Chinley Churn and the Snake Path

[Beery Hiker]

This is a little different - not so much a hillwalk, more of a long cross-country walk round the back of Kinder Scout. The idea occurred to me the previous Saturday, when I spent a wet day doing most of the Kinder Trespass Trail, which is a circular walk from New Mills out to William Clough, the trespass site. This included a short section of the Snake Path, and having seen the commemorative sign about the path's history it occurred to me that I had never walked it. The rest of the walk was constructed to arrange a start and finish at a railway station. Encouraged by a much better weather forecast, I got the train to Chinley, and set off up the direct path up Chinley Churn. This is a classic viewpoint for the Kinder plateau that I had never done before. The east side alternates between steep layers scarred by quarries and flatter sections. Reaching the top requires a wall to be crossed - the map suggests a right of way crosses it but there is little evidence of that on the ground. Crossing the wall without damaging it was easy enough, and I was soon at the trig point, enjoyng the views
east towards Kinder
IMG_0566 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
looking further south:
IMG_0567 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
looking north-east:
IMG_0571 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
I retreated down the east side and found another place to cross the wall, and followed the wall over towards the north top, pausing for a quick look back down the ridge:
IMG_0573 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
a group had commandeered a fine viewpoint on an outcrop on the north top:
IMG_0574 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
the view to Kinder from the north top:
IMG_0575 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
I headed down to the west looking back across the plateau to the north top:
IMG_0577 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
then followed the bridle path descending towards Hayfield:
IMG_0580 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
IMG_0581 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
IMG_0583 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
Before long, I was climbing again, on the Snake path looking towards Kinder:
IMG_0587 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
the first sight of Kinder reservoir:
IMG_0588 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
a little further on, the sunlight over the reservoir caught the eye:
IMG_0591 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
and before long I was on the familiar rough path up William Clough - looking back to the reservoir:
IMG_0594 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
The highest point of the Snake path is the crossroads between Mill Hill and Kinder:
IMG_0595 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
I continued, encouraged by a flagstoned path descending towards the Ashop valley:
IMG_0597 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
but the path soon disappeared in an unpleasant mixture of boggy ground and snow.
IMG_0600 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
Fortunately this section didn't last long, and the views back up towards the north edge of Kinder more than compensated:
IMG_0604 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
further down the Ashop valley steepens:
IMG_0605 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
the wood near Snake Inn:
IMG_0607 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
It was already 3 p.m. when I reached the Inn, so I couldn't stop, and reluctantly decided to follow the main road as far as Hagg Farm. I then calculated that there was just enough time to follow the track round the south side of the Ladybower reservoir before dark. I was rewarded by the views of Ladybower reservoir:
IMG_0609 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
The bridge over the northern arm was a welcome sight in the twilight:
IMG_0611 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
And it was much darker than this picture suggests by the time the dam came into view:
IMG_0612 by Beery Hiker, on Flickr
All that remained was a couple of miles of road walk down to Bamford station - fortunately there is a pavement for the whole of this section, as it was properly dark by the time I passed through the village. A fine day - the only slight disappointment was that the walk just failed to measure 20 miles.

[HalfManHalfTitanium]

Very much enjoyed this account of a long linear route, with some unfamiliar views of familiar places! Excellent photos (as always!).

[ChrisW]

Wow, those pics are stunning BH, one after another they just keep on coming...beautiful