Get Lost Mountaineering

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

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 apart from the short section from the trig point to the path by Hollins Clough and over Rakes Moss if one chooses to go that way. This route began as a “wander” so some of the description may seem rather more vague than usual! The trig point seems to be shown by the OS to be between Featherbed Moss and Laddow Moss so either term seems appropriate.

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 near a broken wall. Go right and continue being sometimes above the edge on the right. The path is easy to follow until it crosses an easy stream after which it becomes more faint. One can continue along the edge or head uphill towards a wire fence. Further on the ground is better higher up but it can be slow going. Generally, one needs to be heading roughly N – apart from when going uphill from the stream. Later on, the wire fence is a useful guide as it reaches a stile where the path from Chew Reservoir crosses it on its way to the Pennine Way and Crowden. There is a cairn near here and several cairns on the path towards Chew Reservoir which descends gently – one can catch a glimpse of the reservoir if one walks about 300 m along the path. Between this path and the wire fence, a faint path (no cairn to mark it) roughly bisects the angle before soon swinging away from the fence. This faint path is generally easy to follow apart from through a short section of tussocky grass. If you lose it then it is worth finding again as it leads all the way to the trig point. In clear weather, the white trig point will be visible from near the start of this path but, later on, the lie of the land hides it from view. Soon reach the trig point which sits on fairly level moorland and marks the “summit” of Featherbed/Laddow Moss, 541 m.

(2) From the trig point, walk roughly SW for about 200 m to try and locate two well separated trees – there are no other trees around. From the further one, walk S to locate the top of Hollins Clough which is deep enough to be distinct. If trying to cut the corner, you may cross up to two minor cloughs first. It is important to find Hollins Clough as it has a path on its W bank. Follow the path down. The clough becomes shallower in places but the path is easy to follow especially when the stream appears. Follow the clough down for about 1.5 km to meet the edge path near Lad's Leap. Turn left, E, and cross the stream then follow the path across the moor. This path can be quite wet, with long grass, in places before it descends down to reach the access point at the corner of the small wood where the Pennine Way was left on the outward route. To retrace the outward route turn right, however, one can go ahead and follow the wire fence on a path which soon becomes obvious to reach Crowden Outdoor Centre. From here, follow the tarmac road to the path down the side of the campsite to the toilets and car park.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 18^th November, 2015.