Words & Photos Ian Battersby

May 01 2010

With names like Old Woman, James’s Thorn and Devil’s Dyke, Bleaklow seems a foreboding place, and strange tales of magic and evil superstition conferred on the moor haven’t helped. But you don’t have to look too far to find poetry in the peat that makes up most of the mountain.

Wainwright was a modern magician, who cast enchanting spells with words. He mused over the Wain Stones and saw a couple kissing. How wonderful to go and see Wainwright’s “Kissing Stones”, and become entranced in the magical vision that is Bleaklow Stones. Be careful though, if you stay too long the stone will turn your heart to mush, mingling it with the mire forever.

I climbed away from Glossop through easy grasslands that contend with bracken and bilberry, knowing that the next stile would bring me into heather country, where the going gets rough, but where the tough reap great rewards bestowed only by goals that are really earned. The sudden edges of the first dark rock on Yellow Slacks contrasted with bright undulating pastures below, occasionally modelled in the morning’s timid light. I couldn’t linger for long in the buffeting wind that forced me into the dip of Yellowslacks Brook, and out of sight of the lie of the land, which kept sticking its head into low cloud anyway. I kept a keen eye on my general bearing as I evaded hags of heather and puddles of peat.

With a mix of skill and luck I reached the Wain Stones to wonder at the uncanny kiss. Bleaklow Head, second highest peak in the Peaks, lay just beyond the stones, marked by cairn and post. On a clear day the Hern Stones can be seen to the south, and as luck would have it that wind moved the low cloud on. But I had my sights set on a greater goal. A good track is suggested by the map, but that’s mischievous sorcery. Make your way across the peat. You’ll become preoccupied with it, you may even do battle with it, and in doing so the bright light reflecting off Bleaklow Stones, like light at the end of the peaty tunnel, will be the better appreciated for it. The stones sit on top of the moor, accepting graciously the various punishments dealt out by the elements. Wander around them, clamber over them, sit back and take it all in.

Rather than retrace my boggy steps, I dropped down between the groughs to the lyrical Grains in the Water, an unexpectedly appealing place with a view back up to the stones. A short climb brings Devil’s Dyke, clawed out when the Devil vented his anger at a local magician’s escape from his clutches. Doctor’s Gate follows the magician’s escape route to the sanctuary of Glossop, and made a dramatic return for me too.

Distance: 11 miles/18km Ascent: 2000ft/600m Time: 6-8 hours Start/finish: Church in Old Glossop (GR: SK 041948) Maps: Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer sheet OL1 (The Peak District – Dark Peak area); OS 1:50,000 Landranger sheet 110 (Sheffield & Huddersfield); Harvey Maps 1:25,000 Superwalker, Dark Peak Information: Glossop TIC, 01457 855920 Travel: Trains to Glossop from Manchester, buses to Manchester, Hyde, Buxton, etc.

Technical Spec
Head downhill from All Saints Church and turn left along Sheply Street. At bus terminus continue E on track to Access Land. Climb NE up Yellow Slacks ridge to Dog Rock. Bear E across moor to Wain Stones. Cross Bleaklow Hill bearing generally ENE to Bleaklow Stones. Descend SW to stream descending from Alport Head, and follow it down to Grains in the Water. Climb SW to Pennine Way continuing SW to Old Woman. Descend WNW along Doctor’s Gate, following Shelf Brook toYellowslacks Brook. Continue WNW to pick up the outward track from Glossop.