New Walks in Central Nottinghamshire ... and Beyond

In April 2009 I got the bus from Lancaster to Keswick and walked to Braithwaite before heading up into the hills.  I followed the flat track above Caudale Beck for two miles but didn't notice the path crossing the beck that I should have taken.  This meant that I found myself at the end of the valley having to scramble up a steep path by Low Force.  After that it was a pleasant day walking along the ridge to Hopegill Head and back to Grisedale Pike, which is a pleasing cone shaped mountain-top profile.  The decent to the Whinlatter Pass only took twenty minutes so I had time to look at the osprey camera at the visitor centre.  In June 2008 I resumed my Land's End to John O'Groats walk.  I had finished the previous stage in Scales after climbing Blencathra.  This left me with a ridiculously long stage from there to Carlisle if I wanted to avoid an extra trip from my sister's near Lancaster.  I go...

Start: Mankinholes Finish: Stanbury Moor Distance: 12 miles Total Distance Walked: 52 miles After a windy night under canvas where I didn't get much sleep we got up at 7.30.  We set off at 9.45 and after a mile had reached the imposing tower of Stoodley Pike where the wind was still strong.  The monument commemmorates the Peace of Ghent in the Napoleonic Wars and can be seen from many miles away. From there we desecended to the Calder Valley.  There was a sense of reaching a new phase of the Pennine Way.  The first few days had been mostly across rather bleak moorland with few distinguishing features.  We entered the valley through woods having barely seen a tree for the last three days. We went through a hamlet called Eastwood and up a steep track.  A little later at Jack Bridge we stopped at the New Inn for lunch.  After the opening few days with nowhere to stop for refreshments mid-walk it was nice to have a meal and break. Leaving t...

Start: Marsden Finish: Mankinholes Distance:12 miles Total Distance Covered: 40 miles At the Grey Cat in Marsden I had Corn Flakes followed by a full English breakfast to help keep me going on the day ahead.  It was great to have a proper meal to start the day. We set off at 9.50 and left Marsden to rejoin the Pennine Way route soon after.  The Way climbed up to another area of moorland before crossing the M62 on a footbridge.  The bridge had been built relatively recently and we seemed very high over the motorway.  The wind was funnelled through the gap and really blew strongly.   I've been under this bridge many times since and always think back to the time we crossed it. On the other side we stopped for lunch before yet more trudging through moorland, a little wet here, but otherwise it didn't seem too arduous.  However, I had picked up my first blisters of the walk, although they weren't bad ones.  Near Blackstone Edge the ground ...

Start:  Crowden Finish:  Marsden Distance: 12 miles Total Distance Covered: 27 miles I was up at 7.45am the next morning for a breakfast of a vanilla drink concoction made from powder.  We left the campsite at 9.20 and set off along the main path out of the valley.  At some point we managed to drift off the official path and down to Crowden Great Brook.  We walked up the brook itself which although not very fast-flowing was still awkward as we stepped over rocks. Eventually we found a way uphill away from the brook onto some marshy ground and then a further steady climb to the top of Black Hill.  This is a barren wasteland of peat which is the highest point in Cheshire.  Except for the trig point on top it's pretty featureless, although there isn't much "pretty" about it.  There was low cloud by the time we approached the summit and visiblity was severely restricted.  We were able to see a group of two adults and children a little...