Peak District from Waterhouses Sunday coach walk

Thank you for your interest in this Sunday coach walk.

To book a place:

- click the blue + symbol above to increase the ticket count to 1 - only one ticket can be booked per booking since we ask for the name of each walker - then click Next

- on the following page click the Checkout button then complete the questions, click the Accept box and press the Confirm button. You will receive an automatic acknowledgement when you submit this form.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DURATION OF THIS EVENT SHOWN ABOVE IS ONLY APPROXIMATE AND CANNOT BE GUARANTEED; IT WILL DEPEND ON FACTORS SUCH AS THE WEATHER AND THE WALKING PACE OF THE GROUP.

Our Sunday rambles usually have three levels of walk, strenuous (A), moderate (B) or leisurely (C), led by Birmingham Ramblers group leaders. Join us and enjoy a great day of social walking with our friendly members.

Please note: Our walks are often on rough tracks and rights of way through fields, woodland and hills. Walkers should preferably wear walking boots and other clothing suitable for the weather. Unless otherwise described, please bring a packed lunch and refreshments for the day.

The Birmingham Ramblers recently bid for, and won, a grant from the Inclusive Communities Fund which is part of the legacy of the Commonwealth Games. This grant is specifically to assist with coach transport to encourage new people to join the Sunday walks and start walking in country areas.

We will be using this fund to subsidise coach-based walks, such as this one, in areas which offer opportunities to new inexperienced walkers as well as challenges to regular walkers under the banner Keep Fit for a Fiver. As this suggests, we are reducing the coach fare for this and some other selected walks to £5 for all, be they regular walkers or new faces. Anyone who has already paid the usual £20 fare by Bank Transfer will have the £15 balance refunded to their bank account. Please will regular walkers note this and, if paying by Bank Transfer, please pay this subsidised fare of £5.

If you are joining us for the first time, please take note of the warning above that our walks are often on rough tracks and rights of way through fields, woodland and hills. Walkers should preferably wear walking boots and other clothing suitable for the weather. For the safety of the walker and the whole group, the walk leaders reserve the right not to take anyone who, in the opinion of the walk leaders, are not suitably fit or equiped for the walk.

This Sunday walk has 3 levels of walk:

- A walk: 12 miles, about 1750 ft total ascent

- B walk: 9.5 miles.

- C walk: 7.8 miles, two ascents - 145 ft in 0.2 miles; 410 ft in 0.3 miles; 920 ft total ascent.

Walk leaders:

- A walk: Peter Searle

- B walk: Brenda Cameron

- C walk: Eva Hyde

Walk Details:

- A walk: This is an energetic walk, through attractive limestone scenery of the southern Peak District. From a layby near Miles Knoll on the A523, we walk a short distance along the main road before joining a footpath that leads NW across fields to the village of Calton. We then follow a track uphill from Farwell Lane to Slade House, continuing along a byway heading north across Mere Hill, enjoying fine views as we descend to the River Manifold. After walking about 500 m beside the river, we cross Weag’s Bridge then climb for about 1 km along Larkstone Lane before taking a footpath crossing fields to Carr Lane and the village of Wetton (where there are public toilets). From Wetton a track leads us to a prominent viewpoint over the Manifold valley, then down past the impressive mouth of Thor’s Cave, and on down steps through steep woodland to a footbridge across the river. Our route then climbs up the west side of the valley though woods and pasture, before contouring through steep woodland, finally climbing through fields to the village of Grindon.  From here we take a footpath heading southeast across fields to join a bridleway heading south, with attractive views across the valley of the River Hamps. The bridleway eventually becomes a lane leading us to the village of Waterfall (possible refreshments at the Red Lion Inn). From here it is about a mile further along footpaths to the village of Waterhouses, where we will be collected by the coach. Bring a picnic lunch.

- B walk: Starting from the main Ashbourne-Leek Road south of the village of Calton we follow a route generally north while enjoying typical peakland landscape opening up before us.  We are to the east of the River Hamps valley and the views all around are simply stunning.  We walk across the small prominence of Mere Hill and head towards the Manifold Trail which we briefly pick up before crossing the Hamps near its confluence with the Manifold River.  Not only is the scenery beautiful but also the limestone cliffs round here are most impressive.  We are now above the Manifold Valley and after a short detour to the village of Grindon our route takes us south on high ground to eventually arrive at the small village of Waterfall and, time permitting, an afternoon break at the village pub. Continuing south brings us back to the main road at the village of Waterhouses. Bring a picnic lunch.

- C walk: Starting at a layby near Calton at 1030 ft, we follow a track and then a minor road for 0.5 mile before crossing fields to the village of Calton. We continue along a track and footpath going gradually up, with glimpses of the hills towards Dovedale; skirting Cart Low on a farm track. We then go across open fields to a high point, near Mere Hill, (2.8 miles) from where we join the Manifold trail down to the river. There are extensive views of the Manifold Valley all along the trail. At the lowest point of the route, 540 ft (3.9 miles), we cross the river Hamps and start ascending through Weag’s wood. We then proceed South Westwards, above the Manifold Way reaching 960 ft, again with extensive views. Eventually we reach a farm track leading to road across a ford to the village of Waterfall (7 miles). If time permits, we will rest here at the Red Lion Inn, before completing our walk through further fields to Waterhouses.

There are a limited number of total places for the walks, which is set by the capacity of the coach. Whilst we hope that everyone will be able to be accommodated on their walk of choice, the allocation of places for each walk will have to be done on the day. No-one will be expected to walk at a higher grade than they prefer - thus, for example, if you prefer the B walk you will not be asked to join the A walk but may be asked to join the C walk. The booking form allows you to specify your preferred walk

It will only be possible to join the walk by coach, which will be picking up at 09.00 at the layby at the side of St. Chad’s Cathedral, Queensway, Birmingham B4 6EU. The coach fare will be just £5 with 3 options for payment:

- Cash on the day in an envelope with your name and the date of the walk. We are unable to give change for cash payments

- Cheque on the day, made payable to COBRA, in an envelope with your name and the date of the walk.

- Bank transfer in advance of the walk

For payment by bank transfer the walk coordinator will contact you about a week in advance of the walk with bank details. For payments on the day, please put the exact fare in an envelope with your name and date of the walk on it, which will be collected on the coach - unfortunately we are unable to give change for the coach fare.

Note that you cannot pay the coach fare through our Eventcube account. Your booking for the walk will still show £0.00 but you do have to pay the £5 coach fare on or before the day of the walk.

Bookings for this walk will close at 06.00 on Monday 20 May 2024. After this, please email bhamramblersenquiries@gmail.com or contact us through our contact form at https://cobra.eventcube.io/support-hub/contact to enquire about any late availability for the walk.

If you later find that you are unable to join us it would be helpful if you let us know by sending an email to bhamramblersenquiries@gmail.com or let us know though our contact form at https://cobra.eventcube.io/support-hub/contact - this will be passed on to the walk leader and will prevent any delay to the start of the walk should the leader be waiting for you.

General Information

This is one of several walks and activities offered by the Birmingham Ramblers. If you have found this page through a web search or other means and would like to find out more about the group then please visit the Birmingham Ramblers web site; new members are always welcome.