Rushup Edge, Perryfoot And Peak Forest

Introduction

A day to get back onto the hills. This walk is on the boundary of the White Peak and Dark Peak, near Castleton.

It was a pleasant day, with a thin high cloud layer, not too hot, and just a light breeze .

The Rushup Edge / Mam Tor car park is 35 minutes drive from Cheadle Hulme

The walk is 7.8 miles and it took took 2 hours 30 minutes, plus 20 minutes for lunch.

This is a great walk for obedient dogs but there are lots of open moor, minor road, and pasture sections where a lead is required.

I parked in the National Trust Rushup Edge ncar park, postcode S33 8WA.

I walked in an anticlockwise direction.

The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1 and OL24.

Rushup Edge

Most people who use this car park are drawn to climb Mam Tor. But having been there, done that, I set off up through the woods.

There was a brief view across to the head of Winnats Pass.

I then crossed the road to enter the National Trust site of Rushup Edge.

A little further on, I turned to look down into Castleton and the massive buildings of Hope Quarry beyond, just visible in the centre right of the picture.

I was ignored by a grub-hunting jackdaw.

And I was more interested in the views on the other side of the Edge, down into Edale.

Nearing the top of the Edge now, the ridge is really well defined, falling away to the valleys, left to the south, where I was to head shortly, and right to the north and the Kinder plateau.

Turning round the ridge stretched on to Mam Tor, Hollins Cross and Lose Hill.

Perryfoot and Perry Dale

My route descended from here, crossed a B to lead down towards Perryfoot.

At the bottom of the hill was a pretty wooded valley with stream, and a few handsome alpacas!

Perryfoot is a pretty little hamlet with a lovely pond, where a garden warbler was belting out its lovely song.

Perry Dale is a classical White Peak dale, and is a public road. Nobody told the cows!

Just before reaching Peak Forest, I took a path to the left across the fields, which overlook the village.

The range of livestock seen expanded further as I met these delightful goats with their kids.

This was the low point of the walk, and I was soon heading up the wooded track known as Oxlow Rake.

Oxlow Rake And Old Moor

Halfway up, a path to the right could be accessed via steps over a wall. I wasn’t going that way, but the steps made an ideal seat for my lunch stop.

Moving on, I emerged from the Rake to more lovely views to the south-west.

Once out on the moor, the evidence of past mining activities is quite clear, marked by the uneven ground surface of now grassed over subsided areas and spoil heaps on otherwise smooth grass fields.

The final mile and a half was directly towards Mam Tor, on which hordes of visitors could be made out, even with the naked eye.

As I was completing the walk, I concluded that the view along the valley, with Rushup Edge to the right was a view along the demarcation between the Dark Peak gritstone and the White Peak limestone.

This is a lovely walk, taking in the moors and the dales, slightly off the beaten track, probably because it crosses the boundary between the two different OS maps, so isn’t an obvious route to take!

And Finally….

This is the brilliant “Need You No More” by the strangely named Chappaqua Wrestling, from their new album “Plus Ultra”. Great song!