Cold Harbour Moor RFM Blue Line Walking with Peter
RFM Blue Line
Walking with Peter
03/07/26
This walk has been planned for some time as I really wanted Peter to experience the Roman Road called the Doctors Gate. The route is not true to the Roman Road but it is still a great route. The weather was warm but with low clouds obscuring the heights. We met at about 20 to 8 and were soon on our way.
We parked in the council estate at the bottom of Shire Hill, a place we have parked a couple of times before. Then it was up the Snake Pass Road to our turn off. Today was easy because the pass is totally shut due to landslides. I can see one day they will be closing this route permanently.
We passed Mossy Lea Farm still being renovated and redeveloped as it was last time we were here. The views to the tops iare awesome from here especially with the cloud blanket covering the heights. We recognised many of the ridges we have already been up. We were passed by a runner and his sheepdog who turned back down the valley to our left. Crossing Shelf Brook we headed onto the hill to our right.
A short way up the lane we saw a Barn Owl fly over the wall into the neighbouring field. We were privileged to watching it hunt for ages. In the end we left it to its hunting and went on our way. What a brilliant start to a walk.
The old signpost pointed the way and we were onto the Roman Road, the Doctors Gate. The Doctor refers to Dr John Talbot in the 17th Century who arranged for the summit of the road to be improved. The Gate part apparently is a Scandanavian word for road. Trouble is this route is actually a medieval packhorse route and the Roman Road is nearby.
It was a slow ascent but we gradually went higher and higher up the valley as it narrowed. The beautiful purple heather was great to see on some of the slopes.
As we climbed we met the stream coming down and scrambled along its bank on a rocky slippy slope. On the opposite hill there was what looked like a pattern in the hillside. We speculated on its orgin, Celtic farming to controlled burning, we did not have the answer.
Crossing the stream below Little Clough and looking back we could see an obvious modern pattern of heather sculptured into the hill side. We had no idea why it had been done but it looks interesting.
It was not a hard ascent but it was a long one. There were a few steep bits and a few dodgy bits with long drop offs but nothing too strenuous.
Looking back there were more indications of patterns in this case of mowing on the hillside. What is going on? Looking forward we could see our destination ridge for the first time. It still looked a long way up.
It was really quiet, no other walkers and we were far away from roads and people. It was calm and peaceful.
There were a few scrambles and the backward view showed how high we had come. In the far distant mirk you can just make out the towers of Manchester.
Finally we climbed over the ridge and looking forward we could see the Pennine Way and backwards the nick where the Doctor's Gate drops off the ridge.
At the top of Cold Harbour Moor we turned right onto the Pennine Way at a place weirdly called Old Woman. I'll let you guess why it is called that. It was so quiet and so wide open.
The closure of the Snake Pass explains why there are no cars here and no people on the moor. We felt a bit smug being there all alone as we had walked there not driven.
We set off across the moor towards Kinder Scout the hill on the right. The clouds gave the views such an atmosphere only an artist could truly record. We could hear Lapwing and Skylarks on the moor around us.
We thought we knew exactly where we were going so we blindly followed the Pennine Way for ages over the bog. We paused as we heard a whistling noise and it turned out to be Golden Plover according to my app and we did see the birds flying nearby to confirm the identity. Peter glanced at the map and realised we had over walked our turning but we had seen no path. We retraced our steps and found the path, its the photo on the left, honestly, it is the path.
As we headed across the moor another bird flew nearby a Snipe. It was visible for quite some time and was unmistakably a Snipe.
It was liberating crossing this open space but we were now descending back towards civilisation as Glossop started to take shape below us.
Finding a suitable rock to perch on we evicted a couple of sheep and sat for a while for a snack and hot coffee. Then it was back onto what was now a lane and more downhill.
We reached Moorfield with its quirky tower. I think it must have been a very small stately home at some point in the past.
It was an elaborate gate for such a small country house. The route out was via a road called Derbyshire Level. Strange name though as it wasn't flat along its full length just at the start, another story to be told.
Glossop was just below us and the quarry on the hill was Shire Hill below which the cars were parked.
We did pass a couple of people on our way back to the start but there were no chats.
Finally Derbyshire Level dropped down a steep hill and we passed a golf course before getting back to the start.
It was over 9 miles and 1500 foot but felt much easier than that. The fact was we had just been to the top of the moor and back at a healthy 2.3 miles per hour. As Peter said it we must be getting fitter.
OS Map
https://explore.osmaps.com/route/32740305/cold-harbour-moor-rfm-blue-line?lat=53.44397&lon=-1.91169&zoom=13.7855&style=TopoAuto&type=2d
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