England - Peak District - Thurlstone Moor Roar

Walk Summary

Initially, an easy walk along the Trans Pennine Trail to Dunford Bridge. Ascends over moorland to South Nab with good views across the Pennines. Follows the Woodhead Snow Road and returns through Langsett woods.

Date: 14/01/2022

Length: 8.4 miles

Height Gain: 227 m

Terrain: Boggy paths, grass path, stony track, roads, pavement alongside busy road, a lot of the walk is along hard surface

Navagation: Reasonable. The path around Upper Windleden Reservoir is fairly clear. The A628 is an obvious handrail.

Start: Langsett Flouch Car Park

Route: Langsett Flouch Car Park, Trans Pennine Trail, Dunford Bridge, Upper Windleden Reservoir, South Nab, Woodhead Snow Road, Swinden Lane

Map: OL1 Dark Peak Area, OL24 White Peak Area

Weather: Blue skies, sun, cold

Walkers: Nun

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Owler Tor Rock

Captain's Log

Trans Pennine Trail

It was icy as I set off from Langsett. The tarmac on the the Old Manchester Road was like an ice rink and it was a case of clenching my buttocks and waddling along gingerly. I noticed a milestone at the side of the road informing me that Barnsley and Manchester were 11 and 25 miles away respectively. All traffic now uses the busy A628 Woodhead Road and the Old Manchester Road is only used for access to a few houses.

A path across the edge of Thurlstone Moor brought me to the Trans Pennine Trail. The TPT is an east-west, coast to coast national trail. A few years ago the path used to be a mixture of grass and mud. It has now been asphalted making it ideal for cyclists but a bit of a hard surface for walkers.

Electrifying

Near Dunford Bridge a major construction project is to remove 1.5 kilometres of pylons and bury the cables along the TPT. The purpose is environmental in order to 'restore the area to its natural beauty'. A notice says that out of 130 applications this project was picked out by landscape experts as having the most positive impact. I do find the decision a little weird. The TPT is bordered by trees and so you don't really see the pylons anyway. There is a road and a few houses on the other side, but it's not exactly busy. Most of the pylons are down in the valley and so are fairly well camouflaged. The work has necessitated building a new tarmac access road, as well as a diversionary trail for the TPT. It seems a lot of work for just 1.5 kilometres. Personally, I think the pylons on the other side of the Woodhead Pass, near the Torside Reservoir, are much more visually distracting. It is planned for completion in March 2023.

Dunford Bridge Pylon

Woodhead Road Closure Barrier

Barriers And Planes

It was a steep climb out of Dunford Bridge. I eventually came to a barrier that they use to close off the road to prevent people going over the Woodhead Pass in snowy weather. In order to reach the barrier you need to drive down an incredibly steep hill into Dunford Bridge and then climb out again up the implausibly steep hill I'd just walked up. If you'd been able to do that in snow, then I don't think the Woodhead Pass would present any problems.

As I approached the Upper Windleden Reservoir an A380 banked over Winscar Reservoir and then flew right over me on its way to Manchester Airport. Quite an impressive sight.

A380

South Nab

South Nab is the highest point on the route and is only about 200 metres from an A628 car park at the top of the Woodhead Pass. Lorry and car drivers gave me startled looks as they wondered what idiot was out walking in the middle of nowhere. There is a trig at the top. You can see see for miles over the Pennines including the Windleden and Winscar reservoirs. I noticed that the bank of grey mist was still hanging over Black Hill. The same mist I wandered through, a couple of days ago. The moor surrounding South Nab is known as Thurlstone Moor. I followed a vague path from the trig into the moor but this disappeared into heather after a few hundred metres. I was hoping I might find a path through the moor away from the roaring traffic on the A628. No such luck. I made my way over to the Snow Road that runs parallel to the A628 and followed it down. The snow road is boarded by some derelict, wooden snow barriers that have been there for years. A lot of the fencing has fallen down.

A squeal of brakes jolted me out of my day dream and I turned around to find a mountain biker approaching. I thought he might stop for a chat be we just exchanged 'hellos' and he sailed by.

South Nab

Woodhead Snow Barriers

Towards the end of the Snow Road, it curved back to join the A628. There is a layby nearby. There used to be a portacabin in the layby called the 'Greasy Spoon'. Not really a name I'd personally have chosen if I was serving food. Needless to say, it is no longer in service although a portacabin is still there.

I walked past the 'DOG AND PARTRIDGE'...or since a letter had blown off the, 'DOG AND PARTR DGE'. It has an adjoining restaurant called 'HE BEAT RS'. I think if I was the owner, I'd have a go at fashioning some replacement letters. Maybe the owners think the missing letters are their unique selling point.

The walk only took about four hours. A lot of it was on hard surfaces though and so I did feel a little tired. It had been perfect weather for walking though with some great views and curiosities.

Woodhead Snow Road

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