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Buxton Circular via Combs Moss Walk

Exciting but short and easy circuit of a quiet moorland plateau above Buxton. Green valleys, reservoirs, Castle Naze hillfort, far views and dramatic gritstone edges.

Circular Peak District

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Mon, 15-Jul-24 Skirting a heathery moorland plateau: Buxton Circular via Combs Moss [Macclesfield Trip] 15 sunny to just after lunch then clouding over
Thu, 01-Sep-22 Skirting a heathery moorland plateau: Buxton Circular via Combs Moss [Buxton Trip] [New Walk] 11 sunny with a breeze

Monday 15-Jul-24

Thomas G
Length: 16.2 km (10.1 mi) [Longer or shorter walks possible]
Ascent/Descent: 510m
Net Walking Time: 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10

Take Bus Line 58 at 09.15 from the Bus Station (Bay 8), arrives Buxton Train Station at 09.52.
Return buses to Macclesfield: xx.25 to 16.25, then 17.05 and 18.05 . [times as at Sylvan Park, passes Train Station and Market Place a few mins later.]
This is an exciting but unchallenging circuit of a quiet moorland plateau about half the size of Kinder Scout in the north western corner of the Peak District, within easy reach of the spa town of Buxton. The route follows good – if sometimes mud-prone – paths and provides for fantastic views to surrounding hills and upland moors (in good weather) and into the green valleys below around Dove Holes, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge.

Further highlights are the gritstone scarps of Black Edge and Combs Edge with some dramatic views, the Iron Age promontory hillfort of Castle Naze and the views over Buxton from Corbar Hill before the final descent.

Walk Options
Start or Finish at Chapel-en-le-Frith Station (trains from/to Buxton or Macclesfield via Stockport). This is 1.4 km from the route and 160m height lower. You connect to/from the route 6.7 km into it.
Descend to the off-route lunch pub : adds 3.6 km and 200m ascent.

Picnic Lunch.
Lunch off route: The Beehive Inn & Farm Shop Open all day every day. The Beehive is 1.8 km away from Combs Moss along a narrow lane and 200m below.
Tea: Numerous options in the centre of town.
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here. T=swc.384
  • Mon, 15-Jul-24

    15 on this departure day walk in sunny to just after lunch then clouding over type weather.

    A slightly delayed bus plus the need for a few to fetch some sandwiches from Waitrose meant we started about 20 minutes behind schedule, but with this short walk it disnae really matter. In total contrast to yesterday's walk, we could actually see the surrounding hills, quarries and villages and it made for a great day. Not without some muddy stretches though after recent rain...

    The bilberries up on the moor were aplenty if a little on the acidic side of the ripening cycle. Picnic was had at the excellent viewpoint (not that the route is short of them) at Castle Naze, and we got back to Buxton at 3 o'clock. That left time for a swift refreshing drink at The Bank (a Red Willow Brewery outlet) before the 15.27 bus back. Only that that bus did not come, and there was no online trace of it either. Just as several punters were settling into the next door cafe, the bus did turn up, all of 25 minutes late! The pleasures of living in rural Britain...

    That meant that the 16.37 train from Macc to London could only be reached by dashing to the accommodation and picking up any bags in extra-fast time. 4 of us achieved that. All others had Advance Tickets for later trains anyway.

Thursday 01-Sep-22

Thomas G
Ascent/Descent: 510m
Net Walking Time: 4 ½ hours
Toughness: 5 out of 10
Meet outside Buxton Train Station at 14.00 hours.
This is an exciting but unchallenging circuit of a quiet moorland plateau about half the size of Kinder Scout in the north western corner of the Peak District, within easy reach of the spa town of Buxton. The route follows good – if sometimes mud-prone – paths and provides for fantastic views to surrounding hills and upland moors (in good weather) and into the green valleys below around Dove Holes, Chapel-en-le-Frith and Whaley Bridge.

Further highlights are the gritstone scarps of Black Edge and Combs Edge with some dramatic views, the Iron Age promontory hillfort of Castle Naze and the views over Buxton from Corbar Hill before the final descent.

Walk Options
Start or Finish at Chapel-en-le-Frith Station . This is 1.4 km from the route and 140m height lower. You connect to/from the route 6.7 km into it.
Townbus 76 gets you up to a stop 1.1 km into the route. See webpage or pdf for details.
Tea: Numerous options in the centre of town.
For walk directions, maps, height profiles, photos and gpx/kml files click here . T=swc.384
  • Thu, 01-Sep-22

    Avanti West Coast tried their level best to stop the SWC in its tracks, but 9 walkers managed to get to the start on time, some carrying all their luggage for the weekend! Conditions were near perfect for this walk, what with sunshine aplenty and a strong breeze at the top, which though we always seemed to have from the side or back. There had been enough recent rain for the grass to be green but not enough to produce major muddy stretches. Far views were magnificent throughout.

    45 mins approx it takes to get to the plateau, from where we had crystal clear views of Kinder, Bleaklow, Great Ridge, Win Hill etc, as well as some of the terrain walked through the next few days. It was all heather, grasses and bilberry bushes up there, with the heather still showing half decent colour and the bushes still carrying some berries.

    On the westerly return, upon stopping for the group to regain cohesion, we saw a person in the distance traipsing uphill through the deep heather and bracken of the hillside, up to the plateau level, from an area where there was no right of way. Theories abounded as to whether it might be a gamekeeper, or - based on the person's erratic wanderings - a butterfly collector or a berry aficionado. Our man with the bins confirmed it was indeed a walker. A 2nd person looking through the bins exclaimed to recognise her:"she's SWC". Which left us a few minutes to develop theories as to where she was coming from and why.

    All we got out of her initially was "I should have read the walk post more diligently." Which is of course true for most walkers most of the time...

    Animals: kestrels, housemartins, a shrew. No grouse though, which is strange for a grouse moor.

    Drinks for most at the Buxton Brewery Taproom.

    Later on a meet up with a bunch of late arrivals at the Cheshire Cheese.

    10 in weather that was sunny with a breeze

  • Fri, 02-Sep-22

    1 late starter, so 11