Start: The Little Mill Inn, Hollinsmoor Road, Rowarth, High Peak SK22 1EB Tel: 01663 747678
(S/E) From Little Mill Inn, turn left and follow the road left, uphill. Turn right (Goddard Lane) and pass the car park into Rowarth village.
(1) At end of terraced cottages on left, take metalled driveway straight on (left of Anderton House) and, ignoring right-hand track, climb past stables on left.
(2) Turn right through a gate and descend unsurfaced bridleway to ford (slab bridge on left). Ascend rocky track past the derelict farm to Grove House and follow the surfaced road uphill beyond, past Kings Clough Head Farm.
(3) Turn right onto Pennine Bridleway and follow the round right-hand bend to Matley Moor Farm, continuing ahead past Bullshaw Farm.
(4) At a meeting of six ways, go through the gate on right and head diagonally across a grassy field, aiming just left of the highest ground (signposted “PENNINE BRIDLEWAY Hayfield 2½”). In the far corner of the field, follow the walled track beyond the gateway. Pass the National Trust sign and continue below the heathery slopes of Lantern Pike (right). Join the metalled driveway by the house and descend steeply to Sitch Lane.
(5) Take Hegginbottom Farm drive opposite. At the hairpin bend, go straight on through the hand-gate and descend the walled bridleway to Spinner Bottom.
(6) Turn left over River Sett.
(7) Take Sett Valley Trail on the left and follow for an easy mile to Hayfield.
(8) Cross A624 bypass and pass Hayfield church. Turn left over River Sett and immediately right up Bank Street, then right along Kinder Road behind Royal Hotel. Pass Vicarage Lane on left and Spring Vale Road on right.
(9) Turn left onto Snake Path at the public bridleway sign. Beyond the gate at top of the track, climb through fields past clumps of trees (“Twenty Trees”) and continue onto the moorland. Proceed on an obvious sandy path to the junction below the shooting cabin.
(10) Turn left (signposted “Glossop via Car Meadow”) and cross the boardwalk. Ford stream in a small valley and continue across the moor, descending to the footbridge at Carr Meadow. Cross the footbridge to the junction of paths.
(11) Track continuing ahead and right of Tom Heys Farm is technically a public footpath, though rideable. Either follow this track or turn left to A624 and turn right.
(12) At the junction with Monks Road turn left (signposted “Charlesworth”).
(13) After ¾ mile turn left into no through road (signposted “Back Rowarth”). When the road bends left, follow the bridleway ahead to the gate (“Cown Edge Farm”). Continue along a rough tarmac drive.
(14) When drive bends left to farm, take the stonepitched bridleway on right and climb to nick in the skyline.
(15) Descend rocky bridleway beyond to gate, then swing left then right to farm track by Far Slack Farm. Continue ahead past Robin Hood’s Picking Rods, through the gate then bear left to Gun Road.
(16) Turn right, then left at T-junction after 500m. Follow the road for 3/4 mile.
(17) After ¾ mile, climb to the left turn into Smithy Lane (metalled no-through road) and descend to the farm. Bear left onto slabby bridleway uphill, then right for the descent to ford. Follow rough driveway beyond to road.
(18)Turn right past houses. When the road bends right, take gravelly track ahead to Horsepool Farm. Beyond the gate, cross field (unsurfaced) to the second gate; follow the driveway beyond uphill to Mellor Hall. Dismount to pass residences and Hall entrance.
(19) Continue on the tarmac driveway to T-junction and turn left through the gate onto the rough track (this is a bridleway, despite “public footpath” waymark on the gate). Follow the track along the wall up a gradual climb then descend to gate and cross the top of the field (unsurfaced) to another rough track. Follow the track past Hilltop Farm and join the metalled drive.
(20) Turn left into a walled, rutted bridleway. At Shiloh Road, turn right (for an easy, shorter return, turn left, ignore turning on left then turn right back to Rowarth).
(21) At the five-way junction, take the potholed byway ahead, passing wood and covered reservoir on left. At end of the wood, sharp left down a rocky byway to Mellor Road.
(22) Turn right down Mellow Road for a short distance, then sharp left onto a bridleway. Descend to Briargrove Road.
(23) Turn right down the steep hill to the bottom of the valley. Climb to the triangular junction and go straight on (no-through road). Pass Aspenshaw Hall on left and continue past cottages. At end of the paved road, continue ahead on the byway, uphill to the junction with Wethercotes track.
(24) Turn left up a gentle slope for 700m.
(25) Take left fork and bear left downhill into sporting, rocky holloway to Laneside Farm. Follow metalled road beyond back to Little Mill Inn. (S/E)
