BURBAGE TO STANAGE AND BACK

Well, it happened again. Cancelled walks - this time due to my mother falling and being hospitalised - and a long wait before we are able to get out again. Then PC succumbs to the recent bug/chest infection which means choosing something steady.

So we park up at Upper Burbage Bridge after passing coach-loads of school children - must be that time of year again when Geography teachers get to introduce their pupils to the Great Outdoors. It's actually quite chilly and murky this morning, although when I left home the sun was trying to shine. Fingers crossed the weather will improve.

Plenty of layers, then, as a guard against the cold, after which we need to restrain Mollie who is more than eager to go.

We cross the road and walk along the verge to the level path that is part of the Sheffield Country Walk. A woolly-legged grouse scuttles off in front of us as we do our usual catch-up talk. When we come to the rise up onto the first part of the edge we have to be careful due to the large stones and boulders that appear to be ready to be used for path repairs.

Once over these we climb up onto the start of the edge with the wide rocky slabs of gritstone and peaty puddles. We very quickly arrive at the trig point but the view, usually so good, is disappointing. A widespread murk covers everything in sight. PC gamely takes a few photos, though, before we set off along the edge.

This is oh-so-familiar, we have lost count of the number of times we have walked here, but it makes for steady - if uneven - walking which is ideal for PC. We are fairly early and the usual crowds have yet to arrive so we pretty much have the paths to ourselves.

We walk on for a while before deciding to sit on one of the rocky outcrops for a coffee and to admire the - well, the murk actually. Spiced vanilla latte again, which is lovely though a little on the thick side today. No idea why, maybe too much milk to water, but it goes down well.

As we continue we consider the best options. PC doesn't really feel up to a long haul uphill which would be the case if we drop off the edge (not literally!) and walk up the road, so we decide that after lunch we will turn back, descend a little way and hopefully not lose too much height.

Our lunch stop is familiar, yes, we even have our favourite eating places up here, where we can admire the view along the edge (not quite as murky now) and keep a little sheltered from the gentle breeze.

Sandwiches, coffee and pre-Easter hot cross buns, but this time with fresh cream and jam filling. Yum. Mollie devours her biscuits and drinks out of her new, collapsible water bowl.

Then it is back on with our gear and retracing our steps. Unsurprisingly there are now loads of people out walking so it is good when we find a descent a little south of Stanage Plantation  along what seems to be a stream bed, but is actually a path that just happens to drain water from the top.

Soon we are walking through the dry, rusty bracken beneath the Edge and can see the climbers scaling the cliffs. The path comes and goes, in places it is indistinct, but it is uninterrupted walking. At last we see an incline and decide to go up it to avoid PC having to slog up the road further on.

A few steps later and we are back on the top, with minimal effort, but after a short distance we once again choose to go down and find a way to skirt the uppermost point where the trig point is along with a lot of people. We're successful, and make our way through the bracken and around rocks to emerge on a broad path which takes us to some roadside parking.

We cross the road and walk along it until we can cut across and go through the gate at Fiddler's Elbow, which suits Mollie much more than road walking.


It isn't far now and in no time we are back at the cars. PC is in fine shape, the walk hasn't been strenuous and she hasn't had a relapse so it has all been worth while. Just a pity about the views.

WORRALL, HIGH BRADFIELD AND DAMFLASK

We haven't been doing terribly well lately with our walking. Injury, illness and absenteeism have all taken their toll so it was with huge relief that we were able to arrange a trip out. Except that we were having problems sorting out where. PC came to the rescue with a walk suggested by her husband (one of his 'training walks' for his Coast to Coast jaunt) and to be on the safe side I drove up the motorway to meet her at her house so she could lead the way to the parking point.

We park up in Worrall, a place I don't know at all but one that PC is fortunately quite familiar with, and make preparations for a soggy day. It rained heavily last night and although it is clear now the wind is cold and we're not expecting a dry run. 

Mollie is eager to go so once she is out of the car we set off up the road, turn onto Kirk Edge Road heading towards Bradfield School then look for the footpath on our left at the end of the houses. The sign has a number on it (we discover that all the footpaths around here are numbered, useful if we'd known about it or known which numbers to follow!). It's a narrow ginnel and at the end the path goes right through a (very) narrow crush and over a wall. The crush certainly lives up to its name, we have to remove our rucksacks to get through it, and go through sideways too. It is on the tight side and anyone who is heftily built would really struggle.

At the other side we cross a very soggy field, waterlogged from last night's rain, then it is a series of stiles, gates and bizarre obstacles designed to keep stock in and make walkers think carefully. We pause to rescue and warm up a sad looking butterfly which is languishing in the damp grass. PC cups in her hands until it flutters off, and promptly lands in the next damp field!

We eventually go through a muddy field which brings us out at Low Ash Farm where we turn right, then left as we reach the road. We've only a short walk down the road to the next corner where we take the track to the right. We are following part of the Sheffield Country Walk and it is clearly quite well used.

We're doing well with the weather now, though. Although it is still windy the sun is out and we are starting to enjoy far reaching views across the Loxley Valley.

The track we are on now is broad and runs across Low Ash Common with mounds of illegal tipping on the right now covered with vegetation to make it look innocent, though goodness knows what is under there. The track carries on towards a farm but the path we need veers off to the left and over a stone wall. We're certainly getting in a lot of stiles on this walk - the exercise must be good for us.

The path runs straight ahead following a stone wall with a few more stiles ahead crossing intersecting walls. Unfortunately there are cows in some of the fields. And in the final field there are cows RIGHT ON THE PATH. I hand Mollie's lead to PC, let them go over the stile first, then sprint past using Mollie and PC as a shield between me and the cows. Phew. Safe! Though the cows don't seem to have noticed me at all.

We have a small wooded area to walk through, then another field (and stile) before we come out on a quite road at Holdworth, a sleepy little hamlet. We don't meet any traffic as we walk up the road then down another small lane before finding the path on the right though fields next to Holdworth Hall which is the continuation of the Sheffield Country Walk.

The path is easy to follow, even when we have to walk through the yard at Cliffe House Farm, and we are soon on a distinct lane descending towards Loxley Road which leads to High Bradfield. Before we reach it, though, we see a steep path up on our right which leads, enticingly, towards Castle Hill. We decide to take it; it looks like it will provide a good stop for lunch, and the Castle name is intriguing.

It is a short, steep climb up through the bronzed bracken and we emerge on the top of the hill next to a ladder stile with excellent views all around. Balancing precariously on top of the stile I attempt to take a panorama shot, and hope it comes out well because I'm not doing that again.

On the far side of the stile we are walking on level ground and soon come to Castle Hill where there is evidence of plenty of activity (mounds, ditches etc) but no stonework. It is marked in English Heritage's records as a Motte Castle, though the nearby Bailey Castle (behind the church in High Bradfield) does offer more prominence and interest. It seems possible that they may have been linked in some way, although the site at Castle Hill may be earlier. Sadly there is insufficient information on the site.

However, we do decide that it is a perfect place to stop for lunch, so we find a comfortable place in a hollow where we are sheltered from the wind, and celebrate our return to walking with a nip of Ramblers before having a warming cup of coffee. (Note: new flask this week as the old one was, as PC put it so nicely, 'developing a personality of its own'!)

Then we quickly eat our sandwiches, Mollie enjoys her biscuits, as we are eager to get to the main event. Muffins, but no ordinary muffins. These are apple and blackberry fresh cream muffins, and are really rather splendid. They are devoured with undisguised glee then followed by a second coffee and a final tot of Cointreau.

Suitably re-energised we pull on our rucksacks and return to our walk.

We descend from Castle Hill and at the next ladder stile we find the take off and landing very soggy as a small stream runs past. We trudge through it then across the next field to yet another stile which takes us, via a very steep descent, onto the road in High Bradfield. We have some road walking to do here, but it isn't too busy. But we do have a lovely view of the very attractive parish church of St Nicholas.

The road takes us down to Low Bradfield and Damflask Reservoir. We take the small road on the northern side of the reservoir until we are able to drop onto the reservoir path. It's lovely in the afternoon light with the sun filtering through the leaves. And down here the wind has dropped so that we aren't surprised to see so many people out running and walking.

 

We pass the sailing club then ascend the slight slope to return to the road. It can be very busy on here, but there is a good pavement and Mollie doesn't seem as worried in traffic as she used to be. It's a fair walk on the road, but easy going, and soon we have to cross over to another stile at the side of the imposing gates leading to Loxley House. This path runs very straight, though a field of three donkeys (the Three Amigos) who are very friendly, then over more stiles as it steadily climbs uphill. We have to cross the immaculately tarmacked Myers Lane (soon to be part of the Tour de France route, apparently) then climb some more until we come out close to Low Ash Farm.

From here we have to retrace our steps; stiles, stiles and more stiles then the final crush where we still have to remove our rucksacks to get through. Clearly we haven't lost that much weight on our walk!

The sky is starting to turn dull, not from rain but from the early dusk we will have to get used to now that the clocks have been altered. But we have had a really good day. A bit soggy around the feet at times but not a drop of rain, and an area that I, at least, don't know at all.

Fingers crossed, we'll be able to get out again next week and begin our autumn/winter walking in earnest.