Pennine Way - Edale to Marsden (★★★★★)

Today the plan is to walk the southern end of the Pennine Way from Edale up to Marsden, and then on the following day I plan to continue on to Hebden Bridge.

This is my second visit to Edale, having previously decided to start the Derwent Valley Heritage Trail at Edale - and so I'm already well aware that I will at the very least get a great start to the day's walking.

And upon arrival by train, it is indeed a pleasant walk through the village, and up to The Old Nags Head, where the Pennine Way begins.

Walking up through Edale

These days the Pennine Way does seem to be a little out of favor - despite it being my favorite National Trail - and these days this first section of the walk seems to be better known as "the walk up to Jacob's Ladder".

But heading out on the trail, it is for now a lovely stroll across the greenery of the Peak District - with great views out across the hills that surround Edale.

Looking backwards on the trail

Looking between the two ridges

Looking forward towards Upper Booth

The first phase of the walk is very gentle, and runs along the base of the hills that sit to the north of Edale - before dropping down into the very tiny village of Upper Booth.

From here the route follows a road, that turns into a track - and this climbs gently up to higher ground - passing through a series of gates along the way.

View out to the side

View looking back

But after a bit of a wander up this road, we indeed do reach the foot of Jacob's Ladder - and it is here that the real climbing begins.

The base of Jacob's Ladder (no bridge photos as there were vans parked in front)

Half way up (with the National Trust team out updating the fence)

Round the corner

And at the top of the steps

Jacob's Ladder itself is thought to have been named after Jacob Marshall, who farmed the land at the top of Edale Head in the 18th century - and he supposedly first cut steps into this landscape.

But we have not gone up the original route up the hill, and instead have gone up a set of steps that were opened in 1987.

But even so, by now we have done a decent amount of climbing, and - by my measures - the total ascent by this point of the walk is around 900 feet (from the train station), and this feels like quite a punchy way to start a 268 mile trail (maybe they just wanted those who weren't in good shape to just give up and go home?).

But our climbing is far from done, and by the time we have made all the way up and around the corner to Kinder Scout plateau, we should soon have around 1,300 feet of ascent already behind us today.

View down the valley

The next plateau

Now turning towards Kinder Scout

Looking back from near Noe Stool

Back towards the valley

There really is no point rushing the climb - as there is a long way still to go in the day - and my best tip is to always keep yourself reasonably comfortably within that sustainable level of effort.

Here cyclists and hill runners have the edge, as they are most used to just sitting in that moderate effort window - and on the way up I passed a decent number of other walkers who had pushed too hard, and come to a bit of a halt between the top of Jacob's Ladder and the plateau above. 

If you push it too much and try and be a hero, your body will keep all the receipts. If you just keep it fairly easy, you can keep it going all day.

But from here, we are now up on Kinder Scout plateau - and the next section of walking is a rough and fairly unclear route through boulders - but without any great changes in elevation along the way.

The view out to Kinder Reservoir

The onward "path"

Here there is no point trying too hard to stick to the official path, and you just need to make sure that you keep tracking alongside the ridge - making your way round from here to Kinder Downfall - passing Red Brook along the way. 

And inevitably this adds a bit more distance than is included in any measured totals using a map.

Red Brook heads down the ridge

Kinder Downfall

From Kinder Downfall we can cross over onto the next ridge that juts out - and here we start heading west - and on towards Mill Hill.

Looking back towards our old ridge

Looking forwards (again with Kinder Reservoir)

Ahead of reaching Mill Hill, we have a fairly steep, but fairly short descent to clear, and then there is a small rise back up to Mill Hill.

Looking back from Mill Hill to our old ridge

At Mill Hill we turn to head north, and then north east - as we cross some boggy terrain on a path made of stones.

Crossing boggy ground

Here the scenery is bleaker, and the views far more limited - but we do at least have a very good quality path to follow - and this takes us on round to Snake Pass on the A57. At the same time Manchester can just about be seen on the left.

The A57 is a well known road that commonly gets closed in winter - and the Pennine Way crosses the road at it's summit (although for us we drop down to cross it).

But whilst there is in theory a bus stop here, there seems to have been no bus services for the last few years (as far as I can tell).

And instead we must content ourselves with appreciating the old Roman Road which we soon cross - and this used to follow a similar route to the current road between Glossop and Heathersage.

For those looking to do a shorter route, this Roman Road proves the best alternative to a bus service - and if you turn left at this path, it is about 4 miles before you reach Glossop, and it's train station.

But today we keep on the trail, and head into Bleaklow - which proves to be a very wet and boggy route, even though it has been very dry recently (during wet weather this section may be a bit heavy going).

Soon we start following the path of a stream, and this takes us on across Sykes Moor towards Torside Clough (and past the former site of "Torside Castle").

I certainly didn't see anything of it on my way past, and looking it up, "castle" may be overselling it somewhat.

Instead it is now believed to be a natural mound, rather than an actual fortification site - and that makes a lot of sense, because I honestly don't know why you would need a castle to defend this bog - just wait for it to rain, and for your enemy to drown.

Heading down towards Torside Clough

Torside Reservoir comes into view

Before too long, we find ourselves follow a path that runs along the edge of Clough Edge - and whilst not too bad at first, there are sections of this path that are certainty starting to get impacted by erosion (with water pooling in the path, on the edge of the ridge).

Here as the quality of the path starts to dip, I opt to take the cowards way out - and walk slightly further up the ridge, and there is enough young heather on the ground for this to be not too problematic - and it saves walking along a slightly gnarly path, on the edge of a hefty ridge. Others might not mind this ridge so much, however.

But in any case, and with the worst off the path cleared - we soon drop back onto the main route, and start the descent down towards Torside Reservoir.

Looking down on the reservoir

Ahead of reaching the side of the reservoir, the path turns round to head west - and then heads across the reservoir dam - with views both down towards the next reservoir (Rhodeswood Reservoir), and across the main reservoir itself.

Still Torside Reservoir

Rhodeswood Reservoir

Once over the dam, we turn right, and start following the along the far side - and here the looming hills on our left, make clear that there is a decent climb coming up ahead.

Walking on the far side of the reservoir

Up from the reservoir, but still with quite a ridge to clear

Our job here is to get up and over the ridge - although once on this ridge, the vast majority of our climbing is done for the day.

Here it is a long slow climb up the middle ridge (that almost tumbles down from above) - and then up on the top, the path once again runs along the ridge edge - but with desire paths running a decent distance further back - which I opt to use on this windy day.

Here we have made it up to Laddow Rocks - and from here we continue on follow Crowden Great Brook, where a number of Fords require some athletic feats to cross without getting wet.

Following Crowden Great Brook

Lots of water still here

Here it is a quiet and bleak path, without anyone around - and if it were colder and wetter it would be providing that classic Pennine Way experience.

As it is, it is all rather pleasant - until I don't spot a rock until the last minute, and stub my toe on a fairly solid piece of gritstone.

The rocks here are great in terms of the grip they provide, but here I feel the downside - as whilst it is clear that I haven't done any real damage, I have split the toenail, and given myself a decent amount of bruising.

But still, there is no good coming from feeling sorry for myself - so I continue on, and soon clear Black Hill, deep in the middle of nowhere.

But having cleared the hill, the Pennine Way soon starts to make it's way more directly north - and here the towns beyond the Peak District come into view.

Reaching the end of the Peak District

It is a bit premature now to call the end of the Peak District though - and we still have some way to go to reach the A635 - after which we have a number of reservoir to walk past, before reaching Marsden.

And on the way to the A635, we drop down to clear Dean Clough, which proves quite an attractive little valley - even if it is quite steep on both sides.

Dean Clough

Once up from this valley, the road is quickly reached. And here we very briefly follow it, before turning left to head into a car park - and then from here we once again see plenty of people, as we head down to Wassenden Head Reservoir.

This we briefly walk past, before having a short run without any reservoirs, before reaching Wassenden Reservoir - and between this and the next reservoir (Blakeley Reservoir) we pass the turning for the Pennine Way (where it heads off towards Standedge).

Here we break from the route of the Pennine Way, and start following the Kirklees Way on past Blakeley Reservoir - and then past Butterley Reservoir.

Coming up to Blakeley Reservoir with a high sun

Clearing Blakeley Reservoir as the sun starts to dip away

As we finally clear Buuterley Reservoir, we move beyond the borders of the Peak District - and from here the Pennine Way ceases to run through National Parks until reaching the Yorkshire Dales (a bit beyond Gargrave).

But here we head off down a long series of steps - and on into Marsden. And from here I'm catching the train to Huddersfield, where I plan to stay overnight. And at this point I'm very ready for bed.

Total Distance: 26.6 miles (24.2 miles on the Pennine Way)

Total Ascent: 4,259 feet (4,121 feet on the Pennine Way)

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 110 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Pennine Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in well way-marked.