It seemed that the planning took a long time, due to the weather that we’ve been enduring. Early December, often brings a good dollop of bad weather, often seeing some snow, but for this year, 2012, not only did we see snow, but also the year continued with the rain that we’ve endured for much of this year.
In view of the fact that we were fast
approaching the shortest day, being the 22nd, this walk has been planned with
the short number of daylight hours available and hopefully, the weather
permitting the fantastic views that Win Hill has to give.
I can say here and now, I wasn’t
disappointed.
Those of you who read my Moel Siabod and my
old Navigation Training Ground blog will recall I met up with John from
Stoke.
John was hoping to join us on this walk, but
unfortunately had other commitments.
While it’s always nice to have a nice sunny
day for a good day out and to get pleasant photographs, we often overlook some
of the less bright days from a photographic perspective.
Apart from the obvious safety concerns when
out and about in the hills and open moorlands, my other concern is my camera,
which is far from water resilient in any shape or form. So this particular walk
had been cancelled twice already before Chris and I finally took the chance and
went for the walk.
After two weekends of horrendous weather, the
third weekend was looking good to start off with, but then a few days before,
doom and gloom started to take control of the weather.
The forecasts were for rain and 45mph plus
winds!
But then, a light started to shine at the end
of the tunnel. That weather seemed to be hitting a day earlier!
So we went for it, though the early morning
forecast was for fog, which would have some impact on my journey north up the
M1 from the West Midlands to the Peak District.
After a relatively good journey, I arrived at
Heatherdene Car Park across the road from Ladybower Reservoir, and met up with
Chris.
We got suited and booted, ready for an enjoyable
walk up Win Hill.
We exited the car park on the south,
approaching the road opposite the Ladybower dam, where we walked across, taking
in the views across the reservoir over to Derwent Moor and around.
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| Looking over to the Ladybower dam from the path out of Heatherdene Car Park |
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| Looking over the dam |
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| One of the overflow plug holes |
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| A good tarmaced path across the dam |
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| Looking downstream from the dam |
Once across the dam, we turned right and
followed the service road alongside the reservoir until we came to a forked
junction, where we took the left fork and started our ascent in earnest.
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| The path alongside Ladybower Reservoir |
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| we took the left fork and started our ascent |
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| left exit to continue our ascent |
Through the gate, we were well and truly in
to the forest, where we came across a cross roads. At this point, we took the
left exit to continue our ascent and also to head towards Win Hill.
Continuing a nice steady climb, we eventually
left the forest and experienced a brief moment of open track, looking over
Parkin Clough with views across to Bamford Moor.
Here we made a right turn to make a short but
steep ascent through the forest, where we would join up with the path that
circumnavigates the west side of the forest. Taking the left turn, brought us
back out in to the open properly this time, giving some clear views, when the
cloud permitted, across to Bamford Moor and Stanage Edge, overlooking the
village of Bamford.
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| a right turn to make a short but steep ascent through the forest |
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| short but steep ascent |
Looking along the path to the south and also
up towards Win Hill, though we couldn’t see the summit as yet, were just as
appealing and the sun was really trying to break through and make a difference.
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Looking along the path to the south
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also up towards Win Hill, though we couldn’t see the summit as yet
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But hold it, there were some menacing looking
grey clouds heading our way. Menacing yes, but not threatening.
Undeterred, we continued our walk following
the path that seemed to follow the contour level.
We came a across a water trough, for animals
to drink out, which provided a marker, because soon after that, there was a
sign which would take you down to the Hope Valley or up to Win Hill summit.
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| Looking down to Ladybower Recervoir |
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| The water trough |
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| A sign to mark your route choice. Inccidentally, the sign was leaning, not my photography..... |
We continued on our way, heading for Win Hill
summit.
Win Hill summit was clearly in view and the
nice steady gradient leading up towards it.
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| The path heading directly to Win Hill summit |
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| Looking over to Stanage Edge |
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| Win Hill summit was clearly in view and the nice steady gradient leading up towards it |
Not only was it a nice steady gradient, but
the views were impressive and continued to be increasingly impressive the
higher we got.
The views across to Derwent and Bamford
Moors, Stanage Edge, Pin Dale, Cale Dale and the Hope Valley, and even Mam Tor and that
side of the Castleton Ridge came in to view.
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| Pin Dale Quarry |
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| Mam Tor |
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| Looking over to Derrwent Moor and Wheel Stones |
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| A close up of Wheel Stones |
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| The final ascent of Win Hill starts here |
Wow!
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| Win Hill viewed from Lose Hill back in February 2012 see my write up on Castleton’s North Ridges |
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| Win Hill summit |
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| Win Hill summit trig |
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| Ladybower Reservoir from Win Hill summit |
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| Castleton's Great Ridge from Win Hill summit |
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| Kinder from Win Hill summit |
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| Bleaklow from Win Hill summit |
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| Ladybower and Derwent Moor from Win Hill summit |
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| A choice of descents from the summit, or the fun one |
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| The path leading to the Roman Road |
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| Hmmm, 1.1ºC |
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| Not windy one little bit, 8.6 mph max speed..... |
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| Looking down the Roman Road, towards Castleton's Great Ridge |
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| Castleton's Great Ridge |
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| Looking back up the Roman Road, towards Win Hill summit |
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| Win Hill summit |
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| Crook Hill |
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| part of the Roman Road had deep long ruts along it |
It was fascinating on our descent, being able
to look back over to Castleton’s Great Ridge, looking at the route that Chris
and I walked back in February 2012.
We still had grand views over to the Great
Ridge, Kinder and Bleaklow on the descent.
The path was clear and well defined, all the
way back towards the forest.
In view of the time and available daylight,
we didn’t continue to Hope Cross, but re-joined the forest just south of Wooler
Knoll.
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| The footpath near to Wooler Knoll |
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| The sign showing your route options |
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| We chose to circum-navigate the south side of the forest, retaining the views up Win Hill |
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| Following the path, that at times was quite wet and muddy |
We had two route choices from here, either
through the forest, or to circumnavigate the forest and enjoy the sun that had
decided to show up late in the available daylight.
Following the path, that at times was quite
wet and muddy, hardly surprising considering the weather we’ve endured the last
week, it was a nice steady walk even right up to the point where we had to head
back in to the forest to complete our descent back down to the reservoir.
We soon completed the descent and hand railed
the reservoir, heading back towards the dam and car park at Heatherdene.
It was a short, but very
enjoyable walk, giving some priceless views across the Peak District.
I would guess on a really clear spring or
autumn day, those views would be even more impressive and well worth the climb.
This is a relatively easy walk, no
desperately steep ascents. But, beware of slippery rocks on and around the
summit, muddy ground and part of the Roman Road had deep long ruts along it,
which could be a slip hazard.
Incidentally, there was a rather large seat in Heatherdene car park, almost making you feel you might have been in Alice's Wonderland!
Incidentally, there was a rather large seat in Heatherdene car park, almost making you feel you might have been in Alice's Wonderland!
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| The rather large seat in Heatherdene car park and below are some of the carvings on the seat |
Even though this was a short walk and not
venturing too deep in to the beautiful wilds that this country has to offer, I
still carried my full kit.
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| OS 1:25000 Explorer series, showing the GPS Tracklog |
I’m planning my next walk,
which, weather permitting, will be between Christmas and New Year.
So I’ll wish you all a very Merry Christmas
and a Happy New Year.
Finally, happy rambling and thank you for
reading,
Peak Rambler
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