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It's been quite a day to-day. I drove to Mam Tor above Edale in Debyshire to meet two friends I used to be in the boy scouts with over 40 years ago. One of them, Paul, I haven't seen for over 20 Years and the other, Ray, I haven't seen for over 40 years. Needless to say I didn't recognise him when I got to the car park on Mam Tor (map ref. SK123832). The last time I saw him he was a boy in short trousers, just like me. Now we're both quite a bit older. Paul hadn't aged much in the last 20 years, just a bit greyer but alarmingly fit. We set off just after 10.00am and climbed up through the woods behind the car park to the Mam Tor ridge. Here we crossed the road and headed west along Rushup Edge for 2.5km where we turned right to follow a path for almost 3km to the trig point at Brown Knoll. The trig point itself is a sorry sight. These nostalgic landmarks are nolonger used by the Ordnance Survey (redundant in the days of aerial photography and computers) and this one has fallen off it's stone pedestal to lie forlornly in the mud. The sky was a uniform overcast grey but the view down Edale was still spectacular with the rocky outline od Kinder Scout to the left and the peaks of the Mam Tor ridge to the right. From Brown Knoll we continued north past the Swine's Back (a short rocky ridge) and up on to the edge of Kinder Scout itself at a large anvil shaped rock called the Noe Stool. From here we walked a few hundred metres along the edge to another rocky outcrop called Pym Chair where we stopped for some lunch with a view over Edale from the rocky edge of Kinder Scout. After lunch we headed north east on a compass bearing for 400m and then north for 400m across the peaty wastes of Kinder Scout until we intercepted one of the tributaries of the Kinder river system heading for the Kinder downfall and followed the watercourse for about 2km until we emerged at the downfall itself. The whole river system is dry at this time of year. The downfall is the point where the watercourse pours over the rocky edge of the Kinder plateau at an impressive site. From here we turned south to follow the Pennine Way route for about 2.5km as far as Edale Rocks where we took a paved path (not marked on my old map) going behind the Swine's Back ridge to Edale Cross - a medieval stone cross with a carved inscription. From the cross we took the bridleway east for 400m to rejoin the path we used on our outward route from Brown Knoll. We then followed our outward route for about 6.5km back to the car park. The whole route is about 20km and took us over six and a half hours including plenty of stops for drinks and to take in the wonderful scenery. It had been a really good day with good company and lots of references to "do you remember so-and-so" etc. We agreed to met again soon, well definitely less than 20 years.

 

 

Following the Kinder river system to the Downfall	Kinder Downfall
	Above - Paragliding enthusiasts waiting for the wind on Rushup Edge Left - Medieval Cross by the Swine's Back ridge