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Date: 12/12/2015
From: Fairholmes
Parking: Fairholmes
Start Point: Fairholmes
Region: Peak District Dark Peak
Route length: 8.3 miles (13.3 km)
Time taken: 03:56
Average speed: 2.12 mph
Ascent: 681m
Descent: 708m
Summits: The Tower (460m)
Other points of interest: Alport Castles
We had chosen a truly miserable day to visit Alport Castles; one of the Peak District's most dramatic landscape features. It was raining heavily when we started and was still raining heavily by the time we finished. We even had some snow thrown into the mix. Fortunately, there was only a light wind and the poor weather meant we could grab one of the free car parking spaces at Fairholmes early on a Saturday morning.
Fairholmes is a large car park located between the Ladybower and Derwent reservoirs, close to the magnificent Derwent Dams; solid masonry dams built in the 1900s to provide water for practically the whole of Derbyshire. They were so similar to the famous German dams in the Ruhr valley that they were used to train the Dambuster pilots of World War II, much to the annoyance of the locals.
The Lancaster over the Derwent Dam this summer |
Climbing up through the woods of Lockerbrook Coppice |
Lane near to the Lockerbrook Outdoor Centre |
The blurry depths of Lockerbrook Heights |
Rowlee Pasture |
Snow begins to settle on the ground |
The route is flagged for much of its route |
The drystone wall leading to Alport Castles |
Looking to Little Moor |
The cliffs of Alport Castles |
The path hugs the cliff tops, peering down into the chaos below but the poor weather made things difficult to see, which was a real shame as this is unlike any other place in the Peak District. We backtracked slightly to Little Moor, following a path that leads down to the depths of the landslip. Thousands of scattered rocks and boulders litter the place, clear evidence of the cliff walls collapse. It is never really clear from photos just how big this area is, some half-mile long and tens of metres high. Everything still looks perilous, almost like it could slip or collapse at any time and nowhere is this more evident than The Tower.
We dropped down to the tumbled stones |
Mounds of rock litter the valley |
The Tower emerges from the gloom |
The Tower - much taller than it appears here |
Looking up The Tower |
Top of The Tower |
Looking down from The Tower |
Me atop The Tower |
The cliff face at Alport Castles |
Alport Farm |
Alport Farm |
Alport Castles from Alport Farm |
The Alport Valley |
Barrage on the River Ashop |
Barrage on the River Ashop |
Looking along the Ashop valley from Rowlee Farm |
Misty woods at Hagg Side |
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