Rushup Edge – Crowden Clough A Peak District Walk

This walk took place 2 days after the trip in my last blog, and as mentioned in that blog i shall fill in on a few missing details. To start off with, when i reached my car after the Bamford edge wild camp, i didn’t drive home, instead i made my way into the village of Edale. Once there i set up at the Fieldhead campsite with the secondary gear i had left in my car, this middle day was to be a lazy one, or at least a day with no massive hill miles. I will not be going in to huge detail on this day, infact all i will say is that i spent most of the day in Castleton, with a visit to Perveril castle before returning to the campsite to relax. I will add though, before moving on to the titled blog, that i had a great day, and i’d definitely recommend a stay at Fieldhead and/or a trip to Castleton 🙂

Ok so back to the main story…… I had a relatively slow start in the morning, but i didn’t have far to travel as my journey was going to be starting from the base of Mam Tor,  a mere 2 mile drive or so from Edale. I decided to park on the old road section outside Blue John Cavern, for the main reason being it was free, and secondarily it would add a little extra to my days mileage 🙂  The walk i had roughly planned was to start with Rushup edge, a section of the Edale skyline i had been wanting to do for a very long time, and i was finally about to do it. The only downside was the weather, the previous day had been beautiful, with sunny blue skies. Today however was misty low clouds and even stood virtually at the base of Mam Tor i could hardly see the summit…… if at all.  I set off on my walk, and made my way towards the gap where the road cuts through the great ridge, and then turned towards Rushup edge. Soon i was at the National trust sign and the walk up to the top of the edge began. I was very excited to be finally doing this walk and the only downside was the poor visibility, i could only hope that it would get better throughout the day.  On top of the ridge the views were not as bad as i expected, and whilst Kinder scout was pretty much obscured the views lower down, like Edale were still visible. Whilst i am happy to walk in the mist, i do prefer top be able to see the views, especially as i film the walks too, and its much more interesting if you can actually see something 🙂  So as you can imagine i was pleasantly surprised when there was actually a bit of view to see….. bonus i thought.   After just less than a mile on the ridge, i came to the highest point of Rushup edge, Lords Seat. Lords Seat is an ancient barrow, which is a late neolithic or early bronze age burial mound.  The Burial mound had been fenced off due to erosion, and the sign said it would remain so until the ground had fully recovered. I stopped for a short while, shooting a bit of footage for my video, and then carried on my walk. After Lords seat, the height of the ridge slowly drops, and after about 1km i was at the junction where i would be taking the path towards Brown Knoll. I however wouldn’t be going that far, as i would be taking another fork in the path and heading down Whitemoor Clough to Dale head and Upper Booth farm. Before reaching the path down the Clough, i was met with a very wet obstacle, the hole path was completely under water. As i approached the water, i couldn’t see any way around without going through the grass, which i also expected to be saturated. Thankfully as i got closer i saw a way past , i was very relived, as on this trip i had worn my Columbia walking trainers, and i didn’t fancy water coming in over the top at this early stage of the walk.  Shortly after passing the watery obstacle, i arrived at the path for Whitemoor Clough. As i followed the path downhill it got steeper and steeper, and i soon began to wish i’d brought my walking poles. My knees were really starting to hurt and i could’t wait to get back on some level ground for a short while to recover, however i did take some comfort in the fact that the views were starting to get better as the air started to clear.   Thankfully i soon made the bottom, and passing through Dalehead and crossing the stream i was in to open fields. These were quite wet in places with lots of large puddles from the previous night rain. The route was then to take me past Tagsnaze farm, and it was here the path disappeared. I’m not sure if it was due to fence repairs, but there was no stile where it should have been, and looking around i couldn’t see a replacement anywhere. I decided to just follow the path most used, and to what looked like a gate on a wall in the far side of the field. As i got to the gate it just went to a small drystone wall enclosure……. not this way then i thought. I consulted the map, i knew exactly where the path should be, i just couldn’t get to it. I approached the farm house hoping to see the farmer and ask for his help, but unfortunately there was nobody around. Now stood at his gate, map in hand, i knew the path was on the other side of his yard and past the far gate. With no other obvious way around i decided to go through his yard, taking care that i closed his gates properly behind me………. at last i was back on track 🙂  Finally back on track again, time was pressing on, it was already about 13:00 and i was starting to get hungry, but i was determined to reach Crowden Tower before stopping for lunch. On the plus side, the low cloud and mist had gone now, which meant when i did reach the tower, the views would be great. I made quick work of the next section, partly due to my hunger and partly down to losing time around the farm building. After passing through a small wooded section and across a stream i made it to Upper booth farm. Walking past the farm and across a bridge, i came to a small gate which was the start of the Crowden Clough path. A short way down this tree lined path was a small waterfall in the brook, it was a irresistible photo opportunity, so i stopped for a moment to get a few shots before carrying on. Leaving the trees, the landscape opened up, and crossing the style, there it was before me….. Crowden Clough 🙂      Being so hungry made the Clough look really long, but at least Crowden tower was finally in sight, and i was really looking forward to the scramble, as i’d heard it was a bit more difficult than the Grindsbrook one 🙂 Despite my hunger and eagerness to reach the top, i couldn’t help but stop and take lots of photographs of all the small waterfalls in the brook.  Eventually though i did reach the scramble, it didn’t seem quite so long as the Grindsbrook one, but it did look a bit steeper. So with a quick look back at the beautiful view, i started the ascent.  It wasn’t as hard as i had imagined in my head, though if there was a lot of water i imagine you’d get very wet. Around the half way point, i did find a short section that i didn’t want to do with my tripod in hand, so with a quick stop to stow my tripod on my pack i carried on, feeling much safer with both hands.   I soon made the top after a great scramble, and my lunch stop was now within touching distance. The view from the top was pretty special, made even better by the fact i’d climbed up from it 🙂 After a few photographs i set off on my way to Crowden tower, and for a well deserved rest.    Settling down on the top of Crowden tower, i perched myself on the edge, my legs dangling down into the Clough below. I set my camera to time lapse while i ate my lunch, and boy did the food taste good. It was a very late lunch, i had originally hoped to get to the tower for 13:30 – 14:00, but after losing the path at the farm and taking LOADS of photographs on route it was now 15:00. Still it did not matter, there was no rush, the weather was great now, and with the clear skies the views were amazing.   After half an hour i decided it was time to carry on, my plan for the rest of the route was to head to Grindslow Knoll and then back down to Edale via Grindsbrook Clough. The weather was so much better now, and following the edge of the kinder plateau, the views over the vale of Edale were awesome. If fact i could also see Rushup edge, where earlier in the day you couldn’t see one from the other due to the low cloud. Its not very far between Crowdon tower and Grindslow Knoll and it was soon in sight. I pressed on to make the top and i must admit in the heat i got a bit of a sweat on as i made the final climb to the Cairn.     At the top the Views were awesome, i could just about see my entire route that i’d done, and also my route back. I remember thinking i wish i could do Rushup edge again, as visibility was so good now, but i knew by the time i got back over there again my legs would not want to. Whilst at the top of Grindslow Knoll, i had a great conversation with a lady from Sweden, she was quite taken with the Peak District, and this was her second trip, having been here many years ago. We said our goodbyes, as she headed down towards Edale via the direct route, i however was taking the scramble down Grindsbrook.  Approaching the Grindsbrook scramble i passed one of the many gritstone mushrooms before reaching the top. I’d been up this scramble quite a few times, yet id never been down it, so i was quite looking forward to the descent.   Making my way down the scramble wasn’t as bad as i expected and i made quite good time down, and before long i was out of the rocky section and onto the normal path. Down in the Clough was like a sun trap, up on Kinder there had been a nice breeze, but now it was really hot and stuffy.  I decided to kneel down at the edge of the brook and splash my face with the water, and what a welcome relief it was, it felt great to be a few degrees cooler, even if it was only fleeting 🙂   As i got up from the stream, i met a man with his son passing in the opposite direction, and i just happened to notice he had a small microphone attached to his shirt. So i asked him if he also made YouTube videos, to which he replied yes. He told me his name was Nigel Danson, so after a quick chat and exchanging channel names, we went our separate ways (i later found out at home he has over 2k subscribers, he kept that quiet 😉 ) I will leave a link to his channel below in case anybody is interested in checking him out. As i carried on, it wasn’t long before i was roasting hot and sweating like mad in the glorious sunshine. The rest of the journey was now pretty straight forward, all that was left was to reach the village of Edale, and the carry on towards the great ridge via Harden Clough and to the Blue John Cavern car park. As i neared the end of the Grindsbrook path, i past the site of my first videoed wild camp, and i knew Edale was very close.   It was around this point that i ran out of water, and being the clever chap i am, id forgotten my Sawyer water filter. So my plan was to make my way to the shop in Edale village and buy a couple of water bottles and fill my hydration bladder that way. It didn’t take long to get to Edale, and i promptly made my way to the shop……… Closed…. gutted i thought. So i decided to make my way to Fieldhead campsite where i had stayed the previous night, and ask them if i could use their tap. They were more than happy for me to get some water, so a massive thank you to them for helping me in a time of need 🙂  With plenty of water on board it was time to carry on back to the car. Passing through the village, i made my way up the farmers track towards Harden Clough. Once on the path it was nice and shady from all the trees, providing some much needed respite from the all powerful sun. It wasn’t long though before the trees ended and i was back in blazing sun. I’ll be honest, i was starting to struggle now, my route had been very up and down, and with a combination of the heat and distance of the walk, i couldn’t wait to sit down and rest. Thankfully though i was almost back, and with a bit of help from the amazing views i knew id be finished soon.   Looking down into the Hope valley from the gap in the great ridge, i was almost back, and it was all down hill from here. I was soon back at the car, from what had been an incredible walk, from the morning mist on Rushup Edge to the glorious sunshine on Kinder. Id had a really great day, and despite wishing my first walk on Rushup Edge had been in the clear, its still got a certain appeal walking in those eerie, mystical conditions.

So here ends another blog, i really hope you enjoyed it. I was really happy to do Rushup edge and Crowden clough for the first time and i definitely recommend doing them if you haven’t already. As always if you read this far, thank you very much, i really appreciate all the support 🙂 I will put all links below, to my video of this trip and also to Nigel Danson’s channel as promised. So thanks again for reading, and until next time, goodbye 🙂

Rushup Edge Crowden Clough Video

Link to Nigel Danson channel