Starting in Glossop i lead a group of friends for a full day hike, from Mossy lea farm up to Higher Shelf and then to the Castles in the Sky. WE visited the B29 remains. this a climb of 400m over 3k, the group found it hard going and where very happy to get to the top for the views. from there, although i knew my route i took a bearing for consolidation and headed to the start of the reentrant for Hern Clough. Here the trail is not visible and this is the start of River Alport, leading to Alport Valley the the Alport Castles, crossing the swamp, and grains in the water we traversed along a contour, crossing multiple small fords before stopping at Gathering Clough for lunch.
The friends wanted to scramble up The Castle, this was a fun thing to do, and looking over the valley, as RCI i could see lots of trad oportunities.
from there down to the Alport farm and picking up the footpath at harridge farm.
this follows the route of an old roman road, through the trees to the A57, where it crosses into Lady Clough.
we where disgusted by the state of this, litter and discarded tents and bbq’s where scattered around.
Picking up the road we followed the tarmac path up to the crossing for the pennine way at SK 08801 92907 when the weather changed dramatically, torrential rail started and everyone’s mood changed. they all decided they wanted a rest, pointing out we where on a very exposed location with no where to take repite, my friends where no longer happy.
we spend the next hour in a my rescue shelter, 5 people, squeezed into a 4 person shelter. it was tight, but dry and the mood lighened.
i carry 2 head torches in my bag, and 1 friend had one as well, so with ample light we set off down Dr’s Gate back to Glossop. realising the last few km where all down hill made everyone a lot happier and an hour later we where sitting in a pub in Glossop.
personal reflection,
we averaged 25m per km, i had anticipated quicker, so the walk had taken much longer than i expected.
in future, do not over estimate other peoples speed over rough ground, and resilience to poor weather.
total distance was over 30k, we where out from 9am until 8pm. far too long.
