Walk Description

We took advantage of a spell of cold weather to visit the frozen expanse of Bleaklow.  It was ideal walking conditions, the bogs were frozen and we could see for miles - just what was needed on Bleaklow.

I parked the car in Old Glossop near the bus turning circle and followed the icy lane towards the Doctor's Gate path.  We followed this path until it started to head slightly downhill towards Shelf Brook.  Here we stayed high and followed a faint path up towards Shelf Benches where we found the first of the snow.  From here on the paths were either sheep trods or buried beneath the remaining snow, so we contoured along Shelf Benches and aroung the col below the ascent to James's Thorn.  Thankfully the frozen ground made the walking easier and we didn't have to worry about the boggy sections.

There was one slighty tricky section as we started to climb towards James's Thorn.  The snow had turned into an ice sheet and I was glad when we had crossed it.  I know I should have put my spikes on, but it was only a few yards long and Steve seemed to be coping ok.  As we reached the fence I stopped Steve, an arctic hare leapt out from a few tufts of grass, turned to look at us and bounded daintily up hill away from us.  Whilst we were sorting our cameras out a second hare left the grass and darted away to our right, this time we managed to get our photos.  These were the first of about a dozen arctic hares that we saw today.

Many of the deep groughs were filled with snow and made an easy ascent route towards James's Thorn. We quickly reached the top and stopped to take some photographs of the rock formations.  James's Thorn is on one of the plateau's edges and we had good views southwards (all be it into the sun) of the western edge of the Kinder plateau. Higher Shelf Stones were only a short stroll from here and gave us another opportunity to visit some of Bleaklow's weathered rock formations.  Whilst we were at Higher Shelf Stones, Steve had the chance to discuss the merits of the various routes on Bleaklow with a fellow walker.  Whilst they were chatting I took the opportunity to have a closer look at the stones themselves.

 
Not far from Higher Shelf Stones is one of Bleakow's many aircraft wrecks. This one was a B-29 Superfortess called 'Overexposed'.  It was a photographic reconnaisance plane that crashed descending through cloud on 3rd November 1948.  From here Steve headed straight for Bleaklow Head.  I think we must have crossed the Pennine Way at some point, but the frozen contitions and snow filled groughs made for easy walking and enabled us to quickly reach the summit.  We spent a little while here.  this gave me time for lunch and to study the distant views.  We easily identified Pendle Hill on the horizon beyond Laddow Rocks and we thought we could just about make out a very hazy Pen y Ghent.

It was now time to head back to the car.  I had orignally intended to follow the Pennine Way down to Torside Clough and then follow the boardwalk towards Cock Hill.  However encouraged by the excellent conditions under foot, we decided to head across the frozen bogs and peat towards Dowstone Clough.  Here we picked up the narrow path along the top of the cliffs.  We stopped every now and then to admire the views towards the Snake Pass and the Kinder plateau.  Once we reached the cairn at the end of Yellow Slacks, we started our descent.  We left the moors behind us and quickly rejoined the lane back to the car.  Thanks to Steve for his company today.  However, Bleaklow lived up to its name; it was bleak and in the local dialect 'low' means high. Hence the name Bleaklow meaning high bleak land.
 

Route & Planning

Details and Route Map

Photo Opportunities

Walk Profile

The route map shown here should not be used as a replacement for the appropriate map(s). Before attempting the walk you should check the suitability of this route in relation to your capabilities and experience.