Captain's Log

Hayfield

It was a Bank Holiday Monday and we decided to get an early start in order to guarantee a parking spot at Hayfield. It was a good job we did start early since there were many other early starters who’d already parked up on Kinder Road. I did wonder whether it would be a good idea to go walking today. It wasn’t just the crowds, but the weather forecasters had predicted temperatures above 30°C. The day was going to be a scorcher. The morning felt pleasant enough though as we set off under the shade of trees. The Kapitan and Cabin Boy were with me on today’s walk. We were in a (too) brief period between the English football season ending and the World Cup starting and so the Kapitan and Cabin Boy were keen to get outdoors and tick off some hills on their Ethel’s list. Unfortunately, the Cabin Boy had failed in her one and only duty to bring Ted; we’d have to return and re-tick these hills for Ted at a later date. 

Today’s walk would form a circuit around three Ethels: Mount Famine, Eccles Pike and Chinley Churn. I’d completed this walk in the opposite direction on my Ethel’s Venture (see Captain’s Log,  Eccles Famine Chinley Charmer). That had been nearly four years ago, but I still remembered the excellent views from all three peaks. There was also the option of doing a short out-and-back to another Ethel, South Head, from Mount Famine. The Kapitan and Cabin Boy had already ticked that one and so I doubted whether I'd include it on today’s walk. We started climbing the track towards Mount Famine. The first beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. 

Mount Famine

At least the ascent of Mount Famine was gradual. Well, initially at least. There were some cows near to the path at one point, but they looked too warm to be interested in bothering us. As we got higher, the western edge of the Kinder Scout plateau revealed itself. Earlier this month I’d walked along that edge on the final leg of my Pennine Way SoBo Venture (see Captain’s Log, Edale End Of Trail). I hoped that we might be cooled by a breeze as we got higher, but there was none to be felt. The last part of the ascent to the summit of Mount Famine was a steep climb. It was a superb view from the top. I pointed out Chinley, Eccles Pike and Chinley Churn to my walking companions. Over to the northwest we could see the hazy jagged outline of the high rises in Manchester city centre. South Head only looked a stone’s throw away, and I was almost tempted to do the out-and-back to its top. I really wanted to get some miles under our belt though before the day’s heat really revealed itself and so we started heading downhill towards Chinley. 

Chinley

Sheep took what refuge they could from the sun in the shade of stone walls. They were visibly panting. They must feel terrible having to wear that wooly jumper in this weather. Some of them looked too exhausted to move as we walked near them. I was surprised to see some very young lambs; the lambing season seems to have gone on for a very long time this year. The walk towards Chinley gave us a great view of Chinley Churn, the hill across the valley. I could see its rocky edge where it had been quarried in a previous age. We field hopped our way along until we reached the outskirts of Chinley. A street walk brought us to The Green Lane Social Cafe. The Kapitan suggested that we might stop and have a drink. It seemed like a good idea to me. We commandeered a table and our drinks were duly delivered. There was another cafe across the road called The Cracken. It seemed an odd name until I saw on the OS map that the quarry area on Chinley Churn was known as Cracken Edge. We probably sweated more than we drank as we sat outside the cafe, but at least we felt a bit more refreshed. The summit of Eccles Pike was visible to the south and we set off towards it. 

Eccles Pike

There’s only one practical option to walk to Eccles Pike from Chinley and that is via the road bridge over the busy A6 dual carriageway. The village was shielded from the noise of the road by embankments on either side. The level of noise came as quite a surprise as we were exposed to it crossing the bridge. Some wonderful cornflower coloured flowers caught our attention on the verge of the road. They looked a little like thistles. The Kapitan did some research and found them to be Centurea Montana. The flower is common in the more southerly mountain ranges of Europe. Maybe global warming is making the UK more attractive to it. The plant was certainly beautiful. 

Eccles Pike was only 370 metres high and so wasn’t that much of a physical challenge. Our path ascended gradually up its eastern ridge. The summit was a wonderful viewpoint and I was surprised that we had it to ourselves on our arrival. A large, unusual toposcope was embedded into the rock on the summit. It certainly did provide a great viewpoint. I pointed out the Ethels that the Kapitan and Cabin Boy still hadn’t done: Black Hill, Sponds Hill and Black Edge. There was a wooden seat a little west of the summit and we decided to take a rest for a few minutes. Chinley Churn looked a more challenging ascent across the valley. We descended by heading directly north. It was steeper and weaved its way back through gorse bushes, but we found our way back onto tarmac soon enough. We followed the country lane back towards Chinley. 

Chinley Churn

Having re-crossed the dual carriage, we headed down a pretty street lined with old cottages towards Leaden Knowl. A sign pinned to a post attracted my attention. It was advertising for punters to a ‘Beginners Street Dance’ class. There was a silhouette of a figure balancing on one hand as his legs rotated like the blades of a helicopter above him.
'Wow! That looks exciting. I wouldn't mind having a go at that' I thought. In the unlikely event that further enticement was required, it then went on to offer ‘...students also have the opportunity to enter street dance competitions in venues such as the Blackpool Tower ballroom.’ As a warning, it added, ‘Places fill up fast so book now.’
‘Crikey. Where do I sign?’ I thought. I then saw that the class was restricted to 4-11 year olds. It was obviously an ageist organisation. 

After crossing Black Brook, we started the long climb to Cracken Edge. A bridge over the Hope Valley railway line brought us to the Chinley Park Nature Reserve. I was interested to find a magnifying glass attached to the end of a wooden post. Presumably this was so that you could have a closer look at an insect that was accommodating enough to stand under it. Fortunately, the magnifying glass was in the shade since given today’s strong sunshine it would have quite likely focussed its rays and started a wildfire. There were some tables in a nearby hay meadow and we sat down on their hot plastic seats to have our lunch. An information board said that the area used to be used for tennis courts before it became a nature reserve. This seemed a little odd since the reserve was steep enough to support a dry-ski slope. 

The path gradually climbed and we started reaching the bottom of the quarry area. I chatted to a couple from Norwich who were in the Peak District on a holiday.
‘It’s a bit hillier than Norfolk’ commented the chap. The path weaved its way through the remains of the old slate quarry. The quarry was worked from (at least) 1640 to 1900. It specialised in paving and roofing slabs. There was even some underground mining involved. There were remnants of old buildings and infrastructure in the quarries. At last, we reached the top of the edge and started walking northwards along its top. I hoped that there might be a cool breeze along the edge, but I was sadly disappointed again. Three young men had settled down on a rock outcrop near Chinley Churn’s summit and so we took the summit photo a little further beyond. The view across the valley towards Mount Famine, South Head and Kinder Scout beyond, was stunning. 

Hayfield

The descent from the hill was gradual at first. A small diversion was made to avoid a cow that insisted on standing in the middle of the path. The path then dropped steeply down into the valley, finding its way to a country lane and then the A624. Our route avoided going into the centre of Hayfield itself and squeezed its way between the houses, lanes and footpaths at its southern end. We dropped down towards the River Kinder on a footpath flush with nettles that played havoc with our bare shins. At least the walk along the River Kinder was shaded, although the heat was still suffocating. Outside one of the houses I found a small slab supporting a fairy and three gnomes, sitting around a campfire. I was particularly intrigued at the body poistion of one of the gnomes; he'd obviously been taking lessons with Chinley’s Stret Dancing class. Given the gnome had a beard, the teacher was obviously quite flexible with the stated 4-11 years age restriction. 

We crossed a footbridge over the River Kinder and returned to the car. I drank the remaining water from my Sigg bottle, which had heated so much in the sun, that I could have easily brewed a tea from its contents.    

All three of us were flagging towards the end, due to the heat. My car registered 30°C as we set off back home. It had been an enjoyable walk though. The Kapitan and Cabin Boy had added another couple of Ethels to their tally. I was looking forward to a cold beer this evening.