Grinlow

Today's walk included four Ethels, the first of which was Grinlow, a small hill just outside of Buxton. I'd parked up on the moors at Derbyshire Bridge and so had to walk back into Buxton on a RUPP (Road Used As Public Path) that was so rough, I think Monster Trucks had used it as a test track. I could see Grinlow straight ahead, but there were housing estates, woodland and a caravan park on the approach. The stony path brought me down to a housing estate. I could see a footpath on the OS map that ran next to a stream, but I couldn't see a sign for it. I saw a man walking his dog and asked him as to its whereabouts. He gave me a look as though I'd asked him to explain in layman's terms quantum entanglement. I did some exploring and found the path. I got corralled between two barbed fences and then caught the netting of my new rucksack on some of the barbs. The path eventually finished off with some brambles and nettle wading. Well, that was the housing estate behind me, now for the wood. Needless to say, I wasn't a happy bunny when I entered Grinlow wood. There were tracks in the wood that didn't appear on my OS map. I tried finding one of the tracks documented on my map, but I gave up in the end and just started walking upwards. I figured Grinlow summit is the highest point and so I was bound to hit it at some point. Only if life was that simple!

The planners of Buxton Country Park seemed to have taken great delight in erecting fences and stone walls to make the challenge very difficult. I emerged from the wood on the east side of the Buxton Caravan Park. This is placed in an old quarry and and I made my way around it on its south. I thought I'd take a direct route to the top of Grinlow but then found that I was blocked by a high stone wall. I retraced my steps to the Buxton Caravan Park and ended up just following somebody else who looked as though they knew what they were doing. Thankfully they were going up to the summit too and when I saw that my way was clear to the top, I gave a whoop of joy. There is a Victorian folly at the summit called Solomon's Temple. A spiral internal staircase delivered me to its top and there were fine views in every direction. It was very windy, and it gave me a battering up there. I could see a large group of people making their way up to the folly from Buxton. As they got closer. I could see it was a school outing, and so I decided to flit while the narrow staircase was free. I'd seen my next Ethel from the top of the folly, Axe Edge Moor, and I headed off in its direction.

Axe Edge Moor And Oliver Hill

Axe Edge Moor was more my kind of hill. After this morning's navigational toing and froing, Axe Edge Moor presented a far simpler challenge. It was basically a matter of getting on to the moor and then following a track to the trig on its summit. Simple. There were fine views back to Solomon's Temple and southeast towards Chrome Hill and Parkhouse Hill (future Ethels). The wind was blowing hard on the summit, and I took a southwest bearing to get me down to Dane Head. The track I chose from the summit soon disappeared and the rest of my way to the road was made over rather moist trackless moor. I started to regret the lack of gaiters. A flock of Golden Plovers flew over my head and landed on my route about 50 metres ahead of me. I got to within 20 metres of them before they spotted me and then took flight. What a treat to see a flock of these colourful birds.

From the Danes Head road, I picked up a track that wasn't actually shown on the OS map and found my way to some largish boulders on a ridge above Drystone Edge. I could now see my next Ethel, Oliver Hill, at the other side of the valley. I started heading downwards towards Axe Edge End, and my third Ethel.

For a period, I re-joined civilisation, passing farmhouses and walking along a tarmac road. A woman even walked by with a baby in a pushchair, valiantly keeping the wheels on the ground, despite the efforts of the wind to do otherwise. At the curiously named Oxenstitch farm, I headed off up to Oliver Hill. This area was a mix off moors and farmland. Some cows looked up to see what I was doing but found grass more interesting than me. On the top of Oliver Hill I stopped for lunch. I noticed that to the south I could see The Roaches and Hen Cloud. They formed the south-eastern boundary of the Ethels. For the first time, I felt that I was actually making some progress to the Ethels finishing line.

Cheeks Hill

I could see the mighty lump of Shutlingsloe over to the east. I remember going up there once on a walk with Shirko. It was one of those typical misty, drizzly Shirko epics. There was an impressive rocky outcrop on a nearby ridge and my path over Wolf Edge went past it. I didn't see any wolves, but I did see a very pretty valley below me. The last boggy 50 metres before reaching the single-track road in the valley, made me rue not wearing gaiters. The road serviced the few farms in the area, and I followed it northwards until I reached the moors again. A sign warned me that there were mine shafts in the area. On my return trip to Derbyshire Bridge, I saw several fenced enclosures that I took to be the location of mine shafts. Cheeks Hill was my fourth and last Ethel of the day. It was really just an undulation in the moor and didn't have a cairn to crown its top. The return track to Dane Head and Axe Edge Moor was mercifully dry and was interrupted by the busy A54. I crossed the road and continued northwards until I reached the stony Monster Truck training road that I'd walked along this morning. On the other side of the RUPP, I noticed a path heading off to the trig on Burbage Edge (an unclimbed Ethel) and I was almost tempted to do an out-and-back to it, but I decided that would be better claimed on another day. My feet didn't welcome the stony road back to Derbyshire Bridge, but it didn't take long to get back to the car park.

It had been an interesting day with a contrast between the country park of Grinlow and the wild moors of the other Ethels. Looking at the mud up to my knees, I just wish I'd had some gaiters on.