Lost Amongst The Wool Packs

A round walk from Edale village ascending to Kinder Scout through Crowden Clough and descending down Jacob's Ladder.

Saturday of the second May bank holiday weekend was spent amongst good company with lots of food and ice cold drinks in the glorious sunshine, returning home I decided to spend the following day out in the wilds but nowhere really called out to me.

Sunday morning came and I still had no specific destination in mind until I happened to pick up a walking guidebook for the Peak District, which fell open on a walk from Upper Booth to Crowden Tower on Kinder Scout then by the rock formations called the Wool Packs before descending down the ancient packhorse routes and Jacob's Ladder. This route attracted me for a number of reasons, I love Grindsbrook Booth also known as Edale village and it's my favourite starting point in the Peaks; the opportunity to photograph the Wool Packs and also to finally hunt down the Edale Cross which had eluded my attempts to find it previously. The only downside was that on a hot sunny bank holiday weekend Edale and the Peak District was liable to be swarming with walkers, campers, day-trippers, all with their dogs and kids. Sometimes it's nice to see other people enjoying the landscape but other times their inconsiderate behaviour is just annoying. It's open land for the use of everyone so I try to lead by example when it comes to shutting gates, not disturbing the livestock, picking up my litter and giving way on narrow footpath sections.

The Penny Pot Cafe, Edale. Friendly, patient staff and ideal for last minute provisions. 

I caught a late train to Edale, which although busy I still managed to find a seat despite the crowds and a couple with an Alsatian dog the size of a small bear which I have to admit, behaved impeccably the whole journey. I adore the Hope Valley Line, for a few pounds people in Sheffield have direct access to a number of villages in the Hope Valley, any one of which is a gateway to wilderness and adventure! No need for a car either, which on a bank holiday is a blessing indeed.

The line itself is a trans-Pennine route linking Sheffield with Manchester, it was a local network of regional train lines before work started to connect them as a more direct route to Manchester, completed in 1894 as the Hope Valley Line.

Out of Sheffield past Dore the line enters the 3.5 mile long Totley Tunnel, the second longest railway tunnel in Britain until the construction of the East London section of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The line emerges into the Hope Valley at Grindleford, passing through Hathersage, Bamford, Hope, Edale and then exiting the Vale of Edale through the 2 mile Cowburn Tunnel.

The train pulled into Edale at just gone 2pm. Eager to start the walk I made two stops first, one at The Penny Pot Cafe outside the train station to fill my flask with coffee and to buy a 2 litre bottle of water; the other stop was across the road at the toilets in the large car park. It might seem like a small thing but for me, these two facilities make Edale the stand-out point in the Hope Valley from which to embark on a day's adventuring.

Start of the route over to Upper Booth from Edale along the Pennine Way.

The guidebook's route started in the hamlet of Upper Booth, to get there from Edale I walked along a section of the Pennine Way opposite the Old Nags Head pub through a dark damp tree lined path which emerged out onto high open ground in the bright sunshine.

The Vale of Edale is sprinkled with hamlets with the suffix "booth" from the Old Danish meaning a temporary shelter used by stockmen.

The head of the Vale of Edale.

The weather was hot and the sun shone down fiercely but thankfully the crowds from the village didn't seem to be heading out this way and the route was relatively quiet.

Looking back down the Vale of Edale towards the village.

I had walked this section regularly and so made good progress down to Upper Booth and reached the bridge over the River Noe, where the footpath to Crowden Clough turns off from the main road up along the bank with the River Noe below.

On the bank of the River Noe.

This habitat, according to the thoughtfully posted information board a little further along, is the remains of woodland that covered the valleys and cloughs up to the fringes of the high moors and contain birch, oak and rowan trees.

On either side of the little valley, the hillsides raised high above with the moors even higher than those beyond, and in the air the distinctive call of the curlew could be heard. Soon the leaf-shaded valley, that had followed the water sparkling and gurgling in the sun, ended. Moor-land opened up before me and in the far distance high above lay Crowden Tower a prominence of rock shaped like a castle, guarding the route of the clough beneath.

Beginning of the long ascent of Crowden Clough.

 I'd been walking for about an hour and I had some idea of the trials that lay ahead in making the ascent of the clough, so now seemed a good time to stop, cool down, take on some water and have a bite to eat. As I rested, I looked ahead towards the route up to Kinder Scout above; there was a few groups of walkers dwarfed by the massive landscape around them, patched worked by areas of bright sunlight and cloud-shadow.

The route ahead towards Kinder Scout up through Crowden Clough.

A clough is a landscape feature cut into the hill-face by water, I don't take climbing them lightly, the way ahead was going to be tough with no clear path to follow, criss-crossing the streams and waterfalls as best I could, keeping the brooding Crowden Tower as my goal. In some areas the path and the stream become one and footholds tenuous.

The footpath needed careful negotiation.

The footpath traced the stream back up the incline, numerous small waterfalls or weirs glistened, the sound of water over the rocks inspired thoughts of cool refreshment and respite from the heat of exertion in the sun.

Crystal clear water flowing over rocks with oxidised minerals. In the distance Crowden Tower menaces from above.

One of the many cascades of water as the stream makes it's way down through the rugged landscape.

The stones that littered the clough gradually became bigger and bigger as I made progress, walking over them turned to climbing over them until some boulders were so large the only way forward was to go around.

Boulders barring the way, challenging those who would try to conquer the Tower.

 Eventually I found myself almost directly below Crowden Tower high up the clough, the few walkers I had passed had disappeared and I had the climb to myself. The path ahead splits between an almost vertical climb up the grass and heather covered sides of the clough or the the boulder strewn centre. I pressed on, clambering over the gritstone rocks.

The tough final section to the top of Crowden Clough.

By now I had passed beneath Crowden Tower, into the shadow of Kinder Scout that lay above and around me. I entered a dark, cool world high into the upper reaches of the clough. 

The silhouette of Crowden Tower. Dark and menacing.

A vertical waterfall prevented any further progress but I was pleased to have found this seldom visited little oasis, high above the path and other walkers.

The rock pools gave the feeling of having my own miniature Lost World. No dinosaurs though.

Only a few foolhardy visitors must make it to this quiet spot, I enjoyed the cool atmosphere and recovered some of the energy spent during the ascent. I retraced my steps back down a little way until I was again below the Tower.

The cool and tranquil lagoon near the top of the clough and the vertical rock face that prevented further progress.

The final climb to the the Tower was a killer, a near vertical slope sometimes covered in loose rock and pebbles, other times snaking between boulders. At last I emerged onto Kinder Scout, where my map describes the elevation at 619 meters or 2030 feet above sea-level. It certainly felt like the top of the world.

The view from the top of Crowden Tower.

In the shadow of the Tower I ate the last of my provisions, savoured the coffee and felt my energy recover, which was just as well because according to my watch it was now almost 6pm. I had two hours to navigate my way through the Wool Packs to Noe Stool, a large hill somewhere on the slopes of Kinder Scout and then to make the descent down Jacob's Ladder.

I set off along the broad stone pavement and soon found myself in the broken moon-like landscape of the Wool Packs, so called because of their similarity to the burdens of the packhorses that carried wool and other goods over these hills in ages long past.

I had visited the Wool Packs once before and had got lost in a white-out, luckily on that occasion I found the path on the other side of the formations but didn't know the route I'd taken to get there. This time the weather was glorious although the wind from off the moors carried a chill, enough for me to dig out a jumper.

An alien landscape of weathered rock.

I wandered through the stones, feeling like I was walking through a landscape from another world. Bizarre alien shapes, gave the impression they had grown or erupted from the earth.

The Wool Packs are difficult to navigate your way through, giving only a broken view of the horizon  perhaps it's just me, being lost in an imaginary world conjured up by the fantastic shapes but I always get disorientated.

It's too easy for the eye to trick you into seeing patterns amongst the stones, to imagine lost civilisations in this land of stone and clouds.

Again I reached the far-side of the Wool Packs without quite knowing how I got there, below me far away I could make out Jacob's Ladder on the hillside.

Jacob's Ladder viewed from the edge of the Wool Packs.

I was growing more aware of the time and picked up the pace, now that the footpath was a broad stone pavement, I covered ground quickly and soon reached Noe Stool, a prominent anvil shaped formation on the hillside. I walked down a path from previous visits and realised again I had missed the Edale Cross. Studying the map it became apparent I'd missed out Swine's Back ridge that leads to the cross. Lucky the path crossed another that led back up the hill to where the cross is described on the map and in the walking guide. It was 5 minutes brisk walk to reach the cross, which for me was the highlight of the day. Completely alone in the vast landscape, for once there wasn't a soul within miles, it felt a little like a pilgrimage to reach this ancient relic that had marked the ancient boundaries in this area for centuries. A silent sentinel guiding travellers across these wild and barren hills.

Edale Cross, remote and isolated out on the moors.

Pleased at finding the cross but slightly panicked at the thought of being out in the moors miles from anywhere at 7pm when my train back home was due at Edale station sometime after 8pm, I set off at a fast pace toward the old packhorse route and the set of steps carved into the hillside, reputedly by a 17th century trader called Jacob Marshall based at the now ruined Edale Head House, that bear his name.
Jacob's Ladder as a footpath is very steep and although stone-lined, still very uneven; I had to watch my step as I descended at breakneck speed.

Looking back up Jacob's Ladder into the evening sun.

I reached the bottom of Jacob's Ladder safe and sound, crossed the tiny packhorse bridge and onto a narrow tarmac road that would take me back to Upper Booth, along the Pennine Way, beneath Broadlee-Bank Tor and eventually, returning to Edale, just in time to catch my train.

The plaque at the bottom of Jacob's Ladder.

I thoroughly enjoyed the walk, although I would have liked a slightly more leisurely pace for the final stretch. It's a somewhat long winded post, especially for a walk out in the Peaks but I enjoyed putting it together, perhaps in future I'll stick to splitting walks into two separate posts.

Thank you for reading!

Me, by the Wool Packs.