Chinley Churn and South head

About trip

Stand on the Hayfield to Chapel-en-le-Frith road at Chinley Head and you’ll see two fine hills, South Head and Chinley Churn. Both are as green as the little combe of Otter Brook that separates them, and the field boundary walls that are emblazoned on their slopes like spider’s webs only accentuate their graceful contours. Victorian Monuments. The best base for exploring both of these hills is Chinley. Two sweeping curved viaducts that span the valley high above the town’s rooftops are a reminder that this was once an important railway town: a junction for Sheffield, Manchester and Derby trains. The Rev’d Henry Thorald called the viaducts one of the greatest monuments to Victorian industrial England. At one time over 150 trains a day would have raced through the valley. At its height Chinley station had a café, a bookstall and bustling waiting rooms on every platform. On leaving Chinley you are confronted by the rust-coloured crags, known as Cracken Edge. They form the upper of two distinct tiers. When you get closer the crags turn out to be the remains of old gritstone quarries. Further exploration reveals the entrances of shafts dug to extract the best stone; also part of the winding engine that conveyed the stone down to the valley below. Today the scene is one of degeneration, of rusty gears and grassy spoil heaps. A Magnificent Panorama: When you reach the brow of the hill you’re rewarded with a panorama of the second part of the walk. In it Kinder Scout peeps over the grassy peaks of Mount Famine and South Head. A pleasant grass track takes the route down from the edge back to the fields of Otter Brook’s upper combe. At Chinley Head you come to a stark stone-built house with a strange name. Facing eastwards, the house catches the first of the morning sunshine that glints over the hilltops.That’s why it’s called Peep-O-Day. Note the small circular window built to catch those early rays of sunshine. East of the Combe. The second part of the walk is spent on the eastern side of the combe of the Otter Brook. Another substantial old quarry track takes the route across the lower slopes of Mount Famine to a windswept little pass beneath South Head. From here the Sett Valley and the attractive field patterns surrounding South End farm are hidden by the gritstone rim of Mount Famine and the woods of Kinder Bank. The highland plateau of Kinder Scout has disappeared behind the spur of Kinderlow End. But it’s only a matter of a short climb to the summit of South Head at 1,620ft (494m) to bring it all back in to view, and much more, before ending the day with an easy descent back into the valley below using farm tracks and field paths While you're there: Have a look around Buxworth, a village a mile (1.6km) or so west of Chinley. This was once a busy inland port and a terminus for the Peak Forest Tramway and the Peak Forest Canal. These pre-railway industrial transport routes were built in 1806 to link the Peak District with the River Mersey Where to eat and drink: The Navigation Inn at Whaley Bridge is a cosy little pub with seafaring memorabilia and historical photos on the walls. Its menu consists mainly of traditional, home-cooked meals Directions: From the car park, turn left on Green Lane, then right up Maynestone Road to pass the war memorial. Leave the road for a signed path (grid ref 042828) through a narrow ginnel on the left. Cross a stile, then climb north-west across fields towards Cracken Edge. At a cart track turn right, then left on a path passing between two hillside farmhouses. Go through a gate past the farm on the right before climbing to the lower edge of the quarries. 2 Swing right on a sketchy path, passing a large hawthorn tree at the base of the grassy hillslope. You join a quarry track that zigzags up the slope before heading northwards beneath quarry cliffs. Go over the stile in the fence across the track, then climb by this fence to the cliff top. 3 Turn right along a narrow edge path, then drop down to a wall-walked lower path past the quarried pits. Follow this over a stile and continue beneath the brow of the hill and past Whiterakes cottage. 4 Turn right on the track from Hills Farm and descend to a tarred lane which passes the evocatively named Peep-O-Day to the A624. 5 Cross over and turn left along the verge of the busy road. After 150yds (137m) an old cart track on the right goes past a small quarry. Turn right at a T-junction of tracks to follow the Pennine Bridleway across the lower, grassy slopes of Mount Famine. 6 It’s worth making a detour to visit the top of South Head. Simply go through the gate by the National Trust sign and continue on the track to the summit. Resuming the main route, go right over a stile before the gate and descend south westwards to a walled track. 7 Follow this down to a crossroads of routes north of Andrews Farm. Go straight on into a field. The path soon develops into a track and joins the descending cart track from Andrews Farm. 8 On reaching the A624 turn right for 50yds (46m) and then cross to the signposted footpath, which cuts diagonally to the right corner of the first field before following a wall towards Otter Brook. As an old field boundary comes in from the right, the path turns half left to cross over the brook on a slabbed bridge. 9 A muddy path now climbs half left through scrubby woodland to reach Maynestone Road. Turn left and then follow the road back to Chinley war memorial.