Get Lost Mountaineering

Crowden Clough, Woolpacks, Winnie the Pooh, S. Edge of Kinder, Pym Chair & Jacob's Ladder from Upper Booth

Start/Finish

Upper Booth parking spot (holds about 15 cars) which is about a mile west of Edale village car park which, coming from Hope, is on the Edale road just before the turn off to Edale village. The turn off for Edale from Hope, from The Hathersage to Castleton road, A625, is not that obvious and easy to miss. It is a right turn opposite a chuch on the left on the eastern end of Hope. Upper Booth is a signed right turn just before the Edale valley road starts climbing towards Mam Tor. The road is narrow with few passing places. There is also some parking further back from the main parking spot under the obvious viaduct. Both spots are free to park at. There are toilets in the Edale village car park.

Distance/Time

7 km       About 3 - 4 hours

Peaks

No real peaks but highest point reached is nearly 630 m. OS Outdoor Leisure 1: Dark Peak

Introduction

This is a very pleasant walk, ideal for a short day, especially in late Autumn when the landscape turns brown. Crowden Clough is a lovely approach to the south edge of Kinder. The going can be wet and boggy, especially after rain, but it is not too bad; the views make up for it! The walk visits some of the named rock features on the south edge of Kinder. The Woolpacks is an area of many rocks, some of which can be named from their shape. One's imagination can run wild here!

Route

(1) Continue walking up the Upper Booth road until the red telephone box is reached near a campsite. Continue a little further, descending slightly to a stone bridge over Crowden Brook. Immediately after crossing this bridge, go through a gate, on the right, to access the Crowden Clough path. Follow the path, with the brook on your right, through a pleasant wood, then reach open country at a stile and sign. Continue up, crossing the brook several times. The view up the clough is very pleasant indeed. Further up, the angle steepens and the path can be slippery but it soon passes below Crowden Tower before reaching the main path along the south edge of Kinder. Go left, roughly SW, and walk to Crowden Tower whose highest point, 629 m, is easily reached from the path.

(2) Rejoin the main path and follow it along the edge of the Kinder Plateau, heading W/SW. A slight descent leads to the Woolpacks – an area of rocks, some of distinctive shapes. In the hollow, often boggy, of the Woolpacks is a rock which when viewed from the NE looks remarkably like Winnie the Pooh in profile. The ten figure grid reference of the adjacent boulder is SK 09105 86996. Note that the rock only resembles Winnie the Pooh from a solitary viewpoint. Continue on the main path and soon reach a major rocky area. The main path passes this on the S side but a short detour to the N leads to Pym Chair which is the last major outcrop to the N of this whole feature. A grassy path slants down back to the main path just below a tower known as the Pagoda. Again, if viewed from the correct direction, it is well named.

(3) Continue on the main path to reach Noe Stool, the only prominent boulder to the left of the path. Go to the boulder to pick up the left fork of the path which continues along the edge. When it becomes slabbed, descend down, taking any left turns to reach the top of Jacob's Ladder which is now quite a rough and stony path but gives good views. Follow this down to a stone bridge, beyond which a track then road leads back to the start.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 2^nd November, 2014.