Snowy Stanage edge...A walk from Hathersage.

19/01/2018.

I have a book titled 100 greatest walks in Britain, thought I would try out one of the routes this week. I chose the Stanage edge walk in Derbyshire. The walk is classed as challenging, but having done most of this route before I'm sure it will be fine. At 10 miles long it says allow 6 hours. 6 hours? I'm sure it wont take that long. As we drove down to Hathersage we could see plenty of snow on the tops...Great should be a good day.

A lovely walk up the valley on paths that we rarely visit. We passed Peak and Northern sign number 262 in a lovely wooded setting below Greens house. I have been collecting photographs of these signs for many years now, I believe that there are over 500 of them scattered around the Peak district, Its always a thrill to find a new one.

Climbing quite steeply now on muddy paths we eventually made it up to the snowline. Alfie was in his element, rolling around like a lunatic. As we climbed up to Dennis Knoll the view became wider and wilder, we had well and truly left the valley now. We made it up to the lonely road up below the edge, it looked slippery, not many drivers up here today.

We left the road and followed the track that lead up towards the edge..Soon leaving this track in favour of a path near The Buck stone.The path heads Northwest keeping below the rock escarpment of High neb, there are many abandonded Millstones alongside the path here..I say alongside the path but I'm not sure if we were on the path or not as the snow was getting quite deep along here.

Something special about walking in snow, cant put my finger on it, I just love that scrunch under the boot. However this is a rocky place and a misplaced foot and you are in knee deep. Snow down your socks and inside your boots isn't so much fun. The wind was now picking up causing the snow to drift across the path. we decided to scramble up to the edge where the walking would be much easier.

We headed back along the edge to the summit trig point to High neb standing at just above the 1500ft mark This northern part of the edge forms the boundary between South Yorkshire and Derbyshire and is the highest point of the whole edge.

Its a fair distance along the edge, but with views this good you don't want it to end. Stanage [from stone edge] is a magnet for climbers as well as walkers but today we virtually had it to ourselves only seeing a couple of other walkers along it's entire length ..My camera was working overtime along here, the blue skies disappeared but I aint complaining the brooding clouds and dark skies made it even more special..I have always admired the view back to High neb, I rate it as one of the best vistas in the whole of the National park...Its in the next photograph.

We reached the end of Stanage and dropped down towards Higger tor And then taking the path downhill. Callow bank has a fine viewpoint down to Mitchell field farm. We rounded the farm and picked up another path, one I have never walked before. Its great to follow new paths from time to time..We looked back up to Callow bank and Higger tor, familiar hills, but having never seen them from this path before they appeared like new hills. I enjoyed that.

We made it back down to Hathersage. We were buzzing, I cant remember how many times I said "it was good wasn't it"...Snowy walks are always special but this one was out of this world, it certainly deserves its place in a book called Britains best walks...As for time taken I checked my tracker ....5 hours 13 minutes...Life in the old dogs yet.