A Moorland Walk in Lyme Park

Friday 14th February 2014 

A windy walk in and around Lyme Park on the western edge of the Peak District 

Distance: 15km; Ascent: 420m; Very windy - heavy rain later; with Lynsey

See tracked route in new window

It had been some time since Lynsey & I had been out for a decent hill walk together, so we were determined to take advantage of a child-free day today to get out for a walk.  Unfortunately however the weather had other ideas!  Therefore due to the strong winds forecast we decided to go for a slightly lower level walk in the moorlands of Lyme Park.

On the way up Cage Hill

We set off from outside Disley Station shortly before 10am and headed along a lane to enter the northern edge of Lyme Park, before ascending up Cage Hill, which is topped by a tower known as The Cage.

The Cage

The Cage

Lyme Hall from Cage Hill

After passing the Lyme Hall we ascended ESE up past a forest to reach the edge of the moorlands, before reaching a minor road.  Soon afterwards we reached the Bowstones, which according to the sign are shafts from Saxon crosses.

Looking south towards Reed Hill and Shining Tor

The Bowstones

Now we had the most exposed section of the walk to look forward too!  We continued SSW along the track towards Sponds Hill, stopping on route to don waterproofs due to the entirely expected arrival of the heavy rain.  It was pretty windy on Sponds Hill so we decided to forgo the opportunity to visit the summit trig point and instead walked perpendicular to the wind, eastwards along the outside edge of the southern boundary of Lyme Park.

Just outside the western edge of Lyme Park

After crossing the moorland it was nice to descend out of the wind as we approached West Parkgate, from where we followed the estate track NE back into Lyme Park and on to the cafe for a well earned lunch of soup and cake.  It was nice to be inside out of the now very strong wind and rain, but we couldn't stay here forever!  So after lunch we headed back out to brave the stormy weather, to head north to Parkgate and back to Disley village after a good walk.

Heading north towards Parkgate

On the way to Parkgate