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Lad's Leap, Hollins Clough, Featherbed Moss & Laddow Moss from Crowden

Lad's Leap, Hollins Clough, Featherbed Moss & Laddow Moss from Crowden

Start/Finish

Free public car park at Crowden which is signposted, about 200 m before, on the W side of the A628 Woodhead Pass. Turn off on to a minor road then left down a curving slope into a medium sized car park. There are toilets close by. If the car park is full, one may have to park on the side of the minor road. Crowden is on the A628, Woodhead Pass road. From the M1, go north past Sheffield and Meadowhall and leave at junction 35A (not 35). Follow the A616 past Deepcar and Stocksbridge (Tata Steel plant). Go through the hamlet of Langsett where there are toilets if needed. Continue to the roundabout junction with the A628 and turn left on to the A628. Follow this up and over the Woodhead Pass. Soon, Woodhead Reservoir is reached. Drive the full length of this, going past the A6024 Holmfirth turning just over the viaduct on the northern spur of the reservoir. The turning for Crowden is about half a mile further. If missed, one may have to drive some distance to turn around. It is about 11 miles from the M1 to the A616/A628 roundabout and just under a further 11 miles to Crowden car park. Note that there is no parking on the main road especially near to where the Pennine Way leaves it. The only sensible place to park is at Crowden. Sometimes, hill races start at Crowden. On such days, you would need to arrive before the runners to have any chance of parking as it gets quite chaotic.

Distance/Time

9 km      About 3 - 4 hours

Peaks

Featherbed Moss Trig Point, 541 m, SE 046 012.

This is not really a peak just a point on a fairly level moorland plateau.

OS Outdoor Leisure 1: Dark Peak

Introduction

This is a fine, but tough, edge and moorland walk in the Dark Peak which, in good weather has good views of the surrounding Pennine Moors including Bleaklow to the S and Black Hill to the NE. Some of the going is boggy, even in a dry spell, and gaiters are strongly recommended. This walk is best attempted in clear weather as the moorland section is almost featureless. Navigation is straightforward to Lad's Leap and from the top of Laddow Moss back to Crowden.

Route

(1) From the car park, follow the sign to the toilets. Turn right at the toilets and follow the good path, by a wall, up the side of the camp site to reach a minor road. Turn left and follow the minor road with the camp site on the left. Soon the road climbs. Just before a wood on the left, turn right at a signpost (Pennine Way). Follow the path to reach the Access point (notice) which is just after a stile/gate in a stone wall and at the start of a small wood. Go left here on the obvious path going uphill. Follow the path up – in places it goes through deep grass but is still distinctive – until it splits. Take the left fork and continue up on to top of the moor then onward to the obvious Coombes Clough. Lad's Leap is on the E side with Millstone Rocks across the clough. Note that the path misses out Highstone Rocks which is fairly prominent from below. To include these, cross the broken wall just after a stile and walk across rough, wet and very tussocky grass to reach the lower top then pick a way from here – following a wall – to the higher top. It is then possible to walk W, along the pathless edge, until a cairn on the above path is spotted. At Lad's Leap, follow the path across the stream then, immediately, turn right and follow the bank upstream. There is a fairly distinctive path although it is not immediately obvious. Continue up the path keeping the stream on your right as you ascend the shallow Hollins Clough. Higher up, the clough deepens slightly and two trees will be seen. Continue past the trees then follow the upper stream as it goes right, NE. The path is still there but now fairly faint. It is just over 200 m to the white trig point which is the highest point on Featherbed Moss, 541 m but this is not a summit just a point on fairly featureless moorland.

(2) Surprisingly, a fairly distinctive grassy path goes NE/ENE (towards Holme Moss aerial if it is clear). Follow this path, faint in places, for about 1 km, to reach the stile at the top of Laddow Moss where the path from Chew Reservoir is joined. Follow this very distinctive path SE to the edge of Laddow Rocks where it joins the Pennine Way. Continue S, descending towards Crowden. After a wood and before the next wood a wide grassy track leads down to the outdoor centre. Follow its access road back to the campsite and then to the car park.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 15th January, 2015.

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