Bleaklow

I returned to Bleaklow again in January, having recovered from my Welsh wash out at Aber Falls in December. I was walking almost the same route that I had done back in October. This time I was taking Andy to the crash site along with the other postcard attractions of the Hern Stones Wain Stones, and Bleaklow Head.

Although Aber Falls wasn’t the best experience I’ve had, it was experience gained, and in a funny way it has given me more confidence. 
I also felt it was time to invest in better gear, so a new black Berghaus soft shell jacket was purchased to replace my old red Sprayway jacket. And a pair of Rab Baltoro gloves were bought as well.

  

It was a bit colder now in mid-winter but still an excellent day. Again heading up Doctor’s Gate from Old Glossop before branching off to Higher Shelf Stones along Crooked Clough. 

Andy taking his own photo's 

Having left the trig point at Higher Shelf Stones, I found the crash site straight away heading NE without problems. Andy throughly appreciated the experience and was quite moved, as I was on my first visit to the crash site.

We were experiencing sub zero temperatures, so Andy and I needed to keep moving in the cold sharp wind. The ground was frozen and much easier to walk than in October, so we soon found ourselves at Bleaklow Head having negotiated the deep peat hags and passed Hern Stones and the Wain Stones.

Sadly this would be my last walk with Andy for some time as a back injury would keep him off the hills for a good while.

Bleaklow

It was a damp October weekend, and I hadn’t been walking for a few weeks. 

So having read about crash sites in Derbyshire, the B29 Superfortress site on Bleaklow caught my eye as there is plenty of recognisable debris from the crash.

I have seen a couple of crash sites on Kinder Scout, and to be honest, those crash sites could have been washing machines for all I knew, but this one on Bleaklow looked interesting, and made for a good 9 mile trip.

I arrived at the industrial end of Old Glossop early Saturday morning, parking on Shepley street near the bus turning circle. There is plenty of free parking here as it’s situated in a non residential area. Today I was going for a solo walk to find the crash site on Bleaklow. Following the ‘Doctor’s Gate’ path which at one time was a late medieval horse path built between 1494 and 1535 and financed by Doctor Talbot a vicar of Glossop.

The start of the walk in Old Glossop

The route starts right from the bus turning circle as a farm track and takes you passed farmland beyond Mossy Lea Farm, the path then peels off the track running into the Clough following the running waters of Shelf Brook.

Clouds obscure Higher Shelf Stones

The bridge crossing Shelf Brook

After gaining a little height, the path drops down to the brook and a bridge is crossed.

It’s a bit of a long slog from here, the path disappears in boggy sections and had me standing on a spot, working out my next driest course of direction.

Height is slowly gained and the path changes from the wet mushy bog lower down to a stoney limestone path as I get closer to the end of Doctor’s Gate.

Wet boggy ground in the lower section of Doctor's Gate

The path in a small area is breaking away due to rainfall

Looking back down Doctor's Gate

Bad weather looms over Higher Shelf Stones. Crooked Clough can be seen to the right of photo

My aim was to take a path north east along ‘ Crooked Clough’ before Doctor’s Gate joined the ‘Pennine Way’ the path isn’t well established and the junction is marked by a small cairn, but this is the easiest way to ‘Higher Shelf Stones’ my next target on my route.

The path crosses the brook at the head of the Clough and from here it’s just a short ascent up to the trig point of ‘Higher Shelf Stones’ 621m.

Inscriptions on Higher Shelf Stones

Although overcast all morning, the rain had held off until now. I tried to take shelter as best as I could in order to take a drink and have a snack. It was cold, wet and uncomfortable, so after a quick stop I headed away from the trig. I should have taken a north east compass heading and within a minute I’d be walking amongst the crash site, however I headed north, and completely missed the site.

Hern Stones

Now Bleaklow isn’t called Bleaklow for no reason. It really is bleak up here on a dull overcast day, wild, rugged and can be unforgiving. The tops of this moorland are covered with peat groughs, some as deep as 3m which make it difficult to traverse. Navigation is needed even in fine weather as walking a straight line route of any distance over this landscape is almost impossible. 

Negotiating the huge peat hags was difficult and disorienting as I manoeuvred my way around them and back up to the higher ground, checking my bearings each time.

Passing ‘Hern Stones’  a walker crossed my path, and I ask him about the crash site. Luckily he knew exactly where the site was and pointed me to the spot in the distance. With a thanks, we parted in different directions.

Now my plans had to change as I wanted to visit Wain Stones and ‘Bleaklow Head’ as well as the crash site.

So I continued on my heading north to Wain Stones. Standing at the correct angle, these stones appear to be kissing, which is why they are also known as the ‘Kissing Stones’ from here it’s a NNE heading for Bleaklow Head which is marked by a pile of stones and a pole.

 Wain Stones (Kissing Stones)

Bleaklow Head 633m

From here I returned pretty much on the same route back towards ‘Higher Shelf Stones’ keeping slightly east through thick peat bog and deep groughs, but at least it had stopped raining.

Eventually I arrived at the crash site of the B29 Superfortress bomber. I have to say this is an amazing place, but also a sad place. The first thing I saw were the peat banks, covered with placed poppy crosses. Then the large undercarriage with remnants of rubber still around the wheels. A huge section of wing and many loose pieces of metal lay in the peat.

A stone memorial sits at the site to mark the 13 men killed when the bomber named ‘Over Exposed’ crashed into the moor.

It was flying from Scampton in Lincolnshire to Burtonwood a USAF base, near Warrington. 

I stood for a few moments to pay my respects before leaving the site and making my way on a heading northwest to ‘Dowstone Clough, picking up a faint path along the way.

I crossed the waters of Yellow Slacks Brook before descending Harrop Moss. This path brought me down to the Doctor’s Gate track and back to Old Glossop and the car.

The walk covered 9 miles in just under 5 hours.

The path to Dog Rock

Yellow Slacks

This was a brilliant walk, but I wanted to share the crash site experience with someone. My walks with Andy are too few and far between, so I need a plan...........