Rakes Moss RFM Blue Line Walking with Peter

 

Rakes Moss

RFM Blue Line

Walking with Peter

11/10/25

On a dull but not cold October morning, just after dawn, we met at the carpark at Crowden for what would be a really tough walk over the bogs of Rakes and Featherbed Moss to Chew reservoir. Just reaching the level of the bogs was an arduous climb up very steep grassy slopes to the high land. Until we re-joined the Pennine Way for our return to Crowden this was a very lonely walk and would be inadvisable to cover alone.

The Pennine Way up to Black Hill is a popular walk going up one side of the valley and back down an adjoining valley to  Crowden. Never an easy walk but great views and some spectacular upland scenery. But although we have completed that walk a few times today it was to be a blue line walk connecting Tintwhistle Low Moor walk to the diverse walks which start and finish at Crowden.

After leaving the car park and passing the various buildings in Crowden we crossed the peat laden Crowden Brook and started up the hill.

Pretty soon Crowden was below us with the hills of Bleaklow forming a formidable back drop.

The ascent is rapid and the views across the valley and back towards Bleaklow are wonderful.

Our way is steep up to the top of Highstone Rocks in Longdendale but we maintained the views of  the valley of Crowden Great Brook.

A trio of runners and 2 black labradors passed us going down the slope. 2 were running 1 walking and on such treacherous terrain walking made more sense. The walking one indicated they were doing 15 kilometres so good luck to them. 

As we reached the top the low cloud enhanced the views. We considered stopping for a coffee but as we had not even gone an hour we decided to put it off for a bit. That was a rapid ascent of a tough climb. From this point on for a long way we would see no-one.

The route crossed the moor towards Lad's Leap the joining point for the Tintwhistle Low Moor Blue Line Walk. I was a bit disappointed because I had thought it would follow the edge

We paused at Lad's Leap at the same point we paused on the Tintwhistle walk though the view was more atmospheric (cloudy). Peter's injured knee was holding up well as he used a pair of hiking poles to take some of the strain.

Looking on to the Moor the path headed off alongside Hollins Clough but the start of it was difficult to find. 

Crossing Rakes Moss was a wet and squelchy affair but the path was actually better than expected as it tended to follow one side of the stream. The dry summer seemed part of the distant past on this lonely wet moor.

After a long slog across the moor we saw the trig point on Featherbed Moss and made our way to it, the best we could, as the path seemed to disappear. 

Desolation in all directions with traps of wet bog all around us. The path across Featherbed Moss to Chew Reservoir was patchy in the extreme and we basically made our own path testing the land as we went with our poles and trying to stay as close as possible to the route on the OS map app. It was pole in one hand phone in the other.

Chew res came in sight but it was still an ordeal crossing the ground to get to it. We were lucky or maybe experienced enough to avoid any calamities but this ground is seriously wet and risky.

It was nice to be back on a path as we followed Chew Clough. Still wet but felt much safer. We found a wall and sat and had our coffee musing on the isolation of the area, re-wilding and the lack of paths on the moor in front of us. Its always interesting to exchange views with my brother. The photos do not do justice to sense of wildness we were experiencing after crossing that tricky moorland.

We realised that the route across Laddow Moss to Laddow Rocks and the Pennine Way was much shorter than the route across Rakes Moss. We still had to endure wet ground and I found a deep mud hole for my right foot but luckily it was only to the top of my laces. As Peter said following gives him the advantage of missing these hazards. And as I said it is a pleasure to help my older brother to keep his feet dry. Peter's knee was still doing well though we still slowed a bit to make the way easier.

We could now see the edge of the moor or as Shakespeare puts it the Blasted Heath. We didn't see the three sisters but it had been an area where you could believe in the supernatural. As we dropped down towards the rocks we crossed the path of a young lady with a large dog heading towards Chew res. She was going along the res and back to Tintwhistle so we did not have to warn her against the Rakes Moss route. She was telling us she was training for a Himalayan trek. 

We arrived at Laddows Rocks and the Pennine trail and suddenly it was like a bus full of walkers had appeared. We had a stray hound wandering around fitted with a tracker. People with dogs of their own. Pennine Way trekkers. All the way back down the hill we passed walkers in such a contrast to to the moor.

The stray dog was running up and down the trail whilst a huntsman's horn was blowing from close to Crowden. It didn't seem to be taking much notice of that but as we got to the  lower slopes it passed us for the umpteenth time this time heading towards the sound of  the horn and we saw it no more.

The views coming down are spectacular but the way is rocky and difficult to negotiate so it is important to keep the eyes down on the path when walking and stopping for the views. Just past the photo on the right we met a group of walkers on their way up to Black Hill. They were struggling even at this low level but determined and we tried to encourage and reassure them that they were on the hardest part of the walk and it got easier as they got higher. Hope they made it.

Past the rockiest bits the path levelled out a bit and it was good to be able to walk rather than clamber. Looking back the escarpment at Laddows Rocks where we had just descended from looks impressive on the horizon.

The final stretch through Crowden and back to the car in the now overflowing car park.

This had been a mighty tough walk of only just over 7 miles and 1200 feet ascent but the terrain was the issue. Steep and grassy, wet and boggy, stoney and steep covered the majority of the route. Some great  views and its always an experience crossing the high moorland, very similar to our many routes over Bleaklow. 3/4 of the route was in isolation and 1/4 in a busy area. A speed of only 1.7 mph would normally be derisory but today it was totally understandable. 

I really liked this walk. I enjoyed the fact that the people we met on this walk were not just oap guys but also women, non hikers and different races. Maybe Saturday walks throw up more variety of walkers than our normal Friday morning ones. The more the merrier.

os map

https://explore.osmaps.com/route/29142386/rakes-moss-rfm-blue-line?lat=53.51164&lon=-1.93194&zoom=14.3316&style=Leisure&type=2d