Ecton Hill and Manifold Way
DATE 05.07.2014 | DISTANCE 19.1KM | HIGHEST POINT 369M
Posted by Matt | Filed under peak district
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All week long I'd been seeing photos on Facebook of Andrew and Michelle in the Peak District. When saturday arrived, me and Alan jumped in the car and headed up to meet them. This time for me was a return trip to the Manifold Way. 6 years ago was my last visit with my little Fuji Point and Shoot. Today I would be carry my newest and far more substantial camera. I was hoping for some better photos inside Thor's cave.
It looked wet when me and Alan arrived and met Andrew and Michelle at Hulme End. We even put waterproofs on. This wet weather was very short lived though and within only a mile of walking it was turning into a real summer scorcher!
just like last time we climbed up above the valley onto ecton hill (could also be called cow pat hill, there was so much of it). There are plenty of mine shafts along the top and we took it in turns throwing in rocks and listening out for from reaching the bottom. Some of which take a good set of ears to hear. following the track down from ecton hill we made our way around wetton hill and into wetton village. it's very rare that one of my walks passes through civilization. i usually aim to stay up high for as long as possible. once we were out of the village we stopped for lunch at the end of carr lane, looking down into the manifold valley. i munched on a sainsburys, taste the difference scotch egg... Very nice!!
we then dropped into the manifold valley and followed what started out to be a dried out river manifold. we then climbed through the woodland up to thor's cave. i took some photos inside which turned out pretty well considering they were hand held at high iso. i had intended to take my torch but forgot it. we all armed ourselves with the torches on our mobile phones, which worked pretty well.
i suggested to the others that we then follow the track outside the cave to the right and up onto the top of the hill above us. they followed even though i had already promised no more uphill today but they realized it was well worth it when we topped out to a cracking view up the manifold valley.
after a brief stop we continued along the valley to wetton mill for an ice cream.
(whilst writing this i have just noticed on the map how we bypassed several other caves before reaching the mill. maybe you could check these out and report back to me. check your o.s map just before wetton mill)
rejoining the path (which was once a railway line) we continued following the river back to hulme end. my face and neck were stinging when we arrived back at hulme end even though i had coated myself in factor 50. a couple of pints at the manifold inn soon helped that though (thanks to alan driving). oh and probably one of the best burgers ever!
great end to a great day with great company :)
setting off from hulme end and it immediately stopped raining. good timing!
ecton hill coming in to view
pass by this folly. yes the path is this way
plenty of remains from the copper mining days up on ecton hill. home to what was once the deepest mine shaft in britain.
the winding engine house and the view north.
here's a link to a video i found of inside the mine - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIsEnRM8iEg
and check these out- starting with clip 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io6LVOvdEL8
the view north west to warslow
top of ecton hill andrew does this on trig points. we call it super planking
andrew finds another shaft to drop stones in
dropping down to back of ecton and approaching lees farm
looking back as we circumvent wetton hill
just passed wetton hill and heading towards wetton village
arriving at wetton village
michelle suggested this lunch spot at the end of carr lane. a nice view down to the manifold valley.
weag's bridge over a dried up manifold river
following the manifold way
first view of thor's cave
it was muggy amongst the trees today and plenty of people had the same idea of visiting the cave. the rest of the walk up until this point and been very quiet.
Thor's cave
view up the valley from the cave entrance
exploring the cave
thank goodness for the phone torch
view from up above the cave
looking south from above thor's cave
back onto the manifold way and the cave above wetton mill can be seen
a quick inspection of the cave
zooming back to thor's cave
wetton mill. great place to stop for a brew or an ice-cream
bridge at wetton mill
the tunnel towards the end of our time on the manifold way