371 August Walks from Hathersage

Our next walks will be from
Hathersage

Hathersage is an attractive village in the Hope Valley area of the Peak National Park - popular and well served with pubs. restaurants and shops (especially outdoor equipment!), the village is well worth a visit at any time of year. Surrounded by dramatic hills and gritstone edges, there is great walking and climbing everywhere.

Saturday 13th August 2016

0800hrs prompt from the short stay car park

Hathersage Church

Hathersage is one of the more interesting villages in the area, with historical associations to Robin Hood and the Eyre family. The village centres around a road junction above the River Derwent, where the road to Sheffield branches off the route which follows the Derwent downstream. The ancient centre of the village was just above the church, which itself stands above and to the north of the modern village centre. On a knoll next to it there is an earthwork called Camp Green, which is probably Danish in origin.

Hathersage is a popular centre for walkers and rock-climbers, for on its east side the village is overlooked by moorland and a line of gritstone edges of which Stanage Edge is the largest. There are also spectacular tors, such as Higgar Tor, and the enigmatic hillfort at Carl Wark, which has so far defied archaeologists' attempts to date it. Several of the edges were quarried and the area was a major source of millstones for grinding corn and metals.........Click for more
There will be three walks:

• A Walk led by: Peter Hitchcock
• B Walk led by: Beverley Kelly
• C Walk led by: Terry Simmons

Walk details will be added as they become available, but by Saturday 6th August

A Walk from Hathersage 2016

Walk Leader: Peter Hitchcock
Total Distance:11 miles
Total ascent/descent: 1500ft

Route Map anticlockwise

Predictably, Hathersage offers you everything from beauty to intrigue!  This month’s walk incorporates spectacular panorama, ruins from the last millennium, a classic railway tunnel, a gorge and the mighty ridges including, naturally, Stanage Edge.  On the way back, you can look at the alleged final resting place of “Little John”, one of Robin Hood’s lieutenants, in St. Michael All Angels Churchyard.  Although 11 miles in total, this time there are no strenuous stretches at all making it a relaxing journey by ‘A’ group standards!  The walk flow is anti-clockwise from the town with the first 2 hrs south along the river valley to Grindleford railway station,  then eastwards along Padley Gorge.  Time can be spent also viewing the fascinating ruins of  Padley Manor and Gatehouse.  

Once out of the gorge, you will be in the open and, hopefully, sunshine for the rest of the trek beneath the ridges to Upper Burbage Bridge  (a very gentle climb) and then along towards Stanage Edge itself.  If you are lucky, there could be 3 ice-cream vans en-route!  You will be awarded tremendous views from the ridge where we peak at about 1350 ft.  A gentle return descent follows around grand properties and meadows to the Church and the intrigue.  Finally, we pass the very well kept cricket square (with the covers on of course) into the village itself.  Give it a go!

B Walk from Hathersage 2016

Walk Leader: Beverley Kelly
Walk Distance: 8 miles
Walk ascent/descent: 1400ft app

We shall explore a bit of gruesome history and discover some more modern history as we find where they quarried the stone for the Derwent Dams. We shall see some amazing stone formations as we survey the fantastic panorama of the Derbyshire Dales, but first we have a gentle flat stroll along the Derwent valley to Padley.

Padley Hall has a grisly history from Tudor times which I will tell you about as we view the remains. Adjacent is the steep slope of the old railway used to remove the stone for the Derwent dams and as we climb it we will discover historic remnants of the line.

As we come out of the trees above the quarry we have ‘Surprise View’. Mother Cap is an extraordinary square stone shape, while Carl Wark is thought to have been an ancient Fort and Higger Tor gives us an easy bit of adventurous climbing.

Our descent is interesting and varied with clear views of the high levels we have been on. We shall pass interesting buildings and through wooded areas before we reach Hathersage.

This is an admirable B walk well suited for mid summer, with a steady climb and descent except for the 200+ft of Bole Hill which we will take slowly.

      We have plenty of time, but do carry enough fluid to drink with you. The walk will commence from the toilets in the village

C Walk from Hathersage 2016

Walk Leader: Terry Simmons
Walk Distance: 6.5 Miles
Total ascent/descent: 550ft

Padley Chapel/Hall

More about the Chapel and Martyrs