Trev's travails: A walk with "Trespassers Will" - with apologies to Piglet’s grandfather (A A Milne)

The events of Sunday, April 24, 1932 have long since entered the realms of rambling mythology.

Turned off by gamekeepers on Bleaklow a few weeks before and frustrated by the lack of progress made by the official ramblers’ federations towards the Right to Roam, members of the Lancashire branch of the British Workers’ Sport Federation decided they would make a public mass trespass on Kinder Scout. Further details can be found at Kinder Trespass

Our group wished to mark the 80^th anniversary of the mass trespass, and so we did our own mini-re-enactment.

Stuart was leading us today and he took us from Rivelin Dams up Wyming Brook up to Stanedge Pole, via Redmires reservoirs and back via Moscar Cross.

For those not in the know, the Rivelin Dams were part of a series of reservoirs built to the west of the city by the Water Committee of Sheffield Corporation. The Lower Dam being completed in 1845 and the Upper one in 1848.

And so to Wyming Brook - described on one website as “A stunning woodland reserve home to an abundance of wildlife. A little bit of wilderness on the western edge of Sheffield, with easy strolls by the streams or higher, rockier routes with dramatic views of the Rivelin Reservoirs and the City beyond”

It was once set aside for the exclusive use of the nobility - but that was when it was part of the hunting and hawking grounds of Rivelin Chase.

Wyming Brook is now part of the Eastern Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest. There is an abundance of wildlife at the reserve, including bizarrely named moths – the Dusky Slug, Common Lutestring and Northern Spinach. There are also many kinds of birds including crossbills and black and white dippers. In autumn, a feast of fungi is on display, with Jew’s Ear, Plums and Custard and Amethyst Deceiver, just a few of the species to be found.

We then headed towards Redmires and Stuart and Eric negotiated the stepping stones before ascending ...

... to Redmires Road, where we came across this curious stonework. This is the stone that was over the door of the 'Grouse and Trout' pub that used to stand on the site; it is the only surviving fragment of the pub. Both component elements are depicted in the stonework above an inscription which translates as 'I Serve Dinner'. The pub was a popular watering hole for Irish navvies working on the construction of the Redmires reservoirs but was closed after being purchased by the Water Authority in 1934. It was demolished in 1957.

The Redmires Reservoirs are a group of three reservoirs. They are fed from the Hallam Moors by various small streams including Fairthorn Clough. The three reservoirs are named Upper, Middle and Lower and date from the mid-19th century. They were built to provide clean drinking water via a Water Course down to Barker's Pool 5½ miles away following the devastating Sheffield cholera epidemic of 1832.

Stanedge Pole - a famous landmark on Hallam Moors close to Stanage Edge. It marks the border between Derbyshire and South Yorkshire and can be seen for several miles around. The pole is a way marker on a medieval packhorse road known as the Long Causey or Long Causeway which runs west from Sheffield. It was also used for centuries as a boundary marker between the parishes of Sheffield, Hathersage and Ecclesfield. Although it is widely believed that the Long Causeway follows the line of a Roman road that ran from Templeborough Roman fort to the fort at Navio (Brough-on-Noe), archaeologists have cast doubt on this.

The group were surprised to learn that, although it does not have a Flush Bracket number, Stanedge Pole is classed as a Trigpoint on Trigpointing UK website. It is ranked joint 4729^th in the triggy charts along with 29 other trigpoints.

Then onto Stanage Edge itself, where we had another "mass gathering"

Some splendid views over Hope Valley before reaching High Neb and its trigpoint

The guys readily recognised this as a trigpoint ...

... especially as it had a Flush Bracket. This trigpoint is ranked joint 1387th in the triggy charts with 23 others.

As we progressed along the Edge we came across a number of these early 20th-century drinking basins ...

... they were designed to collect pure rainwater for grouse to drink.

They were carved all over nearby Hallam Moors from 1907 onwards at the request of the owner, William Wilson. There are 108 in total, and the first ones carved are near Stanedge Pole.

View over Ladybower ...

... before descending to the A57 near Moscar

Moscar Cross, a mediaeval cross, is also known as "Humblestone Cross". The present Moscar Cross is a guide post, showing the direction of Sheffield (note mis-spelling “Sheffeild”) ...

... Hathersage ...

... and Bradfield

Over lunch we had a debate about whether those of us who use the team’s rectangular green mats, sat on them “portrait” or “landscape”.

It seemed that I was in a minority of one who preferred the portrait mode. There was much discussion on the merits (or otherwise) of each position – the things that grown men discuss will never cease to amaze and entertain ...