Introduction
I had time to get out for a short walk in the High Peak today. This four mile stroll fitted the bill nicely, so I headed up to a mecca for hill walkers, Hayfield.
It occurred to me that, if you’ve never been walking in the hills, this is a nice introduction – spectacular views, pretty watercourses, a good long ascent up a hill, yet quite short. Here’s the walk and elevation profile.
It was great walking weather, mostly sunny and a pleasant 13 degrees C. Showers were promised for later, but I was back home before they arrived.
It’s a 35 minute drive from Cheadle Hulme to Hayfield.
The walk is 4.1 miles with a hefty 800feet of ascent.
It took me 2 hours 10 minutes to complete the walk.
There are some good sections for dog walking off lead, interspersed with some open sheep pasture, but no tricky stiles at all.
I walked in a clockwise direction.
The walk is on OS Explorer Map OL1.
I parked in the main Hayfield village car park, postcode SK22 2ES, What 3 Words ///crusher.snoring.automatic
Hayfield And Elle Bank
I crossed the A624, and had a quick browse in the pretty village centre, with the River Sett running through it.
I headed uphill past The George Hotel, and then left into Valley Road. A path to the left drops back down to the river.
There’s an excellent play area, and a well maintained public tennis court here too.
A very minor road / trackruns parallel to the river.
The sun was trying hard to burst through the tree canopy.
There is a footbridge, but my route ignores this option, and I continued along the water’s edge.
I left the river as my route branched off to the right into an ancient woodland, Elle Bank. The path hugs the boundary wall, and rises to give views down into the river valley.
Elle Bank To Peep-O-Day Farm
The path is quite steep, but the views to Kinder Bank and the Kinder Scout Plateau make the climb worthwhile.
At the end of the wood, the vista ahead is defined by the summit of Mount Famine with South Head behind.
There is a track down to the River Sett, but my route is just visible in the photo, leaving the track to the right and diagonally up the hill towards Mount Famine.
It’s beautiful here, the peace only interrupted by occasional aircraft coming up from the south before turning to land at Manchester Airport.
The views back down the valley are well worth taking regular stops to savour.
Eventually the path reaches a col with a gate, and the imposing outline of Mount Famine (with the sun directly behind) to the left, a further 300 feet above my high point today.
I dropped down to cross the A624, and took the track past Peep-O-Day Farm.
Descent To Hayfield
To my left, there were views south along Cracken Edge with Chapel-en-le-Fith in the distance.
My route left the track to the right, crossing fields, with views over the valley to the village of Hayfield.
The path is parallel to the A 624, and does suffer from some traffic noise, but is till an enjoyable stroll.
The views were interrupted as I entered the pretty Foxholes Clough.
Beyond the stream is Phoside Farm, part of which looks very precarious!
I hurried past, and out of the copse, enjoying a last view down to the village.
I’d not seen much nature on the walk, just a kestrel and a goldfinch, but at the end of the last field I did encounter a lovely comma butterfly displaying in the sunshine!
And so, a super end to a lovely upland stroll. Very enjoyable.
And Finally….
We saw Apollo Junction supporting Blossoms in Scarborough a couple of months ago. They were excellent.
They have just released an album called What in The World.
This is “Got A Memory”.