Hope to Tidewell via Shatton Edge

On a superb sunny Sunday I was expecting more of a turnout at the, unfortunately closed for renovations, Woodbine Cafe in Hope but what we lacked in quantity we certainly made up for in quality!  

With the transmitter looming over us on Shatton Edge we set off with this in mind as our first objective.  A gently undulating track, Downfield Lane, took us from Brough over a pretty ford then up and up and up from Wheat Hay Farm to the start of Shatton Lane.  A tough old climb but the views were magnificent and after we peaked at the transmitter, the track became a lovely gently descending route along the edge until momentum initially took us along Brough Lane back towards our starting point.  Rapidly reconfiguring the mental sat nav we screamed down into the pretty village of Abney before, ignoring the road closed signs, we climbed gently towards the gliding field above Abney Grange.  It was there the reason for the road closure became apparent but instead of picking our way through the restorative road works I spied an enticing track through the woods down to Great Hucklow.  A lovely little discovery even if it did take a fair amount of break pad wear to stop before popping out onto the road!

Ahead of us lay the first of our Dales Trails, the delightfully named and utterly delightful Silly Dale which we enjoyed immensely before taking to the tarmac again towards Litton.  To our left we had enticing views of Tansley Dale and Cressbrook Dale but an exploration will have to wait as they led away from our destination of Tideswell for lunch in the Vanilla Cafe where a bevy of lady runners and cake eaters were just about to depart, leaving us free to enjoy the sunshine at the outdoor tables and a well deserved lunch.

Having said farewell to David and Gaye who were taking the short direct route back, Sharon, Roger and myself set out to explore some, as yet unexplored, options.  Our route out of Tideswell was circuitous to say the least. Indeed if you download the gpx you will it was in fact circular as we had failed to show Roger the Cathedral of the Dales, magnificent in the sunshine.  Perhaps enchanted with the view of the church I headed off in completely the wrong direction before regaining my coordinates and we set off up a stiff climb along Water Lane before taking a bone shaking descent down the Pennine Bridleway to Hay Dale and its lovely display of wild flowers, including many “Little Purple”, or rather prosaically, according to Sharon, “Common”, orchids.  Dam Dale to our north and Peter Dale to the south are for another time, and would make a superb walk.  

We climbed out of the dale towards Peak Forest where we took Old Dam Lane to its end, before embarking on a bit of a tough bike-hike out of the field along the Limestone Way.  This soon gave way to a gently rolling bridleway where it was joined by Oxlow Rake over Old Moor where we eschewed the delights of Cave Dale with its precipitous descent into Castleton behind Peveril Castle in favour of another bone shaking descent along Dirtlow Rake alongside the enormous quarry before embarking on the challenging descent of Pin Dale, our last dale trail of the ride.  Quite technical, I think is the phrase, and only Roger rode its whole length, myself and Sharon choosing occasional discretion over valour and even then, unfortunately Sharon took a tumble but was rewarded with a cooling pint and much sympathy on the sunshine back at Hope.

Rob Newton

Roger's photos ca be viewed on Flickr here:

And mine can be viewed here:

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