Thursday walk 25 Sep 2025 – report

[Andy Smith]

Twelve members gathered at the Longshaw car park in perfect
walking conditions: blue skies, clear air, quite warm and
no mud. We dropped down to the Lodge, crossed the road, and
followed the path towards Toad’s Mouth before turning down
to the footbridge over Burbage Brook. A stroll by the
brook and then up the sunken lane brought us to the Fox
House – Hathersage road. A path parallel to the road led
down to the end of Lawrencefield Crag, with the track
passing many partially finished millstones. We soon came to
the pond below the steep face, and the opportunity for some
members the reminisce about climbs they did (and failed to
do) here in the past. We walked through the delightful
silver birch wood and down to the ruins of the old winding
house used to lower wagons of stone from Bole Hill Quarry,
down to the railway, to be used for building the Derwent
Valley dams. This was our coffee stop.

Suitably refreshed, we walked carefully down the steep
incline and then along the level, past Padley Chapel, to
Grindleford Station. As nobody decided to wait here to be
rescued later, we all ascended to and crossed the road.
The next section, the path up through Oak’s Wood, which
involved some slightly awkward rock steps, was the most
challenging of the day, but soon afterwards we arrived at
the lunch spot in a delightful sunny grassy hollow.

After lunch the route continued on an easier gradient
towards the Grouse Inn. At one point we were told to turn
round and look at the view behind us. It was indeed
impressive. Fungi were in abundance in this area. We
reached the road and turned left to the white gate. Two of
the party opted to return directly from here, while the
rest of us headed towards White Edge Lodge before turning
off on a track with stunning views, winding its way through
heather and woods. Crossing the road again, we passed the
Wooden Pole car park and soon reached our starting point.
Most of us enjoyed National Trust tea and cakes at the café.
Everyone agreed that it had been a great walk.
Andy & Rosy
Rosy’s pics:

Dave’s pics:

[Andy Smith]

For an interesting history of Bole Hill Quarry, where we were yesterday, see here:
https://grindleford.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/BOLE-HILL-QUARRY.pdf

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