Get Lost Mountaineering

Edale Station to Chinley via Jacob's Ladder

Start/Finish

Chinley to get the train to Edale. The station car park soon fills up but there is plenty of street parking close by. Trains are about every 2 hours so plan ahead. The train journey takes about 10 minutes and costs about £4 single.

Distance/Time

12 km.   About 4 – 5 hours.

Peaks

No peaks as such but the highest point is on the path below Brown Knoll at about 500 m.

OS Outdoor Leisure 1: Dark Peak

Introduction

This is a straightforward walk which makes use of the train to get from Chinley to Edale. The Pennine Way is followed to the top of Jacob's Ladder then the slabbed path below Brown Knoll towards South Head, which is traversed by a good track before descending to the main road via farm tracks, which can be very boggy at times, then a path and track back to Chinley. The Pennine Way can also be slippery and muddy at times.

Route

(1) Walk out of Edale Station to the road then turn left and follow the road up to Edale Village passing the church on the way. The Pennine Way starts just after Coopers which is opposite the small primary school and before the Nag's Head. Follow the Pennine Way which is well signed apart from one post where one goes straight on not fork right. Continue and eventually reach the farm at Upper Booth. Turn left onto the track through the farm to reach the road. Turn right and follow the road to Lee House which becomes a rough track after a gate. Continue to reach the old pack horse bridge at the foot of Jacob's Ladder. The new Jacob's Ladder path is well signed; the old path is off left just over the bridge. Both meet higher up and both are steepish in places. Continue up to where the path splits with a slabbed path forking right. Take the left path and follow this up to a gate where the Pennine Way turns right at a sign.

(2) Go through the gate then go left onto a path which soon becomes slabbed. Follow this for some distance, below Brown Knoll, until the slabs run out. After this, the path is still obvious but can be very boggy in places with detours to the right quite frequent. In clear weather, South Head will be obvious but the path eventually reaches a good track just below South Head. Go right onto the track and go around the N side of South Head. Continue to a hole in the wall on the left which allows one to drop down, drifting left, to reach a grassy track which leads to a stile and stony track which can be very boggy at times. Follow this track to a sort of crossroads then continue ahead. Do not go left as height will be lost which has to be regained and the ground can be quite unpleasant. The ahead track may look bad but it is short lived and soon becomes a decent track between 2 walls which heads S before turning right onto the main road by a house.

(3) Cross the road and follow a grassy path down past an old barn after which the path swings left, SSW then S to reach Alderling where a track starts which leads back to the road. Turn right and soon reach the centre of Chinley.

Notes

(a) This walk took place on 19^th February, 2018.