Black Rock, Harboro Rocks, Via Gellia, Middleton

Date: 2012-08-18

From: Black Rock, South of Cromford

Region: Peak District

Walk :  Circular

OS Sheet: Explorer OL24

Start Grid: SK 291 557

Distance: 9.7 ml, 15.6 km 

Height Gain: 1745 ft, 332 m

Height Lost: 1745 ft, 332 m

Walking with: Andy

Notes:  Between Black Rock and Harboro Rocks the walk is along a well paved track. After that it’s on open hills, farm tracks, fields and woodland. Some of the paths are steep and slippery. Loads of stiles etc.

Route

These notes are provided to enable the walk to be plotted on a 1:25,000 map.

From the car park (Pay and Display) follow the High Peak Trail/Midshires Way to the works buildings below Harboro Rocks turn right, North East to New Harboro Farm and North on the Bridleway. Where that meets the Limestone Way, fork right down to the A5012, cross over and up the path to Beeches Farm. Turn right through Ible then turn left Eastwards onto the Limestone Way. Turn right onto path leading to down to Slaley, through the village take the road fork right, turn right onto footpath down to the A5012 turn left to Via Gellia Mill, cross the river at the Mill pond and take the footpath up to Groaning Tor. Follow the track into Middleton. Turn left along the first road then just short of the B5023 turn left onto road/track continue Eastwards to Black Rock.

Journey

When we finished this walk we both felt knackered and what’s worse we were surprised we were so tired.

It is not a long walk, we’ve both done longer walks recently. The walk itself was fine, we’d had a couple of navigational faffs along the way, nothing spectacular.

1 in 8.25 slope up to Middleton Top 

When we started out The High Peak Trail was busy with walkers and cyclists as usual. Several we spoke with expressed doubts about the weather. This was understandable given that the forecast predicted bits of everything and anything at almost any time, anywhere. Meeting a group of a dozen or more walkers dressed in boots, gaiters, full waterproofs, fleeces, scarfs and bobble hats did not inspire our hope for good weather for the rest of the year, let alone the day.

Turning to go over the top of Harboro Rocks seemed like a good idea, or at least a better one than continuing along the High Peak Trail for a mile and a half to join the Limestone Way. Unfortunately it’s one of those areas that are covered in tracks formed by cattle and/or climbers (no slights or comparisons intended in this sentence). As a result we followed the most distinct path which took us a bit further North and West than we intended before we spotted that the Trig Pillar wasn’t where it should be. A quick orientation “discussion” and a curve to the right got us back on course.

Cimbers on Harboro Rocks

As is common in the Peaks as soon as you get of the main or popular track you scarcely meet a sole. Indeed between Harboro Rocks and the end of the walk we didn’t see or meet another walker or cyclist.  

Prospect Quarry

Path up to Ible

The paths down to the Via Gellia and back up to the fields behind Beeches Farm were quite steep and in places slippery, even so it was a lovely walk. The path from Ible to Slaley led us through a series of small fields bound by stone walling, with a slightly different style of stiles at each crossing. Most were squeeze stiles (where you step between two vertical stones set about 9 inches apart) some of which were fitted with spring loaded small wooden gates. Normally these are not a problem.

What a dry stone should not look like

However, between the Limestone Way and Slaley we came across some band new recently fitted gates with really strong, vicious, stupid, dammed springs. As a result when you get to one, and if you’re a bit large or are wearing a rucksack, they are a pain. Should the gate be in your field you must hold the gate open, backwards, step through, easing the rucksack etc. up, keeping the gate open with one hand until you get to the point when you can no longer hold gate openand it slams shut smacking you on the backside and propelling you across the next field.

If the gate is in the next field and particularly if there a step down into the field, you hold the gate open and inevitable you have to rotate your body on the leg that is in the next field to move the rest of the body through, at which point you can no longer hold the gate and thumps to, trapping you in a vice like grip with your googlies squashed against the vertical rock edge.

From Slaley the path narrows and drops steeply through woodland down to the Via Gellia.  The maps show a path opposite going up the far side to Groaning Tor, we looked around but it was all overgrown and we couldn’t find a route we felt confident in following. So we walked down the road to the Via Gellia Mill, crossed the head of the mill pond and worked our way through more woodland up to the Tor.

Via Gellia Mill and Mill Pond

Discussing the day in the Sun Inn at Middleton, we reckoned it was a great walk and that the tiredness was probably a result of the steepness and especially the slipperiness of the surfaces on the Via Gellia paths. Also we had only had one stop, for lunch, and then only for twenty minutes.

  

We have to get fitter as the flights are booked and we are awaiting the final details of our walk along the GR221 across the Serra de Tramuntana, Mallorca, in October.