Strines Inn to Flouch

15 September 2010 - Strines Inn to Flouch

Distance - 13.8 miles

Weather - Torrential rain

We stayed at - Dog & Partridge Country Inn, Bordhill, Flouch, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S36 4HH Cost - £70.00

In my experience, just mentioning the word moorland ensures that it will start to rain and today proved my theory. When we looked out of the window after breakfast, it was tipping it down. It was also the type of day that you knew was never going to get any better, so we donned all our wet weather gear and bravely set out. That's the one bad thing about organising accommodation in advance. It means that whatever the weather you just have to press on, although on the positive side it does mean that you always know you have a bed waiting for you each night. There's no searching for a B&B or frantic ringing around when you're tired and often at your lowest ebb.

Black Tor

Foulstone Moor

We had deviated from the suggested APW route last night in order to stay at Strines Inn, so we walked over Foulstone Moor to join up with it again at Black Tor. Whilst the photos give you some idea of how desolated the moorland was, it doesn't really give an idea of how wet, cold and windy it was. I started off wearing a long sleeved t-shirt under my waterproof jacket, but soon had to stop and add my fleece. I also had to put a hat on under the hood of my waterproof jacket to keep my head warm. I could easily see why people can get into trouble on moorland such as this. Not surprisingly on such a grim day, we only met around six other people, so if anything did happen you would be a long while waiting for a passerby. Anyway, with a GPS, a waterproof map, a first aid kit, a bivvy bag and each of us carrying compasses and whistles, along with lots of spare clothing, we were as prepared as we could be.

Path to Lost Lad

Derwent Reservoir by Abbey Bank

Some of the path across Lost Lad and Green Sitches was paved. I know some walkers who detest this, but the effect of erosion can often be really bad without such measures. Have slipped over and over again on the peat bogs around the Nine Standards Rig when I was completing Coast to Coast, I don't think paving is too bad.

Gateway to Causeway over Dam

Causeway over Dam

Later on, our route descended quite steeply at Abbey Bank to the side of the Derwent Reservoir. The weather wasn't that much better down here than up on the moor. We decided to eat our lunchtime sandwiches under a clump of fir trees by the side of the dam, which turned out to be a good call as it was the driest place we found all day!

Mickelden Edge

We followed Derwent Reservoir round Cold Side and as far as Slippery Stones, where we turned right, and headed back up onto the moor to walk through Cranberry Clough and Bull Clough. It was still very wet, cold and windy here and a sudden gust blew the map out of Alistair's hands, leaving us to chase after it in a Benny Hill type fashion. It wouldn't have been the end of the world if we had lost it, as we carry a GPS with Memory Map's complete set of UK ordnance survey maps on it. In addition, what we carry is just that day's walk printed onto Toughprint waterproof paper - although expensive, this stuff is brilliant, I tested it by submerging a printed map in a sink and afterwards it was still very readable. At the top of Cranberry Clough we met a couple of cyclists doing a circuit of the moorland around Sheffield. They asked us what the path was like ahead. We had been walking through small streams due to the amount of water running off the moor, but thought it easily passable with care.

Just before we finally reached the tip of Langsett Reservoir, we saw a young couple with very heavy looking rucksacks heading in the opposite direction. As it was approaching 17:00 we wondered where they could be going with the light fading and the rain still falling steadily. From Langsett Reservoir it was just a short distance to the A628 and our accommodation for the night, the Dog & Partridge Country Inn. The woman on reception was really kind and gave us their biggest double with a bath. The added bonus was that the room had underfloor heating. We were soaked down to our underwear, so once we'd taken our waterproofs off, we laid all our other clothes all over the floor to dry. After showering and changing into fresh clothes, we found a table close to their roaring log fire and warmed ourselves whilst eating and drinking a good meal!