David and Jacinta's Walks- 2025

Margery Hill and Outer Edge David, Paul, Greg and Mike David met with Paul, Greg and Mike at the Langsett Reservoir car park for one of our periodic walks. Paul and I had been rained off our walk up towards Cut Gate End some time ago, and before that Paul had had an unwelcome mud bath. Despite the heavy mist, we were optimistic about getting a good walk this time. Because of the recent snow and freezing weather, it was icy underfoot from time to time. Mike had his Kahtoola microspikes and I regretted leaving my lightweight crampons in the car!  The way up to Cut Gate End always takes longer than I anticipate and this was exacerbated by the lack of visibility. When we got there, we headed off south east to Margery Hill where a couple of other walkers kindly took a summit picture. Greg, Mike, Paul and David at Margery Hill trig The way up was made somewhat disconcerting as we could hear the wailing of a siren, reminiscent of an air raid warning, for ten minutes or so, before the stea...

Langsett to Howden Edge Out on Wednesday for our second walk in preparation for The Dolomites and this time from Langsett. After a coffee stop with a great collection of mountaineering and walking books, we left Langsett Barn car park and walked along beside the Langsett Reservoir. Looking back to the Langsett Reservoir from the Cut Gate bridleway The route then flows easily along Mickleden Edge and Cut Gate, rising gently through the fantastic swathes of pink heather at this time of year.  Path sign above Mickleden Edge We stopped for lunch, enjoying the views and the solitude. From the cairn at Howden Edge there was a little bit of bog negotiation to reach the trig point at Outer Edge. Quick break at Outer Edge trig point. Note: Jacket on, sun hat in backpack pocket The path from this point was a little more sketchy but we made our way to the left of Harden Grough, passing boundary stone with the letter B chiselled on the face. Apparently these stones relate to the grouse shoots ...

Howden Edge, Margery Hill and Crow Stones- David with Paul I was out for my occasional walk with Paul, and as the walk of 9th July with Jacinta had been so enjoyable, I felt that it was worth repeating. As the road from Fairholmes to King's Tree was open, we took advantage of this and parked up at King's Tree and reduced the amount of reservoir-side walking, which was something of a relief. To begin, we only had the walk north-south the length of Howden Reservoir, rather than twice the length of the Derwent Reservoir. On Nether Hay, we had an unwelcome encounter with a small herd of cows, which we managed more or less to bypass. Cows... looking back at us. Lose Hill and Back Tor in the background We had intermittent rain but it had eased by the time that we had reached Margery Hill, where we stopped for lunch in the welcome lee of the Margery Stones. Margery Hill trig- the highest in South Yorkshire Despite Paul's unfortunate encounter with waist-deep quagmire back in Apri...

Howden Edge, Margery Hill and Crow Stones We were both keen on a longer walk today, and Jacinta suggested that we revisit the Howden Edge walk that we'd done quite some time ago. We parked up at Fairholmes (no ducks to be seen- too early for them?) and walked almost the length of the Derwent Reservoir, to the Nether Hay path. Jacinta well up the steep Nether Hay path There's a steady climb up to Nether Hay where you begin to get extensive views. Nether Hay and views emerging Last time we'd been here, the ground had been extensively burned but it was now recovering impressively. Brazen sheep and recovering scrub We visited Margery Hill but continued on to Cut Gate and beyond. Approaching the cairn at Cut Gate Shortly after Cut Gate is a spot where Paul B sank deep into the peat bog. It's much firmer now! Standing in Paul's crater We walked on to the trig point above Outer Edge, where we stopped for lunch. Outer Edge trig point- typical Peak District erosion at its ba...