The Peak District,Derwent dams and Alport castles

I got off at Bamford station again but this time I arrived 2 hours earlier to enable me to go up the Derwent valley to Fairholmes before heading off to Alport castles which is the setting for one of the the largest landslide areas in the country.

A farm on the side of the Derwent valley under Derwent edge.
The ladybower reservoir looking over one of the overflow plugholes.

Derwent dam which was where the Dambusters practiced their bombing raids during WWII.
After a good walk uphill and along the ridge of the valley I eventually came across Alport castles. This is the view approaching the tower which is the central remaining pillar of the landslide.

The view of the tower from above
Despite the steepness sheep had still managed to get up there.



The view right carrying on along the ridge
More sheep!

It took about 3 3/4 hours to get here from Bamford station which was quite a walk at speed but I still had to get the 6.10 back to Sheffield again so I descended rather quickly to the valley bottom and the path along to the farm.

The bridge leading to the farm.
There was then a footpath that lead along the valley bottom and to the Snake road along the Ladybower reservoir and back to Bamford.

Derwent Edge

I got off at Bamford station leaving me with 5 1/2 hours to climb up to Derwent edge.

This is Bamford
and Bamford parish church

The forst point of interest I came to was Ladybower reservoir. I found these large overflow holes known as the plugholes to be fascinating.There is one on either side.
There are also two identical viaducts, one heading to Manchester the other to Sheffield.
Just after teh Ladybower inn there is a footpath heading up the hill and looking back over the reservoir. I can see why this is callled the lake district of the peaks as there are 3 large reservoirs all in the same area.

Walking along the edge there are many great views back along the valley.
This rock formation is known as the salt cellar.
A rock basin along the way.

I reached back tor but did not have enough time to descend to the valley floor so I had to turn back.

The Peak District,Castleton and Mam Tor

This was one of my favourite walks in the peak district.Getting the Sheffield to Manchester train along the Hope valley line and getting off at Hope station.It is then a short walk up to Lose hill and along the edges to Mam Tor.From there its a descend and through Winnats pass and to Castleton and back to Hope again.


Just had time to nip outside Sheffield station and take pictures of the rather extravagant water sculpture.

Lose Hill.A short distance north of Hope.
Back Tor which is half way between Lose hill and Mam Tor
Mam Tor
Winnats pass.I ended up crossing the fields coming down from Mam Tor and walking along the right edge of Winnats pass back to Castleton.The footpath down was very steep,slippery and turned into a stream at one point so is not recommended as it was quite dangerous.Much better to follow the road to Castleton along the bottom of the pass.

On the way back I visited Castleton parish church

Ely Cathedral