Walk Summary
A walk including two Ethels: Lantern Pike and Cown Edge. Starts at the pretty village of Rowarth. Tremendous views of the surrounding hills, in particular the western edge of Kinder Scout.
Date: 08/09/2022
Length: 8.01 miles
Height Gain: 378 m
Terrain: Moorland paths, grassy paths, stone paths, fields, lightly used roads.
Navagation: Fairly easy. Signage is reasonable. Requires map. Compass and gps may be useful in bad weather.
Start: Rowarth Carpark
Route: Rowarth Carpark, Wethercotes, Lantern Pike, Bullshaw Farm, Cown Edge, Coombes Edge, Cown Edge
Map: OL1 Dark Peak Area
Weather: Sunny and blue skies
Walkers: Nun
Gallery
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Morning
Captain's Log
Rowarth
I looked out of my bedroom window this morning and I could only see about 200 metres due to the mist. I went back to bed. By 9am the mist had cleared and I decided to set out on the walk. Rawthorne is tucked away in the hills that are south of Glossop and west of Hayfield. If you don't know the locations of Glossop and Hayfield I guess that isn't much help. I'd never been to the place before and I found the narrow single track road out of Glossop a bit disconcerting. I'd have been happier with somebody walking in front of my car waving a red flag since I had to brake sharply a couple of times due to fast oncoming traffic. I wondered if Tescos ever delivered to Rawthorne; it must be a nightmare for the driver if they do. After the walk I was returning along the road when I met a car towing a trailer. I was just about to start reversing to try and find a wider bit of the road, when the car in front of me started reversing downhill. He was obviously an expert in that he managed to reverse his car and trailer around a bend and then tuck it closely into the side of the road. I gave him a smile and a thumbs up as I went past, but all I got in return was a 'I have to do it all the time' look.
Given the perilous approach to Rowarth I was pleasantly surprised to find its carpark was generously large and free as well. I booted up and set off past the few houses in the village. It was all very pretty. I decided that I could happily live here, although I'd have to build a helicopter pad since I couldn't be doing with driving along that approach road every day.
Looking Back Towards Rowarth (Cown Edge In The Background)
Lantern Pike
I followed a bridleway that led me gradually uphill in the direction of Lantern Pike. Lantern Pike would be my first Ethel of the day. If I looked back, beyond Rowarth, I could see Cown Edge, the second Ethel of the day. The path was a bit of a teaser in that halfway up Lantern Pike it swung to the right and contoured around the hill. In one of the neighbouring fields I saw three telephone poles with string or wire hanging from the telephone cable. I presumed it had been setup to grow something but the only vegetation in the field seemed to be weeds. Just a bit further along, the track took me through a farm building area. I'm not sure whether it was a working farm since it resembled a junk yard. There many cars, tractors and trailers dumped at the side of the track. The track brought me to a tarmac road and this had good views down into the valley to Birch Vale. The tarmace road was quite narrow and I had squeeze in a couple of times to allow cars to pass. After 5 minutes walk along the road, I picked up the Pennine Bridleway and this started taking me back uphill towards Lantern Pike. As I approached the top of the hill I stopped a moment to watch an aerial conflict between a Buzzard and a Kestrel. The smaller Kestrel seemed to have some success chasing the Buzzard away. Although Kestrels are smaller I guess they are more manoeuvrable than the larger Buzzard. Eventually the Buzzard gave up and soared away.
There was a stone pillar and a Toposcope on the summit of Lantern Pike. It was dedicated to Edwin Royce who was born in Slaithwaite in1880 and died in Manchester in 1946. Google says his ashes were scattered on Shuttlings Low. He was president of the Manchester Ramblers Federation, which later became the Ramblers Association.
Alternative Use Of Telephone Poles
Summit Of Lantern Pike (Kinder Scout In The Background)
Meadow Pippit With Sticky Buds
Pennine Bridleway
I continued on the Pennine Bridleway descending down Lantern Pike, in the direction of Cown Edge. Maybe Edwin Royce chose Lantern Pike for his memorial plaque due to its fine views. The views were certainly better than I'd expected. I'd never walked around this area before and it was interesting to see the western edge of Kinder Scout. It seemed longer, higher and more impressive than I expected.
When the path from Lantern Pike flattened out I met a couple coming the other way. They hadn't brought a map and the man was confused as to which way was north. He then confused Hayfield with Hadfield. The woman excused her partner's lack of knowledge by saying that he was more interested in getting back to Rowarth and going to the pub.
A little further along, a Meadow Pippit flew on to a nearby stonewall to check me out. It was only when I zoomed into the photo on my cameras screen that I noticed that he had a couple of sticky buds stuck to his feathers. That must be annoying for him.
I continued along the Pennine Bridleway and this took a sharp left turn to go up to Cown Edge.
Looking Towards Manchester From Cown Edge
Cown Edge
It wasn't much of a climb up to Cown Edge. It looked higher than it felt. I'd followed a group of horses up to the edge and they now grazed on the plateau beyond. I could see the high buildings of Manchester's city centre beyond them. I followed the edge northwards towards Glossop. Two largish quarries appear on the edge, and the absence of rock feels a bit like missing teeth. Some sheep had decided to go to sleep on the very rim of the quarry and I was a little worried I might startle them over the edge. I made a wide diversion around them. Further along I watched a Kestrel making use of the updraft of the edge to soar along looking for food. Occasionally it would stop and hover in that distinctive Kestrel manner.
When the path started descending down towards Glossop, I turned around and started heading back along the edge towards Rowarth. There had been some amazing clouds bubbling up throughout the day. Occasionally some of them had been rather grey and I thought I might have been in for a spot of a rain. It never happened though. It had been a glorious day for walking. The path gradually descended down to Rowarth and it wasn't long before I was walking along that short picturesque main street.
I'd had relatively low expectations for this walk. On the map the route looked rather flat and there seemed to be a lot of field hopping. In reality, I'd found it a tremendous walk. Sure, I'd walked through some fields, but it felt more like walking over moorland than lowland fields. The views of the surrounding hills were also far better than my expectations. I've some more Ethels to climb in this area. I'd been viewing them as an Ethel ticking exercise, but now I'm actually looking forward to doing them.
Kestrel