Additional information
Terrain
- Good paths and tracks
Landscape
- Heather moor and gritstone cliff
Dog friendliness
- Dogs on lead
Parking
- Hay Wood National Trust pay car park
Toilets en route
- None on route, nearest at Longshaw Visitor Centre
About the walk
Gritstone is soluble rock, and so quickly loses its edges, leaving few natural handholds for climbers. W. P. Hasket Smith, the ‘inventor’ of rock climbing, said in his book, Climbing in the British Isles (1894), ‘Millstone grit assumes strange grotesque forms, and when it does offer a climb, ends... it off abruptly’. He conceded that it did have pleasing problems. But in the 1950s working-class, urban pioneers such as Joe Brown, armed with makeshift gear like their mothers’ clothes lines, found new ways to tackle the rocks. Joe, and fellow plumber Don Whillans, introduced the use of ‘nuts’ for protection, and the ‘handjam’, where the climber puts his outstretched hand into a narrow cleft in the rocks, then clenches it into a fist. This jams the hand in, allowing the whole weight of the body to be supported. And with these developments climbing came to Derbyshire on a much larger scale. Froggatt and Curbar edges, like those of Stanage to the north, are high on the priority list for most northern climbers, and for much of today’s walk you’ll see them, clinging precariously to the rock face or standing at the foot of the crag with their modern ironmongery and coloured ropes. Even when they’re not scaling the edges it’s not uncommon to see them practising their moves on the boulders that litter the edge of the moors, such as the huge Eagle Stone at the southern end of Baslow Edge. Purple Heather Moors The walk crosses an expansive area of moorland covered with heather and ling, part of the Eastern Moors estate managed by the National Trust and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Although there’s plenty of public access it’s also important for its wildlife value, including rare birds like golden plovers and hen harriers. It’s a high and surprisingly remote part of Derbyshire, especially given that the centre of Sheffield is only 10 miles (16.1km) away. Across to the west the hill slopes fall away to the birch- and rowan-fringed rocks of Froggatt Edge, with the River Derwent far below. South across birch woods you’ll see the cliffs of Gardom’s Edge and, in the valley, the park-like grounds of Chatsworth. At the northern end of the walk stands White Edge Lodge, an isolated and eye-catching building surrounded by open moorland that was formerly a gamekeeper’s cottage on the Longshaw estate. It was used in the 2011 film version of Jane Eyre when it was called Moor House.Â
Read more
Derbyshire
The natural features of this central English county range from the modest heights of the Peak District National Park, where Kinder Scout stands at 2,088 ft (636 m), to the depths of its remarkable underground caverns, floodlit to reveal exquisite Blue John stone. Walkers and cyclists will enjoy the High Peak Trail which extends from the Derwent Valley to the limestone plateau near Buxton, and for many, the spectacular scenery is what draws them to the area.
