Eyam Moor/Sir William Hill/Abney/Robinhood's Stoop Hathersage: Started and Ended at Grindleford Station Cafe. Descended from Upper Padley to Grindleford village at the Sir William Hotel. Followed Sir William Road northwest and then north through Sherriff Wood and then onto Eyam Moor at Learn. On the almost straight stretch (slightly uphill) of road running between Sherriff Wood and the disused quarry, from the first stone wall to Learn, I had measured off a stretch at 1,000 metres. I paced that stretch using Ranger Beads (since I usually loose track of my count before 100 paces) and found that my average was 62 paces per 100m. On more flat stretches I usually average 60. My next objective was the small Stone Circle on the eastern edge of Eyam Moor. This is a Bronze Age circle, currently of 6 stones, which is believed to have originally been 9 stones and a burial site, which has been excavated in past centuries. This is a scheduled monument, located at SK 23235/78810. From there I took a bearing west to the upper trail. The ground under foot was dry, but heavy with dried heather and bracken, and bilberry turning green underneath. Once regaining the trail, turned southwest to Sir William Road, turning west on Sir William, over the crest of Sir William Hill at the Trig Point, and down past Broad Low, continuing west to Bretton Moor. Turned northeast at Nether Bretton into Bretton Clough to the trail at the base of Abney Low, then via Abney, around north of Abney Low and east through Abney Clough to Stoke Ford. Turned north to Oak Wood/Oat Farm to another objective, Robin Hood's Stoop (Stone), which was not as interesting as I had hoped (photo below). Then north to Offerton/Offerton Hall, and then descending north to the Stepping Stones across the River Derwent (not crossing the river, but turning east). Continued along the river and crossing to the north side at Hathersage. Continued to the south east to the trail crossing at Kettle House. Ascended to Greenwood Farm, turning right (southeast) and handrailing the dirt road all the way to Upper Padley and the Grindleford Station Cafe.
Total Time: 6 hours 17 minutes; Total Distance: 20.7km; Total Ascent: 1,770m; Average Moving Speed: 4kmph
Walk planning included weather forecasts from the Met Office and MWIS. Forecast for Eyam Youth Hostel called for a winter blast of -2C with a Feels Like of -9C, and wind gusts to 29 mph at 10:00 AM. Woke in the morning to heavy snow falling at home. The snow stopped as I headed to the train and was gone by the time I reached Grindleford Station. I took a reading from my Kestral weather station at the stone circle on Eyam Moor and found the temperature at 3C with wind gusting to 22mph. The entire walk with under mostly sunny skies, with bitter cold wind all day. The ground under foot was mostly dry.
Route planning was conducted using OS OL 1 and OL 24 maps. for the overview. Details were established with the OS Maps App on my computer, with some details printed on A4 to carry and consult on the trail. Followed the plan for the most part, but deviated some when there were multipe trails in Bretton Cough and Abney Clough. Carried my SatMap active20 in my pack to establish the .gpx for this report.
Area :Dark Peak
Is situated between Sheffield and Manchester. The underlying rock is Millstone grit which is often exposed at the edge of the higher peat bogs for which the area is famous.
Eyam Moor/Sir William Hill/Abney/Robinhood's Stoop Hathersage: Started and Ended at Grindleford Station Cafe. Descended from Upper Padley to Grindleford village at the Sir William Hotel. Followed Sir William Road northwest and then north through Sherriff Wood and then onto Eyam Moor at Learn. On the almost straight stretch (slightly uphill) of road running between Sherriff Wood and the disused quarry, from the first stone wall to Learn, I had measured off a stretch at 1,000 metres. I paced that stretch using Ranger Beads (since I usually loose track of my count before 100 paces) and found that my average was 62 paces per 100m. On more flat stretches I usually average 60. My next objective was the small Stone Circle on the eastern edge of Eyam Moor. This is a Bronze Age circle, currently of 6 stones, which is believed to have originally been 9 stones and a burial site, which has been excavated in past centuries. This is a scheduled monument, located at SK 23235/78810. From there I took a bearing west to the upper trail. The ground under foot was dry, but heavy with dried heather and bracken, and bilberry turning green underneath. Once regaining the trail, turned southwest to Sir William Road, turning west on Sir William, over the crest of Sir William Hill at the Trig Point, and down past Broad Low, continuing west to Bretton Moor. Turned northeast at Nether Bretton into Bretton Clough to the trail at the base of Abney Low, then via Abney, around north of Abney Low and east through Abney Clough to Stoke Ford. Turned north to Oak Wood/Oat Farm to another objective, Robin Hood's Stoop (Stone), which was not as interesting as I had hoped (photo below). Then north to Offerton/Offerton Hall, and then descending north to the Stepping Stones across the River Derwent (not crossing the river, but turning east). Continued along the river and crossing to the north side at Hathersage. Continued to the south east to the trail crossing at Kettle House. Ascended to Greenwood Farm, turning right (southeast) and handrailing the dirt road all the way to Upper Padley and the Grindleford Station Cafe.
