Chinley Churn

Distance 5km; Ascent: 240m; with Isabel

See route in new window

I guess this was starting to become my routine on my Tuesday off work with Isabel, i.e. heading out for a walk in the hills with Isabel in the rucksack carrier, as this had now been the case every other Tuesday since Lynsey returned to work.  Today however the weather didn't look as promising as the previous weeks, so I decided to stick with something shortish and close to home and therefore settled on a walk up Chinley Churn.  I was reasonably sure that Lynsey & I had walked around here before, but I couldn't remember whether I had previously visited the summit, so now was a good opportunity to make certain.

I set off walking from Chinley with Isabel in the rucksack carrier at around 10am and passed a group of 8 walkers on the road before picking up the footpath towards Chinley Churn.  The first section of path was fenced in with many trees and bushes, which occasionally required care to pass due to the height of Isabel in the backpack.

It soon started to rain lightly and we continued to climb uphill.  Soon a sign at one of the stiles indicated that we were entering the open access land.  At this point, I managed to turn right slightly too soon and take the wrong path, but we soon rejoined the correct path.  There were good views out over Chinley as we ascended.

Crags on Chinley Churn

The path traversed underneath a series of crags and small quarries before we eventually reached the ridge.  From here it was only a short distance northwards, past a herd of cows, to reach the small cairn on the summit of Chinley Churn (HuMP) at around 11am.

Summit of Chinley Churn

From the summit, we headed west across the moorland to pick up a reasonable bridleway enclosed by drystone walls.  This we followed for around a kilometre, with good views across to Whaley Bridge and the moors beyond.  By the time we reached the road, the rain had completely stopped and the sun was now out.  A road walk of just over a kilometre brought us back to the car just before midday.