Get Lost Mountaineering

Ollerbrook Clough, Ringing Roger, Nether Tor, Upper Tor & Grindslow 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

10 km.     About 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 until just before the church. The cemetery is opposite and a signed tarmac path goes down the side of it heading towards Ollerbrook. Follow the path to Ollerbrook where there is a post box. A sign post is close by but it has no direction for Ollerbrook Clough! A little further, less than 5 m, is another sign pointing to a gate on the left of a house and indicating open country. Go through the gate and drift right towards a wall where a grassy track, in a shallow groove, heads towards Ollerbrook Clough. Reach the boundary of open country then, soon after, cross the clough. Take the rough grassy track heading up the E side of the clough. Further on, it cuts back right to ascend towards the crest and becomes very overgrown but there is a faint path at the side. Follow this up. Higher up, it cuts back left then reaches the crest. Continue along the track, now much easier to walk. It goes around to the right of a “bump” before reaching a stile at a broken wall. Continue on a path which drifts slightly right then cuts back left up a shallow grassy groove. At its top, the path splits. Take the left fork which goes to the top of the rocky outcrop well seen on much of the approach, especially from in the clough itself.

(2) Continue along the edge on this faint path which gradually heads around the top of Ollerbrook Clough. The path eventually peters out when it reaches a deep cut stream. Go up the side of the stream for a short distance to reach a better path and follow this roughly W/SW below the crest of Ringing Roger heading for its SW ridge. This ridge is reached by a cairn at the foot of the now stepped path. 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. A lone, windswept tree is good to aim for.

(3) 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.

(4) 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, drifting right towards the tree hedge, 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 14^th December, 2016.