22/06/2018.
Can't believe how the time flies...Its been almost a month since I set foot on the Peak district boundary walk. So with a nice long work free weekend I decided to take the drive over to Rowarth to do another short section of the walk..Anyone that knows Rowarth will know what a quiet /out of the way sort of place it is...Just a small hamlet, one way in, one way out...I rarely look at road atlases and have never used a Sat nav, but im sure I will find my way there...I did eventually.. via Charlesworth, Marple bridge and Mellor. I have all day and the scenery is superb and as for the weather, We don't have weather like this very often..It was scorching hot "Flamin June". In fact I was in two minds about bringing the dog but we had plenty of drinks to keep us hydrated. A flask of coffee and a big bottle of squash for me and 4 bottles of water for my bud.
Not sure how far I wanted too walk today, I knew it wasn't going to be too far, Glossop didn't seem far away and it would make a good place to continue the walk from next time..But to get to Glossop I had to drag my hot sweating body over a hill..It was a nice gentle hill though called Cown edge. It only reaches a height of 1348ft but the views are stupendous, looking out towards Manchester and around the western fringes of the Peak park...Had a chat on the way up with a chap from Stockport, he told of a beautiful breeze along the top of the ridge, and he wasn't wrong....it was heavenly...Been a few years since I have been up here, I recall mist and drizzly rain on that occasion, certainly a different picture today. I reclined on the rocks for a coffee and a KitKat...3 fingers for me and one for Alf...he also polished off a bottle of water...bless him.
Over the crest of the hill and down to the Monks road. No Monks about, just a few cyclists, panting heavily after the gruelling climb up from Charlesworth, I wondered why they do it, pardon the expression but they looked completely buggered.. Ahead of us now Glossop was spreading/sprawling itself across the valley...Lots of paths around these parts and at times I wondered if was on the right path, can be a bit confusing at times...Glasses on to look at the map...glasses off so I don't trip over...glasses back on to look at the map...glasses off etc etc Turned out I was on the right path after all when I reached Herods farm
Soon dropped down to Glossop and the busy Hayfield road where i found a big layby for parking in on my next visit...Consulting the map again I picked a route back to Rowarth..A lovely route through beautiful wildflower rich meadows...walking in Utopia..Didn't want it to end..in fact I detoured a couple of times to take photographs of Peak and Northern footpath signs. I cannot walk passed them without taking a photograph...some of these signs are over 100 years old..back at the car I emptied the contents of my flask and lunchbox...why cant more days be like this?
