The map seemed to indicate there should be good views and as the weather forecast was for cold but clear weather, I had suggested to Karen that we try out a walk following the edge of the plateau formed by Combs Moss.
Following the A6 from Buxton to Dove Holes, we turned left at the crossroads in Dove Holes and followed a narrow road leading to nearby Combs village.
We parked in a layby by Bank Hall Farm below the rocky promontory of Castle Naze where there is a stile. Unfortunately, despite the good weather forecast, it was quite misty. We hoped this would clear up later.
There is a sort of worn path leading steeply up from the stile which brought us to the plateau fairly quickly passing the gritstone crag on the way. I have heard of this crag called Castle Naze before but have never climbed there though. This corner of the plateau had an Iron Age Hillfort and you could see an obvious large banking forming one boundary of the Fort with the remaining two boundaries of the triangular area protected by steep ground and cliffs.
At the top, we turned right and followed the Combs Edge in a Southerly direction, leading above the crag with a drystone wall also following the same way on our left.
Gradually, every know and then the mist thinned and we could see a little further and could see a valley leading past below the crag on our right.
Soon we arrived at what must be the head of this valley at Pyegreave Brook and after carefully crossing the iced up rocks where the brook began its descent into the valley, we followed a narrow worn path again along the edge of the moor as it turned towards the West.
Further along we reached a vehicle track apparently used by grouse shooting parties. There were plenty of grouse around as well. (Why is “Grouse” the plural of “Grouse”, “Mice” the plural of “Mouse” and “Houses” the plural of “House”?!) All day we could hear the cries of “Ack!, Ack-ackackack ! Go back! Go back! Go Back!” as grouse took of every now and then as we walked along. We could also hear shots far below in the valley but couldn't see where they were coming from due to the mist.
After a while this track brought us to two well-maintained small buildings. One had no door or windows in place so was obviously a rough shelter, while the second had locked shutters over the windows and a locked door plus a chimney. These must be used by shooting parties.
We sat on the low wall of a third, ruined building and had a drink. Mine would have been hot fruit tea but I had forgotten to switch the kettle on this morning while making breakfast poured the water in – d'oh! Anyway, despite being cold, it was still very pleasant.
Continuing on our way, still following the edge on the inside of a well maintained drystone wall, we could see the mist quickly rising and the hoped-for views started to make an appearance. Once the mist had cleared the day remained largely overcast with the odd, fleeting small break in the clouds allowing the sun through. I was still cold though with the ground frozen and a very cold, stiff wind.
After turning another bit of a corner, we could see the White Hall Centre (an outdoors activities centre) below and part of Errwod Reservoir in the Goyt Valley in the near distance. We could also see the narrow rough vehicle track leading past the White Hall Centre being a Roman Road and also the original route to and from Buxton with the more modern and much more winding road wending its way past.
We reached another gritstone crag, locally known as Buxton Boss, but not named on the map, with views to the large town of Buxton in the distance. As the area below the crag was sheltered from the wind, we decided to have a short break and eat our lunch there.
After lunch we climbed back up above the crag, still following the drystone wall and passed just above Moss House Farm, then followed the wall as it turned North-East, still following the edge of the plateau.
Arriving at the deepish ravine of Flint Clough, we followed this inwards for a short distance until we could cross to the other side and continue on our route along the edge.
Spotting a ruined small building next to the path, we made use of its shelter from the cold, biting wind to have another drinks break, the headed along Black Edge towards the next feature which was a white-painted Trig. Column.
Now heading North, we could see the A6 below with Dove Holes further along and the obvious point of Win Hill on the horizon and near that, part of Kinder Scout.
Passing above the rocks of Hob Tor, the path continued and we could see Combs Reservoir in the distance which had earlier been hidden by mist, as we passed above Short Edge.
Soon we were back at the embankment of the old Hillfort at Castle Naze where we could see our starting point and Karen's car in the layby far below.
After letting a couple of climbers past, we dropped down the steep route leading back to the stile. I had slipped a fortnight ago while returning from a walk on Kinder Scout and had badly bruised my lower back so had taken it easy last weekend and stayed at home to rest it. Today I was being careful on any icy rocks in case I slipped and aggravate the injury which had nearly healed.
At the bottom of the steep ground, not far from the stile, on of my feet slid on the frozen ground and in attempting to recover, I bent the bottom section of my left-hand walking pole and snapped it off! To add insult to injury, I ended up on the ground and jarred the bruised area causing a return of some of the pain which had gone. Damn!
Anyway, luckily it was only a bit of a jarring of the muscle and the pain soon went – the only permanent injury was to may walking pole!
Castle Naze
Walking along the edge of the plateau
Shelter used for shooting parties
Erwood Reservoir
No comments:
Post a Comment