County – South Yorkshire/Sheffield
Elevation - 550m
Date – 8 March 2023
Distance – 13.2km
Elevation Climbed - 383m
Status – 12th highest county/2nd highest Metropolitan authority
A gap in my work schedule found me in South Yorkshire with a day free between engagements. What else to do but look for Topportunities?
There are a wealth of options in the area - the Peak District covers six counties, and there's the Metropolitan boroughs of South and West Yorkshire - but eventually I settled on High Stones, the highest point in South Yorkshire and, since the 80s, Sheffield City...although it feels a million miles away from the steelworks of Sheffield.
I stayed in the delightful village of Hope the night before, marvelling at the raw beauty of the Peaks, before heading up via Ladybower and Derwent reservoirs, famous for being the practice sits of the Dambusters, parking eventually at the remote northern end of Derwent Reservoir. I stepped out of the car to a cacophony of siskin song from the surrounding woodlands, and headed off through the trees to the top of the lake.
The fun couldn't last forever, and within a couple of k I stepped out of the woods and began the steep climb up the tweely-titled Cranberry Clough and onto the moors. This was the only real climb of the day, and just as I was getting a sweat on I was passed by a sprightly fell runner. There seemed to be loads of the smug, fit bastards round there, making me envious and fat-feeling. Anyway.
At the top of the clough the moors flattened out and the broad vista was revealed - a huge, brown bowl surrounded by a low ridge, with the reservoirs peeking coquettishly through gaps in the trees and the cloughs scraped from the hillsides. I put up the first of many red grouse, scattering in panic, their bright red eyebrows visible for miles.
Up on the tops it was calm and peaceful, and I hit the trig point of Margary Hill (long believed - wrongly - to be the CT) before motoring to High Stones, the actual top.
It's a fine spot, and the moors were wonderfully quiet on a Wednesday morning, but the descent was a pain. I'd looked at the map and decided I could descend along a stone wall half a k south of the Top, but when I got there vegetation and bogs closed that option. Instead I had a long and increasingly steep scrabble through the heather and bog down to Howden Clough, eventually leaping across a stream to pick up the path I should have been on initially. Fool.
Once back on the path it was easy enough to walk through calm woods around the north end of the lake and back to the car - albeit another 4k or so to do so. It's a wonderful and little known spot, and I'd highly recommend it. One of the better Tops.
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