Introduction
With the weather set fair and cold I headed to the hills again today.
It’s a 50 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme to Old Glossop.
It was a truly stunning day, with wall to wall sunshine, and only a light easterly breeze on the top of the moors.
The walk is 7.8 miles with 1400feet of ascent.
It took 3 hours 40 minutes plus 10 minutes for lunch.
The walk is a mix of open moor, fenced tracks, sheep pasture and disused railway line, so some opportunities for dogs to be off the lead, especially outside the bird nesting season.
I walked in an anticlockwise direction.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1.
I parked near All Saints Church, postcode SK13 7RN, What 3 Words ///reseller.traffic.clerk
Old Glossop To Cock Hill
Old Glossop is about half a mile up the road from Glossop Town Centre, and is a pretty village with lots of quaint terraces of cottages.
The route out was soon taking me sharply uphill with views down to the settlement.
Shortly, I was on the Access Land which leads to the open moor, with a view up the final steep path to Cock Hill..
I stopped for a rest on this ascent, and took in the views back to Glossop.
Another intrepid hiker was at the trig point, and he did the honours for this photo!
Unusually, the trig point is not at the highest point of the hill. I reached the high point shortly after this, and gained a spectacular view into the Longdendale Valley and the Woodhead Pass with Holme Moss beyond. I followed the line of the grouse butts to reach the precipitous Clough Edge.
Pennine Way And The Longdendale Valley
The strong variation in light conditions didn’t facilitate great photography here (well that’s my excuse anyway).
This cliff edge path required great care in the frosty conditions that persisted in the shade.
The steep descent leads to Reaps Farm.
Here I thought I might encounter our friends’ daughter who lives there, but all I found at home was the pig!
So I trudged down the drive, crossed the road and joined The Longdendale Trail.
The trail is a typical flat former railway line, but the scenery is lovely.
Padfield To Old Glossop
Leaving the trail, I made my way over to the village of Padfield. The usually quiet village was undergoing road resurfacing, so not as quiet as I expected.
I crossed the farmland that leads to Woodhead Road, noticing, perhaps a couple of miles away, the Cock Hill trig point on the distant ridge. Its visibility from down here perhaps explains why it wasn’t on the high point of the hill.Quite impressed by the 10X zoom on my phone camera!
Ahead of me was Swineshaw Reservoir resplendent in the sunshine.
Beyond the reservoir is a smaller, delightful, fishing lake.
From here, the lane approaches Old Glossop, and a short stroll back down to the car.
This was a perfect walk on a perfect day. Very enjoyable!
And to top it all, I finished it off with something Naughty and Nice!
Just a half, mind!
And Finally….
Never Let Me Go is from Ringo Starr’s new, mainly country album, Look Up. As well as the country vibes, I think it has a little feel of early Beatles songs.
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