Walk Summary
Classic Peak District 'edge' walking during October. View (at a distance) the deer of Big Moor during the rutting season Drop in on Nelson and his three ships. Return over the precipices of Baslow, Curbar and Froggatt edges.
Date: 21/10/2021
Length: 11.85 miles
Height Gain: 406 m
Terrain: Boggy paths, rocky paths; steep sections to Birchen Edge
Navagation: Fair. The tricky navigation points are documented on the map.
Start: Car Park near the Grouse Inn on the A625
Route: Grouse Inn, White Edge, Birchen Edge, Baslow Edge, Curbar Edge, Froggat Edge
Map: OL24 White Peak Area
Weather: Sunny and windy
Walkers: Nun
Gallery
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White Edge - Stag
Captain's Log
No Time To Grouse
A classic walk in the Peak District; a bright sunny day and a stag bellowing with 300 metres of the car park...what could be better. October (the rutting season) is a good time to see the deer along White Edge. At a distance of course. There were plenty on view today with several groups on both side of the edge. I was talking to a fellow walker and he wondered whether the one we watched was Bruce. I didn't realise the deer had been given names.
Battling Buzzards
Over the moorland before Birchen Edge a couple of Buzzards decided to put on an aerial display with a bit of play fighting. They never appeared to touch each other but it does look like those talons were extended and some points.
Birchen Edge - Battling Buzzards
Birchen Edge - Nelson's Monument
Nelson's Monument And His Three Ships
Nelson's Monument lies atop Birchen Edge. A little smaller than the one in London, but no less impressive. It was erect in 1810 by a local businessman and restored in 1992. It consists of a 3m high column with a 30cm diameter ball on top. I'm not sure whether the ball is supposed to represent a cannon ball. It looks rather modernist to me. There are 3 large stones behind it. Each one is named after one of Nelson's ships: Victory, Defiance and Royal Soverin (spelling as chiselled on the rocks).
Birchen Edge - Nelson's Three Ships
Gardom's Edge - Fighting Pheasants
Fighting Pheasant's And Fly Agaric
There is a very pleasant wooded area below Gardom's Edge. As I walked along the trail two pheasants started fighting. Normally human intrusion makes them break up and fly away, but these two were totally focussed on the fight.
I've never seen so many Fly Agaric as in this bit of woodland. They look to me like pizzas on a stick. Not to be eaten of course since they can cause hallucinations and psychotic reactions.
Gardom's Edge - Fly Agaric
Crow Eating Wasp
On Baslow Edge I watched a crow eating a wasp. It captured and disabled it. The crow then proceeded to remove the sting. Only then did it eat it. It seemed a lot of effort for such little reward. Maybe wasps are tasty to a crow's palate.
Baslow Edge - A Crow Eating Wasp