| Bleaklow Head (633m) |
| Higher Shelf Stones (621m) |
I've ticked both peaks on Bleaklow, but they were about 18 years ago and to be honest, I can't remember doing them so decided they needed doing again.
Parking up in Glossop in the Manor Park car park, I headed through the park via the conveniences and out onto a couple of roads before venturing out onto open land. Rosie could run free!
We headed steadily up on a pleasant, but very windy day, the path being obvious and pretty much straight ahead. On my OS map, the path ends at Cock Hill but the reality is that it continues on until joining the Pennine Way path. There are two choices, follow the Pennine Way (in reverse) or continue up on a good path. I elected to follow the Pennine Way to see if I recalled anything from when I did it back in 1977, I didn't! Soon enough the summit area is reached, the summit itself marked by nothing more than a pile of stones and a stick, rather disappointing for the highest point in this area. The wind by now had gotten really strong and cold so I didn't linger, except to put on my beanie as my head was feeling the cold, and headed off for Higher Shelf stones which was visible in the distance.
Dropping down into a hollow, I realised the wind had dropped, I was being sheltered, so decided this would probably be the best place for lunch. Donning my trusty body warmer I tucked into my sandwich and Rosie made a dent in her food box. Despite the shelter, we didn't stay long and were soon off on a direct course for the next objective, having taken the precaution of putting on my gloves which is a clear sign that it is cold.
The path was slightly less obvious and the going a little damp and muddy in places, but we made good progress and soon arrived at the trig point, but not before passing through the wreckage site of an old bomber which crashed here in 1948. It's an impressive summit as summits go, with excellent views all around and is made up of a good selection of large gritstone boulders. Again, we didn't stop long as the wind now carried a chill, but thankfully no rain, heading down in the direction of the A57 initially before swinging right onto Doctors Gate which is a really nice path steadily downhill following a nice stream. At a low point, we had a biscuit and drink break before completing the descent and joining the bridleway that led directly into Glossop, emerging onto the same road as we had walked up from the car. It was now a simple matter of retracing our steps through the park and back to the car.
