Walking The Pennine Way When I Was Eleven - Stage 2 (Red Brook to Crowden)


Start:  Red Brook

Finish: Crowden

Distance:  9 miles

Total Distanced Covered:  15 miles


The first morning of our walk and I was up at seven o'clock.  Breakfast  was nothing more than a drink called Rise and Shine, as I recall this was a powder that you mixed with water to make an orangy drink.

After dismantling the tent we set off at nine o'clock out of the valley from the brook, immediately climbing steeply up to the Kinder Plateau to rejoin the official Pennine Way route.  We were soon going down again, leaving beside Kinder Downfall, a waterfall.  We sat nearby and got chatting to a warden from the Peak District National Park.

The next stage saw us climb again to moorland and marsh on Bleaklow.  The conditions were pleasant and the path easy enough to follow and quite springy underfoot.  We had lunch on Featherbed Moss at 1.30.

Many people find the section across the moors to Featherbed Moss tough but I didn't  have any major difficulties.  We had good weather which obviously helped but I think that breaking what is usually one day from Edale to Crowden into two was a great idea.  It gradually introduced us to the walk in managable stages whereas someone starting out on a tough stage over difficult terrain for sixteen miles may struggle.

In fact I found the descent from Bleaklow to Crowden on a steep path more tricky than crossing the moor.  As we walked along the edge of the moor the hill fell away dramatically to our right from quite a narrow path.  We saw a pair of lads nearby who appeared to be walking the Pennine Way as well.  We would meet them again later on the walk.

We went past the end of a reservoir and reached Crowden at 7 o'clock.  I have been this way many times since on trips to Manchester and there really is very little to the place.  I always look across to the moor and the steep slope by the edge of Bleaklow and think back to when I walked here.  We stayed at a campsite which was quite busy.  My main memory is that there were even more midges than the previous evening.  I had a supper of soup and chicken supreme made on the camp stove.


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