Chapel to Pennine Bridleway RFM Blue line Walking with Lacey
Chapel to Pennine Bridleway
RFM Blue line
Walking with Lacey
16/06/25
The graph of the hills to cover, though not too high, shows 3 very steep slopes and as we tackled them that is exactly what we found. A tough 8 mile walk the day after our Sunday walk.
We set off from Chapel-en-le-Frith (the place with 3 hyphens) up Sheffield Road towards the by-pass. Not a great start as this was a dusty urban area with very noisy traffic. Things could only get better.
Going under the bypass and crossing the busy junction we were still in a townscape.
The road towards Blackbrook had a nice footpath and was quiet, things were looking up. At the start of many walks the tarmac quickly gives way to grassy or rocky paths but not today.
The lane past Blackbrook was steep and the edges of the road, steep tree clad slopes with all sorts of nooks and crannies for wild life to exploit. There were plenty of ferns and shade loving plants that gave the banks an ancient feel.
The road emerged from the cutting and charged up the open hillside in analmost straight line up the hill. This was our way and it was steep. The tarmac actually made it pretty easy to cover the ground quickly but the slope induced an early walk sweat. As we ascended the views over Chapel got higher and higher.
We passed a farmhouse and I indulged in a little educational lecture for Lacey regarding functional architecture. The building being windowless gable on to the prevailing wind rather than square on to the magnificent view. Hope I wasn't too boring Lacey. I do think these little nuggets are worth passing on but I do consciously try to throw them out sparingly, whether I succeed or not is not my concern.
As we passed the farmhouse Lacey came across this little garden on the roadside with views over the hills and a little memorial stone notated with Grandads Garden. It was sweet and a little poignant but a happy place.
We crossed the ridge at Peaslows and a little sign that indicated this was a watershed for the Pennines where all the rain water on one side of this point runs into the Irish Sea and all the rain water on the eastern side of the ridge runs into the North Sea. This was a nugget we read rather than one broadcast by myself.
Even better than that we had completed the first hill of the day. The road dipped down through the tiny village of Sparrowpit. No idea why it is named thus but there are plenty of quarries in the area so I suspect the pit refers to a quarry.
This is a real gem of a village with all the houses being modernised but retaining ancient features and with no village edge modern buildings added. I love the purity of the scene. We could almost see the past here.
This tiny village had a Methodist Church (not chapel although I don't know the difference) and a Church House. The church appropriately had a little sparrow on the telephone wire above its frontage giving a nod to the name of the village.
From Sparrowpit we descended a long way towards Perryfoot still on tarmac still with little traffic and most of that local vans. The overcast was welcome as when the sun was out it was hot.
The hill at Perryfoot was steep and daunting but luckily our route was in the opposite direction.
At this point we turned north along the Pennine Bridleway and started to climb the second hill of the day.
The approach to Rushop Hall and a few associated buildings was a little like walking back through Victorian times, we could almost hear the clanking of the carts and clopping of the horses hooves there was no modern traffic at all. The hill was starting to unfold as we passed the hall and another very steep ascent began on a tarmac surface. I have walked here before with Lacey, last year, but we both did not recall it. It was probably raining.
The view back towards Sparrowpit indicated the route we had taken and is a picture of Derbyshire countryside at its best.
We finally found a place at the gate of a field where an old low wall gave us a decent perch to sit and rest with a cup of coffee or bottle of flavoured water. Unsurprisingly the adjacent field was full of sheep.
This was the top of our second slope of the day and it had been a gruelling rise. We crossed the busy Sheffield Road and entered the edge of Rushop Edge. The air shaft of Cowburn Rail Tunnel was visible on the hilltop a visual reference Lacey remembered from our Jacobs Ladder walk last year. We saw an elderly couple stick walking very slowly towards us but still some distance away. Our admiration for their efforts was fulsome. The path ahead clearly visible and still part of the Pennine Bridleway which was, for once, today not tarmac but mostly hardcore, not sure which is better. We speculated on how far the route went before turning back towards Chapel. The distant hills looked too far but you never know on a walk. This was to be a long descent before our next steep ascent.
This little guy posed for his photo taking.
The little streams running off the hill with these characteristic steep gullies were running almost dry the rainfall has been sparse since February this year.
We could just see Chapel through the woods in the distance but our path was still going down and away from our destination.
The path down into the gulley was becoming rockier and steeper, as a bridalway it would be difficult for horses and impassable for carts. The upward tick of the track, our final hill, was looking a little bit like Jacob's Ladder from here.
We reached the bottom and a stream babbled over the stones so the small bridge was not needed today. We met a cyclist, one of the very few people we would see today, he was resting before continuing up the hill we had just descended. He said he needed to rest his knees and arms as the way down had been incredibly bumpy due to the rocks.
There was a bench so we took advantage and had our second drink stop of the day. I am still trying to put more stops into my walks but there is no point stopping if there is nowhere to sit.
This was the start of the third ascent of the day and like the other two it was very steep but unlike the other two this was on a small to medium sized rocky path which was incredibly hard to walk on as you felt ever present the danger of turning an ankle or wrenching a knee.
The view down towards Chapel was very green and beautiful.
The slope was unrelentingly steep but not as steep as the first bit. We had time for a selfie as we took a couple of rest/view stops on the way up. It didn't compare to Jacob's Ladder but was still tough.
We left the Pennine Bridleway route up towards the top of The Roych and heading down towards the small hamlet of Springvale. I said it was downhill all the way and quick as a flash Lacey said 'It never is'. She was right of course. We had surmounted the three highest points to this walk none of which are really impressive but the slopes to them definitely are.
This tree was providing shade for some of the resident sheep but they strolled away from us as we approached. It was now full sun and very warm. The ancient way down to the hamlet could tell a story or two I guess.
There was no clear way marked but the map indicated we should go through the farmyard so we did. Luckily the pens were empty. We passed a guy in his garden and I shouted a cheery good morning but only received a grunt in return, oh well... takes all sorts. Maybe he is just fed up of walkers or just got out of bed on the wrong side this morning.. who knows.
The green track headed down the valley past pretty sheep in the shade of trees.
We discussed how pretty these sheep were compared to some of the other sheep we had passed. Its strange the things you discuss on a long walk. It was feeling like we were dropping down to the end of the walk but we still had a long way to go.
The view on the left across the valley towards Malcoff was pure rural tranquility. The view on the right back up the valley with Springvale at the top of the slope we were now descending gives a good impression of the delightful terrain we were crossing.
The stile at the bottom corner of the sloping field was rickety and through a prickly holly hedge but lead instantly into a contrasting flatter richer countryside.
We passed under the railway bridge and then a little way down the pasture towards the river we looked back and saw a train on the busy Manchester to Sheffield line.
We followed the charming stream through the flat floodplain down to the curiously named village of Wash. This was another of those small old places where much renovation has been done but the basic structures remain. It looked great.
We found a bench in the middle of Wash and had our last stop with Lacey scoffing a snack and me my last coffee. I had managed to have 3 stops on this walk so I am getting better at it.
Passing through Wash (photo on the right) after climbing a short but again very steep hill we crossed the fabulous meadows. Going through Wash the path alarmingly seemed to go through peoples private spaces, we even said hello to a guy in his house through his open door. Awkward as it was this was the correct path.
The next field was a large field with old broken down hedges in it and a lot of bullocks and brown sheep. Always aware of the mercurial nature of bullocks we passed close to a large group, three of whom you can see on the left, this photo is looking back. They were interested and a little edgy but we calmly passed them and went on our way. Some had small horns just starting to grow. The rest of the livestock looked at us but were more interested in grass.
Further into the field away from the bullocks we got a good view of the Victorian railway viaduct still in use and the hills in the distance.
Before leaving the field altogether we went under the modern bypass viaduct through a bare dirt area which the cows seemed to be using as a latrine.
We crossed a road and were attracted to this ruinous building adjacent to the highway. Going through this woody area was a little spooky as it was dark and ivy was everywhere, even the walls and fences were moss covered.
We entered an area of modern housing but still followed the Black Brook (I wonder why that name came about) passed industrial back lots and eventually to the starting point. We did pass one very friendly cat that approached us a little too eagerly. We avoided it although it might have just been being friendly. Any way back to Townend and the car.
This was a tough 8 mile walk but very enjoyable scenery and with good company.
8.1 miles
1225 feet ascent
02:53 hours mins walking time
2.8 mph
The highest point was 1515 feet and the lowest 867 feet.
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