A Long Time Coming…. Millers Dale – Grindsbrook Clough

Hello all, and welcome back….. first id just like to explain briefly why I’ve been away for so long. Back in mid August i did three back to back days of big (for me) miles, the first day is what this blog will mainly be about. This was all done with a full camp set up, and during this time i managed to develop a nasty twinge in my knee. Unfortunately this curtailed my walking quite a lot, and then it was the school holidays, and as i have four boys, i spent a lot of time with them. so all my walks, blogs and videos took a back seat. With my knee now feeling a lot better, normal service should resume, with some small changes. As much as i enjoy writing these detailed blogs, its very time consuming for me as writing doesn’t come naturally, so i will be making it more of a photo blog with linking text. This will help me spend more time with my family and less time glued to my PC screen.  So i’m sorry for being away for so long without explanation, and i hope you enjoy my new content, including this one 🙂

Ok so, this walk begins at the old station of Millers Dale on the Monsal trail, my plan was to follow Monks Dale and join the Limestone way, which id follow to Castleton and then cross the great ridge to Grindsbrook Clough.    The first section of Monk’s Dale was pretty easy going and open, with the only real problem being a few thorny trees over hanging the path threatening to rip by bag open. The problems really began when the path descended into the bottom of the dale and into the trees. As beautiful as it was, it was very damp, and the path was pretty much all uneven limestone. Anyone familiar with limestone will know its incredibly slippy when wet. This made progress slow.   Leaving Monk’s Dale, the path joined up with the Limestone way. This took me through Peter Dale, which was a lot more open and wider, but it was very muddy, and i was quite lucky to not fall or get mud in over the top of my boots.    Once the mud of Peters Dale had been negotiated, i came to Hay Dale. Thankfully this was open like Peter’s dale, and also dry. It was getting to lunch time now, and all my meals were dehydrated and id been unable to find a water source. In the end i opted to stop and eat a few snack bars to at least replace some energy.      At the end of Hay Dale the route passes through open farm land and past peak forest. I must admit that at this point i was starting to struggle and the constant uphill was really starting to become painful. There was still lots of beautiful views to admire though, and i took advantage of them to take my mind off the aches.    As the route finally leveled out i started to recognise the views on the horizon. This was just the morale booster i needed as landmarks like the great ridge and Rushup edge came into view. This meant that Castleton wasn’t far away now, and a chance to either get some water for my meals or possibly a pub lunch was on the cards.   It wasn’t long before i reached the top of cave dale, and that meant that the village of Castleton was imminent. Making my way down the dale, Peveril castle came in to view. It sits proudly on top of a large Limestone mound, making it near impregnable due to the steep drops on all sides.       Finally i was in Castleton, and after missing lunch i decided to visit the Bulls Head pub for a very late lunch, which was more like tea time.   At last i was fully fueled up and ready for the last part of my walk, this would take me up the great ridge to Hollins Cross and back down the other side towards the village of Edale.    Once over the great ridge it was only a short way to the base of Grindsbrook Clough where i would be setting up for the night, ready to meet my friend Colin in the morning.  

Eventually i made it to my chosen camp spot as the light started to fade, so these last photographs will be from the following morning when the light was a lot better.  So here ends the blog, i hope you enjoyed the new format. I had a really great day if a little hard in places, but its always more rewarding if things aren’t always going exactly to plan and you still get through the other side 🙂

So if you made it this far down the page, thank you very much, a MASSIVE thanks to all who have stayed with me through this quiet period, it really means a lot to me 🙂  Please feel free to comment, and as always i’ll leave a link to the video below for those that are interested in watching. So until next time goodbye 🙂

 

Here is the link to the video:

Millers Dale – Grindsbrook Clough Video