Corbar Hill

The woodland trail ended at the edge of a field, and I could see a large cross and trig on a crag a short distance away. A few minutes later I was stood next to the cross admiring a wonderful view of Buxton in the valley below. Early morning light reflected on the clouds and made the sky look quite dramatic. There seemed to be a heavenly conflict going on between the white, fluffy clouds of the northeast and a maelstrom of storm clouds in the southwest. Corbar Hill was the first Ethel of the day and probably the easiest one of I've climbed in this Venture. If only they were all this easy. During planning I'd had a slight concern about access to the moorland plateau of Combs Moss from this point, but in the end, an obvious path led me from the Cross up on to the edge of the moor. The rest of today's walk was a just a circuit of this moorland plateau. In terms of navigation, it was simple; just keep the edge on my right. There were two other Ethels to bag, Black Edge and Combs Head.

I started walking along the eastern edge of the moor towards Black Edge. The path was quite heathery and very boggy. Back at the car I'd debated whether to put my gaiters on, and in the end I didn't. 'It'll be a good path,' I told myself. I figured that with it being so close to Buxton, it would be a popular route and a well-worn path. Although there was an obvious path all around the perimeter of the moor, I found it to be very boggy and slippery. The path didn't really look much used at all. During my patrol of the plateau's perimeter, I never past one person. The good people of Buxton must carry out their walking elsewhere.

Black Edge

By the time I reached the trig on Black Edge my trousers were muddied up to my knees and I had the unpleasant feeling of damp feet. This was definitely a soggier walk than I'd expected. The views hadn't been the best on the way up either. It was a view of a flat, heathery moorland to my left or a stone wall to my right. After Black Edge, the terrain and views improved significantly. The northern end of the plateau definitely delivered the best views.

A short while after Black Edge summit, I came across an array of satellite dishes pointing in various directions. I looked over the stone wall and saw that the leads from the dishes disappeared into some rabbit holes. Obviously, the bunnies around here had got their comms sorted out. The path gradually descended as I headed northwards opening up wonderful views of the hills and valleys.

Castle Naze Fort

The drama of the northern edge of the plateau culminates in Castle Naze, an Iron Age fort. The fort is triangular with two sides protected by cliffs and steep hillside. The plateau side of the fort is defended by a deep ditch. It has been well chosen as a defence position. There is evidence that the site was used by the Romans and reconstructed in Medieval times. Naze derives from the Old English 'naess' which means a ness/promontory/headland. It is well named. There was a wonderful view down into the valley to the Combs Reservoir.

It took a while to drag myself away from this dramatic landscape, but eventually I started walking southwards. I could see my perimeter path heading off into the distance. It looked as though it meandered a lot more on the plateau's west side than it had done on the east. The cliffs on Combs Edge were quite impressive.

Combs Head

I think the west side of the plateau sees fewer people than the east. The path deteriorated and returned to a boggy and slippery challenge. I spent a lot of time looking down at my footing which was a shame since the views from the path were excellent. Halfway along the edge I came across a landrover track leading up to a small shooting hut that has been built on the edge. The map shows a string of grouse butts running from the shooting hut, across the moor to the east side of the plateau. I think a lot of Ethel baggers use the grouse butts access path as a quick way of making the route shorter to Combs Head. That's a shame since they miss out on the better northern edge of the plateau.

The path gradually followed the edge uphill until it turned southeast. Looking west I could see the high hills of the Goyt Valley. The clouds were greyer now and I thought I might be in for a spot of rain. I had to get the gps out to find the official top of Combs Head. There was no cairn, just a heathery patch of moorland. It was only a short walk from the summit to the point where I'd accessed the moor earlier this morning.

The views from Corbar Hill were just as good as they had been this morning, although the clouds didn't have quite the same drama. In Corbar Woods I knocked on the door again, but nobody was at home. I was delighted to find no parking tickets under my windscreen wiper when I got back to my car.

The perimeter walk had some great views, especially on the north and west sides. Looking at the state of my trousers though, I'd definitely wear gaiters next time.