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Ladybower Inn Circular via Derwent Edge and Strines Walk

Famous gritstone formations on Derwent Edge high above the Derwent Reservoirs, wooded Bradfield Dale with its reservoirs and folly tower. Back across moorland to Ladybower.

Circular Long Peak District Tough

History

This is a list of previous times this walk has been done by the club (since Jan 2010). For more recent events (since April 2015), full details are shown.

Date Option Post # Weather
Sat, 19-Apr-25 Ladybower Inn Circular via Derwent Edge and Strines [Sheffield Trip] 18 mildly ocercast all day
Sat, 10-Oct-20 Ladybower Inn Circular via Derwent Edge and Strines [Ladybower Trip] [New Walk] 10 showers to noon then improving to largely sunny always with a cold wind

Saturday 19-Apr-25

Thomas G
Famous gritstone formations on Derwent Edge high above the Derwent Reservoirs, wooded Bradfield Dale with its reservoirs and folly tower. Back across moorland to Ladybower.
Length: 25.8 km (16.0 mi) [shorter walks possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 850m
Net Walking Time: ca. 6 ¾ hours
Toughness: 8 out of 10
Take the 10.00 bus line 257 from Sheffield Interchange (Stand D3), arrives Ashopton, Ladybower Inn 10.33.
From the Hope Valley , take a bus in the opposite direction: Grindleford (Mount Pleasant) 09.33, Hathersage (Little John Hotel) 09.40, Bamford (Bus Turnaround) 09.44, Yorkshire Bridge Hotel 09.49, arrives Ashopton, Ladybower Inn 09.52 (which gives time for breakfast, or an early start)
Return bus to Sheffield: 17.52, 18.52.
Return bus to the Hope Valley: 16.33, 17.33, 18.59.
A walk of contrasts on the Derbyshire/South Yorkshire boundary in the north east corner of the Dark Peak area of The Peak District. From the Ladybower Inn you rise in stages up to Derwent Edge, towering above the Upper Derwent Valley – with ever-improving views over the surrounding hills of the Central Dark Peak area and along Ladybower Reservoir. You then follow a clear and well-engineered path along the edge past some famous gritstone rock formations to the highest point of the walk at Back Tor and out to a magnificent viewpoint on Lost Lad hill. Derwent Head, Bleaklow and Kinder Scout dominate the views from here.

An easy gradual descent through the moors on a good track, leads into Bradfield Dale to lunch in Strines, overlooking the Strines Reservoir.

Through woods and pastures, you then reach the elongated Dale Dike Reservoir and loop around it through some pretty woods with views up and down dale. Rise to Boot’s Folly, a tower on a grassy ledge above Strines Reservoir, and further up Lodge Moor, and follow ancient turnpike roads (with far views) past remote farms and pastures back to a viewpoint above Ladybower Reservoir, where the morning ascent route is met. Turn left along Lead Hill and Ladybower Tor for final views to Win Hill and the Hope Valley and descend back to the Ladybower Inn.


Walk Options:
For ways to shorten the walk and for Alternative Endings (or Starts) in High and Low Bradfield, see the pdf or the webpage for details.
Lunch: The Strines Inn Bradfield Dale (10.7 km/6., food all day).
Tea: The Ladybower Inn Ashopton, Hope Valley (open all day, food all day).
Tea Bradfield Endings: see the pdf or the webpage.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile and gpx/kml files click here . T=swc.348
  • Sat, 19-Apr-25

    We lost 3 walkers compared to yesterday (the hybrid SWC/Capital walker, SW London's most famous SWC walker, and the Glossop based one), but gained 1, up on the very early train from The Smoke, so 18

    The Hathersage Five arrived early at Ladybower and got going immediately, so we only caught up with them halfway along Derwent Edge. By then we had been very firmly confronted by a father and son mountain biker combo, who were hurtling down the permissive footpath (same as we experienced 5 years ago), and when gesturely and verbally reminded that they had no business to be there, stopped and walked back up the hill for some heavily swear-wordy utterings and more than passive aggressive behaviour. Situation elegantly diffused, we could continue uphill. It was windy on the tops and 2 turned right by Back Tor for the direct route to The Strikes Inn, while the rest walked out to Lost Lad first.

    All but 1 turned into the Inn, with food mostly had outside though (near fully booked inside).

    Then we got fragmented and quite a bit at that: the 2 plus 1 sandwichers were ahead,with the 2 intending a short ending at the Moscar Lodge bus stop, but missed a turning, trying to make sense of the myriad GPS files, so when the rest of us walked along Strines Reservoir (bluebells very much not out yet), they were coming up the other way. Several others joined them, but finished the walk with just this minor shortcut rather than at Moscar.

    Later 2 fell behind, intending to get hold of a farmer to alert them that a newborn calf seemed to be struggling in a field we walked through.

    They then overtook the main group by following the (closed due to a landslip) road after Sugworth Hall.

    Later, 2 took the last possible shortcut, from Cutthroat Bridge straight on to Ladybower, rather than going back up to the saddle and around via Lead Hill.

    18.52 bus for the Main Walk group. The sun tried hard to break through late pm, but only succeeded when we were already on the bus back, so mildly ocercast all day

    Gorse in bloom, a fine daffodil display at Sugworth Hall, patches of wood sorrel (or Missing Richard, there were differing opinions) in the bluebell wood, low water levels in the reservoirs, 4 peacocks by the Strines Inn, as per usual, only one grouse, some lapwings, and a man with a 360 Deg camera on an extendable pole that recorded his walk but he paused to let us pass so that no humans would appear on his video. Everyone needs a hobby...

Saturday 10-Oct-20

Thomas G
Length: 25.8 km (16.0 mi) [shorter versions possible, see below]
Ascent/Descent: 782m; Net Walking Time: ca. 6 ¾ hours
Toughness: 9 out of 10
The walk will start at 09.45 , when the bus from Bamford arrives (groups are welcome to start earlier).
For walkers arriving from Sheffield by public transport:
Take the 09.10 bus line 275 from Sheffield Interchange to Bakewell, arrives Ashopton, Ladybower Inn 09.38. Return bus to Sheffield: 18.03.
Update: the bus options now are the 08.05 (line 275, arrives 08.35), with breakfast at The Ladybower Inn (please pre-book), or the 10.30 (line 275, arrives 11.00), or taking the 09.14 train to Bamford and risking a 3 minute connection (09.36/09.39) to the 275 bus from there to Ladybower (board front of train, go up steps, turn left along road for 50 metres).
the last bus out of the Ladybower/Moscar Lodge area is now the 17.00 hours line 275 from Ladybower Inn (16.58 Moscar Lodge) to Bamford Station or Hathersage (connecting buses to Sheffield).
Return bus to Sheffield: 18.45 (line 275).
Return trains to Sheffield from Bamford : xx.42 to 20.42, then 21.41, 23.11.
A walk of contrasts on the Derbyshire/South Yorkshire boundary in the north east corner of the Dark Peak area of The Peak District. From the Ladybower Inn you rise in stages up to Derwent Edge, towering above the Upper Derwent Valley – with ever-improving views over the surrounding hills of the Central Dark Peak area and along Ladybower Reservoir. You then follow a clear and well-engineered path along the edge past some famous gritstone rock formations to the highest point of the walk at Back Tor and out to a magnificent viewpoint on Lost Lad hill. Derwent Head, Bleaklow and Kinder Scout dominate the views from here.
An easy gradual descent through the moors on a good track leads into Bradfield Dale to lunch in Strines, overlooking the Strines Reservoir.
Through woods and pastures you then reach the elongated Dale Dike Reservoir and loop around it through some pretty woods with views up and down dale. Rise to Boot’s Folly, a tower on a grassy ledge above Strines Reservoir, and further up Lodge Moor, and follow ancient turnpike roads (with far views) past remote farms and pastures back to a viewpoint above Ladybower Reservoir, where the morning ascent route is met. Turn left along Lead Hill and Ladybower Tor for final views to Win Hill and the Hope Valley and descend back to the Ladybower Inn.
Options to shorten the route are described, as are Alternative Endings (or Starts) in High and Low Bradfield.
Walk Options:
Plenty ways to shorten the walk , see the pdf or the webpage for details.

Lunch: The Strines Inn Bradfield Dale (10.7 km/6., food all day).
Tea: The Ladybower Inn Ashopton, Hope Valley (open all day, food all day).
Tea Bradfield Endings: see the pdf or the webpage.
For walk directions, map, photos, height profile and gpx/kml files click here . T=swc.348
  • Sat, 10-Oct-20

    Strenuous and varied day with lots of highlights. We started in rain and ascended Lead Hill, thence the Derwent Edge with on-and-off rain and a cold wind in the face. The various rock formations were a delight, several were climbed up on and out we walked to Lost Lad viewpoint. All this stretch we had magnificent cloud formations moving through, many bearing rain, often producing rainbows. That stopped at noon, as we started the descent through the grouse moor to Strines for lunch. At the Strines Inn we experienced the all too familiar "we are fully booked please sit outside and ignore the many empty tables" frustration (most of those tables were still empty when we left).

    On down into Bradfield Dale to the Strines and Dale Dike Reservoirs and through some cracking woods with plenty of good autumnal colours. Some muddy paths here, but all in today: not too bad for the amount of recent rain.

    The weather improved all the time while we never lost the cold wind and eventually we turned back towards Ladybower, with views of the Derwent Edge and the rock formations contrasted against the sun and cloud filled sky, and with Stanage Edge, Win Hil, Bamford Edge etc framing it.

    One last gentle heave back up to Lead Hill and curve around back to base with last views down to the reservoir and the surrounding hills. 5 had cut out the last bit of ascent and taken the direct route to the LB Inn.

    Rainbows: 5

    Walkers: 10

    Weather: showers to noon then improving to largely sunny always with a cold wind