Crossing the border
MARTIN DUNKLEY WALK LEADER
MEMBERS of East Cheshire Ramblers met in the car park at the picturesque Derbyshire village of Eyam (pronounced Eem) recently for a nine-mile walk with 1,937ft (587m) of ascent over the moors and cloughs of the Peak District.
Located at the border of the White Peak to the south, with its white limestone field walls, and the Dark Peak to the north with its dark brown rocky crags of millstone grit, Eyam is most famously known as the Plague Village.
The moving story of the villager’s self-imposed quarantine to prevent the spread of the plague in the 17th century is wonderfully described in the village museum near the car park in Hawkshill Road. Walking through the village past Plague Cottage we turned left to walk through the churchyard and start a steady climb near Eyam youth hostel, which continued up to Eyam Edge with lovely views looking out over Eyam and south towards the White Peak.
Continuing in the same northerly direction, we passed the tall chimney of the old Ladywash mine.
Soon the landscape changed dramatically as we entered an expanse of heather moor, with dramatic views over Bretton and Abney Cloughs and out towards Hathersage, Stanage Edge and the Dark Peak.
ECR are holding a series of easy walks in September for prospective members, each of which will be about three miles.
For further information go to ramblers eastcheshire.org.uk.