This tale should not be confused with Enid Blyton’s “Five on a Hike Together” – the 10th book in her 21-book series of adventures of “her” Famous Five.
“Our” Famous Five met up at Longshaw Estate and headed off towards Grindleford via White Edge, then onto to Hathersage. We had booked our usual picnic table on the way to Stanage Edge. Walk leader Simon allowed us a short detour to take in the Stanage trigpoint before crossing to Higger Tor then Carl Wark before returning back to Longshaw - around 12 miles in total.
White Edge Lodge
Grindleford railway station was opened in 1894 on the Midland Railway's Dore and Chinley line (now the Hope Valley Line), at the western entrance to the Totley Tunnel.
The line opened up the previously isolated valley to day-trippers to Padley Gorge and commuters from Sheffield, and the transport of stone from the local quarries. The station buildings still exist and have become home to a popular and well-known café
Simon explained to us that the Totley Tunnel is a 6,230-yard / 3.5 mi; 5.7 km tunnel between Totley on the outskirts of Sheffield and Grindleford. It was completed in 1893 and was the longest mainline railway tunnel within the United Kingdom that ran under land for its entire length: the eastern London tunnel of High Speed 1 now holds this title. It is therefore the longest non-electrified tunnel in the UK.
The chapel is not far from the railway line, a short distance westwards from the station. A pilgrimage takes place every year in July.
Padley Hall (or Padley Manor) was a large double courtyard house where, in 1588, two Catholic priests (Nicholas Garlick and Robert Ludlum) were discovered and then, two weeks later, hung, drawn and quartered in Derby. They became known as the 'Padley Martyrs'. Padley Hall today is mostly in ruins, although part of it - probably originally the central gatehouse range - survives, and in 1933 was converted to a Roman Catholic chapel in honour of the martyrs.
Today a number of us were awarded our Green Mats - thanks Chris - as a mark of our escapades in the Peak District and beyond.
We duly put them to good use as it was 11 o'clock and time for a cuppa
Have you ever seen two more suspicious looking guys?
Simon and Steve hadn't
Onward and upward to Hathersage Church - with a stained glass window by Charles Kempe. The window had been removed from Derwent Chapel, before it was submerged under the Ladybower Reservoir.
Then onto to North Lees Hall which is widely accepted as being "Thornfield Hall" in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre
... and one taken at an angle, just for Chris
Then to Stanage Edge
We had thought about taking the direct route ...
... but commonsense prevailed and we took the footpath
As ever, the views were terrific ...
... and the guys gazed in awe
Simon kindly agreed to take a short break to allow me to make a detour to Stanage Trigpoint
For the technically minded among you, its Flush Bracket number is S2156 ...
... and it is rated joint 1561st (along with 20 others) in the Triggy charts
Then over to Higger Tor which overlooks the hill fort of Carl Wark
It was quite a clamber down
Carl Wark (sometimes Carl's Wark) is a rocky promontory on Hathersage Moor just inside the boundary of Sheffield. The promontory is faced by vertical cliffs on all but one side, which is protected by a prehistoric embankment. The cliffs and embankment form an enclosure that has been widely postulated to be a hill fort of Iron Age origin, perhaps dating from the 8th to the 5th centuries BC.
The origin of the name Carl Wark is unknown. Rooke used the name "Cair's Work" in his 1785 description, whereas Bateman used "Carleswark". Sheffield historian and folklorist S. O. Addy, writing in 1893, posited that the name is Old Norse in origin, meaning 'The Old Man's Fort', where the 'Old Man' refers to the devil — suggesting that the 9th to 10th century Danish settlers in the area regarded the enclosure as ancient and mysterious.
We re-entered Sheffield and the Longshaw Estate - an area of moorland, woodland and farmland. The Estate together with Longshaw Lodge was once the Duke of Rutland's shooting estate. It was purchased from the Duke by public subscription in 1927 and presented to the National Trust in 1931.
Longshaw literally means ‘long wood’. Over the centuries the area has been a centre for charcoal burning to provide fuel for Sheffield’s smelting industries and millstone quarrying for the local cotton and woollen mills. In the early 20th century it provided stone for the reservoir dams in nearby Derwent Valley. It has also been an important trading route for salt, silk, wool, and lead.
As I watched the guys walk across this narrow bridge ...
... it reminded me of the Norwegian fairy tale ...
Three Billy Goats Gruff ...
... I could regale you with what happened to them – but as the architect said when he produced plans for an upstairs to his bungalow – “that’s another stor(e)y”
