looking back - a foot bridge to another path on the far side of The River Ashop

looking back

footbridge taken over Lady Clough (which runs into The River Ashop)

The sign at the end of my walk (the start point for others)

Comments -

During this virus lock down period about 15 people were encountered on this walk - a large proportion of fell runners - some single men and women and some pairs - and a few walkers. Some people had probably accessed the area from Hayfield and The Pennine Way where it crosses the A57 road (access generally by car to get there?).

This 9 mile walk route took me about 5 hours to do - a group would probably take a bit longer (even although not stopping to photograph frequently). However, the main problem is Public Transport access to the route - there is no Bus running from Sheffield beyond the Ashopton Viaduct. At one stage, for a few years up to 2008, there was a bus between Sheffield and Glossop which gave convenient access to this part of Kinder (and other nearby walking areas). Without a car, one can still walk in these areas, but 'walk in distances' make each walk closer to a marathon - OK for the very fit & young but less easy as one ages. Limited public transport thus limits walking to easily accessible areas - many interesting and worthwhile area are thus missed except for the very fit and car users. Car users of course tend to do circular walks which are in some ways less interesting than linear walks.