The Great Outdoors – July 2019

Cribyn & N escarpment

from Pen y Fan

102 The Great Outdoors July 2019

summits just south of Buxton. I
really wanted to climb them. It
was the last day of our holiday
and it seemed a shame to stick
to a low-level objective, despite
the warnings of ‘arduous
mobility’ from MWIS. So,
after parking in Earl Sterndale,
we soon found ourselves
navigating through an intricate
network of stone walls,
gazing towards Parkhouse
Hill’s arresting profile. It
may be just a hill (and not
even a particularly high one)
but from that angle it really
looked like a mountain, with
a sharply defined ridge and
an improbably spiky summit.
Chrome Hill, some way behind
it, was our main objective.
I’d planned a meandering
but logical circuit taking in two
narrow dales before looping
back to tackle Chrome Hill
from the north-west. The walk
delighted us with its variety.

It teased us by following

creases in the landscape away

from the hills we’d come to

climb. We walked parallel to

the two peaks; their profiles

soon flattened out, became

less extreme, and we caught

glimpses of them every now

and again as we emerged from

another valley. By the time we

finally joined the permissive

footpath over Open Access

land leading directly towards

Chrome Hill, we were ready for

the walk’s finale.

Although the weather

had indeed delivered sunny

intervals, the wind had been

pretty ferocious too. My wife

is much lighter than I am.

Although she’d held her own

on the steeper ground so

far, when we began to climb

Chrome Hill’s remarkable

grassy arête she found herself

having to brace as gust after

gust ripped across, determined

to peel us both from the ridge.

It was the kind of wind that

makes it impossible to breathe

• the kind of wind you can feel
  in your bones. We staggered
  up the ridge, pausing for a few
  moments at an unexpected
  rock arch that offered a little
  shelter. The summit, when we
  reached it, felt tremendously
  exposed in a way I never would
  have believed possible in the
  Peak District.
  Parkhouse Hill looked
  great from this side, but it also
  looked even more exposed and
  we decided against extending
  our walk up its scrambly arête.
  On a day with gusts that stood
  a real chance of picking you up
  and hurling you through the
  air, it felt like the right choice.
  “Sunny intervals indeed,”
  Hannah said as we returned to
  the car; but despite missing the
  second summit we’d had a day
  to remember.

Further information

Maps: OS 1:25,000

Explorer sheet OL24

(Peak District, White Peak)

Transport: High Peak

service 442 runs from

Ashbourne to Buxton via

Earl Sterndale. Details from

bustimes.org

i

Information: Buxton

Visitor Centre (01298

25106) visitbuxton.co.uk

[Captions clockwise from top]

Hannah contemplating the

route ahead; Views from near

the summit; A classic view down

to Parkhouse Hill and beyond