Introduction

With a fine day forecast, and a quiet day in prospect tomorrow, I decided to follow the Olympic spirit of the past couple of weeks. So, I challenged myself to go further, higher, and faster than any previous walk on the blog.

The weather, as forecast, was sunny and just pleasantly warm, ideal for a walk.

On the OS Maps app the walk was just under 9 miles, but on completion my phone reckoned I’d walked over 10 miles! There was 2030ft, 618m, of ascent to tackle.

Edale is 45 minutes drive from Cheadle Hulme and the walk took 3hours 45 minutes to complete.

If you try this walk, allow longer as I had very favourable weather and tended to push on quickly, being on my own.

For dog walkers, the walk is great now the ground nesting bird season is over. There are some short stretches with sheep grazing. I saw more than one dog chasing grouse out on the moorland – well, it is the glorious 12th so the grouse hunting season commenced today!

The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1.

The walk starts at postcode S33 7ZQ which is the Edale Car Park. I paid £4 for 4 hours. It was quiet at 10 am, but busy at 2pm. There are regular trains direct from Manchester Piccadilly, and a couple of pubs to finish the walk, for those not driving.

Edale and Grindsbrook Clough

It was a pleasant enough walk up the road past the station, The Ramblers Inn, the parish church, and The Old Nags Head, before a path to the right led down over Grinds Brook via a narrow bridge.

The path emerged onto a field where stone slabs showed the way, and the purple heather first appeared on the distant hillside..

After a short woodland walk, the path leads out into open country, and as it rises, magnificent views appear. The story of this stunning rise is more easily told in pictures.

And then comes the last section, where walking just won’t do it. This requires use of the hands for a great final scramble up the boulders to reach the moors – I loved this!

The view back down from the top is worth the climb.

Over The Moors

I elected to head over to the peak at Grindslow Knoll. Although this could be easily by-passed, I hoped the view would be worth the detour.

I was not disappointed as I overlooked the Vale of Edale and the ridge from Lose Hill (centre left) to Mam Tor (right).

I walked on past Crowden Tower and Edale Head, a section with much peat and some strange looking boulder formations.

A short stop for lunch provided a last opportunity to take in the splendour of the Vale of Edale.

Jacob’s Ladder

I joined the Pennine Way to embark on the descent which was less steep than the way up. At this sign, I opted for Jacob’s Ladder, said to have been named after a local farmer who cut the steps into the hillside.

Upper Booth to Edale

Once in the valley, the path meanders along easily. However, there’s a sting in the tail in the final mile – another uphill section to the top end of Edale village. I found this quite tough. What it’s like for those who have walked 267 miles from Kirk Yetholm I can’t bear to imagine.

Some nice views though!

A lovely walk, and a real sense of achievement for me. Highly recommended, and can be easily shortened by coming down Crowden Clough to Upper Booth.

And Finally…

A week tomorrow, we are seeing Van Morrison at Manchester Apollo, so I’ve been playing his latest album all day. Here’s the title track from Latest Record Project Volume 1 – Latest Record Project!