Goyt Valley

I was gonna call this "A White Hot Peak Walk", since it took place in the White Peak part of the Peak District on a really hot n muggy day. Then himself goes n tells me that that the Goyt Valley is borderline, more Dark Peak than White Peak.  So really this was "A Hot Dark Peak, (with a bit of White Peak) Walk................

I decided to keep it simple and call it "Goyt Valley"

We started from a car park on the side of Errwood Reservoir.  The road alongside the reservoir (and our way home from the car park), is closed between 11.00am and 16.00pm every Sunday allowing pedestrians and cyclists to wander freely alongside the reservoir.  We managed to get into the area and our chosen parking spot just before they closed the road off.  Phew!

From the car park, we took a path through the woods to have a look at  Errwood Hall. The site appealed to me as I tried to imagine who'd lived here and what their daily lives were like.  The foundations we saw didn't really tell us much, but I looked it all up when I got back.  The pictures on this site: The Grimshaws of Errwood Hall show the place in all it's grandeur.  I think I should have looked this up before we went out, as it's nice to know the local history and what to look out for on a walk.  We might have tipped our hats at the cemetery or taken a detour to look at the shrine.

Instead we climbed the little vale of Shooter's Clough and then turned to follow the ridge above Stake Side heading for Stake Farm.  We were out in the heat of the sun now and I lathered up in factor 30 sunscreen.  I burn painfully easily (not me legs though, my legs never burn). The breeze picked up and kept us cool in the bright sun, making the walk that much more enjoyable.

Errwood Reservoir

A right turn and we were on our way up to Shining Tor.

Shutlingsloe from our path to Shining Tor

Benches at the summit were very welcome, and we sat and enjoyed an early lunch in the sun.

Shining Tor Summit

Then it was onwards, along the ridge to Cats Tor, Oldgate Nick and Pym Chair.

Cats Tor

From there we walked on to Windgather Rocks,  playground for the climbers.

Windgather Rocks

We watched for some time as children from 7 to 70 made their way up the cliff - some with ease, others with care and encouragement from the belayer's.  I've always wished I had learnt to do that.

Climbers on Windgather Rocks

It was time now to start making our way down.  We walked through a surreal,very lovely pine woodland. We couldn't work out how it had come to look like this, and we half expected Snow White, or the Three Little Pigs to appear from behind one of the trees.

Then we were back into the open, and the sun and the heat, and without the breeze.  Now the walking was hot and humid.  We stayed in the woods alongside Fernilee Reservoir, following what turned out to be a closed path.

We'd seen the sign saying path closed, but to be honest, we didn't know which one it was pointing too.  It turns out that the foot bridge over Deer Clough had been taken out (some time ago I'd say) by a fallen tree.  Luckily everywhere was very dry and it was easy to cross the beck and continue our way.  I reckon that might be difficult after loads of rain.

We got to the end of Fernilee Reservoir, then it was up the bank to walk alongside Errwood Reservoir.  The road closure thing obviously works, there were people everywhere.  It seems Errwood Resevoir is a hang out for the young, free and noisy and is probably not the place you'd go for a peaceful stroll on a Sunday evening.

Another lovely day out without sunburn although it would have been nicer to have a bit of a breeze in the valley.  (And if your wondering,..... No, my legs didn't burn).