England - Peak District - Wantley Dragon Wader

Walk Summary

Interesting walk through a variety of landscape. Starts with an Iron Age earthwork and Neolithic stone circle. Plenty of bird spotting through woodlands and along the banks of the Broomhead and More Hall reservoirs. Pays homage to the Wantley Dragon.

Date: 10/03/2022

Length: 12.46 miles

Height Gain: 504 m

Terrain: Boggy paths, trackless moor, stone tracks, fields, lightly used roads, wade through mud and dung.

Navagation: Signage mostly good, short stretch over featureless moor

Start: Broomhead Hall roadside parking

Route: Broomhead Hall, Broomhead Moor, Dukes Road, Canyards, Broomhead Reservoir, More Hall Reservoir, Wantley Dragon, Bolsterstone, Broomhead Park

Map: OL1 Dark Peak Area

Weather: Cloudy, occasional sun, windy

Walkers: Nun

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Part Of Edwen Beck Neolithic Stone Circle (Probably)

Captain's Log

Step Back In Time

There can't be many walks that within 500 yards of starting you visit an Iron Age earthwork and a Neolithic stone circle. Admittedly the Edwen Beck stone circle isn't exactly Stone Henge. Don't expect huge rock posts and lintels. In fact the circle is covered in heather and ferns and can be difficult to find. And the Bar Dyke Iron Age earthwork? Well, this looks like a large ditch running up Broomhead Moor. It is quite deep and long though.

With adrenalin pumping through my body after these two finds, I made good progress up the Landrover track to Broomhead Moor. There is a Shooting Lodge for the Tweed Trouser Brigade near Slide Head Beck. From here I headed south eastwards across moorland until I hit another Landrover track, know as the Duke's Road.

Bar Dyke Iron Age Earthwork

Wigtwizzle Treecreeper

Wigtwizzle Woods

A strong south westerly blew me along the Duke's Road. I made a short diversion to the jumble of rocks known as the Hurkling Stones. There is a good view from here over to the Agden and Damflask Reservoirs near Bradfield. I continued along the Duke's Road until I got to the Strine's Road. As soon as I was on the path going downhill past the Canyard Hills, the wind stopped. After Old Booth Farm I took the woodland trail that runs downhill through Wigtwizzle Woods.

Eventually the trail meets at a junction. There is a bench here and I stopped for a while. Bird feeders have been setup about 20 metres from the bench and there were plenty of birds on show including the large footed Treecreeper. A couple of squirrels also made cameo performances.

Wigtwizzle Woods Blue Tit

Wigtwizzle Robin

More Hall Reservoir

Broomhead And More Hall Reservoirs

I followed a woodland path that ran parallel to Broomhead Reservoir and this delivered me to its dam. I followed the path to More Hall Reservoir. I watched a Cormorant diving for food. While I was stood there, a Labrador came up to me, crouched down and had a dump. His owner walked past me talking noisily into a phone. He must have seen his dog having a dump, but obviously his phone call was more important and didn't have time to stop to clear it up.

Further along the reservoir I found a bench with a memorial plaque to Gordon Bennett. The etymology for Gordon Bennett goes back to the 19th century and so his parents must have had a good sense of humour.

Gordon Bennett's Memorial Plaque

Wantley Dragon

I crossed the More Hall Dam and then headed up the path to Hollin Edge Farm. After about 10 minutes walking from the road, I came across the Wantley Dragon...well a stone wall builder's interpretation of it. The stone wall weaves like the back of a reptile, and there is a wooden appendage on the end of the wall that it is the Dragon's head. The wooden head has rotted a bit and it looks like the poor Dragon could do with some dentistry work doing.

There is a plaque nearby that tells the story of the Dragon. It says it had seven heads, fourteen eyes, two huge wings, a long tail and claws, and 44 teeth in his jaws. On that basis, I'm guessing that the sculpture in front of me is not a true interpretation of the Dragon. It was also know for its runny nose and burning snot, which I think is a nice touch to the story.

Anyway, the Dragon had eaten people, including some children, and an advertisement went up for a Dragon Slayer. So More of (nearby) More Hall said he'd sort the problem out. He got a special suite of armour made using the finest Sheffield steel, and an interesting design feature of having six inch spikes all over it.

A true Yorkshireman, he drank six pots of beer before confronting the dragon,. He then positioned himself at the bottom of a well that the Dragon was know to drink from. As the Dragon bent down to drink from the well, More rose up and kicked him in the mouth (which could explain the damage to the mouth on the modern wooden sculpture). A consequence of this is that one of the six inch spikes on More's suit of armour cut the Dragon's jugular vein.

The Wantley Dragon was no more.

More Hall Reservoir

Mud And Dung Wader

The path contoured along the hillside to Bolsterstone. There is a house along the way that keeps llamas. A white one seemed to be enjoying itself.

Bolsterstone is a pretty village with the customary church, pub and stocks.

I walked along Heads Lane and then turned off on to the pathway through Waldershaigh Farm. A word of warning here; the path goes through the farmyard and you may well end up wading through deep mud and cow dung. I was so glad that I'd put my gaiters on, otherwise I would have got boots full of dung. When I reached Broomhead Reservoir I paddled through the water to clean both boots and gaiters. I went in quite deep and was surprised at the waterproofness of my gortex Scarpa boots.

Thoroughly cleaned, I headed back through Wigtwizzle woods and then through Broomhead Park. A few of the old trees had been blown over or damaged in the recent storms, and some people were out with chainsaws clearing it all up.

I've done this walk a few times now and I like the variety of landscape and wildlife. The muddy dung at Waidershaigh is a bit of a pain though, so I might look at an alternative path to avoid this in future.

Llama Yoga

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