Lets Go Bradwell

Peak District Derbyshire, DE45, United Kingdom, 0845 166 8022, info@peakdistrictonline.co.uk

BRADWELL – ROBIN HOOD CROSS – SHATTON – BROUGH – BRADWELL

http://www.letsgo-bradwell.co.uk

01:47 06-Sep-2010

Distance approximately 7 ½ miles

This is not a gentle stroll as it begins with a strenuous climb up to Bradwell Edge, from then however the walk is either flat or downhill.
Make your way to the start of the walk at St Barnabas Church and head up the main road before turning left and going up a flight of steps and through a gritstone stile onto Bessie Lane. Head down to a triangle of grass then bear right going up a lane. This eventually becomes a muddy footpath with stiles that leads you straight up to Bradwell Edge from where there are stupendous views of the village behind you. It is a climb of some 200 feet in less than half a mile, so a bit of a trek!
The path is easy to follow and runs for the most part alongside a wall. At the only junction of paths you will bear right and continue uphill.
On reaching the very top of the hill you cross a couple of fields to an unmade road at a point on the map known as Robin Hoods Cross. This medieval waymarker once stood to direct travellers over the bleak moors to Abney. Although now named after the legendary hero from Sherwood Forest, it is more likely to takes its name from Robert Archer who was at one time Lord of the Manor of Abney when it was known as Robins Cross. There is now very little left of the cross other than a section of the base which is incorporated into a wall.
Turn right and follow the track as it takes you around the moors, heading towards the distant mast on Shatton Moor, where you begin to descend. The panoramic views from this high altitude are far reaching and quite breathtaking. You can clearly make out Ladybower Reservoir and the dam wall as well as Win Hill, Lose Hill and Mam Tor.
Drop down into Shatton and return to the shelter of green pasture. On reaching a little cluster of old farmhouses and cottages you should turn left and use the raised pavement which takes you over a fabulous old ford in the road. Townfield Lane is ancient and certainly well hollowed. This old track was probably used back in Roman times for travellers to and from the Roman fort at Navio, but it also formed part of the Salters Lane which ran up Hurst Clough in Bamford.

The surrounding area is linked with the writings of Charlotte Bronte. In Jane Eyre she talks of the young woman who married the master of Thornfield Hall. Could it be that Charlotte based her supposedly fictitious characters on a real Jane Eyre who at one time lived at nearby Shatton Hall and married John Thornhill of Thornhill?
Head up Townfield Lane and take the concessionary path on the top of the bank to avoid being caught in the deep hollow by the occasional passing vehicle. Ignore a farm drive on your left leading to Shatton Hall Farm but go through a gate and up a stony track straight ahead before descending a lovely woodland path and another old section of lane to Brough.
Just before emerging onto the main road turn left by an old mill building and notice the dated well with its walled enclosure. In the 19th century there were no less than three cotton mills operating at Brough.
Continue towards the cottages then turn left up past the gardens along a footpath leading eventually to Bradwell.
For some distance you will walk beside ruinous sections of tunnel, built out of stone and topped with grass. These are the remains of a flue running from the former Brough White Lead Works to a tower which was located further up the hillside. Constructed around 1860, the smelting works were operated day and night and used a Dutch process to produce refined white, grey and red lead. In 1854 it is recorded that four men were killed in the Bradwell area by poisonous fumes from a smelter when a pump engine failed. The works closed in 1924 and the tower which was a local landmark was demolished during the Second World War as it posed as a conspicuous marker for the nearby cement works.
Continue along the well-used footpath crossing fields and stiles and passing at one part close to a cottage. You will also cross over a mound which runs down the hillside. This is the Grey Ditch which dates back to the 5th/6th century when it was probably constructed as a territorial defence between tribes, similar to Offa’s Dyke between England and Wales. It stretches from Rebellion Knoll on your left to Mich Low on your right.
Return to Bradwell and at the main road turn left to return to the church.