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Ringing Roger & Grindsbrook Knoll from Edale Village

Start/Finish

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 church on the left on the eastern end of Hope. The car park is expensive but there are toilet facilties. Mid-week, in winter, it may be possible to park in Edale Village near the school or Nag's Head but parking is extremely limited. The railway station has a car park which is cheaper if one is parking for a full day.

Distance/Time

9 km     About 3 - 4 hours

Peaks

Grindslow Knoll, 601 m, SK 109 867.

Most of this walk is on ridges and edges.

OS Outdoor Leisure 1: Dark Peak.     OS 1:50 000 Sheet 110.

Introduction

This is a short and reasonably pleasant walk which allows the pleasant, easy rocky ridge of Ringing Roger and the edge of Kinder above Nether Tor, Upper Tor and Grindsbrook Clough to be explored followed by an easy ascent up Grindslow Knoll. This part of the Kinder edge is not the most popular but it is as scenic as any other part neither are there any boggy sections. Views include the Losehill to Mam Tor ridge, Win Hill and beyond. It is an ideal walk for a clear winter's day. Walking up the road towards Edale village puts Nether Tor in direct line of vision. From a distance, this resembles a steam engine similar to that in the pioneering wild west.

Route

(1) From the car park, walk up the minor road into Edale village passing under the railway and past the church. At the Nag's Head, go straight as far as is allowed until a sign directs one down to a narrow bridge over a stream. Continue on the other side to a stone shed where the path splits. Take the right fork which is a grassy ascending path. Reach a gate by a wood then follow the path about halfway along the wood before it forks left. Further on, it forks right and can be followed easily. The best route is to go up the nose, weaving between the outcrops with optional scrambling if required. There is an alternative path on the left of the crest. Continue up past the interestingly shaped rocks. When these run out, continue to meet the distinctive edge path and follow it left, roughly NW.

(2) Stay with the edge path, mainly heading W after the first ford/stream is crossed and passing several distinctive outcrops including Nether Tor then Upper Tor. After about 1.5 km of heading W, there is a short detour NW to cross a ford/stream before heading SW for about 300 m after which the path turns right, NNW, to go around a deep clough. When this is crossed, the path goes almost due S for about 400 m to cross the main path coming up Grindsbrook Clough. In mist, this crossing may not be obvious but the path heads SE with the edge still on the left. Stay with the path, which is mainly level, before a short ascent to the large cairn which marks the summit of Grindslow Knoll, 601 m.

(3) The descent path is not that obvious from the cairn so head ESE to intercept it; it is very distinctive and becomes more so lower down. Follow the path down to the Access gate then across a large grassy field (aim for the largest gap in the wall ahead) to join the Pennine Way at a sign post. From here it is only about 400 m to the top of Edale village by the school.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 12^th & 13^th February, 2016.