Five Nights/Five Walks: Two walks north of the Hope Valley, from Ladybower Inn
or Derwent Dams and two in the Hope Valley, with the last one in Sheffield.
Stay in Sheffield or in Hathersage or at
the Ladybower Inn/Yorkshire Bridge Inn with buses connecting
Hope Valley and Ladybower (although the buses will not connect well with walk starts
and finishes in all cases)
Why five walks? By arriving
on the Thursday and leaving on the Tuesday, this insulates against any scheduled
railway track works over the Easter Weekend, i.e. accommodation can be booked
now. [The two walks using the Hope Valley line can also be done by using buses,
without much additional travel time, should the line be closed.] For anyone not sure about 5 consecutive days of
long walks, there is always the City of Sheffield
Short Walk with its 2 hours long exploration of this lovely place.
Order of Walks – As per usual,
this is largely defined by public transport availability and frequency, plus
wanting the most flexible walk with the best connections on departure date, so
people can break off when they want.
Draft Schedule based on
current train and bus timings:
25.0 km (15.5 mi), with 862/869m ascent/descent,
8/10.
Hope Valley Line both ways (hourly service).
A green valley out of Hathersage, gritstone edges, the
Ladybower Reservoir, some moorland.
With only a few ways to shorten the walk, but with the
post lunch shortcut even making some sense as the bit cut out is also the start
of the next day’s walk. Pub lunch.
25.8 km (16.0 mi), with 850m ascent/descent, 8/10.
Line 257 to/from Ashopton, Ladybower Inn (out at 09.00
in the morning, return on xx.52 – last at 18.52).
Famous gritstone formations on Derwent Edge high
above the Derwent Reservoirs, wooded Bradfield Dale with its reservoirs and
folly tower. Back across moorland. With eight different ways to cut the effort!
Pub lunch.
25.8 km (16.0 mi), with 850m ascent/descent, 8/10
to 10/10 (depending
on weather and route finding).
Line 257C to/from Derwent Dams, Fairholmes (out at 08.25
in the morning, return on 15.29, 17.29 or 19.29).
Loneliest and wildest of the fully written up SWC
walks: across the moor, largely without paths. Picnic
lunch.
26.9 km (16.7 mi), with 715m ascent/descent, 8/10.
Bus as above for the other Sunday walk, but route can
be significantly shortened by starting from or finishing at Fairholmes (same as
the main Sunday walk).
A grassy ridge to Britain’s longest inland landslip.
Descend to skirt the famous Derwent Reservoirs. Many other Walk Options,
including alternative finishes at the Yorkshire Bridge Inn bus stop or at
Bamford railway station. Picnic lunch.
27.0 km (16.8 mi), with 728/742m ascent/descent, 8/10.
Hope Valley Line both ways (hourly service).
Pastures with views, Mam Tor's landslip area, Cave
Dale, Castleton, Hope Cement Works, a large upland moor and a scenic descent. Many
Walk Options, but only buses from Castleton or Bradfield offer significant
shortcuts. Pub lunch.
From 15.0 km (9.4 mi) with 325/259m ascent/descent to 27.8
km (17.3 mi), with 664/618m ascent/descent, 8/10.
Buses or Hope Valley Line for shortcuts and at the end
on the full walk. Pub lunch.
The ultimate bluebell walk! Some wooded valleys in Sheffield (with a lot of wild garlic as well).
I quote from my walk report on 03/05/2019: “This walk was posted as 'Bluebells in
Sheffield', more in hope than expectation, but boy, did we get bluebells! From
the General Cemetery onwards, the cemetery itself, every park and wood had
them, there were no 5 minutes without patches, full slopes or valley bottoms of
bluebells. Confidently the most I have seen in a day's walking, ever. Generally,
a little past the best, slightly paler than full coloured, but still taller and
fuller than in the South. In the Porter Valley, the blues were outnumbered
though by wild garlic, unbelievable as that may sound.”
We will be a bit earlier in the bluebell season
than in 2019, so they should be in very good nick.
8 comments:
Walks now posted.
There is a bit of uncertainty about the buses on the Sunday out to Ladybower and Fairholmes, as the long-time operator of the 257 (was 275/276), Hulley's of Baslow, has gone out of business last week after 104 years, when - after months or problems (no-shows, an old bus fleet prone to faults, shortage of drivers) - Derbyshire CC pulled the support for half their lines due to this performance. New companies have been appointed for the Mon-Sat and the Sun services respectively, but there are conflicting timetables out on the web. And on the new schedule there seem to be no Sunday buses from the Hope Valley to the route, just from Sheffield. I shall find out more this Sunday when I'm up there and will update the posts if necessary.
Walk posts for the Saturday and Sunday have now been updated with the new bus times. Minor changes only on the Saturday, important ones on Sunday: later start and an earlier last bus out mean that the full walk is unlikely to be doable without taking a taxi (or car) for the return journey. The Westend Valley Variation is perfectly doable though. We'll see how many (if any) car drivers with spare seats we have for a lift out to a train station or even to Sheffield, else we have to organise taxis for the evening, and do that the day before preferably, as there won't be phone reception at Fairholmes.
Sunday morning food provisions: opening early in the train station: M&S Food and Whistlestop plus 2 coffee shops , and then there's CJ's Sandwich Bar opposite our bus stand (D3). CJ's sells sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, that type of stuff, but is CASH ONLY!
One last thing: for anyone wishing to have a slow and low day during the trip, there is of course the rather marvellous (but I would say that) City of Sheffield walk, all of 8 km long and a great introduction to various if not all aspects of this wonderful place: https://www.walkingclub.org.uk/city-walk/sheffield/
I am coming up on the train today and hope to do about half of Thomas s wonderful walk tomorrow Afterwards I will go to visitmy Mum who is 101 in Prestbury nr Macclesfield.
Hoping to join you tomorrow - will be coming out on the train from Manchester direction. Arriving either about an hour before you, or if I miss that one, 13 minutes after.
Thanks to Thomas for another great weekend and to everyone else for the company. The walks were spectacular!
Thank you Thomas for putting together a fantastic trip. All five were fantastic walks, Fairholmes Circular being the highlight for me (even with the alternate descent). Great company throughout as always and perhaps a new recommended dinner option in Sheffield.
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