had been substantial repair works to the moorlands around us with lots of heather brash spread on bare areas of peat and breakwaters of rocks in rivulet runs . Back Tor and Lost Lad on the skyline...
Read more

Monday March 4th

Image
 Bleaklow: Grinah and Barrow Stones After the disappointment of not being able to get out for a walk with Ann and Julian on Friday, we determined to make the best use of a dry day on Monday March 4th. We decided to do a walk that we last did in March 2022, described in the guidebook as "adventure that delivers untamed wildness for the Dark Peak connoisseur!". This description certainly appealed to David. After a pit stop for a coffee and a gander at the ducks at Fairholmes, we set off for the Fagney Plantation, where we parked up. The day was clear, still and cold(ish), with superb reflections in the reservoirs of the surrounding scenery. The first section is along the road up to the turning circle and thence to the old stone bridge across the Derwent at Slippery Stones. From here, the walk to Humber Knolls is pleasant (if muddy) and then beyond to Hoar Clough is fairly easy going. On the way to Humber Knolls We went up the east side of Hoar Clough towards Shepherds Meeting S...
Read more

Friday May 3rd

Image
Beinn a' Ghlò: Càrn Liath, Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain and Càrn nan Gabhar A big day out for David on his own. The Beinn a' Ghlò range is a set of three Munros to the east side of Glen Tilt, with a purpose-built car park which already had quite a few cars parked there when David arrived at 09:00! Strangely enough, the trudge up the farmer's track to where the path branched off towards Càrn Liath seemed quite wearying but it was probably just a matter of warming up. Initial track towards Càrn Liath. Restored path clearly visible The path up Càrn Liath was clearly visible as a great deal of effort had gone into restoring it as it had become extremely eroded. I reached the summit after about two hours- lovely views, but the car was still visible! From the summit of Càrn Liath (Car still visible in second picture) Looking northeast, the rest of the day's outing was clearly visible (but did look pretty daunting). Bràigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain (left) and...
Read more