Ascent/Descent:
614m; Net Walking Time: ca. 6 hours
Toughness:
9 out of 10
From Sheffield: take the 09.14 Manchester Piccadilly stopping service via the Hope Valley (Dore & Totley 09.21, Grindleford 09.29), arriving Hathersage at 09.32.
From Sheffield: take the 09.14 Manchester Piccadilly stopping service via the Hope Valley (Dore & Totley 09.21, Grindleford 09.29), arriving Hathersage at 09.32.
From
Manchester Piccadilly: take the 09.45 Sheffield stopping service via the Hope
Valley (New Mills Central 10.13, Chinley 10.21, Edale 10.29, Hope 10.36,
Bamford 10.39), arriving Hathersage at 10.43 (ie a good hour behind
the other group).
Return
trains from Bamford:
17.35 and 19.35 towards Manchester; 16.40, 18.40,
20.40 and 23.02 towards Sheffield.
Return trains to London: 16.44, 17.31, 18.44, 19.31 and 20.44 (change at Sheffield or Manchester Piccadilly, from 3 hours 21 minutes total journey time).
Return trains to London: 16.44, 17.31, 18.44, 19.31 and 20.44 (change at Sheffield or Manchester Piccadilly, from 3 hours 21 minutes total journey time).
Topical Lessons in the times of Covid-19: how a medieval village dealt with a localised outbreak of The Plague - through voluntary self-isolation!
“Centred
on Hathersage, an attractive village in the Hope Valley surrounded by the
ringed cliffs of the Stanage and Millstone edges as well as the ancient
iron-age hill fort of Carl Wark and the distictive Higger Tor on Burbage Moor, this
walks leads through some outstandingly beautiful scenery: delightful meadows
with a jigsaw of drystone walls and other signs of small-scale livestock
farming, rolling hills backed by open moorland and the deep wooded
valleys of the Highlow Brook (one of the few remaining in the Peak District
with the remains of ancient oakwoods) and the Bretton Clough with their fast
flowing streams. You have magnificent views all day (weather
permitting).
The
middle part follows the geological fault line between the Dark and White
Peak areas along the Eyam and Hucklow Edges with tremendous views into the
Hope Valley and then descends through a wood into it, where you pass plenty
of signs of its mining heritage: (now grassy) spoil heaps and
fenced-off unstable ground suffering from subsidence.
You
eventually reach the famous plague village of Eyam with its tea options.
Rise up steeply from Eyam to cross the heathery blanket peat bog of Eyam
Moor (along a clear path), and – after one last steep descent and partial
re-ascent through a remote green valley – re-cross the Derwent River back into
Hathersage”
Walk Options:
A Shortcut down from the Hucklow Edge to Foolow cuts out Great Hucklow, this cuts 2.2 km/1.3 mi and 61m ascent and the resulting walk is rated 8/10.
Buses from Great Hucklow, Foolow or Eyam to Sheffield or Hope enable a finish after 10.0 km/6.2 mi, 11.9 km/7.4 mi or 14.4 km/9.0 mi respectively: line 65 (Buxton to Sheffield Interchange, 7 buses Mondays to Saturdays and 3 on Sundays) and (from Foolow and Eyam only) line 66 (Baslow to Sheffield Interchange, 5 buses Mondays to Saturdays and 4 on Sundays) and (from Great Hucklow only) line 173 (Bakewell to Hope and Castleton, 4 buses per day).
A Shortcut down from the Hucklow Edge to Foolow cuts out Great Hucklow, this cuts 2.2 km/1.3 mi and 61m ascent and the resulting walk is rated 8/10.
Buses from Great Hucklow, Foolow or Eyam to Sheffield or Hope enable a finish after 10.0 km/6.2 mi, 11.9 km/7.4 mi or 14.4 km/9.0 mi respectively: line 65 (Buxton to Sheffield Interchange, 7 buses Mondays to Saturdays and 3 on Sundays) and (from Foolow and Eyam only) line 66 (Baslow to Sheffield Interchange, 5 buses Mondays to Saturdays and 4 on Sundays) and (from Great Hucklow only) line 173 (Bakewell to Hope and Castleton, 4 buses per day).
Lunch: The Barrel Inn (7.3
km/4.5 mi, food to 15.00), The
Queen Anne Inn (9.8 km/6.1 mi into the full walk, food served to
14.30), The Bull's Head (11.8 km/7.4 mi into the full walk (9.6 km/6.1 mi if walking the shortcut),
food all day).
Tea:
Plenty
of options in Eyam and Hathersage, see the pdf for details.
For
walk directions, map, photos, height profile and gpx/kml files click here.
T=swc.315
2 comments:
Of the 24 people hereabouts, 2 were on their way back home some time during the day and 2 went on a walk of their own, so n=20 on the walk. Up to mid-afternoon we had very low clouds with only very occasional very short bouts of drizzle or rain, just enough to put on waterproofs and close all zippers to then take them off again. From 4 pm onwards though we had about half an hour of proper rain, w=low-clouds-with-some-rain.
The weather couldn't detract from the beautiful landscape though: lush green pastures, a tight green valley, the odd wood, the odd steep climb. A first stop was made by about half the group at The Barrel Inn, while another group moved on past a landslipped bit of road and down a steep wood, then through a couple of picturesque villages to The Black Bull, where 4 of us had a wonderful lunch at a covered outdoor table. Some picknickers and some of the other groups stopped for a drink. We moved on to Eyam and had coffee and cake in the courtyard of Eyam Hall.
One last steep ascent up to the Edge and across to the sea of purple that is Eyam Moor: heather in full bloom interspersed with blooming gorse, very pretty indeed.
One went off on a tangent (literally) to (successfully) locate the Wet Withens stone circle and a neighbouring large barrow.
After walk drinks at The Plough for some.
Turns out that the 2 who did a walk of their own bumped into one off the main group in Eyam, who had dawdled to have a look at the Museum there, and they got drenched by one of the forecast thunderstorms when crossing Eyam Moor, at around 6 pm.
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