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Cock Hill, Bleaklow Head, Bleaklow Stones & Higher Shelf Stonesfrom Old Glossop

Cock Hill, Bleaklow Head, Bleaklow Stones & Higher Shelf Stonesfrom Old Glossop

Start/Finish

Near the Howard Town Brewery. From Glossop, take the Snake Pass road. Go through the first roundabout then take the next left at the Commercial Inn which goes up Manor Park Road. Higher up, the road seems to go right but carry on ahead to the left of the Queens Arms. Pass a church on the left then turn right into Wellgate at the Bull's Head. Continue into Hope Street where the Howard Town Brewery will soon be seen on the left. Charles Lane is a little further on the left and has a No Through Road Sign and a No Turning Sign. Park sensibly near here. If you reach an obvious turning circle, you have gone too far so go back.

Distance/Time

19 km     About 6 hours

Peaks

Cock Hill, 426 m, SK 059 962.

Bleaklow Head, 633 m, SK 092 958.

Bleaklow Stones, c620 m, SK 112 965.

Higher Shelf Stones, 621 m, SK 088 947.      OS Outdoor Leisure 1: Dark Peak.

Introduction

This is a fine walk in the Dark Peak which, in good weather has good views of the surrounding countryside including Black Hill, the Howden Edge, Kinder and Win Hill. Some of the going is boggy, even in a dry spell, and gaiters are recommended. This walk can easily be accomplished on a short winter's day. It is recommended when the ground is frozen as that makes it less boggy!

Route

(1) Walk up Charles Lane. Soon a path goes off to the left through a small gate. Soon you pass an old quarry then are walking between two walls. Two strips of trees, on the left, are also passed. Soon Cock Hill should be visible. It looks very “bumpy”. The path leads towards it then splits so take the left fork which leads up to the trig pont which marks the “summit” of Cock Hill, 426 m, although it is clearly not the highest point.

(2) Continue on the path which ascends the gentle shoulder to reach an old riuin on Glossop Low. Turn right here and follow a path, boggy in places, SE then E, to join the Pennine Way at Torside Clough by “The Pulpit” which has a name plaque. The boggy path has quite a few duck boards on it which can be very slippery when wet or icy so take care. Continue on the Pennine Way up Torside Clough. Ignore the path going E and continue roughly S. This path is faint in places but curves round to the E and reaches the Wain Stones, essentially two boulders/outcrops. A little further is a cairn and soon after the large summit cairn is reached which marks the summit of Bleaklow Head, 633 m. There is often a post stuck in this cairn.

(3) The continuation to Bleaklow Stones is not obvious even in clear weather. Walk roughly E. There is a path but it is not very obvious. Later on some very widely spaced posts appear and these are a good guide as a good path is close to them. If you are off path then expect a lot of boggy up and down. After about 2 km, a mound should be visible ahead. As you get closer, it will look to have some outcrops. Once reached, there is very distinctive rock which resembles an anvil. This area is Bleaklow Stones, c620 m. There is no summit cairn but plenty of rocks with interesting shapes.

(4) Retrace, initially following the posts to locate the good path, to Bleaklow Head. Head S on the obvious Pennine Way. After about 500 m, the path starts to swing SE so leave it and continue over rough moorland to the Hern Stones which are the only outcrop between Bleaklow Head and the Higher Shelf Stones and sits on a small mound. From here there is a more obvious path which crosses quite boggy ground before going up a shallow gully to reach the trig point which marks the summit of Higher Shelf Stones, 621 m.

(5) Continue along the crest on a fairly obvious path which soon starts crossing open moorland although it is not as boggy as earlier. The path crosses a dip then ascends to a small flat topped mound. Just after this the path descends then splits. Take the left fork and follow it all the way down, crossing a stile above a moorland pool, before reaching a good track lower down. Follow this down with the stream on your left. At a path junction lower down, follow the bridle path on the same side of the stream which eventually leads to a large turning circle where it meets the roads of Old Glossop. Turn right and the road leads to Howard Town brewery.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 11th December, 2013.

(b) Those who wish to omit the visit to Bleaklow Stones will save about 5 km of walking and about 90 minutes.

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