Ascent/Descent: 488m; Net Walking Time: ca. 5 ½ hours
Toughness: 7 out of 10
From London there are no good connections on Sundays.
From the West : take the 09.45 Sheffield train from Manchester Piccadilly (…var. stations…, Edale 10.29, Hope 10.36, Bamford 10.39), arriving Hathersage at 10.43.
From the East : take the 10.17 Manchester Piccadilly train from Sheffield (Dore & Totley 10.23, Grindleford 10.30), arriving Hathersage at 10.34.
Return trains to London: xx.43 to 20.43 (change at Sheffield, from 2 hours 44 mins). You may get better prices if searching for split tickets to Sheffield and then Sheffield – London!
Return trains if staying in the area: towards Manchester xx.31 until 20.31 then 22.33; towards Sheffield xx.43 to 20.43, then 21.39, 22.43 and 23.05.
“Centred on Hathersage, an attractive village in the Hope Valley, this route leads through some outstandingly beautiful scenery and passes along the cliffs of the Stanage Edge as well as over the distictive Higger Tor and the ancient iron-age hill fort of Carl Wark on Burbage Moor and down the spectacular wooded Padley Gorge.
You walk from the station through Hathersage village and ascend gradually to Stanage Edge through the Hood Brook valley, a tributary of the Derwent River, not without first diverting past the village church and also passing through the Camp Green medieval ringworks. You also pass Brontë Cottage and North Lees Hall, places inspirational for Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’.
From the southerly end of Stanage Edge continue across the plateaus of Higger Tor and Carl Wark (both descents from the plateaus involve some very light scrambling) and across the Burbage Brook valley and Burbage Moor to lunch at The Fox House Inn.
From lunch the route is less challenging, as you meander through the landscaped Longshaw Estate on a choice of routes and down through the very atmospheric deep but narrow Padley Gorge following the Burbage Brook with its tumbling waterfalls in ancient woodland. Upper Padley has the Grindleford Station Café and a historic chapel in a gatehouse to offer before you join the Derwent River and follow it through quiet pastures and woods back to Hathersage.”
You walk from the station through Hathersage village and ascend gradually to Stanage Edge through the Hood Brook valley, a tributary of the Derwent River, not without first diverting past the village church and also passing through the Camp Green medieval ringworks. You also pass Brontë Cottage and North Lees Hall, places inspirational for Charlotte Brontë’s ‘Jane Eyre’.
From the southerly end of Stanage Edge continue across the plateaus of Higger Tor and Carl Wark (both descents from the plateaus involve some very light scrambling) and across the Burbage Brook valley and Burbage Moor to lunch at The Fox House Inn.
From lunch the route is less challenging, as you meander through the landscaped Longshaw Estate on a choice of routes and down through the very atmospheric deep but narrow Padley Gorge following the Burbage Brook with its tumbling waterfalls in ancient woodland. Upper Padley has the Grindleford Station Café and a historic chapel in a gatehouse to offer before you join the Derwent River and follow it through quiet pastures and woods back to Hathersage.”
Walk Options:
Bus Line 65 (Buxton) and 218 (Bakewell) to Sheffield (broadly hourly) enable various shorter versions. Stops are passed at a couple of points around lunch (Fox House Inn & Longshaw Estate), and on the B 6521 at the end of the stretch through the Padley Gorge, before dropping to Grindleford Station.
A Finish at Grindleford Station (one stop closer to Sheffield) results in a 14.4 km/8.9 mi walk with 416/406m ascent/descent and is rated 6/10.
A Shortcut near the end, en route to the Derwent River, cuts 900m.
Bus Line 65 (Buxton) and 218 (Bakewell) to Sheffield (broadly hourly) enable various shorter versions. Stops are passed at a couple of points around lunch (Fox House Inn & Longshaw Estate), and on the B 6521 at the end of the stretch through the Padley Gorge, before dropping to Grindleford Station.
A Finish at Grindleford Station (one stop closer to Sheffield) results in a 14.4 km/8.9 mi walk with 416/406m ascent/descent and is rated 6/10.
A Shortcut near the end, en route to the Derwent River, cuts 900m.
Elevenses/Lunch: The Fox House Inn (10.8 km/6.7 mi, food to 17.00); The Longshaw Tea Room (11.3 km/7.0 mi, open to 17.00).
Tea: Grindleford Station Café (5.7 km/3.5 mi from the end), plus numerous options in Hathersage, check the webpage or the pdf.
For walk directions, map, height profile , photos and gpx/kml files click here . T=swc.319