Saturday Ramble: Snake Woodland

It was a cold, crisp Saturday and we were finally heading to Snake Woodland, it had been on our to-do list for such a long time.

We packed our rucksacks, pulled on our walking boots and drove to Birchen Clough Bridge, which offers free parking across the road from the start of our walk. The woodland was absolutely beautiful; I loved walking under the canopy of trees. The ground was soft and muddy and the only noise was the river and birds singing.

As I have mentioned before, I love woodlands, the smells, the sounds and the feeling of being lost in nature. With no one else around, Sam and I had the woodland to ourselves as we explored and took photographs. As much as we loved the woodland, we wanted to extend our walk after a bit of a drive, so followed the river alongside Saukin Ridge, along here are lots of small waterfalls, which the pup loved and provided us with lots of photo opportunities. 

After feeling a bit stressed and overwhelmed due to work, it was lovely to just soak up nature, the sound of the river soothed our souls and we continued following the water, passing the impressive Urchin and Nether Gate Cloughs. Finally the landscape opened up in front of us,  different shades of green and brown made up the patchwork peak landscape, small waterfalls cascaded down the huge cloughs and ahead of us, the Kinder plateau glittered under a dusting of snow.

By now the sun had finally broken through and warmed our faces as we followed the small windy path along the hillside. The heather, not quite purple yet, brushed our ankles as we walked and there wasn’t a single soul in sight- these are the best walking days. Hopping over many of the small waterfalls trickling down, it made for a bit of wilder walk than normal.

With Kinder glittering above us, we decided to head in that direction, even if we didn’t make it onto the plateau, we wanted some of that snow we had been lucky enough to hike in the week before. Descending down the hill towards the river, we came across the ruins of an old house and wooden bridge crossing the river. We stopped for a quick snack, and then headed across. It reminded me of a troll bridge from a story book; it had no sides and felt like a mini adventure clambering over it.

We followed the winding clough up onto Black Ashop Moor, the wind had picked up a lot by this point and it was a bit of a slog but the views that stretched out below us more than made up for it. We would see for miles and we could still hear the river rushing along below us, I don’t think I put my camera away at this point, there was just so much to capture.

I know not many people are fans of the moors, but I love them. There is something so wild and exciting about them and they make for some fantastic moody photographs. Black Ashop Moor stretched ahead of us and it took my breath away as it lay under a blanket of snow. Despite the grey skies and ferocious winds, we carried on up the moor. Watching our step was an absolute must as the ground was quite peaty in places and the snow deep, but this just added to the adventure.

I will just say, bring a map, we used our OS map app but also had our actual map just in case, the paths are not very well defined and you can see how you’d get lost in such a vast space.

Kinder loomed menacingly above us and we could see many of the iconic rock formations silhouetted against the storm sky as we plodded on through the snow to the base of Fairbrook Naze. It was here we made the decision to start descending again. The weather was closing in fast and we didn’t want to get caught out in such an exposed area, as much as we wanted to get up onto Kinder, we knew we could come back at a later date and do so safely.

Dropping down slightly, we started to head in the direction of the river along a small path that winded its way through the heather. It was a windy walk back in the direction of Snake Woodland, but we felt pretty safe and knew that by following the river, we were headed in the right direction.

We both said how much we had enjoyed the walk, by heading out of the woodland and extending the walk, we had explored areas of the Peaks we hadn’t been to before. It also brought us closer to a more ‘wild’ experience as we navigated the terrain, plus with no one else around, it felt again like the Peaks were all ours. We did end the walk by heading back through the woodland, this provided a little shelter against the heavy rain now falling.

Back at the car we had a yummy teacake and much deserved brew. I think walks which you don’t always plan are my favourite, they offer up so many different experiences and you really feel like you are exploring and discovering as you go.

I can’t wait to get back and do it all again.

Sarah