Get Lost Mountaineering

Kinder Low End, Kinder Low, Kinder Scout, Pym Chair, Woolpacks, Winnie the Pooh, Kinder Downfall, Kinder NW Trig Point, William Clough & Kinder Reservoir

from Hayfield campsite or Bowden Bridge car park

Start/Finish

Hayfield campsite or Bowden Bridge car park. If coming from the south or east, take the A619 from Chesterfield to Baslow before picking up the A623 signed for Manchester. Those approaching from Buxton, on the A6, will meet this route at a roundabout just before Chapel-en-leFrith. Soon after, take the A624 signed for Glossop. Continue on this road until the right turn into Hayfield village is reached. Turn in then go left and pass the church before crossing the river then follow the road on the N side of the river until past the Sportsman pub. Soon after there is a right turn, over a bridge, for the camp site. There are public toilets just across this bridge. The Bowden Bridge car park is a little further along the road after this turning. Those approaching from Glossop should fork left on the one way street into the village until the above route is joined. There are a few signs in the village for the camp site which may help.

Distance/Time

16 km     About 6 -7 hours

Peaks

Kinder Low, 633 m, SK 079 870.

Kinder Scout 1, 636 m, SK 084(62) 875(37).

Kinder Scout 2, 636 m, SK 086(22) 875(49).

Kinder NW Trig Point, 624 m, SK 077 894.

OS Outdoor Leisure 1: Dark Peak. OS 110 (1:50 000).

Introduction

This is a lovely walk but the section from Kinder Low to Kinder Scout then to Pym Chair is over boggy peaty ground so is best tackled either when the ground is frozen hard or when it has been baked dry by the summer sun. The camp site at Hayfield is very pleasant and well equipped. It is owned by the Camping and Caravanning Club. The rates for members, about £7 less per night, are very much below those for non-members. It may be worth joining as it only takes about six nights to break even. The path up the steep section of Kinder Low End has been constructed and is one of the finest paths in the Peak District. It knocks spots off the over romanticised Jacob's Ladder. Finding Kinder Scout will need a compass bearing or GPS as the small cairns are not visible until quite close. Note that the path down William Clough is rough and boggy in places and is the worst going of the whole route.

Route

(1) From the bridge by the public toilets, turn left (camp site is right) and walk up the minor road with the river on the left. Soon the river is on the right. Keep going ahead at junctions, aiming for Tunstead House which is signposted. Walk up the track which goes around the right hand side of the buildings before heading E up a green lane. Follow this, shadowing a wall on the right, crossing stiles and passing through gates. Finally cross the wall on the right near to the National Trust sign, just past the wall. Walk up the side of the same wall, soon passing through another gate, before a path goes off to the right aiming for the obvious nose of Kinder Low End. A lovely engineered path takes over for the steep section. When the path levels out, continue. It soon becomes a slabbed path. Ignore another slabbed path going off right but remember it for later. Soon some cairns appear. Follow them until a very large cairn is reached. Turn right here and within 40 m, reach the trig point of Kinder Low, 633 m which stands on a boulder.

(2) Take a bearing for Kinder Scout and try to follow it although some detours will be necessary because of the ground. It is about 500 m to the small cairn, with a pole in it on 9/7/13, which may mark the highest point of Kinder Scout, 636 m although the slightly larger all stone cairn about 300 m further may well be the true high point. Both seem about the same height on the ground but the second one more closely matches the “official” location of the highest point. For this reason the ten figure grid references (correct to within 5 m) are given as taken at the cairns. The distinctive outcrop of Pym Chair can be seen almost due S of the second cairn.

(3) Walk to Pym Chair which is a solitary wind shaped boulder not far from a large outcrop. Pick up the path heading E and follow it down into a hollow of wind shaped rocks. At about the lowest point there is a tallish rock on a boulder plinth. From its NE side this resembles the outline of Winnie the Pooh for which the ten figure grid reference of an adjacent boulder is SK 09105 86996. From here walk back along the main path, ascending to Kinder Low trig point then continue to the very large cairn before turning right, N, along the main path along the edge. This is the Pennine Way and is very well defined with cairns in places. Continue for about 2 km to Kinder Downfall which is a waterfall deeply incut into the plateau with cliffs on either side. The River Kinder is easily crossed but in very windy conditions the waterfall is often blown back on to the plateau. Walk for about 600 m past the downfall, still on the edge path, until a fence crosses the path. Leave the path and follow the fence which soon turns left shadowing the path. This fence soon passes within 40 m of the trig point of Kinder NW which is on the right. There is a stile, labelled Stile 8, over the fence. The trig point is not a summit as there is obvious higher ground nearby. If the Trig Point can not be seen from the fence, walk at 1 o'clock for about 40 m.

(4) From the trig point, walk back to the stile and cross the fence. Either retrace to the edge path or walk roughly W to reach the high point of the path near an outcrop. Continue on the edge path which, at one point, turns at right angles. Continue to a large cairn which marks the start of a steep descent, on a slabbed path, towards the crossroads of paths: William Clough to left, Pennine Way ahead and behind and Snake path to right. There is a large post in the middle of this crossroads. In clear weather, both the crossroads and post are well visible in descent and from the edge path. There is no need to walk to the post/crossroads as a slabbed path goes left to cut the corner. Follow this slabbed path down the rough William Clough to reach Kinder Reservoir. Follow the path S along the edge of the resrvoir, past the dam then down to the road. Follow the road back to Bowden Bridge or the camp site.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 10^th July, 2013.

(b) If it is likely to be boggy on the Kinder plateau the section to Kinder Scout, Pym Chair and Winnie the Pooh can be missed out. This reduces the distance by about 3 km and the time by about an hour.